EB15: Nukeproof hits the beat with new Pulse downhill bike for Sam Hill, plus signature components & more

The Nukeproof Pulse DH bike is completely revamped for 2016, built specifically for 27.5″ wheels and designed with input from the legendary Sam Hill.

The Pulse 275 Team, at top, comes with a SRAM X01 DH group, Rockshox Boxxer World Cup fork and Vivid R2C shock, Mavic Deemax wheels with Schwalbe Magic Mary Super Gravity tires and the all-new Sam Hill component line debuting from Nukeproof, too…

With the larger wheel size, rear end travel drops from 210mm to 200mm. Movement is still provided by their proven Fallout linkage system, which has seen improvements in stiffness over the past couple of years.

Multiple links and pivot points give them control over the leverage ratio throughout the travel, adding a bit more personality than you’d typically find on a single pivot suspension design.

Gone is the multi-position rear dropout. Chainstay length is now fixed, but…

…the headtube is a straight 1.5″ diameter, letting you run angle-adjustable headsets to dial in front end geometry for any course.

The black-and-green model shown here is the Sam Hill edition, which will be available as a frameset with the fork for £1749.99/ $2799.99/ €2399.99.

Here’s team rider Joe Smith ripping a late prototype of the Pulse down the trail.

If you wanna build it up like Hill, Nukeproof is now offering a signature line of cockpit components, the highlights being the new Vector Saddle, which comes in all-mountain or downhill shapes, and the Horizon pedals.

Seatposts are available with alloy and carbon shafts. The Horizon pedals were designed specifically for Hill and have 10 height adjustable pins per side with a uniquely shaped leading outside corner that’s truncated to give it a better attack angle. Couple that with the removable, adjustable washer system that lets you run the pins extra high like Hill does, and you’ve got the ability to tweak the otherwise lightly conceived shape to be extremely grabby.

The pedals are available in alloy-bodied Pro and Sam Hill versions with chromoly or titanium spindles, plus a Comp version with a composite body and chromoly spindle. Weights are as low as 318g, with the Comp being the lightest and coming in the most colors. The Pro chromoly model hits the scales at a claimed 430g, ti at 382g.

Introduced last year as a 27.5″ bike, the Scout hardtails get the bigger wheel size for 2016, now available in both 29er (above) and 27.5″ (bottom photo, below) wheels. They’re made to aggressive trail hardtails with slack head angles (66º on the 29er) with long 150mm travel forks.

Stealth routing on the overbuilt 6061 alloy frame means it’s ready for big drops and hard riding.

Pro and Comp models in both wheel sizes plus framesets give you a few price points. The 275 comes in S/M/L/XL sizes, the 29er only in M/L/XL.

Nukeproof.com