Privateer Bikes Announces More Gen 2 Bike Details
Joe Connell wins Ard Rock 2023 on a Gen 2 161. Photographer, Sadie Aldridge.
PRESS RELEASE: Privateer Bikes
We're excited to announce our first official details of our Privateer Gen 2 platform, a range that has been in development for 3 years, and has just completed its first season of racing including taking the win at Ard Rock 2023 thanks to Privateer/HUNT rider Joe Connell.
The Gen 2 platform is our most versatile and durable to date, boasting all-new easy-to-use adjustments, and our completely revamped suspension platform combined with our tried and tested forward-thinking geometry, size-specific chainstays rugged alloy construction and huge oversized bearings. Through the development of Gen 2 we've worked with Katy Curd, Fergus Ryan and Joe Connell, listened to our customers and spoken to media veterans, the result is a new platform that wants to ride hard and allows the rider to hit challenging terrain with confidence and consistency.
While this isn't a complete release, we hope there is enough here to keep you excited and whet your appetite for early 2024.
Privateer Gen 2 testing early 2023. Photographer, Sadie Aldridge.
Geometry Highlights:
- Size-specific chain stays
- Steep seat angles
- Flip-chip adjustable rear centre
- Flip-chip mullet adjustment
- Full insertion seatpost
To maximise confidence Privateer want to provide balanced and stable handling. Building on our size-specific chain stays we have now included a rear centre flip chip to allow the rider to adjust the weight distribution.
We also spent time testing rear wheel sizes, discovering that riders had distinct preferences based on the trails they rode or their personal tastes. For the Gen 2 bikes, we've introduced a versatile flip-chip feature. This enables riders to easily switch between 27.5” and 29” wheels.
Flip chips in Gen 2 allow for the use of mixed wheels or to adjust the rear centre without affecting the geometry.
Suspension Highlights:
- Sensitive off the top
- Plenty of support in the mid-stroke
- Ample bottom-out resistance
- Stable under braking
- Great balance of pedalling support and grip
 | Confidence is everything; if you feel confident, you’ll ride well. For me, that means predictability, consistency and reliability so the bike always responds how you'd expect. We explored options, like high pivot designs, but found the best balance in a Horst layout. By designing the geometry, suspension and manufacturing holistically, I squeezed out every bit of confidence I could. The result of it all is bikes that absolutely rip and I’m excited to see quite how far they can be pushed!” |
We have designed the suspension to be supple at the start of the stroke to minimise fatigue with plenty of linear progression for support in the middle of the stroke and enough bottom-out resistance so you can really push on.
We have balanced chassis stability and grip under braking so you can attack the trail with confidence braking as late as you want. A great balance of pedalling support and traction in all gears means the bike is ready to get on the gas when needed.
Our forged one-piece rocker perfectly aligns all the bearings for smooth performance and long-lasting durability.
Durability and Serviceability Highlights:
- Oversized bearings
- Secondary seals on all bearings
- Forged one-piece rockers
- Single tool hardware
- External cable routing
- Room for a large bottle and tool on every size
- Replaceable ISCG mount
- Extensive frame protectors
Any time you spend working on your bike, you’re not riding – and we’d always rather be riding. We’ve sweated the details to make these bikes as durable and long-lasting as we can. Oversized bearings deal with high forces better and a secondary O-Ring seal on all bearings keeps the grime out. These are pressed into a forged one-piece rocker and a frame that is CNC’d after heat treatment for excellent alignment to give silky suspension and extended bearing life.
We've made working on the bike as easy as possible with external cable routing and have single-sided hardware meaning you can fettle anything on the frame with a single multi-tool. Even with a piggyback shock, all frame sizes will fit a large bottle and we’ve put a tool mount under the top tube for those essentials meaning you can ditch the pack.
The production version of our Gen 2 platform will see some development changes, but all adjustments and features shown here will remain. Production frames will also be available in new colours.
We're stoked to be launching the Privateer Gen 2 range very soon, with pre-orders starting in early February 2024. For more information and to watch Gen 2 videos featuring our development team and riders, head over to the Privateer Bikes website.
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Not all of us ride a large bike, and getting a bigger bottle on my medium would be great
I think it looks acceptable.
I also have a Knolly, and hated the look of them, but then I rode it, god damn if it isnt a great riding bike!
Im experienced enough not to jump to conclusions based solely on appearance, or others opinions. Imagine how small your world would be if you didnt allow for different experiences, that would be a bummer
Feels like we're getting notice of how things are changing/getting better instead of just getting dumped with all the details at once.
Btw, still love my 141 =-)
All that said, still the best bike I've ever bought, thing is effing mint. Depending on the changes, might consider an upgrade.
They build great well thought out bikes (I own a 141 and a 161) which work just fine. Aside from that I like how they look, gen 1 and also gen 2.
I owned so many good bikes (Giant ATX dh, Foes Weasel, (old) Polygon, Transition Patrol and others) but Privateer just got me.
Compared to other companies their price is really acceptable - hope this won't change for gen 2.
And yes, please stick with aluminum. Black and raw are the best!
My gravel came with fancy torx bottle mounts, yet has centerlock disc brakes, its stem cap is M3, stem bolts are M4 and lever bolts are M5... I could go on and on and on, it just makes me cringe to have a "ligh" carbon bike that makes me carry 200gr of tools hahaha.
How much is shipping to Germany or rest of Europe outside of UK? 15€ for max or two hangers. How much is it for one more ? 25€ ...
Sorry this is BS, those hangers bend like cheese. I don't say it's bad but you really need a lot of them. I could bend if I only travel with the bike and don't ride it. It's mandatory to remove the derailleur otherwise a super small bend will make it impossible to shift the 12 speed smooth.
Yet they spec an x2 can on the back. Comedy gold