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The top tube has been replaced by a Headshock steer tube with 2" of stroke.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.
Reader Comments
Posted Tue Aug19, 2008, 12:31 AM — By Peter
The return of the Boulder Starship? No reason why it wouldn't work altho that rear end has got to be wobbly.
Posted Tue Aug19, 2008, 2:46 PM — By keith danger
I want one NOW!!!
Posted Tue Aug19, 2008, 9:01 PM — By Pete
Its a good Idea but it looks like it might be really heavy
Posted Wed Aug20, 2008, 6:09 PM — By Disco
I came up with that originally, but only to snag the riders balls.
Posted Thu Aug21, 2008, 5:37 PM — By alexzero13
Wouldn't this = very shitty pedaling due to compression and extra flex and weight in the frame?
Please try again Aaron Chase, or maybe don't.
Posted Thu Aug21, 2008, 6:51 PM — By Jason
why would it be a bad pedaler? He's going to ride it practically locked out. The idea is to offer a little give for instances when he comes up a bit short, or over jumps something.
Maybe you don't know anything about jump bikes dude.
Posted Thu Aug21, 2008, 7:14 PM — By youaregay
what a hype piece of shit
Posted Fri Aug22, 2008, 3:24 PM — By elan
26" riders are pussys. kids on bmx bikes huck way bigger than chase with way stiffer bikes. and now 26" street riders need a soft tail?
Posted Fri Aug22, 2008, 4:45 PM — By The Kid
I don't comment on message boards because they never seem to add much value but in this case I will make an exception...
On the contrary the bike is not "wobbly" at all. It actually tested very well in pedal deflection. This is because the bearings around the BB are large Headshok bearings and the top tube shock is a Headshok fork structure. This means the shock can't rotate like other shocks can. The shock also rides on 4 large bearings. The same bearings used on Prophet main pivots. All these things make the design extremely stiff.
The shock has been modified to be very firm. With a 1.5:1 leverage ratio and short chain stays, it sprints very well with no noticable pedal bob.
As for weight, the frame with shock and all hardware weighs less than 6.5 lbs.
It rides like no other full suspension bike made for slopestyle. Aaron was able to do big 3's and a sub-box fuf on the same bike and that is the idea!
BTW - there is a reason you don't see any BMX bikes in slopestyle c
Posted Mon Aug25, 2008, 6:04 AM — By Matthias
Ace and The Kid are two creative personnalities , Mountain biking needs these people !!!This bike is not a "street bike" but a "slopestyle bike" and this discipline is a large one with many different styles of riding : some are using hardtails and some are using 7 " bikes (my PERPetrator is a killer on a slopestyle course...thanks The Kid!!!) and ,for me , this bike is an amazing alternative !!!
Posted Tue Aug26, 2008, 2:59 AM — By kiko
i love bike
Posted Tue Aug26, 2008, 4:42 PM — By TheJamSter
Is this a joke? The bike is pretty lame. Aaron should spend less time coming up with these lame ideas and more time riding his bike. He basically gets schooled in every comp he enters these days and it appears his glory days are over.
Posted Wed Aug27, 2008, 2:21 AM — By Matthias
Don't use a surname if you want to injure people ,be a man !!!
Check Ace last results ...Claymore Challenge and Teva Mountain Games.
Posted Wed Aug27, 2008, 2:46 PM — By TheJamSter
Claymore Challenge = mostly amateur event with very little pro turnout... Teva = a joke and aaron got schooled by Hauck.
Face it, Aaron gets schooled whenever he attends real events that matter like CrankWorx.
Posted Wed Aug27, 2008, 3:04 PM — By RJ
For all the guys that have negative crap to say, I ask: "What do you do for a living?" Aaron is making a living in the bike industry...and doing it well. Would you risk your lively hood, family and ability to walk on the chance that you could possibly break your back "again" on some over the top freeride stunt? I didn't think so. Aaron is doing just fine without your wack comments...So why don't you just keep them inside your short sighted hate mongering heads and let the rest of us enjoy some different thinking?!?
Posted Wed Aug27, 2008, 11:57 PM — By dhgoat
Chase can ride a Barn door and make it work.
Posted Thu Aug28, 2008, 10:37 AM — By TheJamSter
Not sure which Chase you are talking about, but the current chase's riding isnt really all that impressive when compared to the west coast riders. Street and Streetpark riding is dead, better left for the bmx'ers who do it waaay better! Chase's recent video was also a major dissappointment.
Posted Fri Aug29, 2008, 4:15 AM — By Bib
Revolutionary concept, simple, this could be very light, the only black point to solve must be the frame stiffness. Anyway i trust in it.
Posted Tue Sep 2, 2008, 1:27 AM — By C.K.
Wow - never seen anything like that before. I guess this is one of those designs, that to the eye - either you love it or hate it. Personally, I dig it and am curious to see how it actually rides once I get some saddle time on it. I'm also curious about how well it will hold up to abuse... what were the F.E.A. results on this thing anyway?
I think TheHamster needs a hug...
...anyone?
=)
Posted Sat Sep 6, 2008, 11:00 AM — By wilson
'thejamster' you're a troll. shut up and go ride your bike.
Posted Thu Sep11, 2008, 8:55 PM — By itnensebik
People have a lot to say when they sit behind a computer. You need to understand that the kid with a former west coast rider himself. He just happened to score a good job doing what we all would kill for. Design the bikes we dream of... come on. And Chase... He kills it. People don't have to do well at contests and events to make a living. The best skaters and BMX guys don't show up at contests. As for the bike, it looks good... It's just a concept. Thanks to cannondale for returning to the old days and making a concept bike that pushes the envelope instead of making a shorter travel vesion of the same bike they already make and slapping a different name on it. Finally something totally different. Even if it ends up on the ceiling in cannondales R&D lab.
Posted Wed Sep17, 2008, 10:54 AM — By C Smart
Props go to everyone that defends thinking outside the box to build the next bike we all dream about. It is sad to see some get on and fill the message board with worthless ridicule. I rode with Chase and the Kid this summer in Park City and was nothing but impressed. Great guys building sick bikes. Thanks
Posted Thu Sep18, 2008, 10:23 PM — By Turd Ferguson
Wow the head shock is a piece of crap to begin with this design probly will have a lot of bob and it is weight placed high on the bike- bad. Lousy idea
Posted Fri Nov 7, 2008, 11:47 AM — By Rich
Turd...the headshock a piece of crap...you obviously don't know your engineering. When originally developed it had issues that Cannondale has since resolved and now the other fork manufacturers are trying to duplicate its engineering qualities in their forks. As for the Chase frame design. I remember when bike manufacturer both big and small were constantly evolving and trying new designs. It's refreshing to see someone try something completely new. Keep the ideas coming...that is what has driven the sport of mountain biking from the beginning.
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