The Brigade Team recently announced their new bike partnership for their coming assault on the 2021 World Cup Downhill season. An all-new Production Privée prototype frame was seen underneath Brigade Team member Alex Marin, and more recently Mélanie Chappaz. Manufactured in Andorra at the Forestal Technology Centre, the frame remains unnamed, but here’s what we know so far.
Prototype Production Privée Downhill Bike
Best known for their steel Shan N°5 full suspension mountain bike, Production Privée look set to enter the Downhill market with the announcement of their partnership with the Brigade Team. The prototype frame is CNC-machined from solid blocks of aluminium hand-welded together to create a stiff monocoque chassis.
There are several curious things about the Production Privée prototype downhill bike. First up is an unusual suspension platform in which a hollowed-out top tube accommodates part of the coil shock, something we’ve seen before on Cedric Gracia’s Forestal Syrion e-MTB.
The so-called Twin Levity suspension design is a linkage-drive single pivot design, whereby the length of the linkage allows for leverage ratio tuning. Throughout its 205mm of rear wheel travel, the leverage ratio varies from 3.7 to 2.1. Forestal tell us that the main pivot location is optimized for a 34T chainring and “quiet neutral suspension under braking within the range of what this kinematic allows for”.
Another interesting feature of the prototype DH bike is the choice of spec: Production Privée have gone for the HxR Easy Shift crankset that allows riders to shift on-the-fly without pedaling.
Pricing & Availability
Right now there are three frame sizes under prototyping; M, L, XL running either a complete 29″ setup or a mullet setup with a 27.5″ wheel on the rear. Production Privée say they are still in the early stages of the development process. More improvements in terms of chassis design and performance will be implemented throughout the year before they look at making this a production bike for the masses.
