As Eurobike was wrapping up, I passed by Chiru’s booth only to find all the bikes disassembled and boxed. Which was a shame, because they looked really good when I’d walked by earlier in the show. Thankfully, founder Pierre sent over some studio shots of the new frames, a collection of 29er and 650B hardtail and full suspension bikes, the latter using his pivotless flex stays on the rear.
Above is the 29er Rangi Rangi, a 100mm trail bike with geometry skewing just a bit more toward racing down the mountain than up it. The head angle is a bit slacker than what’s typically found on a 100mm XC full susser, and the BB’s a bit lower. The frame, like the others here, is a mixed modulus carbon fiber, and this one comes in at 1.90kg without shock.
Cable routing is external, and it uses a standard threaded BB, which should make mechanics everywhere happy.
A big downtube meets with a tapered headtube to keep it all laterally stiff. At the back, a 12mm thru axle does the same.
The oversized chainstays and dropout section help prevent torsional flex, and that’s only amplified by the lack of a pivot near the rear axle. To get away with this design, the seatstays flatten out and are laid up to flex. Chiru’s certainly not the first to use a design like this -Gary Fisher did it long ago with the Sugar- but they made it look really good.
Not shown, Chiru still has their multiple wheel size bike in the line. It’s not quite the any-wheel-size-you-want RMK shown at Eurobike 2012, but still cool. Called the Dual Nine75, it uses the same pivotless rear end as these, but with geometry dialed for a 29er front wheel and 27.5″ rear. Check it out on their Facebook page.
The Dual Six50 is the mid-sized wheel equivalent of the Rangi Rangi. It shares the same 100mm travel and 2.35 tire clearance, but appears to have a bit tighter, racier geometry. Frame weight is claimed at 1.85kg without shock
One of Chiru’s long standing themes is frame sizing that goes along with wheel size, and these two are no different. The 650B bike comes in Small and Medium, and the 29er in Med., Large and XL. Price is $2,090 USD for the frameset.
The Pulse is the 29er hardtail, which gets updated graphics for 2014. We featured this one in 2011 for it’s unique BB shell that lets you run any type of bottom bracket you want. It’s designed with some of the flex stay technology to make for a more comfortable, long distance race bike. Frame weight is 1,320g (claimed), available in M/L/XL.
The Six50 is a new model that is a straight up race rocket. No flex stays, no adaptable bottom bracket. Just an efficient frame with tight handling and rear thru axle for maximum power transfer. Unlike the rest of the collection, this one does get internal cable routing.
Frame weight is 1,250g (claimed), available in Small and Medium.
Both hardtails retail for $1,790 USD. All bikes will be available in March 2014. Chirubikes.com
