PRODUCT: R3ACTING TO BIGGER HITS
POLYGON BIKES RELEASES THE NEW XQUAREONE DH SERIES
Continuing on with the highly publicized XquareOne EX with R3ACT 2Play suspension platform, Polygon released what will surely be one of the most talked about DH bikes this year. The looks may be polarizing and the unique design gives skeptics plenty of fuel, but the reality is that long before they announced this bike to the masses, it has been proven against the clock by some of the best riders in the world.
THE POLYGON XQUAREONE DH
The XquareOne DH series isn't only made as a pure racing downhill bikes, Polyon Bikes designed this bike to do more than just race the clock – this bike is built as a gravity oriented bike. Using NAILD system, this series of downhill bikes were developed with a wide riding spectrum in mind. Polygon Bikes claimed that they have similar pedaling performance and gear ratio that are comparable with All Mountain bikes.
The Polygon UR team had ridden prototype versions of the XquareOne DH to podiums around the globe and their riders have seen reductions in race run times. This bike is supposed to do more than a typical 218mm DH race machine and riders of the XquareOne DH should be impressed with its ride quality. The XquareOne DH is launched just one year after the release of the 180mm XquareOne EX All Mountain bike. Mick Hannah took the World Championship podium and Tracey Hannah had an impressive 10+ seconds off her fastest race time in Garbanzo DH at Crankworx Whistler. At the same time, Sam Reynolds and Kurt Sorge had been using the XquareOne DH to complete their lifestyle riding for months.
FRAME FEATURES
Most people don’t focus on pedaling efficiency when it comes to their downhill bikes, but a major factor in the design and development of XquareOne DH was in the pedaling capabilities. Polygon worked with the NAILD team to create a system that offers a capable downhill bike that can also be pedaled back up a majority of trails. When ridden with the suggested sag, the XquareOne DH has between 98% to 110% anti-squat value throughout the entire gear & travel range.
Polygon's goal while designing the new XquareOne DH bike was to create a bike that is fun to ride. For this reason they chose to build this bike around 27.5 wheels. The aim is to offer the most enjoyable ride to a wide variety of gravity enthusiasts looking to have fun on their downhill bikes, whether it be shuttling laps on local trails or riding the bike park.
The uniquely shaped frame is fully carbon fiber and weighs 8.8 pounds (with shock) – that's less than 4 kg, and top spec’d complete bikes weigh less than 32 pounds (14.5 kg). To keep the back end short and stiff, the bike was designed around 440mm chainstays length with Super Boost 157mm rear wheel spacing.
To further ease any stiffness concerns, 34mm Torque Caps on non drive set of the rear hub help to keep the rear wheel tracking straight and true.
In keeping true with the latest technological advancements, the XQUARONE DH utilizes 225x75mm Metric shocks with a Trunnion mount. Much like their XquareOne EX line of bikes, the DH models utilize the NAILD R3ACT 2 Play system. The DH frames however, use the Hit It category of tuning that was developed with NAILD and Polygon Bike's factory athletes. The Fox Factory X2 shocks are custom-tuned with light damping circuits to produce the R3ACT ride personality. By reducing the damping restrictions in the shock and allowing the suspension design’s kinematics to handle the heavy lifting, the XquareOne DH should offer lots of rear wheel compliance.
NAILD R3ACT SUSPENSION
NAILD’s unorthodox suspension theory comes from founder, Darrell Voss’ perspective regarding damping. This outside the box thinking was crucial in developing the suspension design on XquareOne equipped bikes. NAILD wanted the Polygon design team to take a step back in their designing progress and look at what dampers do before trying to re-examine what they believed about suspension.
“Dampers equal restriction. Restriction equals resistance. Resistance equals friction. Friction equals loss of energy,” Voss explains.
Rather than adding more damper restriction to compensate for a mediocre suspension design, Polygon and NAILD wanted a bike that needs minimal shock damping restriction. Less friction in the shock means a faster moving rear wheel.
AVAILABLE BUILDS
The XquareOne DH will be available in two builds and frame set. For more information please visit www.polygonbikes.com or visit a Rodalink store near you.
For more information on the Polygon Square One, contact one of these Rodalink outlets:
Rodalink Woodlands
11 Woodlands Close, #01-24,
Singapore 737853
Phone number:+65 6734 9972
Rodalink One Commonwealth
1 Commonwealth Lane,
#01-14/15 One Commonwealth,
Singapore 149544
Phone number:+65 6475 4833
Rodalink East Coast
166B Upper East Coast Road,
Singapore 455270
Phone number: +65 6242 8330
Rodalink Jurong East
18 Boon Lay Way,
Singapore 609966
Phone number: +65 795 4320
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Photos and information by Polygon Bikes