At this point, anyone bringing their first 29er bike could either be seen as late to the game or smartly waiting to see whatever everyone else did then do it better. Many claim the latter, many are simply the former. Brodie, however, was waiting on forks.
More precisely, they were waiting on the availability of forks that met their requirements for rake and trail, letting them dial the handling to what they thought a 29er should be. Here’s how they put it:
“The art of having a bicycle steer the way you want it to is having the “trail” of a bicycle fall within a certain range. The trail refers to the imaginary line through the center of the steerer tube and the vertical line of where the center of the hub lies. Fork manufacturers can adjust where the hub lies by offset (by hub placement on the fork legs and/or fork crown spacing). The longer the trail, the floppier the steering (DH bikes) and vice versa the shorter it is, the twitchier the feel (road bikes). When designing our 29’er two key aspects were critical, the fork trail and the chain stay length.”
So, how did this translate into a Brodie 29er?
“Until recently, forks weren’t available that would allow us to produce a 29’er which met our expectations. Now that suspension forks are being offered with sufficient offset we’d like to introduce you to the brand new 2012 Brodie Khan; fresh new graphics, 70-degree head tube angle, 100mm Manitou Tower with 51mm fork offset and short 437mm chain stays!”
Two models are offered, the higher end Khan shown above and the Crib. Both bikes share a shaped, butted 7005 aluminum frame and are available in four sizes. Differences come in the spec and price. The Khan gets a Manitou Tower fork, Hayes Stroker Trail hydraulic disc brakes and a mostly Shimano SLX drivetrain. Wheels are Deore center lock hubs with Sun rims. Price is $1,849 US/Canada.
The Crib uses a Suntour XCR fork with the same offset but reduced 80mm travel, Shimano Alivio/Deore drivetrain and hydraulic brakes. Price is $1,025.
