What looks like the second Polygon bike to use Darrell Voss’ NAILD suspension kinematics was hiding in plain site at the Polygon UR team tent. Actually, three of them were on hand, one each for Alexandre Foyale (#20), Mick Hannah (#14) and . The bikes’ paint schemes made it clear they were prototypes, and the difference in frame design from the Polygon Square One confirmed it was something new. After all, the Square One has a very usable 180mm of rear wheel travel, making it passable as a DH bike for many riders. But at the pro level, everyone’s up around 200mm, and we’re betting that’s what’s on tap here, too.
Introduced in early 2017, the Square One was the first bike to get the NAILD R3ACT 2Play suspension. That bike offered long travel with an entirely new kinematics scheme that completely isolated suspension movement from pedaling forces. Its unique design makes it stand out, even though much of the difference in aesthetics is there for stiffness and chainstay length considerations as it is to make the suspension work.
Above and below, the Square One enduro bike for reference. Check our launch coverage and first ride review of that bike for the full tech description on the suspension platform.
The most noticeably unique point is the lower slider. Not actually a suspension part, it’s a long, oversized tube that the lowers use to brace themselves, creating more lateral and torsional stiffness for the frame. It’s found on this prototype, too:
Team bikes were running Crank Brothers pedals, e*Thirteen cranks and wheels with 27.5×2.4 Kenda Hellkat and Helldiver tires…
…and Trickstuff’s Direttissima brake levers and C41 calipers.
A bash plate may be hiding mounting points for the slider and other things. There appear to be two small drain holes behind it, which would make sense considering the design’s deep cup leading back to the BB shell.
Voss has a solid relationship with (and used to run) SR Suntour’s NA division, so it’s no surprise to see SR Suntour RUX forks on the front of the bikes. On the rear we found both Ohlins coil shocks and a Fox DHX2 air shock with all markings taped over. Possibly to hide settings markings (this suspension supposedly requires extremely little compression damping), but probably mostly to hide non-sponsor logos.
Could this replace the Polygon Colossus DH bike? Maybe. The Colossus DH debuted in summer 2015, so it’s aging if not still raging. We’ll catch up with them at Eurobike and see what’s up.
