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EB17: Sunn shines again with brilliant new gravel/endurance road & full suspension mountain bikes

2018 Sunn Special gravel endurance road bike with disc or rim brakes
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It’s been a long time since Sunn has shone on the pop culture of cycling. After many years at the top of the game in downhill, seeing factory pilot Nicolas Vouilloz and company deliver 10 world championships aboard their bikes, the brand went into bankruptcy in 2013. Now, they have a new owner, and an impressively detailed and feature-rich lineup hitting all the hot categories…

2018 Sunn Special gravel endurance road bike with disc or rim brakes

The Sunn Special is a full carbon monocoque endurance road bike that’s got gravel written all over it. The frame uses high-mod Toray 700 fibers on all three trim levels and is fitted here with WTB Horizon 650Bx47 tires and a SRAM 11-42 1×11 drivetrain. The model above it gets a Shimano Ultegra R8000 2×11 group, and both use hydraulic disc brakes.

2018 Sunn Special gravel endurance road bike with disc or rim brakes

Thanks to clever design, though, it works just as well with rim brakes when using 700c wheels, which the S2 (lowest tier) model gets. Regardless of brake choice, they all come with Mavic wheels and dropouts designed around the Mavic Speed Release thru axle system. Tire clearance with rim brakes maxes out around 700×28.

2018 Sunn Special gravel endurance road bike with adjustable head tube height

Another clever touch is their adjustable headtube height, using frame spacers that bolt into place rather than a big, ugly stack of headset spacers. Slam the stem, or not, looks great either way, and helps get riders in a more upright position for endurance grinds without killing aesthetics. And, the Di2 junction box his under the larger cover, letting the button show through (pic on left).

2018 Sunn Special gravel endurance road bike with disc or rim brakes

2018 Sunn Special gravel endurance road bike with disc or rim brakes

Tube shaping is big and boxy, which deliver all of your power directly to the rear wheel. It’s available in four sizes (52/54/56/58). For now, their distribution is focused on Europe, but here’s hoping they come Stateside soon enough.

2018 SUNN MOUNTAIN BIKES

2018 Sunn Shaman carbon full suspension XC race bike

The Sunn Shaman is their 29er carbon XC race full suspension bike, using HM Toray 800/900 on the top model, and 700/800 fibers on the S1 and S2. All of which are built around 100mm of travel front and rear.

2018 Sunn Shaman carbon full suspension XC race bike

Shapely tubes make the frame-stiffening angles appear less angular, and the top tube’s line flows smoothly into the seatstays for a long, low and lean look. All cables and hoses run internally, with accommodations for a rear shock remote…but no dropper seatpost. The seat tube is simply too short to accommodate a dropper…or, at least, a stealth one. And while you could probably fit a short-travel externally controlled dropper on here, there is no real cable management for it, so the focus is obviously on keeping things simple and light for racing.

2018 Sunn Shaman carbon full suspension XC race bike

Like the Special, the Shaman has a massively wide BB box section, using a pressfit BB92 system to maximize the width…and stiffness.

2018 Sunn Shaman carbon full suspension XC race bike

2018 Sunn Shaman carbon full suspension XC race bike

An integrated chain keeper comes stock and is height adjustable to fit different size chainrings.

2018 Sunn Shaman carbon full suspension XC race bike

2018 Sunn Shaman carbon full suspension XC race bike

The rocker arm’s main pivot is hidden behind that black box. The shock is driven downward, with the lower mount concentric with the chainstay’s pivot. This minimizes hardware and weight.

2018 Sunn Shaman carbon hardtail trail mountain bike

For days when a hardtail is the right race choice, the Prim is their 29er carbon race bike without rear suspension. Also based on a 100mm fork, the front gets Boost spacing, but the rear end stays at 12×142.

2018 Sunn Shaman carbon hardtail trail mountain bike

Except for the base model, which keeps the top level carbon frame, but pairs it with a simply Rockshox 30 Gold fork with standard 100mm axle spacing and a 135×9 quick release rear end (not shown). Sounds dated, but it’s only €1,799. Thanks to a modular dropout system, you can at least upgrade that to a non-Boost thru axle down the road. All three models come with 1×11 or 1×12 drivetrains, but there is an optional front derailleur mount.

2018 Sunn Kern LT enduro trail mountain bike

More aggressive riders will appreciate the brand’s DH heritage on the new 27.5″ wheeled Kern. Aimed at enduro and all mountain, there are three versions available – The Kern LT at 160mm travel, the Kern with 130mm, or the Kern SL with 120mm travel. All three are still using 12×142 rear axle spacing, but forks are all Boost for 2018.

