In mid-summer we got a first look at the limited edition, ultralight carbon Horn full-suspension XC race bike of premium Spanish bike builder UNNO. Within days of sharing that, we heard from friends at German custom wheel & bike builders Light Wolf Studio that they would get the first production bike out of the mold, and planned to build it up into a killer dream build with all sorts of lust worthy, lightweight components. The result, a 9.42kg 100mm travel XC bike, made by hand in Europe…
Unno Horn 100mm light carbon XC mountain bike by Light Wolf
The short-link full-suspension Horn wasn’t developed by Unno to be the lightest production XC bike out there (that was the goal of their Aora hardtail, though.) Instead, from the brain of Cesar Rojo that helped pioneer super long reach trail bike geometry through his work with Mondraker, the Horn was always meant to be a modern lightweight XC race bike capable of shredding some of the most technical trails you could throw at it. So the 100mm Horn gets trail-ready extra long, low & slack Forward Geometry, but still comes in at just 1600g for the frame with all hardware (no shock).
So as a premium dealer partner for Unno in Germany, Dresden-based Light Wolf set out to build a suitably unique & premium spec befitting the limited edition, handmade carbon cross-country bike. And they documented the entire build process so you could follow along, then sent us some exclusive actual weights on the scale….
The first Horn custom build
It took a while to sort out all the kit, as Light Wolf was going niche for the build, mixing some high-end European components together that lived up to the trail-ready frameset. And a lot of the components were new tech that just wasn’t available yet… It wasn’t a ‘weight savings at all cost build’, instead this bike is going to see a lot of trail riding, so Light Wolf started pulling together a Rotor, BikeAhead & Magura build around a Lefty fork & a Fox shock.
The Horn is said to be stiff & trail ready, so the build gives it a proper Fox Float DPS EVOL Factory shock and Cannondale’s latest Lefty Ocho Carbon fork (with Hopp carbon knobs) for a no-compromises 100mm of fully adjustable travel at both ends.
To highlight the latest in drivetrain, it then gets a hydraulic shifting Rotor 1×13 MTB setup complete with 10-52 13-speed cassette, 34T Kapic Carbon crankset, and tuned Magura MT8 SL brakes with 160mm SL2 rotors.
BikeAhead Composites supplies light & stiff carbon in the 10° sweep The Flatbar handlebar, 31.6mm The Post seatpost, and 28mm internal The Rim SL rims that Light Wolf laced into a Rotor Rvolver rear hub & Lefty60 with elusive double-butted Sapim Super Spokes to match up with the proprietary setup at both ends.
Finishing out the build… a Cane Creek Flatstack headset, 77mm Intend Grace XC alloy stem, a carbon Fabric Scoop Ultimate saddle, KMC X12 chain, tuned KCNC EVO Lock-on grips, alloy Schwalbe tubeless-valves, and light trail-ready tanwall Teravail Ehline 29er tires – 2.5″ up front & 2.3″ at the rear, plus titanium or alloy bolts to shed a couple extra grams.
Complete bike weight then… 9.42kg (20.77lb) with Crankbrothers Eggbeater 3 pedals, ready to ride. The price… most likely well over 10,000€.
