Durango Bike Company has an extra card up it’s sleeve with the new Blackjack 29er full suspension trail bike. The ace in the hole? It’s also 27.5+ compatible, with tire clearance to spare in either setup despite class-leading chainstay lengths.
Builder Jeff Estes started out with AMP research, then worked at Dagger bikes where they hand built their front triangles and used AMP rear ends. Now, he hand builds all the bikes in Durango, Colorado, and they machine anything that’s not a round tube in house, too. The main parts of the frame are Alcoa 6061 tubing that’s heat treated after welding so it’s hardened to T6, which they say is the ultimate hardness you’d want for something like a bike. After that, all the post production machining and finishing is done.
And those are just the material details…
The bike is built around the new Boost 148 rear axle standard, which let them spread the frame open to run insanely short 16.7″ chainstays. The bike at the top of the post is set up as a 27.5+ ride, the one immediately above is with 29er wheels.
The suspension is a modified Horst Link using pivot locations that create a little more sag and, they say, increases rear end stiffness compared to others.
No pivots mounted to top or seat tubes, keeping those tubes light and the center of gravity low.
Head angle is 67.5° with a 130mm fork. Rear end has 125mm of travel.
A port on the bottom of the seat tube allows for stealth dropper post routing.
Pic on the left shows clearance with a Vee Tire Co. 27.5+ tire, and the right shows a Maxxis High Roller II 29er tire.
They make their own axles for Boost (right) because there’s not much of anything actually available now, and because they’re good at machining frame parts.
Been in business 4 years, started with the Pucker titanium trail hardtail (top left) made from U.S. tubing that’s custom drawn for them. That makes it a very expensive frame at $3,295.
The Moonshine is their enduro with 160mm travel front and rear. Large with dropper post supposedly comes in under 28lbs.
