I just moved from a Chilcotin 159 to the Fugitive 138 (but with a 160mm fork). The suspension design sounds a lot like my Fugitive. Very supportive platform paired with lots of progression so it's quite supple off the top and around sag, but doesn't easily give up the deeper travel easily. Which for me, I like... I really like the supportive nature of the bike for climbing, pumping, racing and keeping speed... but with the progression you don't have to worry about charging into big hits, drops and gnarly stuff as the design "has your back". Paired with a good coil, it's very good. The platform and progression allows you wind off much of the high and low speed damping and just let the shock and suspension design do the work... feels great.
My Chilcotin was a different beast... more of a traditional "enduro bike" feel. Still some good progression baked into the design (worked well with a coil), but not as much as the Fugitive and it sounds like the Arrival has.. but still has that Knolly magic feeling rear end. Of course I was on the 159 version... I'd assume the 151 would feel a little more supportive than the 159 or, of course, the 167. So probably depends on what and how you like to ride.
May 25, 2022, 9:36 a.m. - IslandLife
I just moved from a Chilcotin 159 to the Fugitive 138 (but with a 160mm fork). The suspension design sounds a lot like my Fugitive. Very supportive platform paired with lots of progression so it's quite supple off the top and around sag, but doesn't easily give up the deeper travel easily. Which for me, I like... I really like the supportive nature of the bike for climbing, pumping, racing and keeping speed... but with the progression you don't have to worry about charging into big hits, drops and gnarly stuff as the design "has your back". Paired with a good coil, it's very good. The platform and progression allows you wind off much of the high and low speed damping and just let the shock and suspension design do the work... feels great. My Chilcotin was a different beast... more of a traditional "enduro bike" feel. Still some good progression baked into the design (worked well with a coil), but not as much as the Fugitive and it sounds like the Arrival has.. but still has that Knolly magic feeling rear end. Of course I was on the 159 version... I'd assume the 151 would feel a little more supportive than the 159 or, of course, the 167. So probably depends on what and how you like to ride.