Bike Build: Knolly Podium Raw

by A. Tong

Deciding on a downhill (DH) frame was a difficult one for me.  I’ll be honest and tell you I am not the best DH/bike park rider in the world.  I do however ride my other bike, a SantaCruz Nomad Carbon, hard and fast and feel a dedicated DH/bike park bike will make riding gravity assisted trails that much more fun.  When it was time to think seriously about my DH/park bike, my head was a mess.  With all the different frames on the market and all the marketing hype behind them, to say I was confused and conflicted was an understatement. In the end, my frame of choice had to satisfy a few criteria.

Ride Characteristics

Probably one of my favourite things about mountain biking is dirt jumping.  Add those dirt jumps to a DH style course (ie; ALine and Crank it Up at Whistler Mountain Bike Park) and I’m in Heaven.  With that said some DH bikes really like to stick to the ground and tend to plow through obstacles while others prefer to go up and over.  Having a balanced bike that is at home on the ground as well as in the air is something very important to me and from the reviews I’ve read, Knolly Podium owners say it’s exactly that.  Because I already have a SantaCruz Nomad Carbon, the prime focus of my new bike was DH performance.  Uphill performance…meh!  Not this time!!! 

Budget

I like nice bikes and I wanted a top end bike or frame but was on a budget.  I could’ve dropped my cash on an entry level bike, which I’m sure is excellent value for the money but in my case, I had boxes full of bike parts.  So for me, going the frame only option allowed me to build exactly what I wanted.  With that said, I had a hook up that was able to get me a 2011 SantaCruz V10 Carbon for a VERY VERY good price.  The price plus my experience with the Virtual Pivot Point (VPP) suspension system SantaCruz uses put the V10 Carbon at the top of the list.  I was basically sold until I saw the Knolly Podium for a great price at a Spring Sale at Calgary Cycle.  Knolly has a great reputation for being a top quality bike.  No one had one bad thing to say over at MTBR.com so it was an easy sell.  Not to mention it’s Canadian!!!

Large Knolly Podium DH frame in Raw!  Rear shock shown is a Fox RC4. A few other features include a 1.5 headtube and ISCG 05 chain guide mounts. 




Knooly's patented Four by 4 rear suspension linkage.  If you noticed the bottom bracket installed you are correct but more on that part in a future blog post!



Quality

 I won’t spend a dime on anything if it’s poor quality.  From experience, I’ve learned that spending a bit up front for quality saves you big time in the future…especially if you know you are infected with UPGRADE-ITIS.  After some reading on Knolly's website and the Knolly forum on MTBR.com, it’s easy to see Knolly riders love their bikes and a big reason is because they are top notch quality.  Knolly Podium Frame pics and highlights to come!

It’s probably obvious from the blog post title but I went with the Knolly Podium.  So, now that I have a frame, it’s time for the parts!