Ladies and gents – World Exclusive photos of the new Nukeproof Pulse prototype downhill bike.
Yesterday morning we fired up the World’s first image of the complete Nukeproof Pulse bike … Now we’re back in the land of working internet it’s time to treat you to a few more!
The bike actually made its race debut at the Bala Pearce Cycles race last weekend … but this weekend saw the Chain Reaction Cycles team out in force with all of the team except Al Bond racing the new bikes. Al hadn’t hadn’t joined the team for earlier testing sessions due to injury so decided to stick with the Scalp for this weekend.
The good news for Nukeproof and CRC is that this weekend’s BritishDHChamps scored the Pulse’s first victory – with team manager Nigel Page winning a National Champs jersey on the bike.
Despite the new look, the bike is actually surprisingly similar to the current Scalp. The angles and suspension design are all very similar to the current bike. The redesign will give a little bit more length in the top tube, a bit more stiffness and shave a bit of weight off. The suspension has also been refined and updated slightly making it stiffer, easier to work on and (they hope) more reliable. The linkeage is also now lower in the frame and encased within the seat tube. Essentially though, the suspension does the same job, in the same way as on the Scalp.
The biggest difference to the bike is the most obvious one – the tubing. The new square tubes are designed to look a bit meaner, look a bit more high-tec and to appeal to people that Nukeproof think want a more ‘race’ looking bike. More interestingly, the tubing is now exclusive to Nukeproof. The Scalp’s tubing is an ‘out of the catalogue’ tubeset, whereas the new tubing is a one-off, only seen on the Pulse.
Also brand new is the ability to alter the wheel-base of the bike with a chip in the drop out. The CRC team were running two different rear triangles depending on conditions and the new bike will allow riders to adjust the bike much more easily than on the Scalp.
You should see the new bike available towards the end of 2012 with stock appearing around Christmas time.
Look out for an exclusive interview with Team Chain Reaction Cycles Team Manager Nigel Page on the bike going online tomorrow, right here on Wideopenmag!
