Aaron Chase helps develop new full-suspension street frame with
Cannondale
Previewed: Aaron Chase's Proto FS Street Bike
Alan Davis
Aaron's new ride.
Aaron Chase was showing off his new full-suspension street bike at Crankworx. It's really nothing like we've ever seen before and is just in the development stages, only two prototypes currently exist, but could potentially turn into a new FS frame style.
Aaron provided all of the design input and the Cannondale engineers got creative to make it a reality. The frame has three inches of rear travel while still looking and feeling like a hardtail street frame. This was accomplished by replacing the top tube with a Headshock steer tube. The Headshock includes two inches of stroke giving the frame a 1.5:1 compression ratio. Since the top tube has been replaced with a pivoting shock they stiffened up the front triangle by beefing up downtube with tubing usually reserved for tandem frames. The frame is designed to combine its rear travel with a two or three-inch travel front fork.
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The rear triangle pivots around the bottom bracket on Headshock bearings so there's no chain growth allowing for perfect singlespeed gearing should Chase desire it. The biggest advantage to the design is the rear wheel doesn't buzz on the saddle or back of the seat tube even with super short chainstays. Aaron did point out however that one disadvantage is the seat must be kept low or else it pivots forward too much during wheel compression.
Watch for Aaron riding his new full suspension street bike this season.
The top tube has been replaced by a Headshock steer tube with 2" of stroke.
Here's a closeup of the bottom bracket pivot.
What do you think of Aaron's new frame design? Leave a comment below.