Meeting Core Bike attendees in the foyer of Whittlebury Hall was a rather fetching custom fade Hope HB912, the Barnoldsiwck outfit’s latest creation.
We first spied Hope’s short travel 29er in prototype form at the Les Gets World Cup, fast forward six months and there’s another prototype here at Core Bike looking much closer to the finished article.
Photos by Pete Scullion.
Sporting a full carbon fibre front triangle as well as carbon seat and chainstays paired via a CNC’d rocker, Hope’s HB912 is quite the looker. Add the green to raw carbon look and this is a pretty wicked looking bike. The new bike is slated as due at the end of the summer 2026 and the main difference to the production bike is the inclusion of a bottle cage mount.
Built in Barnoldswick using the same techniques as the HB912’s bigger brother, the HB916. Hand layered tubes are bonded together with CNC’d allow components made in house too. Depending on which shock length you run, you can run 120mm or 130mm rear travel, designed around a 130mm or 140mm fork respectively. A 47.5mm stroke shock delivers the shorter travel option, a 50mm stroke shock the former.
The HB912 will be available in M, L and XL, with the M coming with a 465mm reach, 435mm chainstay, 65 or 66 degree head angle (adjustable headset cups), 77.5 degree seat tube angle and will be available in 29″ wheel only. Seen here is likely the stock build, with SRAM XO T-type drive, Rockshox Pikes and a Super Deluxe air unit. Believe it or not, the rest of the build is Hope heavy beyond the OneUp dropper.
