I'm trying to put myself in SRAM's shoes - they already have a history of taking the basic concept behind what people have been cobbling together using their parts - adding some improvements that make sense - then selling it as a bespoke unit for a higher price tag, and laughing all the way to the bank (does 1x drivetrains ring a bell?).
I think the way they'd do that in this case would be to bring back the Totem name, and do something like a preload-adjustable coil sprung negative setup to make it really stand out as 'the' rad long travel single crown offering. They'd be in a fairly small market, shared only with other really high priced offerings (RFX-Coil, and a Fox36 R2C2 type coil)... then again I'm personally just too jazzed about how nicely my Pike is now running with a Luftkappe setup.
I think the true selling point is that there undeniably would be a parade of OEM customers to them wanting to have the ability to make a handy all-mountain bike that can run a Lyrik/Pike/Yari with a SuperDeluxe/Deluxe package across the whole line, and then be able to have a halo model rocking the Totem//LyrikCOIL and SuperDeluxeCOIL. The bike manufacturers no longer have to source anything crazy to give the entire model line an enviable amount of credibility as a hard-shredding bike.
Arguably the Vivid/Lyrik would make more sense on slightly lighter setups where the linkage doesn't provide a very progressive ratio, but having a top end air and coil option would make sense - and to support that, I think there is a case for keeping it as a Lyrik-Coil - then the top offering is going to be Lyrik/SuperDeluxe for long travel stuff, and both have an air and coil option... I just have a suspicion that SRAM engineers would want to take the opportunity to get in a touch more product differentiation, and that would justify a name change. If they don't, then the Lyrik-Coil could be a 2018 model year item, and probably would be a big hit.
March 22, 2017, 5:18 p.m. - Tehllama42
I'm trying to put myself in SRAM's shoes - they already have a history of taking the basic concept behind what people have been cobbling together using their parts - adding some improvements that make sense - then selling it as a bespoke unit for a higher price tag, and laughing all the way to the bank (does 1x drivetrains ring a bell?). I think the way they'd do that in this case would be to bring back the Totem name, and do something like a preload-adjustable coil sprung negative setup to make it really stand out as 'the' rad long travel single crown offering. They'd be in a fairly small market, shared only with other really high priced offerings (RFX-Coil, and a Fox36 R2C2 type coil)... then again I'm personally just too jazzed about how nicely my Pike is now running with a Luftkappe setup. I think the true selling point is that there undeniably would be a parade of OEM customers to them wanting to have the ability to make a handy all-mountain bike that can run a Lyrik/Pike/Yari with a SuperDeluxe/Deluxe package across the whole line, and then be able to have a halo model rocking the Totem//LyrikCOIL and SuperDeluxeCOIL. The bike manufacturers no longer have to source anything crazy to give the entire model line an enviable amount of credibility as a hard-shredding bike. Arguably the Vivid/Lyrik would make more sense on slightly lighter setups where the linkage doesn't provide a very progressive ratio, but having a top end air and coil option would make sense - and to support that, I think there is a case for keeping it as a Lyrik-Coil - then the top offering is going to be Lyrik/SuperDeluxe for long travel stuff, and both have an air and coil option... I just have a suspicion that SRAM engineers would want to take the opportunity to get in a touch more product differentiation, and that would justify a name change. If they don't, then the Lyrik-Coil could be a 2018 model year item, and probably would be a big hit.