2021 Viral Skeptic hardtail gearbox MTB sees radical redesign, Viral Derive updated

Written by Jessie-May Morgan Nov 26, 2020 2:50 p.m. ET

2021 viral skeptic gearbox mountain bike frame

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The 2021 Viral Skeptic and Derive bare metal beauties have arrived, and with them the chance to get your hands on a free Industry 9 wheelset valued at $1355. More on that later… The new Skeptic frame is redesigned from the ground up with a dropped top tube for additional standover and longer reach figures. The Viral Derive gets some subtle geometry updates too.

2021 Viral Skeptic

The 2021 Viral Skeptic titanium hardtail mountain bike frame sees longer reach figures of 440mm to 500mm over the S-XL frame size range. Built around a 150-160mm travel 29er fork the Skeptic can, as always, be run with either 27.5+ or 29” wheels. With this redesign, Viral were aiming to make the new Skeptic a more aggressive version of their all-mountain hardtail.

Viral titanium mtb sliding dropouts chainstay length adjustment — Sliding dropouts allow for chainstay length adjustment

2020 Skeptic					2021 SKEPTIC

	SMALL	MEDIUM	LARGE	XL	SMALL	MEDIUM	LARGE	XL

Wheel Size	26+/27.5	27.5+/29	27.5+/29	27.5+/29	26+/27.5	27.5+/29	27.5+/29	27.5+/29
Seat Tube Length	390	432	480	520	390	432	480	520
Top Tube Length	584	605	625	645	592	624	646	670
Head Tube Length	105	115	125	140	105	115	125	140
Chainstay Length	430	435	435	435	430	435	435	435
Front and Center	737	759	781	805	745	778	802	829
Wheelbase	1166	1191	1212	1237	1174	1209	1234	1260
Seat Tube Angle	75.5	75.5	75.5	75.5	75.5	75.5	75.5	75.5
Head Tube Angle	65.5	65.5	65.5	65.5	65.5	65.5	65.5	65.5
Stack	588	636	644	652	588	634	644	657
Reach	432	441	459	476	440	460	480	500
BB Drop	25	45	45	45	25	45	45	45

2021 Viral Derive

The Viral Derive remains the same in terms of its frame design. Viral chose to keep the Derive as a more traditional double diamond shape to ensure maximum frame bag sizes for the backpacking contingent.

Viral say its reach has lengthened slightly, with geometry optimised for a 120mm travel fork.

2020 Derive					2021 Derive

	SMALL	MEDIUM	LARGE	XL	SMALL	MEDIUM	LARGE	XL

Wheel Size	26+/27.5	27.5+/29	27.5+/29	27.5+/29	26+/27.5	27.5+/29	27.5+/29	27.5+/29
Seat Tube Length	390	432	480	520	390	432	480	520
Top Tube Length	584	605	625	645	589	621	643	667
Head Tube Length	105	115	125	140	105	115	125	140
Chainstay Length	430	435	435	435	430	435	435	435
Front and Center	722	744	765	789	727	760	784	810
Wheelbase	1151	1175	1196	1221	1156	1191	1215	1241
Seat Tube Angle	75.5	75.5	75.5	75.5	75.5	75.5	75.5	75.5
Head Tube Angle	66.5	66.5	66.5	66.5	66.5	66.5	66.5	66.5
Stack	577	624	633	641	577	624	633	646
Reach	435	444	461	479	440	460	480	500
BB Drop	27	47	47	47	27	47	47	47

“The Derive is really a chameleon and works so well in so many different situations,” says Steve Domahidy, Viral Bike’s owner and designer. “I’ve built them up with rigid forks, Lauf forks, and of course suspension forks up to 130mm. It’s the perfect bike for getting into the backcountry, but it’s so much more versatile than that.”

Pricing & Availability

Frame kits for the 2021 Viral Skeptic and Derive retail at $4795. That includes a Viral triple-butted titanium frame, a Pinion C1.12 gearbox, CNC cranks, shifter, Gates Carbon Drive belt and cogs, a lockring tool, and the first year oil change for the gearbox.

