Knolly

more information at: www.knollybikes.com

Check out the People of Knolly Here - super videos. Thanks Chris!

Knolly Bikes grew out of a dream - a dream from one rider who wanted something better - something that was currently not offered in the mountain bike market place. This dream was to build a free ride frame that simply worked reliably day in and day out, with out any annoyances like interrupted seat tubes, tires hitting the seat or seat tube, shocks tucked away in difficult to access locations, fasteners that constantly loosen, pre-mature bearing wear, etc... This frame design had to work well, be reliable, be serviceable, and most importantly be free from frivolous marketing features while still offering both useful tuning options and superlative performance in even the most complicated and severe riding situations. This was and still is Noel Buckley's dream and from those humble beginnings back in early 2002, the Knolly Bikes lineup has become the embodiment of everything that Noel stands for: ultra-high end manufacturing, only the highest quality fasteners and bearings, and designs that make the best use of existing technology while innovating and breaking the status quo when the current technology is simply not sufficient.

At the start, Knolly Bikes was never designed to be a business - it was only one person building himself a bike (and maybe one for his wife and perhaps a few close friends) based on his passion for riding and helped along by a degree in physics, a career in engineering and a strong background in manufacturing (not to mention those same super supportive friends!). However, what happened was quite different...

After a year working on the initial conceptual frame designs, discovering what did and didn't work and what sacrifices would have to be made, a discovery was made that would influence the new Knolly Bikes suspension frames. This discovery has become the patent pending Four by 4 Linkage and its related design components: its design elements exist in every full suspension frame that we manufacture and some of them (geometry elements) are even incorporated into the Free Radical hard tail as well.

Detailed information on the many benefits of the Four by 4 Linkage can be found on our Engineering page (opposite), but the quick lesson is this: uninterrupted seat tubes allowing unlimited range of seat height, good pedaling and climbing positions with the seat post extended, the ability to make long travel frames in really small sizes, active suspension under braking, high lateral rigidity, long stroke shocks leading to low leverage ratios, easy maintenance, and of course, superlative suspension performance. Surprisingly before this invention, no frame on the market could claim ALL of these performance features.

In 2003 - a year and a half after our first conceptual designs - the first prototype V-tach frames were finished. The riding performance of these frames quickly spread by word of mouth and soon unknown people were asking us for frames. The first V-tach production run quickly sold out and rolled out to customers in late 2004.

Now, Knolly Bikes is a full fledged manufacturer with two highly acclaimed full suspension frames in the market, and a third on the way, as well as an extremely progressive hard tail design with a second hard tail for 2007. While our frame designs and applications may grow and change, the philosophy that started Knolly stays the same: design and build the absolutely most reliable, highest performing products that we can - bar none.

And now there is also a new DH bike. Noel does not rest enough (and we are the beneficiaries) and needs to come to Australia. Please help Noel visit us here June 5-8 2009 for the Melrose Fat Tyre Festival. How? Buy more Knolly bikes, pay for his air ticket, subsidise his expensive single malt whisky habit (all bottles of Springbank welcome - Georgina??) ...

Noel at Gooseberry on the yet to be named Downhill Beast. How about "Doctor Motile" for a name?

closeup of Doctor Motile

The problems with current technology:

When we first started designing the V-tach, we looked at the existing suspension designs in the market and found that they had various annoyances which would not meet our design goals. Common problems include:

• Interrupted seat tubes and the tall seat tube masts that they sometimes create
• Rocker links that hit seat post quick releases on smaller sized frames or lowered seats
• Tires that hit the back of the seat tube or the seat under full compression
• Difficult to access rear shocks (frankly a pain in the butt with today's pressurized air and volume adjusting anti-bottoming shocks with multiple adjustments)
• Lack of rear tire clearance
• Lack of lateral rigidity - especially on multi-pivot linkage frames and frames with long chain stays and seat stays that extend past the seat tube
• Limited stand over height where it really matters. This is especially important for smaller riders where being able to fully drop the seat to a very low height so that they can put their feet on the ground while straddling the seat is key (see our section on how our frame designs benefit smaller riders here)
• Artificially long chain stays that try and address some of the tire interference problems: this is fine for DH frames, but reduces "flickability", climbing ability and low speed maneuverability for long travel free ride frames
• High leverage suspension ratios that reduce rear shock performance and reliability

The Solution: Knolly's patent pending Four by 4 Linkage:

The Four by 4 Linkage came out of our design goals to design a frame that had the pedaling, braking and handling characteristics that we wanted, while at the same time eliminating the annoyances that bugged us with current frame designs.

The Four by 4 Linkage isn't just a secondary four bar linkage - it is a formula on how to design and build a full suspension frame that incorporates rear wheel path, seat tube placement, shock placement, seat clearance (for those technical moves), rear end lateral rigidity, climbing geometry and other aspects into a frame's design.

Benefits:

• Stand over height and continuous seat tube: by keeping longer stroke shocks "horizontal", we can keep the top tube height low. By using a continuous seat tube with a fully adjustable seat post, when the seat is completely lowered a rider can straddle the seat comfortably
• Seat position: When the seat is extended in a climbing position, the lay-back seat tube intersects the location of a normal 72 or 73 degree seat tube angle, ensuring proper climbing geometry. When lowered, the seat is slightly more forwards giving more room for rear tire clearance as well as making it easier to get behind the saddle when riding technical terrain.
• Rear shock and leverage ratios: by keeping the shock roughly "horizontal" on our longer travel frames, long stroke shocks can be used, ensuring our leverage ratios are well below 3:1. Lower leverage ratios increase shock sensitivity, bottom out resistance and reliability. The secondary linkage also isolates the shock from side loading and places it in a location free from tire roost, further increasing its reliability.
• Rear shock accessibility: having the rear shock accessible in the front triangle means that it's quick to adjust, tune, maintain and remove the rear shock.
• High lateral rigidity: by keeping all wheel path suspension components at the back of the frame (i.e. not being forced to bring pivots forward of the seat tube), we can keep linkage elements as short as possible, increasing their lateral rigidity.
• Tire clearance: by using our lay back seat tube design so that tires won't hit the back of the seat tube (or bottom of the seat) when under full compression, our frames feature excellent tire clearance.
• Neutral braking: Knolly frames are active under braking forces ensuring maximum traction in difficult sections
• Neutral pedaling: our wheel paths are tailored so that our frames have efficient pedaling characteristics. While a V-tach will never climb like a lightweight XC bike, you CAN pedal it to the top of your favourite trail.
• Minimal chain growth ensures that our frames are free from annoying pedal feed back