Symbiont - Hand made!

Posted: Jul 30, 2009

Source: Alan Hawkes

Now the Ti Gearbox DH bike is still alive and kicking but can sometimes be a bit overkill for the amount of riding I do and the UK tracks, so this is my latest creation. I was inspired by the foes RS7, I always think their bikes look good, are well engineered and simple but effective. I also think there is a certain amount of "suspension envy" when it comes to DH, just because one bike has 9" of travel everyone wants it, regardless if it's way too much for what they are going to be riding.

Learn more about the Symbiont inside,

symbiont: brief description, two organisms living together for the mutual benefit of both, there are many definitions so don't worry about that too much, anyway symbiont, man and machine? mountainbike? hence the name.

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For this bike I went back to my favorite material so far : t45 cromoly tubing, I like this as I can weld it at home, I don't have to take it for heat treating, like I would an alloy frame, and it's much stronger, the only downside to me is that the tube doesn't always look beefy enough, but they are more than substantial for the task at hand.


Once again much manual machining was involved for the headtube, linkages, swingarm pivots etc, but I'm a sucker for punishment!

Believe it or not, the biggest headache was the bend in the top tube, it's only 1mm thick tubing but it doesn't like bending, it just wants to snap! it may be very strong but not always very malleable. And when it's £16 per meter it's no joke!

Anyways, once I had all the component parts made, it was a simple assembly job again in my trusty garage, lots of hole sawing, checking fits, filing, checking, tacking and welding.

Now I usually get a bit impatient when I get near the end of a build and would sooner get the thing up and running rather than spend hours with fine details in the machining etc, but this time I thought I'd better make more of an effort, so I spent more time on the linkage plates, dropouts, and finishing bits, like bearing caps, choice of bolts etc. so hopefully it looks more professional.


I thought I'd try the Fox DHX air shock as well just to keep weight down, although I have tried the DHX 5.0 coil as well and as of yet I'm still undecided. Now I'm wondering whether to try my 888's on here as well!

So there it is, my smaller travel DH bike. Already tested in the quagmire that is the British summer!

More bikes on the way!

The basics are:
-t45 frame & swingarm
-alloy link plates
-wheelbase is 1150mm
-head angle is 65 deg
-7" rear wheel travel
-complete weight is 38lbs with air shock

-Alan Hawkes