With a pre-order special, that price also includes $1355 credit towards any Industry 9 wheelset. Colors for 2021 remain the same as last season: raw ti, green with yellow decals and blue with orange decals.

Viral.bike

Jessie-May Morgan

1,362 articles

Jessie-May Morgan is the UK & Ireland Tech Editor of Bikerumor. She has been writing about Mountain Bike Riding and Racing, and all its weird and wonderful technology for 4 years. Prior to that, she was an Intern at the Mountain Bike Center of Scotland, and a Mountain Bike Coach and Leader in the Tweed Valley.

Based in Innerleithen, Scotland, Jessie-May can often be seen riding the Glentress Trail Center, and its neighboring Enduro and Downhill Tracks. She regularly competes in Enduro at a national level, and has recently competed on the World Stage at a handful of Enduro World Series events.

For Bikerumor, Jessie-May is testing the latest mountain bikes, equipment and kit, letting readers know what’s hot and what’s not.

For context, she weighs 60kg and stands at 5ft 4″ tall (163cm).

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16 Comments

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Geoff

3 years ago

For the love of mercy can we please stop using the phrase “double diamond”? Look at the bike, it’s a single diamond, there’s never been a double diamond frame, it’s actually not a thing…

Joenomad

3 years ago

Reply to Geoff

So the asking price doesn’t bother you, only that they used the term double diamond to describe the frame.

Mackxi

3 years ago

Reply to Joenomad

Why should the asking price be an issue? Its expensive, yes, but so is titanium, a pinion system and a belt drive. The cost is an actual representation of what it is. Its like complaining about the cost of a Mercedes. If its too expensive for you then get a lower end vehicle and quit trying to think that everything should be your version of ‘affordable’.

Tim

3 years ago

Reply to Mackxi

Nordest makes a full custom ti hardtail for 1500 euros. Not sure how much the Pinion drive adds to the price, but it sure will come out far, far cheaper than 5000 euros.

gonebikingmad

3 years ago

Reply to Geoff

Double Diamond is an old school term, you are right about it not looking like 2 diamonds but replace diamond with triangle and then think of 2 triangles meeting at the same point and that’s when the term Double Diamond tends to be used.

OldDoc

3 years ago

Reply to gonebikingmad

And let’s not forget GT’s Triple Triangle!

Sevo

3 years ago

Reply to Geoff

Double diamond is what it is: two triangles, front and rear triangles. This is an appropriate term despite the fact you don’t see it or the fact it bothers you is irrelevant.

Gergely Gabor

3 years ago

Any of you living in higher GDP countries, have resentment about this prices? $5000 for a frame, $10-15k for a bike… is it normal??? For us, in Eastern Europe, it is not.

Cheakysdf

3 years ago

Reply to Gergely Gabor

Gabor, YES! there are some of us who resent ridiculous ‘high-end’ bicycle prices!

Mark

3 years ago

Very neat looking bike except for that ugly fork that some companies are insisting on.

Dockboy

3 years ago

Reply to Mark

The Lauf? That’s performance driven design through and through. It gets specced because it gets ridden.

Jason L. Kahn

3 years ago

The Priority Process 600 x same idea, same gearbox, $1700 less.
https://www.prioritybicycles.com/products/600x

3 years ago

Reply to Jason L. Kahn

Yeah, but the guy who designed it rides with no helmet in tennis shoes. There’s a picture of him on this site. So, probably not as good. . .

Tim

3 years ago

Reply to Jason L. Kahn

That bike is aluminum, this is ti…

Ibikefeb

3 years ago

I sell bikes for a living and 9-10K bikes are not super uncommon.. We sell a bunch of them and are not really even in a very affluent area.. It comes down what you prioritize. My son rides a $7500 bike and has a $225 car..

Randy White

3 years ago

Bicycles shouldnt cost more then motorcycles high price bikes I like to ride kinda scary now after seeing my brother killed by impaired hit&run driver i cant even get a new mountain bike to retire the bike i was riding with him when he was killed i couldnt even get a bike company to donate one to ride in memory of my brother they all say no