Hope has always been about manufacturing products in the UK. If there is something they think they can do better, they’ll develop the processes in house to make it happen. Always a huge force in CNC machining, we were surprised to hear that Hope plans on getting into the carbon fiber game as well.
True to form, the carbon will be produced in house in a specially designed building that will eventually house their own velodrome! Hope worked on the seat post above to establish their carbon process and mentions they currently have the molds made for producing carbon handlebars. One of the most expensive and time consuming steps to carbon manufacturing is producing the molds, which is right up Hope’s alley with their machining ability. Being able to produce the molds on site should streamline the process and expand their abilities.
In addition to the carbon news, Hope has a few new parts in aluminum as well including their long awaited crankset. Get the details next…
Years in development, Hope is finally very close to the final crankset design though they will have a different spindle than what is shown above. Originally planning to use a polygon interface Hope decided at the last minute to switch to a splined interface. Why the sudden change? It has to do with their future carbon production, since the polygon shape isn’t well suited to carbon cranks.
So while the spindle may change, most of the other details have finally been cemented with a forged and then CNC machined 7000 aluminum crank arm. The forging is the only process that won’t be done by Hope in house, but it will be kept in Europe and produced by the same company that forges their hub shells.
Cranks will be offered in 170 and 175mm lengths and will use a spline mount for single piece chainrings in 26-36t or 104 BCD spiders capable of running bash guards. The cranks are currently equipped with 30mm spindles and bottom brackets, which we assume will find its way into production. Expect pricing to start around $390.
Hope is also launching their new Slick Chainguides to fit both ISCG-o5 and ISCG-OLD and with or without quarter bash rings. The backplates are machined from 7000 series aluminum while the cages are actually machined from engineered plastic. The guides feature captive hardware and weigh 82g for the standard guide or 120g for the integrated bashguard model. Prices will be between $80 and $131 for the different models.
Running a dropper post with an external cable? Hope’s new Dropper Seatpost Clamp will keep things neat and tidy. Their new clamp features a hose guide that uses an articulated plastic ball joint to allow the cable to move freely while still keeping it snug against the seat tube. The guide itself can be positioned anywhere around the guide in its track by loosening the seatpost clamp and the guide is removable so you don’t have to reroute the hose or cable to remove the post.
Available in 34.9 or 36.4mm sizes, the clamps will be available in standard colors and it weighs 35g for the 34.9mm version. Retail is around $39.
To go along with the new Bluto enforced 150mm front fat bike hub standard, Hope has a new Fatsno 150 hub that is dedicated to the size. That means wider flange spacing to take advantage of the wider hub width. However, current owners of the Fatsno 135 hubs can purchase an adapter from Hope that will make their hub 150mm compatible as well.
If that wasn’t enough, Hope has also introduced their own rims. Not 100% happy with the current selection of rims on the market, Hope set out to create their own light, stiff, welded, eyeletted, aluminum rims. Offered in XC and Enduro spec, the Tech rims use a custom extrusion profile designed and developed at Hope.
The XC rim is made from 6056 T6 aluminum for better rigidity, while the Enduro rim features a triple cavity 6061 T6 extrusion for a wider design. The XC rims use a 19.5mm internal width while the Enduro rims bump up to 23mm. Available in 26, 27.5, and 29″ sizes, both rims are tubeless compatible and are available built to Pro 2 EVO hubs with Sapim spokes for $600-700 per pair.
Sorry, but the anodized to match Fox adjuster knobs won’t be available to the public, but this Intense is what happens when Hope gets a hold of a bike. Awesome.
