Think of it as a two-wheeled dirt-eating mario andretti, it just wants to go fast. & this year the demo Expert 29 adds a new limb to the demo family tree with an entirely new design that makes railing corners & casting floatation spells over rock gardens easier than ever. It has a ground-up new frame, enhanced kinematics, better suspension under braking, bigger wheels & all the newest fancy bits that make this the fastest demo weve ever made. Yeah they say that every time, but the race clock doesnt lie. Theyve refined the demos kinematics & suspension design. They had one overriding goal, improve the bikes ability to carry momentum no matter how technical the terrain. More momentum equals more speed after all. They began by altering the demos axle path making it more rearward in the initial stages of travel where sensitivity is most critical. The revised axle path reduces hang-up on square-edged bumps & that in turn transfers more energy to the suspension & less to you. Now you finish a day of runs with less fatigue & more control. Bigger wheels maintain momentum better than smaller ones, particularly over technical terrain. The demo 29 weds 200 millimetres of suspension travel with bigger wheels in a package thats crazy fast yet still bike-park playful. While they were at it they also enhanced the demos suspension performance under braking & added a bit more anti-squat to improve its pedaling performance. Bottom line
- the new demo rolls faster through chunky terrain than its predecessor. Sweet. The demo 29s new shock linkage places weight low on the frame giving the bike a lower center of gravity & an even more confident & planted feel at speed. The new linkage is connected to a trunnion-mount shock which provides the demo with the same 200 millimetres of rear suspension in a smaller (225x 75mm) shock package. That smaller shock package helped us build a stiffer front down tube. & whats more the new trunnion-mount shock features extra bushing overlap & adds ball bearings at the frame side of the shock effectively boosting shock durability & making the suspension even smoother. Theyve fine-tuned the demos geometry as well. A relatively short (105mm) head tube keeps handlebar height in the right spot with the 29-inch wheels. They also compensated for the increased wheel size at the bottom bracket keeping it at 350mm in order to strike a balance between cornering stability & ground clearance. & lastly the reach was increased by 20mm across the size range starting at 425mm with the s 2. The devil is in the details though & the same rings true for the demo 29 where we added a bunch of little details that make it easier to live with. A newly designed ribbed chainstay protector makes chain slap a thing of the past & nearly silences the drivetrain. A molded down tube protector meanwhile protects the frame from rocks while a co-molded rear fender protects the shock from mud & debris. Clearance for up to 29x 2.6" tyres allows for plenty of traction. & last but not least youre going to find 148mm rear-spaced hubs a threaded 83mm gxp bottom bracket 200mm available post insertion & internal & external cable routing options for rear brakes. Add it up & the demo is as easy to work on as it is to find replacement parts for. For the demo 29 race they took a no-holds-barred approach to the component spec. The bike features Ohlins TTX front & rear suspension, a SRAM XO DH 7-speed group & butcher tyres with an all-new black diamond casing that rolls fast & is ready for some abuse. If youre on the hunt for the ultimate downhill race bike you just found it.