First Look: Spot Bikes Launch Gen 2 Ryve 115 Downcountry Bike
We reviewed the generation 1 Spot Ryve 115 back in 2020, but they're back with an updated Gen 2 version. Mike Levy described the first bike as "what happens when you take a bike designed for racing and soften its edges just a bit".
The new version isn't radically different from the first attempt. Spot have tweaked the suspension and stiffness, updated the geometry, and internalized the cable routing. Still, it's interesting to revisit such a unique bike and its quirky suspension design.
Spot Ryve 115 Details
• "Living Link" flex-pivot suspension
• 29", 115 mm travel, 120-130 mm fork
• Reach: 420, 445, 475 & 505 mm
• 66.2° head angle, 75-77.3° seat angle
• Claimed weight from 12.2 Kg / 26.8 lb
• Price: $5,599 to $8,999 (as shown)
• spotbikes.com
• "Living Link" flex-pivot suspension
• 29", 115 mm travel, 120-130 mm fork
• Reach: 420, 445, 475 & 505 mm
• 66.2° head angle, 75-77.3° seat angle
• Claimed weight from 12.2 Kg / 26.8 lb
• Price: $5,599 to $8,999 (as shown)
• spotbikes.com
Living link suspension
Mike Levy goes in-depth on the Spot's suspension in his review, and the basic concept hasn't changed. In short, it's a short-link layout like you'd find on a Mondraker or a Giant, except where the lower-rear pivot connecting the bottom link to the swingarm has been replaced with a flexible piece of carbon. This eliminates one of the most stressed pivots, potentially saving on bearing replacements down the line. But Spot's main reason behind this design is to use the carbon as a leaf spring which adds a significant amount of force at strategic points of the travel, adding to and tweaking the shock's spring curve.
In the chart opposite from Spot's website, you can see how the leaf spring adds to the shock's spring force at around 25% travel and reduces it at 75% travel; at 0%, 50% and 100% travel, the suspension force is the same as you'd get with a conventional pivot.
In the chart opposite from Spot's website, you can see how the leaf spring adds to the shock's spring force at around 25% travel and reduces it at 75% travel; at 0%, 50% and 100% travel, the suspension force is the same as you'd get with a conventional pivot.
There's a lot more made of it on Spot's website, but the basic idea in my view is to make the bike sit higher in its travel at sag, but allow the suspension to move easily through the middle half of its travel (25 to 75%) when you hit a bump.
Weirdly, this is the opposite of what shock designers have been trying to achieve with ever-larger negative spring volumes over the last few years. The obvious downside is that the suspension will presumably feel stiffer near the start of the travel, compromising traction, with a lack of support in the middle of the travel.
For generation 2, Spot says they've developed a new leaf spring mounting system that provides more lateral and torsional stiffness, and the spring itself is now made from titanium rather than carbon fiber. They've also tweaked the leverage curve to give it 25% more progression.
Frame Details
The frame looks very similar to the original version, but there is now full internal cable routing; the old bike had an external rear brake hose and internal gear cable on the swingarm. Tyre clearance is 29x 2.4" and there's a threaded BB.
It's available in two colors: "Matte Hot Tomato" or "Matte Black".
Geometry
The geometry has been tweaked but not reinvented. The head angle is just over one-degree slacker, while the seat tube has become size-specific, becoming steeper in the Large and XL sizes. Aside from that, most of the numbers are identical.
Pricing and specifications
There are four complete build options to choose from, plus a frame only for $3,599. The build options are: 4-Star Build for $5,599; 5-Star Build for $6,799; 6-Star XTR Build for $8,799 & 6-Star AXS Build (as shown) for $8,999.
The Ryve 115 is available now through Spot's website.
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
Light, Cheap, Durable
Pick two, or maybe just one
I'm not sure I'd fully trust it if it was under 30 lbs, carbon or not...lightweight isn't all everyone makes it out to be, in my opinion! Unless it's an XC bike and you're in search of that extra tenth of a second, anyway!
A bike with less than 130mm can be whatever the owner wants it to be. My 120mm Fugitive is not under 30lbs, it actually rivals my Carbon Spire which 170mm. I ride them both in a similar way, cant help it, its just the way I ride. The Fugitive is plenty fun, playful, and is a blast to rail on trails. The Spire, same adjectives, just more capable when it gets real steep and deep.
Buy, build, ride what you want. If YOU need something then do it, dont worry about anyone else.
Travel is not an indicator of bike weight. Intended riding, rider preferences, riding location, are all much more important factors.
Loads of Chromag hardtails out there tipping the scales way higher than 30lbs, and lots of 140 trail bikes coming in under under.
We can only make things so light, while being durable, and competitively priced, theres not really any magic in it.
Maybe we all need a sarcasm font?
But a 140mm 34, is the same as a 130mm and 150. The slightly longer air spring is a fairly minimal weight, to essentially be nothing.
So a Fugitive running 120mm rear, and 140 front is near enough identical to 140r and 170 f….
All my bikes seem to actually be a decent combo of all three, the latest one being a bit more expensive than I’d like.
