First Look: Carbon Wasp Truffle - A UK-Made Carbon Downcountry Bike
Carbon Wasp, a UK manufacturer of carbon mountain bikes and aero time trial bars, has updated its flagship frameset, the Truffle. Its flex-pivot linkage delivers 120mm rear wheel travel, a number that would typically place it in the XC category were it not for the 65.5° head angle it's married to.
Indeed, the Truffle has evolved into a bike worthy of the nascent downcountry category, and this latest iteration brings with it a UDH dropout for Transmission compatibility, with size-specific chainstay lengths also added to the feature list.
Indeed, the Truffle has evolved into a bike worthy of the nascent downcountry category, and this latest iteration brings with it a UDH dropout for Transmission compatibility, with size-specific chainstay lengths also added to the feature list.
Truffle Details
• UK-Made Carbon Frame
• 29" wheels
• In-frame storage
• 120mm fork
• 120mm rear wheel travel
• 65.5° head angle
• Size-Specific Chainstay Lengths
• £2,950 (frame and shock)
• carbonwasp.com
• UK-Made Carbon Frame
• 29" wheels
• In-frame storage
• 120mm fork
• 120mm rear wheel travel
• 65.5° head angle
• Size-Specific Chainstay Lengths
• £2,950 (frame and shock)
• carbonwasp.com
Frame Details
The Carbon Wasp Truffle began life as a 140mm travel Horst-link trail bike, but over the years has evolved into the 120mm travel flex-pivot bike you see today. Now, a 185mm x 50mm trunnion shock damps forces from rear wheel displacement, and bearings are used at each pivot point (with the exception of the flexing one of the seat stay, of course). The leverage ratio starts at 3.1, finishing up around 1.9.
Granted, the Truffle is not remarkably different to its immediate predecessor, with many of the changes coming down to a matter of how the frame is actually made. One of the key changes, however, is the addition of size-specific chainstay lengths and the UDH.
The frame also sees a storage hatch on the downtube. The front triangle can be made sans cable ports at the headtube, for those partial to thru-headset cable routing, but designer Adrian doesn't foresee that being a popular option. Cables aren't guided through the front triangle, but they are guided through the stays.
The Truffle has a claimed frame weight of 2.1 kg (size large). Though respectably light, it's not as light as some of the XC-dedicated flex-pivot frames from the mainstream brands. That said, it's likely no bad thing for this frame to be carrying some additional carbon, given the slack(ish) head angle and the extra confidence it may endow its rider with.
Geometry
There are four frame sizes on offer, each with a majority straight seat tube at 76°, with plentiful insertion depth for the fitment of long travel droppers. Reach comes in at 430mm, 455mm, 480mm and 510mm across the S-XL range. The 120mm fork is supported at a head angle of 65.5°. While Adrian Smith, frame designer and fabricator, provides a recommended chainstay length range (over 10mm) for each frame size, the final length is to be decided by the customer.
Carbon Wasp is able to offer this premium custom geometry feature with some degree of economy thanks to the way in which the swingarms are made. Instead of a multitude of molds for a multitude of rear-center lengths, there is a single mold only, with the chainstay and seatstay ends extended to a maximum possible length. After the part has been made, Carbon Wasp are able to machine away the superfluous carbon material and drill the pivot location to make a swingarm of the desired length.
IS Mount, with maximum rotor size of 200mm
Minimum tire clearance of 29" x 2.5"
Also helping to keep costs down is the way in which Carbon Wasp make their prototypes. Before investing in a very expensive metal mold, they 3D print epoxy tooling boards to use as more cost-efficient molds, as they figure out exactly what geometry they want to commit to. Such a mold is somewhere in the region of a tenth of the cost of a production-worthy mold. Still, the epoxy tooling boards do produce rideable prototypes - the bike seen throughout is one such frame.
As pictured, this size large Carbon Wasp Truffle weighs a claimed 12 kg (26.5 lb)
Pricing & Availability
Despite Carbon Wasp's efforts to keep the price of prototyping and manufacture down, realistically, a UK-made carbon frame is never going to be that affordable. The Truffle frame, sans shock, will set you back £2,600. With a Cane Creek DB IL Air, the price is bumped up to £2,950. Carbon Wasp do not yet offer a complete build.
The frame (one size, initially) is set to undergo the TRI-Test at EFBE in Germany and as a result, Carbon Wasp will be offering a lifetime warranty with repair or replacement as necessary. The brand welcomes customer enquiries now.
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As long as they have a video of Rabia shredding on it..
Why not classify bikes based on travel and leave it be?
Aren't numbers the way we choose the size of other sporting tools, such as skis/snowboards?
Seems like a fair trade off to me.
Are you implying that Mr Levy is dead, and has been buried, a la Willy The Wimp, in a cherished piece of outdoor paraphernalia?
This is a linkage driven single pivot.
It left Horst-ville when it put a (flex) pivot above the axle. It will have literally identical performance as any other single pivot on the brakes.
Why is this so damn difficult? The current Stumpy gets called so many things, but never a single pivot. And it gets compared to more 'sophisticated' suspension designs but it does exactly what any other faux bar suspension does. (Discounting the specific shock tune and leverage ratio of course)
Just a long time pet peeve of how bad most mtb reviews truly are. Come on, it's not like it's your job....
Oh wait.
And calling this a 'flex pivot' type of suspension is silly at best. It's just a single pivot and by giving brands that make 'premium' bikes a pass on them being single pivot and labeling budget bikes as having 'simple' suspension is a disservice.
What does downcountry MTB mean?
You may have heard the word “downcountry” bouncing around in the mountain bike world. If you're wondering what that means, simply put, a downcountry bike is a light and efficient short-travel mountain bike that is very good at climbing but also a capable descender
What is considered a trail bike?
Enduro vs trail bikes | What are the differences? - BikeRadar
Suspension and travel
Designed with versatility in mind, trail bikes commonly have between 120 and 160mm of suspension travel. Trail bikes with 120mm of travel will appeal to riders who value climbing efficiency over descending prowess, offering a ride that could be compared to a capable cross-country bike.
Downcountry mountain bikes
'Downcountry' is a relatively new mountain bike discipline and isn't that well defined as a result. But in terms of suspension, these bikes range from beefed up cross-country at 110mm of travel, to lightweight trail with around 130mm front and rear travel.
Si hits the nail on the head at the end of this video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5NrFMB-LH0
old XC bikes are now gravel bikes
New XC bikes though are what was downcountry which is now obsolete as a category, XC doesnt sound as cool for marketing as XC was about lycra, but downcountry is just XC.
I'm not supposed to talk about this, and there is a sinister black Tacoma parked outside my home.
Every
Everyday I’m bumbling
The more travel, the more extreme the static angles have to be to produce the desired dynamic angles.
always love seeing your name in a thread- guarantees some great insight
You said capitalism 'works. Lol.