Quiring Cycles

I can remember a time when mountain bike suspension meant letting a little extra air out of the tires.  That was almost 25 years ago, and we were on heavy bikes that were primarily available in very stout-riding double diamond frames and rigid forks.  After a bumpy race, this sometimes also meant bent seatposts, bent handlebars, sore body parts, hurting hands, and dizzied vision!  Wow, how times have changed.  Today's suspension design has undergone over two decades of refinements and lead to reliable designs and improved performance. 

In creating a full-suspension frame design, it is important to make a strong and stiff swing-arm.  Second, it is important to locate the pivots and linkages so the suspension design works well over the rough terrain.  Last but not least, a solid performing air-sprung shock such as one with platform dampening or pro-pedal technology helps the rider not waste as much energy that he puts into the cranks. 

Fitting the bill for some of these above traits in design has been swing-arms made by Ventana Mountain Bikes, which are made in USA.  I was flattered to find out that Sherwood Gibson, the president of the company, and Treasa Franco, the business guru of Ventana,  were willing to sell small builders such as myself their super high quality Ventana rear swing-arm assemblies in 26 inch, 650b, and 29 inch wheel sizes. 

The Ventana designed swing-arms are very stiff from side to side.  They have replaceable and serviceable cartridge bearings at each pivot point for a longer life.  Lastly, the design is very progressive, which means that it has active travel, but at the same time it is very hard to bottom out the suspension.  Using the Ventana swing-arms in my frames means that I can focus on the fabrication and custom fit of the front triangle and not waste time re-inventing the wheel in terms of the rear end of the bike. The best option for the ultimate performance is a front triangle made of titanium. 

Starting in the fall of 2010 I was sent some of the first swing-arm parts from Ventana, and fabricating front triangles began.  In keeping with our goal of showcasing some of the top builds in 2011, above is one such tasty mountain bike: a full suspension Quiring titanium frame using 26-inch wheels and 100 mm of travel front and rear.  The headtube badge was custom made to the customer's tastes by Jen Green (http://www.headbadges.com/).   Additionally, I etched the snowflake pattern into the frame to match this headtube badge design.  Another interesting design feature of this frame is the use of the 44 mm Chris King headset, which allows for the use of 1.5" x 1.125" tapered steerers or straight 1.125" steerers.

Mountain bikes sure have come a long way in 25 years!   

Photos courtesy of Rob G.