Above: My new Bionicon Edison. Never heard of Bionicon? They're just like any other bike, except for the fact that it has on-the-fly adjustable geometry, made possible through a pneumatic link between the fork and a slave cylinder on the rear damper. Best of all, the adjustment is available courtesy of a handlebar mounted button and a simple weight shift. To steepen the geometry, simply push the magic button and rock your weight forward. The fork reduces its travel (staying active throughout), and the rear damper effectively lengthens, causing the bike to adopt a distinctly nose-down attitude.
Here is the fork in its fully-extended 150mm travel position.
And the rear damper in its "dh geometry" position.
Now here's the damper in "climbing" geometry. See the extra (darker grey) section that appeared at the front of the shock shaft? That's the slave cylinder effectively lengthening the shock, which raises the rear end of the bike, yet still allows the full 150mm of rear travel.
And here's the fork in its "climbing" position. It only has 70mm of travel at this point, but it still feels plush, and when climbing something steep enough to warrant this extreme geometry position, you're not going to be using 150mm of travel up front anyway.
The best part of the equation is that, even with 6-inches of travel, the Bionicon only weighs 30lbs -- and that's with most of the parts from my 41lb Stinky Deluxe! So much for the Stinky D weight loss program -- I just upgraded to a lighter, but still super capable, ride!
Believe-it-or-not, the fork operates on an all-air system -- there is no damping oil. Yet it feels as good as any 150mm travel fork I've ridden as far as travel quality goes. Did I mention the fork is made by Suntour? Crazy... I still can't believe it works as well as it does. Plus, for a double crown fork, it's super light! The only other double crown fork that's lighter is the Maverick DUC-32.
So you're probably asking yourself how I got a hold of such a unique bike, when clearly there are no Bionicon dealers in Nebraska -- and that's a good question. My good buddy Mic (in Colorado) and his good buddy Paul Ferguson (a former pro snoboarder) are the principles in Bionicon USA. They are the US distributors of the bike -- Bionicon itself is located in Germany, and they've been offering the bike in Europe for almost five years now. It's very well proven. All of the pneumatic components come from the medical industry, and they've proven to be very durable over time.
Czech out the whole Bionicon deal at http://www.bioniconus.com. I'm always happy to let the bike loose for test rides too. Just get a hold of me.
Cheers,
MG
8 comments:
And remember kids, 2 teams at the Moab 24 hour race were on these bikes!
DH fun, XC racing?
Glad to see you're getting it together.
I want to see a blog called "girsib's bike of the month"
that bike is a pretty cool concept.
i am jealous of all your two wheeled toys, man.
"I want to see a blog called "girsib's bike of the month"
YEAHHHH. me too.
i guess i'm pretty lucky. i have to admit that.
all of you who've been in my basement (or my old garage in boulder) would be surprised at how few bikes i have built-up right now. it's pretty much my salsa, bontrager ti (ss) and the bionicon. oh and the old trek 930 commuter, but i recall the days when i had ten or more bikes built at any given time -- and rode most of them regularly.
maintenance on that many bikes gets to be a hassle though...
i think my stable is pretty much set for this season, barring any 'unforseen' needs... ahem.
:-}
mg
you need to get a gps unit on that 930. thing took me all the way to walton before I realized I wasn't headed into town from jp's pad.
maybe it was the beer.
wow, you only got me beat by one bike, brother. gotta find a cheap track bike soon so we'll be tied. 3 bikes, 3 gears. i like fads.
LOL... Lenny, you're a funny dude. I miss ya' buddy.
I just got the 930 back, actually. I'd lent it to a guy while I worked on his bike, so he could do the race at Tranquility a couple of weeks ago.
That thing has been everywhere, and it's even survived me running it into my garage! It refuses to die, and for that I'm glad.
Cheers,
MG
Don't run those tires in the mud.
LOL... debaser, after your awesome Blue Groove/Nevegal 2.35 experience in Fruita, I actually put the same tires on my Bionicon.
I can't wait for the first mud ride. That'll rock. Brrrrraaaaaaapppp!!
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