Since the start of the World Cup downhill season, the MS Mondraker team has been riding prototype bikes wearing a jumper. This shrowd has been hiding some of the inner workings of the bike and generating much speculation as to what could be going on underneath.
It's not unusual for brands to do this, while the likes of Pivot and Intense are happy to display their works in progress, others like Specialized and Mondraker opt for a more subversive live testing approach.
In the excitement of the UCI 2023 World Championships, Mondraker has pulled back the cover on their downhill bike to reveal the secrets underneath.
What do we know, well not a lot unfortunately. Mondraker has kept tight-lipped regarding the technical details for the undressed Summum Prototype that will be raced by Tuhoto-Ariki Pene, Brook MacDonald, Toby Meek, and Eleonora Farina.
This is what Mondraker had to say on Instagram, "Prototypes hide things. That’s the way it is. Some things will be used on the production model and others not. Things such as an adjustable bottom bracket height, an updated Zero Suspension System (like the one on the NEAT), adjustable reach, adjustable chainstays and adjustable centre of mass. Things that make a bike seem like a Swiss Army Knife, adapting to every track and every rider. "
The MS Mondraker Team Instagram sheds a touch more light on what we can expect for the future with this prototype.
"Well what can we say about this. The crew at MS Racing has had massive involvement in getting this project of the ground. MS Racing, @sprungsuspension along with the crew at @mondrakerbikes have come up with a whole new kinematics system for the Summum, making the overall feel of the bike like nothing we’ve felt on the Summum before. Changeable torsion braces allow riders and mechanics to get the bike exactly how they want it, along with removable bottom bracket mounts, and a head tube with a greater adjustment to allow geometry changes to the frame without replacing a whole new front triangle.
We’re so excited for you guys to see the frame, our riders have being loving the change and have only good things to say about how the new kinematics system is working, and the amount of adjustment in the frame.
Obviously this isn’t going to be a stock frame, we’re heavily prototyping so you can get the best frame we can make."
No doubt we will see the findings of this prototype Summum being implemented on future Mondraker bikes, for now though all we have is these pictures of the stunning raw alloy prototype frame that will be raced this weekend.
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