The Myotragus Dorothea is a 200mm High Pivot Bike With a Gearbox
The Dorothea20 in the downhill configuration with a 200mm dual-crown fork and MX wheels.
The Myotragus Dorothea isn’t exactly a name that rolls off the tongue, but luckily the Spanish company's 200mm virtual high-pivot frame has enough other talking points to move past the branding. An idler pulley wheel, complex linkages, and gearbox are clear indicators that this isn’t your average gravity bike. A completely rearward axle path moves in nearly a straight line to maintain momentum and retain a long wheelbase for stability.
The Dorothea can be modified to either a 200mm travel downhill bike, or a 170mm enduro bike by using different shock lengths and linkage components. Either configuration can run on dual 29” or mixed wheels to suit the rider’s preferences. In the 200mm setting, the overall progression is extremely high. The pedal kickback is negligible throughout its travel because the idler wheel is mounted to the rotating lower link.
By tweaking the geometry, the OLS suspension system can be fitted with a shorter shock and enduro components for a pedal friendly version.
Campmajó Bikes in Tarragona, Spain takes care of the welding on the Dorothea and can create custom geometry. In the enduro mode, the seat tube angle of the 170mm travel Dorothea can be as steep as 82 degrees for an upright, seated position with the fork resting at up to 65-degree angle, but those numbers can also be much lower. The DH mode could be built as slack 61 degrees and has two chainstay length options - 435mm, or 450mm with a 29” wheel or 420mm or 435mm when a 27,5” wheel is used. Those figures grow to by 20mm once the suspension sags under the rider’s weight.
Myotragus uses a virtual high-pivot layout they call 'OLS Suspension' designed primarily to move the rear axle backwards by 57mm in total. The top link rotates on an eccentric pivot while the lower link moves upwards. The 250x75mm shock is compressed only from below, with respect to the front triangle.
Built in the Catalonia region of Spain, the aluminum frame geometry can be tailored for any size of rider using a unique data acquisition system.
An exploded drawing shows that the seemingly complex Dorothea uses about 30 pieces of hardware.
The axle path moves completely rearward through the 200 or 170mm of travel, depending on the frame configuration.
 | The path of the rear wheel describes practically a backward-sloping straight line, which aligns with the force vectors of impact due to the ground to significantly improve its absorption capacity. |
What looks like a prototype is actually the Spanish brand’s finished product. Raw 7020-T6 aluminum is favored over carbon for the frame construction for durability against rock strikes and to allow for custom geometry. Myotragus also prefers the untreated finish to reduce the weight and cost of the Dorothea. Continuing with the custom theme, the frame can be anodized or painted as well. A bare frame without a shock weighs 3,800 g or 8.38 lb, which puts it around the same weight as a RAAW Madonna frame. Surprisingly, the scissoring linkage and frame components total just over 30 pieces - much less than Norco’s Range which accounts for nearly one hundred parts.
Adding to their industrial ways, a gearbox lowers the center of gravity for the bike and the unsprung weight, while increasing the ground clearance. Pinion’s C1.9XR 9-speed gearbox spins the gears through an oil bath while providing a 463% range. This transmission style also reduces the change in anti-squat since the chain does not move across gears on the rear axle. Due to the small batch, local production, Myotrgus could build the Dorothea to run on a conventional drivetrain as well.
The anti-squat only moves above 100% once weighted in the 20-40% sag range.
An anti-rise value above 100% compresses the suspension when the rear brake is applied.
The leverage ratio is very progressive on the Dorothea. It starts off supple and ramps up at the end abruptly.
Due to the idler located on the lower link, the pedal kickback is negligible throughout the 200mm of travel.
Like Commencal’s Supreme V4 single high-pivot bike, the Dorothea has an anti-rise value around 130%. Pulling the rear brake will compress the rear suspension, but Myotragus prefers how this characteristic preserves the geometry. In their opinion, this doesn’t have any negative effect on how sensitive the suspension is due to the compressive braking forces.
Does it climb like a mountain goat? Probably not, due to the weight and the associated parts that focus on descending. The anti-squat actually starts low and rises to just over 100% as the suspension settles in the sag point. That’s not the only number to account for when discussing pedalling efficiency though. Geometry has an influence on that too.
Although Myotragus is still testing and finalizing the details on the Dorothea, pricing is estimated to land around the €3,000 mark, which could include the custom geometry. For more information or to get in touch with Myotragus, check out their detailed website here and follow them on Instagram.
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Gearbox - Check
No headset routed cables - Check
Tubular Aluminum construction - Check
Beautiful raw finish - Check
I'm going to have to do some serious mental Gymnastics (Mental Slopestyle?) to find a reason not to love this bike.
It is bespoke priced.
Time to dust off the ol' dentist comments.
The old Zerode design where the high pivot is achieved by moving the gearbox up to the location of the main pivot is potentially as efficient as just a gearbox drivetrain, esp. when you consider that Rohloff and (claimed) Kindernay are more efficient than Pinon already. IDK what it would do to the handling & CoG with the gearbox higher.
Like something from folklore.
Do they go to the section of the bike stats where it details the drag factor of the drivetrain?
No. Because there isn't one.
@Trevorjones109 100%. I was initially just going to comment "It's a DH bike." I'm just tired of people moaning about gearbox drag, so I decided to moan back.
I assume you own a G1/G2? My dream DH bike. I'm highly jealous.
TLDR: A pinion gearbox is around 5-6% less efficient than a traditional 1x drivetrain.
Firstly I would like to point out that the drag from a gearbox comes from all of the gears being meshed, all of the time.This data is produced using an 18 speed Pinion P18, which has far more gears than you would ever need for MTB riding. and when you consider that, I don't think that a 5% efficiency loss is actually that bad.
I ride a 12 speed, Pinion P12, which has a 600% range and IMO, still too many gears for MTB.
A 9 speed Pinion P9 is the ideal option for MTB IMO. At 568% range, it still blows Eagle out of the water.
It's got half the gears of the tested 18 speed P18, so even if we only half the efficiency loss, that leaves a P9 at 2.5% less efficient than derailleur. That's nothing!
You would think that if anyone was concerned about drag, it would be people like bikepackers, who pedal for exponentially more distance than MTB'ers... and yet, Pinion is a popular option in this discipline.
They're obviously fools though and should take heed of all the drag moaning from the pro marathon riders here on PB.
Didn't know Pinion made a 6 speed. I take it that this cursed drag everyone keeps complaining about, must be non-existent? (not that it matters on a DH bike)
ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb24098907/p5pb24098907.jpg
f*ck off!
Grip shifters and gearboxes are an awesome combination. The action is very light and precise and you can change as many gears as you want without pedalling.
This is the 1st bike since STRUCTURE.bike that I was looking at for quite a long time studying some interesting details.
Physics doesn't care about their opinions.
Like it's straight from Game of Thrones.
And, not but. "But" implies that you prefer the opposite, that their preference is bad or wrong.
You could even route the cable through the headset so PinkBikers could both love it and hate it at the same time!
OR will it come with chain covers to keep it rolling & any need to maintain?
With that said, there are after market trigger shifters available.
If your not racing, its better going singlespeed
Also PB Users: Errr, I don't like change, it looks weird, I'll stick with a derailleur thanks.
Aside, am I the only one who misses anodized frames? Santa Cruz, Schwinn Homegrown, and weren't some Turners ano as well?