Downhill pro Neko Mulally has been building and racing his own bikes for a couple of years now but here’s something altogether new: a prototype bonded frame, which also hides an unreleased electronic Fox shock and prototype ENVE wheels.
Displayed on the Continental stand at the Sea Otter Classic in California, the front triangle features aluminium tubes bonded into CNC-machined lugs. The existing production downhill frame from Frameworks, Mulally’s brand, uses conventional welded construction.
Atherton Bikes has been making waves with its bonded frames and this is Frameworks’ take, brought to life as a result of a partnership with Quebec-based engineering company Faction Bike Studio.
Mulally’s bike also teases a couple of other unreleased tech gems: a Fox shock with what looks to be an electronic lockout, and unreleased ENVE wheels.
Mulally describes the bonded frame, which uses a carbon fibre rear triangle, as “an experiment”.
“The advantage of going bonded is that there are no heat-affected zones,” adds Mulally. “You can be more creative in the way you make the bike, compared to welding.
“When the bike is finished, the tolerance of everything is going to be perfect; the accuracy of all the pivot points is going to be perfect.”
The bonded frame, which has the same geometry and suspension kinematics as Frameworks’ existing DH bike, is also lighter, with a claimed weight saving of around 300g versus the welded frame.
This is a prototype being real-world-tested by Mulally after undergoing lab testing. He says he’s ultimately “not sure” of the future of the frame, but he “wanted to try a different construction technique” and to see how it stands up to riding and racing.
The bike also sports a wireless Fox shock. We don’t have any details on this but there’s an accompanying remote on the handlebar.
Finally, Mulally’s bike gives us another look at ENVE’s unreleased wheels, which we first showed you on Brendan Fairclough’s Scott Ransom a couple of weeks ago.
An ENVE representative told BikeRadar that the wheelset is still being fine-tuned, but the wheels are built to offer more compliance, partly to combat the rising stiffness of frames and forks.
We’ll bring you more when you know more. For now, you can check out all of our coverage from Sea Otter 2024.
