When Gizmag was poking around at Interbike 2013 earlier this week, we were particularly interested in finding unique products that would catch the eye of even non-cyclists. Well, when we saw Scurra's Hard Enduro mountain bike, we knew we'd hit pay dirt. The bizarre-looking bike forgoes a traditional telescopic suspension fork, and instead uses a linkage combined with a rear shock for its front suspension. The setup allows for seven inches (178 mm) of travel, along with some other claimed benefits.
Scurra founder/engineer Martin Trebichavsky was quick to point out that the two bikes on display were proof-of-concept prototypes, and that a commercial version of the Hard Enduro would be considerably simpler and lighter ... although at 33 pounds (15 kg), the existing bikes aren't obscenely overweight as it is.
The patented Trelever front suspension utilizes a pivoting parallelogram system, to link the front wheel to a stock DT Swiss M212 rear shock. That shock is located in the middle of the aluminum frame, and sits head-to-head with another identical shock, which handles the rear suspension.
Trebichavsky says that in its current form, the Trelever system weighs roughly the same as some suspension forks. It would be good to see it lose at least a bit of that weight, though, as the one bike that we lifted did feel slightly front-heavy.
Martin also told us that along with its seven inches of travel (for a 29-inch wheel), one of Trelever's other selling points is its enhanced front wheel control. It is also said to offer a minimum of suspension response lag, low unsuspended mass, and a very stable yet agile ride.
The best way to verify these claims, of course, is to try out a commercial version of the Hard Enduro for yourself. That probably won't be possible until at least next March, when the bike is scheduled to reach the market. It should be priced at a rather intimidating €9,000 (US$12,000), which will include a transport case.
For another interesting approach to mountain bike front suspensions, take a look at the Lauf leaf-style fork.
This design is almost identical to Whyte Bikes' PRST1 and JW-2 bikes from 2000! This design looks rather more fragile and less practical though. It's also similar (in layout) to Muddy Fox's "Interactive" system from 1995, though that did even freakier stuff by synchronising front and rear suspension!
I like this kind of design - one of the problems with regular telescopic forks is that stiction (resistance to initial movement, static friction in the fork due to contamination, poor lubrication etc) is relatively large as there is 1:1 relationship between movement of the suspension and the wheel. Rear suspension tends to be much smoother as the wheel has far more leverage on a shorter shock (e.g. the shock on an 8" travel bike might only compress by 2"), so stiction's static friction is more easily overcome and you get better small-bump performance.
Silly price though.
I agree $12K is ludicrous for this monstrosity. I get that it’s a prototype but it’s still ugly as sin and too heavy.
The components are not even high end and for that price I'd be expecting the very best.
10/10 for ingenuity though.
I'm not up to speed on the technicalities of mountain biking but wouldn't this be detrimental? It seems to me that if the tire/wheel rotated back that it would take energy away from the riders forward momentum, I may be looking at it all wrong though.
I barely know anyone with a suspension bicycle that leaves pavement on it and most real world people keep it under about 20 MPH.
Competitive/fast down hill mountain biking is the single instance I can even think of where suspension is needed and that makes up about 0.0001% of actual cycling.
Nearly all of that other 99.99% of the time the suspension adds useless weight to the bicycle and absorbs some of your wrath when you do try on some gohard.