Introducing the Pedals...
The Downshift is a bike for going really fast, over long distances, while riding the most technical downhills along the way. XC, brought bang up to date with modern geometry.
Local mission Wednesday, XC Sunday, then go bike packing the week after. All on the same bike.
Full internal cable routing keeps weld points to a minimum, same with the no-yoke. Not just somewhere to route the cables, it’s stronger, lighter, and more comfortable
Features
- Lightweight and Durable 3Al-2.5V Titanium Frame
- Geometry based around 500mm axle to crown – Equivalent to a sagged 120mm Fox 34 Step Cast
- Max Fork Travel: 130mm
- Headset:44/44mm Headtube – Hope 2/H Combo
- Frame Spacing: 12x148mm BOOST
- Axle (Included): 172 total length, 15mm thread length, 1.0 pitch
- Seatpost Diameter: 31.6mm
- Seat Clamp: 34.9mm (Black Hope clamp supplied)
- Bottom Bracket: T47 73mm Shell
- Post Mount (Direct to 180mm)
- UDH Full Mount – SRAM T-Type Ready (Supplied with hanger)
- Tyre Clearance: 2.6”
- Fully Internal Cable Routing (Supplied with SRAM AXS Blanks)
- Double Downtube Cage Mounts
Geometry
| Size | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|
| Rider Height (approx.) |
5'6"-5'11"
167cm-180cm
|
5'10"-6'2"
178cm-188cm
|
| Frame Weight (Excl. Axle) | 4.14lb / 1880g | 4.22lb / 1910g |
| A - Reach | 465mm | 485mm |
| B - Stack | 620mm | 629mm |
| C - Head Tube Angle | 65.5° | 65.5° |
| D - Seat Tube Angle | 76° | 76° |
| E - Seat Tube (C - T) | 420mm | 440mm |
| F - Chainstay | 445mm | 445mm |
| G - Effective Top Tube | 620mm | 642mm |
| H - Rake / Offset | 44mm | 44mm |
| I - Head Tube Length | 110mm | 120mm |
| J - Wheelbase | 1203mm | 1227mm |
| K - Bottom Bracket Drop | 70mm | 70mm |
| L - Front Centre | 767mm | 791mm |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q – What size frame do you recommend for me?
A – If you aren’t sure, get in touch and we can chat you through it or hopefully hook you up with a demo ride if you can make it to our base in Edinburgh. As a rough guide, the medium Downshift is good for 5 foot 6 to 5 11 (167cm to 180cm) and the Large is good for people 5 foot 10 to 6 2 (178 to 188cm).
Q – Do you do a Small or XL?
A – We designed the Downshift to fit a wide range of people, however for now there are only two sizes. If you need one bigger or smaller get in touch, with enough interest we can make it happen.
Q - What forks can I run in my Downshift?
A – Our geometry is stated around a sagged 120mm travel fork (500mm axle to crown), so to get our intended ride characteristics, and 120mm fork should be about right. We obviously love the Manitou R8, and that’s available in our frame/fork packs. Other good options would be the Rockshox SID/Pike or Fox 34 Step Cast.
Q – What headset can I put in my Downshift?
A - It’s a 44mm internal straight head tube, so there are a lot of options available for this. Assuming you are using a tapered steerer, our pick would be a Hope ‘2’ for the top and a Hope ‘H’ for the bottom.
Q – What bottom bracket can I put in my Downshift?
A – It has a 73mm wide T47 threaded shell. Then it just depends what cranks you want to run, for 24mm axle chainsets (Shimano, cheaper/older Raceface etc) then we recommend the Hope BBT476824SSN. Catchy name – That’s a Hope T47, for 68/73 shells, 24mm axles. For 30mm axles you want the Hope BBT476830SSN. That’s the same thing but for 30mm axles. It does also come with reducers for DUB/29mm chainsets, but due to the extra interface on the reducers these can need a bit of extra looking after. For a fit and forget solution with DUB/29mm cranks we recommend the Cane Creek Hellbender 70 BAI0163, where the bearings sit directly on the cranks.
Q – Can I run a double chainset in the Downshift?
A – There are no provisions for cable routing for a front derailleur, if anyone makes a wireless MTB double, then perhaps, but it certainly wasn’t designed for it.
Q – I’m a bit worried about routing the cables and hoses through the BB shell, won’t that be a total faff?
A – Not really, we have found it no more difficult than routing any other internal frames. Just work like you would through any of those – cables come first, before anything else. Route them through from the rear and feed the anti-rattle tubing down through the top ports. We recommend doing the dropper cable, then you can put a static seatpost in over the top and carry on building as usual. Then do the brake hose, followed by the gear cable. Then build the rest of the bike as usual. Once everything is in place except the cranks, you can assemble these and finish the final setup. Easy beans.
Q – What’s the max dropper insertion on the Downshift?
A – We don’t know, we haven’t found it yet! It’s a totally straight seat tube, so you can pretty much go until the post actuator pokes into the BB shell cutaway. But a 240mm OneUp isn’t even close yet. For reference, our medium demo has a 180mm and the large demo has a 210mm drop.
Q- What’s the tyre clearance on the Downshift?
A – It is designed to clear 2.6” tyres, at the widest point the seatstays have an 86mm gap, and the chainstays have an 82mm gap. Our medium demo is running 2.4” Hutchinson Wyrm, which come up BIG and measure over 2.5” edge to edge with plenty of room. Any 2.6” should fit, we haven’t met any that come up over size, and we are interested to try a Maxxis 2.8 if they still make any!
Q – What hanger fits the Downshift?
A – It fits a SRAM UDH, this means if you damage your hanger you should be able to pick one up in any good bike shop the world over, neat right?!
Q - Is the Downshift compatible with SRAM Transmission groups?
A – Yes it is indeed! In fact it’s one of the first metal hardtails that can, both the Downshift and Converge are fully Transmission ready. We have been riding the GX T-Type group on the medium demo and it has been fantastic, a really good bombproof group. If you don’t want to, just use the supplied hanger to run your choice of traditional cable groups or non T-Type AXS.