I’ve just had a good chat with Chris over at Astrix Europe and he’s really excited to say that the new 2010 Astrix race bike is about to land.
As I type the Morgan brothers are already shredding a couple of production bikes in the Alps and the remaining production sample frame is being pulled out of a spray-booth in Taiwan ready to be built up. The eagle eyed amongst you might also have noticed Ben Baker riding the production version ’001′ at the Nat Champs up at Inners.
It’s been the best part of 2 years since Astrix announced the new bike so it’s great to see that it’s finally coming together. If it all goes to plan the new bike will land in the UK in early September 2009.
- Hydroformed gusset at the headtube
Chris explained that the frame has been in development for about 2 years to get to this point. They had a few delays at the factory out in Taiwan but luckily off the back of that managed to get their hands on some improved custom tubing and had a bit of a redesign which they’re confident will improve the quality of the finished product.
- In production…
First things first – the Havoc R is a UK bike. It’s being assembled overseas in Taiwan but it’s designed for riding in the UK and it’s only available to buy in the UK through Astrix Europe. Here’s the fundamentals of the new frame straight from Chris:
“Ok. It’s got World Cup geometry. No messing about with adjustable toenails, just good angles from the start. Because we run side by side with Astrix we’ll also use their patented Motolink. For production we are using a refined version of the Motolink. It’s much cleaner and looks really simple. We also have an awesome new semi metallic slip ring type bushing that outlasts plain bearings by a country mile.”
“I weighed frame with BB cups, headset cups, axel hanger and shock and it came to 12.08 lbs. That had mot vinyl graphics on though. We’ll be using a liquid decal which weighs nothing and we’ll be anodizing the frames.”
- Piecing together the downtube and 1st bits of the shock box
- 1.5″ head tube
- 8″ travel
- BOS Stoy shock
- 47″ w/base
- 64′ ha
- 83mm BB
- 150mm back end
- custom axle with no pinch bolt
- anodized black as standard
- A fancy computer drawing of the frame
- Baker’s whip at the National Champs
- Baker’s front end and a bit of experimentation with graphics
- A bike in a box – fresh back from the CNC’ers
- The new lighter swing arm up front and the old one at the rear
- Chainstays – new one at the back, old one up front
That’s all we’ve got for now – if you want to keep up to date on the new Havoc keep it locked here on WO or at www.ridinghighuk.com
If you liked this post why not check out these?
- Commencal Absolut SX – Exclusive Wideopen sneak peak…
- Severed Alliance – Wideopen exclusive
- Latest additions to the wideopen stable
Think theyll do some in the team colours?
I think what you’ve got there is what you’re getting – but drop ‘em a line and see what they say!
I can’t wait till they release them, I’m deffantly ordering one.
Saw the bike in the flesh today up at Rheola and it looked great!