2018 Sunn Kern LT enduro trail mountain bike

2018 Sunn Kern LT enduro trail mountain bike

Like the XC bikes, the rear shock shares a pivot/mount with the main swingarm, and there’s a nifty sag window to help you set it up (made easier with Rockshox Monarch’s printed sag markers). Notice the nod to Sunn’s original logo on the frame?

One bike that does get a Boost rear end is the new Plus, which, as you’d expect from the name, is built for 27.5×2.8 tires. It comes stock with WTB Scraper 40 rims with Ranger tires mounted on them. Up front is a massive 140mm travel SR Suntour Aion fork with 35mm stanchions. A Shimano SLX 1×11 (11-42) group with 203/180 brake rotors means this bike is made to get rowdy.

The brand was, and still is, known for BMX, and they’ve a healthy line up of race-ready options there, too. They’ve also expanded their line of e-MTBs to six models for 2018, and have a few 26″ and smaller wheeled options for youth. Check their website for the full lineup.

Sunn.fr

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18 Comments
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Werewolf
Werewolf
7 years ago

They look very French

Antoine
Antoine
7 years ago

man the no dropper policy on the FS bike is insane. Rest is cool tho.

mudrock
mudrock
7 years ago

The gravel bike has some interesting features, but I don’t know why they bothered with the rim brake option. Maybe because they come from Europe and they have a hard time letting go of rim brakes over there. I also would have given that fork crown a better profile for mud clearance, but in general I don’t think the Euros have quite understood the gravel scene yet. Gravel roads abound in the western US, but in Europe everything is paved, except for trails in the mountains.

Last thing, looks like it rides like a brick.

mudrock
mudrock
7 years ago
Reply to  mudrock

RE my gravel comment, Bombtrack gets it, fer sure

JNH
JNH
7 years ago
Reply to  mudrock

Gravel bikes are huge here in the UK. Between the bad weather and bad roads the demand for road bikes with disc brakes, good clearance and geometry that isn’t ‘sporty’ (read ‘trying to kill you’) took off pretty much the moment they were available.

JBikes
JBikes
7 years ago
Reply to  JNH

Weren’t UK builders always somewhat in tune with this need (i.e. the classic UK road bike would allow a wider tire and had fender mounts)? Granted, it would seem like way more choices now and disc brakes there would seem very nice given the weather

keville
keville
7 years ago
Reply to  JBikes

I think you’re correct; seems like a common setup there. My 2012 Croix de Fer from Genesis (a brand somewhere between a Salsa and a Surly, from UK distributor Madison) had already seen a few revisions by that model year. Reynolds 725, 40+mm clearance (a bit less with fenders maybe), disc brakes and plenty of braze-ons. They had (and have) numerous bikes in that category.

dockboy
dockboy
7 years ago

How much room is there to get to the chain guide bolt on the Shaman? Looks awkward to reach.

Kar
Kar
7 years ago
Reply to  dockboy

I wonder if you could mount a front derailleur direct mount.

Fred DDBG
Fred DDBG
7 years ago

Want to ride a bike that looks like an Ebike without enjoying the benefits? Sunn got you covered with their latest “Gravel” model

Jason
Jason
7 years ago

Did I miss something? Black sidewall WTB Horizons on the gravel bike? Hope the are not some OEM non tubeless version.

bob
bob
7 years ago

that gravel bike looks seriously stiff in the bb area and head tube
i kinda like that

zipp23
zipp23
7 years ago

Looks are quite distinctive, in a good way. I especially like the gravel bike comes with a rim brake option. As I understand a frame can be used with both disc and rim. So I can swap the brake setup between rim for fast rides and disc for commuting. I’m curious about the geometry table, the head tube looks huge.

ebbe
ebbe
7 years ago
Reply to  zipp23

And if the race/tour you’re riding finishes on a velodrome, you could stop to take the brakes fully off. That way, you’ll never have better braking than you need. Because everybody knows that having better braking is the worst that could ever happen!

Michael Myers
Michael Myers
7 years ago
Reply to  ebbe

That’s the way I do it every time i race PR.

fbhidy
fbhidy
7 years ago
Reply to  ebbe

Meh, brakes just slow you down.

zipp23
zipp23
7 years ago
Reply to  ebbe

indeed, thats my point! Why would you carry around extra weight and aero-drag from discs is you dont need the improved braking. I put the discs on when the improved braking is needed. Same thing as swapping cassette, chainrings and tires if the parcours or wheater demands it…And indeed my track bike doenst have brakes ;-D. On the track they are dangerous and forbidden.

Jim Klaas
Jim Klaas
7 years ago

To brake is to admit defeat!

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