Metal Part II: Apogee Bikes, Prevelo, and Madrone

A minor trend we saw this year was tech employees leaving Silicon Valley to pursue projects in the world of mountain bikes. One of these was Collin Huston, one of the brains behind Apogee's unique platform, and a former Apple employee.

The Apogee is designed to be modular; the rear suspension is contained in a machined aluminum cage, complete with pivots and shock mounts, that a frame can be built around. 8 bolts attach the "Free-Float Module" to the main triangle and another 6 attach the upper (4) and lower stays (2).

The resulting frame will have a linkage-driven single pivot, which Apogee suggests was chosen for both performance and durability. The design itself came from the idea that separating the frame members from the suspension design allowed for a no compromise suspension system that could be made to precise tolerances.

Another benefit of this design is how low it places the weight of the suspension and linkages for improved cornering and stability.

This idea came about when the suspension layout was proposed;  "that was the big challenge, how can we weld this assembly nicely? And there was no way." The resulting design was at best impractical to weld and at worst, impossible to weld. Putting it together with CNC machined aluminum bits that were bolted together resulted in a precise, tidy, light little bit of bouncy business.

The other bonus, at least to some of us, is that the frame material choices expand dramatically. Fancy linkages and chromoly tubes go together like birds and jet engines but they work just fine with this bit of engineering, but titanium and aluminum will as well. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see someone mate the FFM with carbon fibre.

The Ride (in the words of Collin Huston)

"I think the big thing that this bike really optimizes for, what you see in a lot of steel bikes is the torsional rigidity of it. There's where a carbon bike will be really stiff, you know, side to side. The fact that there's kind of this compliance from the material, it’s unbelievable how smooth this bike is. We've got this really nice strong pivot. We're sandwiching the bearings on both inside and outside, but then the rear end can pivot from here and we can twist that rear wheel. So going through chunder or braking bumps you can brake later, feels really smooth and just glued to the ground in the corners."

For now the Apogee team (formerly Albatross?) wants, to build the bikes themselves, using old fashioned chromoly steel rather than farm the modules out to other builders, and we are looking forward to following their progress.

Apogee

Madrone

This may have been my favourite booth at Sea Otter. Madrone exists in part to help users repair SRAM derailleurs that no longer shift smoothly. Company founder Aaron Bland isn't a fan of electronics on bikes, despite his background as a battery engineer working on projects like Amazon's drone fleet,* but he is a fan of repairing rather than replacing.

*Another defector from the tech world

Madrone is making kits, complete with tools, to replace worn and bent parallelogram links and cages for SRAM AXS and mechanical derailleurs. The kits aren't cheap, so they likely only make sense for XO and XX level derailleurs, but extending the usable life of parts that cost between 214 and 753 USD is a worthy endeavour.

The company is also producing a rear derailleur that is compatible with either SRAM or Shimano, with an emphasis on longevity and reduced friction in the mechanism for smooth shifts.

We're looking forward to trying out some of the Madrone products in the near future.

Madrone

Prevelo

The days when kids bikes were all heavy and poorly conceived are slowly receding thanks to companies like Prevelo. The idea is kids bikes that are light, made with components engineered for kids, and fun to ride. That sounds pretty simple.

One of the nicest touches is the handlebars. Rather than adult-sized bars which are 22.2mm in diameter where the grips mount, Prevelos come with 19mm bars and corresponding grips for smaller mitts. Once your kid's grips wear out you can order a set of colourful push-ons from Prevelo for 17 USD or some black ones for 12 bucks. They even have a "trade up club" for when it's time to get your kid onto the next wheel size.

Beyond that, the bikes can be equipped with a KS dropper post with a pivotal saddle mount that allows a deeper drop, small pedals and of course the cranks are of appropriate length. If you are particularly concerned about the weight of your child's bike you can upgrade to a set of carbon cranks (300 USD). Otherwise the prices are not unreasonable for a quality bike. In the 24" wheel size there is a "multi purpose" bike for 600 USD and either a dirt jumper or trail bike for 1300 USD. Prevelo's prices are in USD but they also ship to Canada.

Prevelo