With a name like The Calling, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the latest new trail platform from Evil looks like a fun bike to ride. This is the reason we all got into mountain biking, right? A mid-travel trail bike designed to pedal up the hills and bomb down endless singletrack. Evil says it’s their new “bike-shaped-skateboard”. Something about carving through deep turns and kicking it off every lip that you find on the way down the mountain. What you get is 131mm of Dave Weagle-designed linkage-driven single pivot 27.5″ (or even 26+) trail eating goodness, with all of today’s modern tech features. Drop past the break for the lowdown, from the curious color names to riding footage that makes us want to hit the nearest trail pronto…
The fully UD carbon Calling is somewhat of a follow-up to, uh… The Following. That playful 120mm 29er trail bike was Evil building to a new wheel size for them and ended up being a fun all day ripper, but they wanted something able to get even more loose on the jumps and berms that you find out pedaling through the woods or off a long way from home. So the new Calling gets a bit more aggressive, with 10mm more travel at both ends, even slacker geometry, a little bit longer wheelbase, and those snappy middle-sized, just right 27.5″ wheels.
The heart of the bike is the Delta suspension system that you’ll find on a bunch of different Evils. The design by suspension guru Dave Weagle lends the stiffness and simplicity in the rear as a basic high single-pivot, but with a much more complicated linkage to drive the shock that gives it dual progressive shock leverage rates. That claims better, more adjustable travel than pretty much any other single pivot in existence. If that piques your interest, Evil does a pretty good job getting into the detail on the suspension’s dedicated tech page.
Plenty of tech carries over from the Following. That includes things like the Delta suspension flip chips for adjustable geo, Boost rear thru-axle that threads directly into the rear mech hanger for a sturdy interface, a molded in rubber downtube protector to keep rocks at bay, rubber chain & seatstay protectors so the bike stays quiet and undamaged by the chain bouncing around down the trail, internal routing for the rear derailleur & a dropper post, a built-in sag meter for the Delta setup, a proper main triangle set of water bottle bosses, and ISCG05 tabs.
But then The Calling bolts on its own custom e13 LG1 lower chain guide and bash guard to keep its drivetrain safe, and gets a custom carbon chain guide built into the swingarm to keep the chain in place no matter how choppy it gets out there.
The $2900 frameset comes in four sizes S-XL (although only the M is in stock right now, with the others expected soon) and in two colors: Angry Dolphin teal & Muddy Waters gray.
The Delta suspension drives a trunnion Rockshox Super Deluxe Debonair shock, and like the other bikes in its family can be set in two geometry positions with its flip chips.
The frame is designed around a 140mm fork with a tapered steerer and 46mm offset. Max tire size for the frame is said to be about 2.4″ with 27.5 wheels and 2.8″ with 26+, but of course tire and rim combos will vary quite a bit these days. It uses a 30.9mm seatpost, a 73mm threaded BB, and with its no front derailleur setup can accommodate between a 30-36T single 1x chainring between chainstay clearance and the chainguide height.
If you need a bigger or smaller frame, keep an eye on Evil as they should be popping up any day.
