100mm full suspension carbon 29er with iconic Maple leaf paint job
The new Element is being promoted as one of the new breed of XC or marathon race bikes.
Light, stiff, not masses amount of travel and still with geometry that’s slack for a XC rig but still pretty steep for a trail bike.
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Need to know
- 29er full suspension
- 120mm fork, 100m rear travel
- ‘Smoothlink’ four-bar suspension design
- Carbon fibre frame (2,250g claimed weight inc. shock and hardware)
- Adjustable geometry via flip-chip in rocker link
- Compatible with double chainring drivetrains
- Small to XXL sizes with size-specific shock tunes
The head angle in its slackest setting is 69 degrees so it’s no chopper but it’s a little bit calmer than previous Elements. The fork offset has been increased with an eye to keeping steering on the quick side.
The reach has been increased and the seat angle angle has been steepened (74.5 degrees in slackest setting) to keep in check with contemporary short-stem-wide-bars cockpit tastes and longer-is-better handling theory.
The frame will comfortably fit 29 x 2.35 tyres in there with mud room to spare, so there’s clearly potential for sticking some chunky, aggro rubber on the bike.
The geometry is adjustable by the ‘Ride-9’ flip-chip in the rocker linkage. It doesn’t change things massively geometry-wise – just one degree and a few mm at the BB height – but it does also change the feel/rate of the suspension from punchy to plusher.
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It’s a super looking bike a no mistake. The classic red and white Maple leaf paintjob is obviously the eye-catcher here but the other paintjobs are pretty sweet too…
What else of note is there?
It’s Di2 ready. It holds two water bottles inside the front triangle. Internal cable routing.
And how about those flush-sided chainstay pivots? They help prevent heel rub as well as just looking swish.