GALAGO V1.0
The Galago is a mountain bike designed for trail, all mountain and enduro riding.
Each frame is handmade from steel tubes and 3D-printed stainless steel components. It rolls on a 29″ wheel up front and a 27.5″ wheel on the back. With a 160mm travel fork as standard.
Frame suspension travel is dependent on the length of chainstays.
E.g. Medium sized 442mm chainstays deliver 152mm of vertical rear wheel travel via 230x65mm shock.
Materials & process
Our frames are made with a mixture of additive manufactured stainless steel lugs and traditionally mitered and TIG welded carbon steel tubes.
Lugs are printed from 316L stainless steel and we use T45, Reynolds and Dedacciai tubing.
Additive manufacturing allows for enormous design flexibility and the ability to produce a much wider range of sizes than mass-produced bikes.
Suspension design
This bike uses a mono-pivot suspension system to make maintenance easier and cheaper so that you spend more time riding.
The leverage ratio is almost completely linear giving the suspension an extremely predicable feel. We are strong believers in the benefit of getting your shock’s damping characteristics tuned to your weight and riding style. Linear suspension systems generally make this task easier.
The rigid swing-arm is designed to reduce stress concentrations by more evenly distributing the forces from the wheel. There are no pivots (which must be stiff to maintain their shape) on the chainstays or seatstays and no fasteners that apply a preload the material around the bearing housings.
The suspension is designed to be close to anti-squat neutral when the rider is seated to produce a stable pedaling platform.
The flex of the frame itself also plays a role how the wheels track the ground. The slender steel tubes will tend to bend more under load than their aluminium and carbon fiber counterparts.
All this adds up to a bike that is lively and responsive when you put the pedal strokes in, but delivers buckets of traction through the rough.
Configurable
Making a bike that fits the rider is as important the components that make it up.
There are 5 standard front triangle and 3 standard rear triangle sizes, these can be configured to produce 149-163mm of rear travel and a range of geometries. The front and rear are modular so you can mix and match to customize the feel and fit of your bike.
Some combinations are more suitable than others this is what we recommend:
Head tube length and angle can also customised to produce a uniquely fitting bike. We recommend a head tube between 120-130mm in length and a head angle between 63-65 degrees.
Low part count
No flip chips or built in frame adjustments, and a simple suspension design means less weight, less cost and less to go wrong.
Standard metric fasteners are used throughout so replacements are easier to source.
Plain bushings
All 3 suspension pivots consist of hardened stainless steel axels running in plain bushings (rather than sealed ball bearings).
Bushings are cheaper, more compact and more suited to high force, low speed rotation than ball bearings. We’ve used lubricated steel backed PTFE bushings on this prototype.
There are 4 bushings in total:
- In the main pivot : 2x 18mm OD x 20mm wide
- In the shock eyelets: 2x 19/32″ (15.08mm) OD x 1/2″ (12.7mm) wide
The cost of replacing all the pivot bushings is around £15 (compared to around £50 for a set of quality replacement ball bearings) and can be done by most home mechanics.
Useful features
- Up to 2 bottle mounts
- Straight, uninterrupted seat tube so long dropper posts can be used
- External brake and gear cable routing
- Properly sealed dropper cable entry point
- Thread-less FM160 brake mount on frame. Compatible with post mount callipers using adaptor
- Uses universal derailleur hanger system (SRAM UDH)
Other useful stuff to know
- 148mm rear axel spacing
- 30.9mm seat tube internal diameter
- 44ZS/44EC headset
- BSA bottom bracket, 73mm wide
- Designed for boost crankset (52mm chainline)
- Clearance up to 32T chainring
- Up to 2.6” rear tyre
- Up to 203mm brake rotor size
- Handmade in Corris, mid-Wales
This frame is still in the development stages. If you’re interested in becoming a beta test customer please get in touch.