The all new Superspeed carbon XC race weapon from Silverback is less of a hardtail than its predecessor. Using what Silverback calls a Monoburst rear end, the all new bike snakes its flat seatstays around the seattube to meet the toptube delivering pivot-free rear end flex to improve both traction and rider comfort.
Silverback Superspeed carbon XC race hardtail mountain bike
The design isn’t an entirely new concept; we’ve seen it on a number of other recent hardtails.
But each iteration is a little different, while still taking advantage of the more modern thought of using controlled rear wheel flex to make for a faster race hardtail.
Monoburst seatstay
The Superspeed makes those vertically flexy Monoburst stays wide to remove any lateral flex. And the bike gets massively tall chainstays to ensure power transfer remains stiff. But the flattened bottom of the seattube also combines with those seatstays to allow the bike to move under the rider, both keeping the rear wheel stuck to the ground and lessening the impacts to the riders back.
As Silverback says, while staying stiff under pedaling and handling, a more comfortable racer means faster performance after spending hours in the saddle. Plus the small movement at the rear axle helps improve grip on rough race tracks.
The Monoburst seatstay to toptube connection also apparently means that bike can take more advantage of longer continuous carbon fibers across the joint. By removing one of the tubing joints that would normally have sharp angles, it means the bike actually requires less overall material at the joint, reducing weight as well.
Tech details
The Superspeed weighs in at just under 1kg, gets a Boost spaced rear end and modern trail-inspired race geometry targeted at more aggressive XCO courses and longer Marathon racing.
The carbon race 29er is 1x specific, and gets its own low mount chain guide. While the tall chainstays look to offer plenty of rear wheel clearance, Silverback rates the Superspeed for just 2.25″ tires.
Cable routing is all internal (and modular), with full length guides and the possibility to run a stealth 27.2mm dropper post. It gets a PF 92mm bottom bracket shell and an internal tapered headset.
Available bike specs
The raw carbon finished Superspeed is available in just three frame sizes S-L, and four complete bike builds sharing the same frame.
The Superspeed SBC (Super Bike Collection) Team Edition tops out the range at 5400€. It gets an XX1 Eagle 12 speed kit and Fox Factory Float SC fork at a claimed complete weight of just 9.15kg.
A 3000€ Superspeed SBC pares back to a GX Eagle group and Fox Performance fork bringing the weight to 10.36kg.
Next, the 10.88kg Superspeed 1.0 drops the price again to 2300€. And it opts for a Reba RL fork and a Shimano XT/SLX 1×11 drivetrain.
Then, the 1800€ Superspeed 2.0 is the most affordable at 11.03kg with a Manitou Markhor fork and similar XT/SLX 1×11.
