Pushing the boundaries of both production processes and suspension design, the Atherton Bikes A.150 is a masterpiece.
Dave Weagle’s unusual DW6 six-bar suspension design is claimed to glue the bike to the ground and is matched with high-tech carbon tubes bonded into Additive Manufactured 3D-printed titanium lugs.
If that wasn’t enough, there are 22 stock sizes and custom geometry options to fit your needs. This size-11, top-spec A.150.1 costs £7,900 and weighs 15.5kg without pedals.
On the trail, its suspension performance is like enabling a mountain bike cheat code.
High-speed, rough, gnarly descents are totally smoothed out and insulated; you can simply ride faster and in more control than other bikes.
Its geometry is balanced, which builds on the suspension’s next-level composure. No matter the terrain, whether you’re climbing or descending, the Atherton A.150 has perfected the mountain bike formula.
Atherton Bikes A.150.1 frame and suspension
Beautifully svelte carbon tubes – that have been laid up to meet specific strengths and stiffness requirements depending on where they’re used – are joined into the titanium lugs using double lap shear joints.
These joins – where the carbon tubes are slid into the lugs – are then bonded with a special epoxy (glue) used in the aerospace industry and are claimed to be incredibly strong.
The lugs are created with an additive manufacturing technique. Raw titanium particles are melted together using lasers to generate the lugs’ shapes, then heat-treated for strength.
Finally, the bearing surfaces and the bottom bracket are CNC-machined.
Frame details include internally routed cables, bottle bosses within the front triangle and SRAM’s Universal Derailleur Hanger.
A six-bar suspension design has 150mm of travel. This comprises three smaller links plus the chain and seatstay pivots, all connected with pivots.
Despite the increase of pivot points from four (twin-link) to the seven (six-bar) – and therefore bearings – of a four-bar design, Atherton says its platform can withstand plenty of abuse.
The DW6 design is also highly tunable; it’s claimed to be incredibly sensitive to small bumps but with plenty of support and progression for bigger hits.