My wife’s Norco sight, well, it was cheap, it appears durable, but Jesus, it’s not light
A frame intended for a longer fork needs to be stronger and contain more material to deal with a longer lever acting on its structure. A frame with more rear travel has to deal with higher loads under full compression, even when the leverage ratio is held constant.
Also, travel is highly correlated with intended use. For most riders, and most bikes, less travel means the bike is intended for mellower terrain and efficiency is a more desired trait.
Mmmmmm?, A Banshee Phantom at 115mm is going to weight much more then a Spec Stumpy Evo at 150mm
Take a Knolly Fugitive, a Norco Revolver for instance.
Travel, both are/can be 120mm rear travel bikes, but are worlds apart in intended and marketed use. I’ll let you guess which bike is heavier.
All I’m saying is, don’t let a travel number be the factor that leads you to a “this bike must weigh this”, or “a 130 mm bike needs to weigh less than 8 apples”, etc
What 140mm travel bikes are there that in mid-spec (no carbon rims) weigh under 30lbs?
Bonus points for a mid-spec 120-125mm travel bike at 27lbs.
Transition Sentinel GX carbon is 31ish lbs (mine was 30.2)
Transition Scout GX carbon is 31 lbs
Rocky element carbon is 28lbs
Transition Spur is 27ish lbs.
Knolly warden, is either 140, or 120, can easily be 30 lbs, mine is at 32 with cushcore in both wheels.
So while not under 30 lbs, you’ll never know the difference,
Last Devinci Troy that was in my stand weighed in at 30.4 lbs, mid spec, alu wheels.
All of those bikes would be on the burlier side of their respective categories.
My buddies Stumpy EVO, is 28ish lbs, it was a fairly base model carbon bike, but he added fox factory suspension, but still runs Roval alu wheels.
The Sentinel, Instinct, and Stumpy EVO can easily do bike park days. And are excellent trail bikes.
Not sure I or anyone in this thread made comment about the pros/cons of 275 vs 29 wheels.
I was commenting on your point about there being light weight wagon wheels, and that it would stand to reason that there would still be lighter weight 275 wheels.
Everyone riding 29 wheels, just changes the size of the “holes” to now something that resembles a 29 wheel. To continue to get benefit of that thinking, you’d need to move to a bigger wheel every couple years, once a certain wheel size becomes popular.
Around here, 29 wheels are the norm, so the holes, ruts, braking bumps, are sized to match
Burritotanium
Spot, if you're listening, for gen 3, keep the improvements from Gen 2 but add bolt clearance to change pads on the rear brake caliper w/o having to remove the whole thing, and add some in-frame storage or at least some bosses on the underside of the top tube.
Also, the cost for shipping when you proceed through their buying process seems excessive. Upwards of 4-500 CDN$
I really do like the bikes though. Sure would be cool to see a Mayhem 150 test.
Am I a bit biased, maybe! Great friends of mine, but I ride and have lots of other bike brands too! Spot is the slight underdog in the high end bike mrkt, but if you ride one you'll be hard pressed to find something that climbs as well and still descends the way you want it to. The geometry is the best bar none, no stupid "actual and virtual" seat tube angles, its steep that way they should be and if you have a high saddle height your saddle won't end up being behind the rear wheel like so many other "modern" geo bikes, ugh!
The old Ryve was a blast, this one only got better in all the right places
PB, please please get the tech right before throwing someones hard earned work under the bus
No... I do not work for Spot
As for the trend towards larger negative volumes slowing down, can you think of any examples of that? I can't. RockShox updated the Pike, Lyrik, Zeb, SuperDeluxe and Deluxe this year, and all had a larger negative volume than their predecessor. Same with the latest Fox 34, 36, Float X, and X2.
Good spot on the carbon to titanium change. I've added that in - thanks!
We are all just swimming along, trying our best to be successful in this life. Better to lift one another up with positivity, don't you think?
If you don’t think thats a fair idea, maybe you could post where you work, so I can swing by, watch over your shoulder, and publicly display any mistakes you might make.
You get it though eh?
We all make mistakes, but calling people out for them kinda sucks a bit, glass houses and all that.
Trying to now go back and re-frame your initial comment as anything other than trying to be witty at someone’s else’s expense is a worse look. If you’re gonna be that guy, then be that guy, don’t now try to play the victim after being called out on it. There’s a term for that, but it escapes me right now
Not exactly irony, but I get your point, and it’s not lost on me. I’m not entirely sure how else to bring the point up to you, I’d had something a little snarkier typed out, and went back and changed it before I posted it.
You see we all make mistakes, and how we choose to deal with them is the measure of who we are as people.
I’ll try to f*ck right off with my high horse over here, have a good one out there.
You enjoy it, you keep coming back in an attempt to vindicate your initial comment.
Douchebag, or pretentious, or whatever other slanderous comment about my mother you’d like to make, can’t change your initial comment, and your subsequent replies.
Good luck out there man, you might need to get yourself a helmet
Fuel Ex at the seattube/toptube connection.