Q. Does your bike only work with a DVO shock? All shocks will work with this suspension.

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Q. Do you have a carbon fiber model? Not yet. The frame weighs 7lbs 9oz but after riding it you will be able to deal with the added weight for the suspension's performance.

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Q.Are the dropouts replaceable? Yes, there are 142 mm dropouts available.

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Q. Do you ship world wide? Yes

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Q. Do you sell frames only? Yes

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Q. What sizes do you offer? 27.5" and 29"

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Q. How much does the geometry steepen with the Missing Link? 3-4 degrees at the head tube and seat tube taking it from 66/73 to 69/76 degrees--all without switches or levers.

 

 

Q: "You claim that the Missing Link offers advantages that are not available with any other design. How can that be true with so many great suspension designs on other bike brands?"

A: It is true that there are many great bikes out there with very capable suspensions. The most common and generally highly regarded, are the so-called “virtual” or “floating” pivot. These use a rear triangle that pivots on 2 arms or links. These 2 links provide a pivot in space that creates an anti-squat geometry. This anti-squat provides resistance to suspension compression due to chain and pedaling forces, using the combined forces on the 2 links to essentially “jack” the suspension into anti-squat. Only so much anti-squat can be used or the suspension will extend and release back to sag level with each downward pedal stroke. A high single pivot is essentially an anti-squat suspension, an early Cannondale Super V or Santa Cruz Super 8 were very highly anti-squat and exhibited undesirable extension and release during hard pedal strokes. Even with current state of the art designs, all bikes come with a shock lockout to prevent compression during hard pedaling.

The missing link does not use floating pivot induced anti-squat.

 

Instead, it goes a bit further, by tying in the chain, bump and pedaling forces directly to the top of the rear damper mount, where it is combined with normal vertical bump input from the rocker. In this way, it simply adds or subtracts to the normal spring rate, directly at the shock. More resistance to forward motion, i.e. hill climb, adds a consistent, well modulated amount of spring force. This allows the actual sag level of the bike to be reduced during hard pedaling efforts, by changing the force to directly compress the shock.

In a max climb situation, the sag will actually; eventually be at zero, with the shock fully extended. The rider will have been unaware of the extension, as it happens smoothly as climbing effort increase, but the bike will feel like a hardtail, with 3+ degree steeper head tube and seat tube angles than the sag, or static angles. There is no extend and release with pedal strokes. In fact , a lockout is completely redundant and unnecessary.

But when you hit a bump, the link automatically rotates the opposite direction, making the spring rate softer, allowing the shock to easily compress over bumps.

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Q. What is the frame geometry of the Meltdown and Outburst?

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