Did you say freeride? Knolly had no doubts about utilizing the time period when describing their new Warden 170 MX. A fast have a look at the geometry, journey, and MX wheels and it’s apparent this bike is designed for riders who wish to go massive or those that wish to shred the roughest terrain they’ll discover.
The Warden is the third bike Knolly has up to date with their Gen 6 body revisions this yr. Smaller riders will respect that the Warden 170 MX lineup now consists of an S1 (XS) body measurement. With head tube angles leaning out to 62.5° and rear journey bumped to 170mm, there’s little question this bike was designed with freeriding or downhill charging because the precedence.
Knolly Warden 170MX – Body Options:
The brand new Warden body is produced from 6066 aluminum. It now affords 170mms of rear journey, and all fashions come inventory with 170mm forks. Nevertheless, if you wish to go longer up entrance that’s not an issue. The Warden 170 MX can deal with longer single-crown forks or dual-crown DH forks.
The Warden carries on with Knolly’s Fourby4 suspension linkage, and this body’s kinematics are optimized for downhill using and most traction. All inventory fashions might be bought with an MX wheel setup, however placing a 27.5” entrance wheel on the bike is an possibility.
Alongside Knolly’s different just lately launched Gen 6 frames, the Warden 170 MX will get a number of updates. Probably the most visually apparent is the straightened prime tube, which Knolly says has been nicely obtained. One other key replace that’s not so blatant to the attention are the brand new size-specific chainstay lengths. Whereas the S1 (XS) and S2 (S) frames share the identical rear finish, each bigger measurement will get its personal size. See the geometry chart beneath for the numbers.
Knolly has added an adjunct mount on the underside of the Warden’s prime tube and features a water bottle mount on the down tube. The Gen 6 frames provide improved bottle clearance, so any measurement besides the S1 ought to have the ability to match a full-sized bottle simply. A smaller bottle could also be required on S1 frames.
One other useful replace is the brand new one-piece monoblock rocker hyperlink. This hyperlink is stiffer than Knolly’s outgoing two-piece design, and it reduces lateral stress on the shock mount. The decrease shock mount is now a 30mm mount that’s appropriate with roller-bearing shock {hardware}. On the subject of bearings, Knolly now shares Enduro bearings in all of the Warden’s pivots.
Because of Knolly’s ‘OSD’ straight seat mast design, S1 frames can run 175mm dropper posts, S2 frames can run most 200mm+ droppers, and S3-5 sizes can run most 220mm+ fashions. The body accepts 31.6mm diameter posts.
The Warden 170 MX body is now additionally UDH appropriate, and it comes with a CNC-machined aluminum hanger. The bike continues to run Knolly’s most popular 157 Path rear axle spacing, which helps present rear tire clearance as much as 2.6”.
Different fittings embody a detachable ISCG-05 mount, a 73mm threaded BB shell, and a 180mm brake put up mount. The body affords inner cable routing and comes with a chainstay protector.
Geometry:
The brand new Warden 170 MX might be out there in 5 body sizes: S1 (XS), S2 (S), S3 (M), S4 (L), and S5 (XL). Two decrease shock mount holes present your alternative of impartial or slack geometry positions.
The Warden’s head tube angles are positively leaning into the ‘freeride’ realm at a slack 63.25°… or an excellent slack 62.5°! Efficient seat tube angles are steep at 77.75° or 77°.
Knolly has gone very lengthy with their attain numbers, as their S3 body stretches out to 482mm, and an S4 measures 508mm. We’re at a degree the place some model’s medium bikes are longer than different manufacturers’ larges, and in my case at 5’10” I’m torn between whether or not I’d trip an S2 or an S3.
The Warden’s rear ends stay in a fairly regular vary; they’re not tremendous lengthy however not too stubby both. Knolly usually retains stack heights low, however not equal throughout the scale vary. Because the chart reveals, stack top will increase with each bigger body measurement.
Mannequin Lineup:
Knolly is providing 4 construct kits for the brand new Warden 170 MX. I seen the builds don’t get into tremendous high-end territory, which is smart for a huck-and-thrash form of bike. There aren’t any wi-fi drivetrains, carbon wheels or cranks, or range-topping XTR or XX1 element teams within the lineup. With out getting excessively fancy, there isn’t an enormous worth vary between the 4 fashions. See the chart beneath for full construct specs.
- XT – $5,999
- GX (with Fox Manufacturing unit fork) – $5,599
- GX (with Fox Efficiency Collection fork) – $5,499
- Deore – $5,199
The brand new Warden 170 MX might be out there in 4 body colours: Blueberry, Orange Black Fade, Defender Inexperienced or Uncooked.
To kick off the Warden 170 MX’s launch, Knolly is providing a ten% low cost to the primary 50 prospects who buy one earlier than July 15th. See Knolly’s web site or your native Knolly vendor for additional particulars.
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