First Look: 2015 Mondraker Summum Carbon Pro 5

iceman2058

11/26/2014 3:24am

Mondraker has a rich racing heritage, and a distinct brand identity heavily influenced by the needs and requirements of its racers. Of course, none more so than Fabien Barel, multiple World Champion and a man not afraid to look outside the box for new solutions to help in the never-ending quest for speed and performance. Fabien was instrumental in developing Mondraker's "Forward Geometry", a concept that seeks to add stability by lengthening the top tube while keeping the steering lively thanks to a very short stem. Fabien won the 2009 DH World Cup in Maribor, Slovenia onboard an early prototype of the Summum, a bike that is now on its third generation. Following the launch of the 2015 aluminum Summum in July this year (the first 27.5" version of the Summum), and hot on the heels of the very successful Foxy Carbon trail bike, time has now come to unveil Mondraker's next revision of its DH ripper: the Summum Carbon Pro.

With such an investment in a new DH platform, it goes without saying that Mondraker will also be hungry for continued success at the races. And to give themselves the best chance, they've gone out and added some serious firepower to their World Cup racing program: Danny Hart and Emmeline Ragot join the team for 2015 and will race the new bike alongside Markus Pekoll and Innes Graham! Check out the boys putting the new Summum through its paces at the bike's launch in La Fenasosa Bike Park (Emmeline couldn't make it):

Super Faster!

2015 Mondraker Summum Carbon Pro Highlights

The bike was a big reason Danny Hart signed for the team, Mondraker says. At least we know it whips well!

The Summum Carbon shares the overall layout and geometry of the 2015 aluminum Summum, first shown to the public at Eurobike 2014. To create the carbon version, Mondraker leveraged the extensive design work that went into creating the Foxy Carbon, both with regards to the visual aspect as well as the technology and the manufacturing processes. Mondraker designs all its bikes in house, and as is the case with the vast majority of high-end carbon bikes today, outsources the actual frame manufacturing to a specialized company in Asia. The result is a frame that is highly detailed and sophisticated, and that weighs in at a mere 2.83kg (6.24-lbs) without the shock. The company calls the whole design and manufacturing concept "Stealth", a reference to the "industrial" design cues found throughout the frame (and possibly stealth bombers). Impressively, the weights of the two complete builds offered at launch come in at 14.91kg (32.87-lbs) for the Summum Carbon Pro Team and 15.40kg (33.95-lbs) for the Summum Carbon Pro (albeit on folding bead tires).

Looking at the finer frame details, we find integrated cable guides/fork bumpers, 4-position adjustable chainstays, an adjustable headset (on the Team version), ISCG05 tabs, custom downtube and chainstay protectors, and an array of impressive looking hardware and bearings in the main pivot areas.

In terms of geometry, Mondraker's Forward Geometry was very much a trend-setter in the long-TT-short-stem game, and the Summum Carbon is of course no exception. Checking out the geo charts, we find a 600mm top tube on the size M, with a 1230mm wheelbase - both numbers look more like something you'd find on a size L with traditional geo. To offset this big stretch in reach, a short stem is used to put the handlebars back to where you'd expect to find them. We have yet to swing a leg over the new Summum, but our experience with Forward Geometry on the Foxy Carbon pointed to a bike that is very stable at any speed, without feeling too sluggish around the tight stuff. We'd fully expect the new Summum to further reinforce those ride characteristics, based on the numbers.

Mondraker Summum Carbon Pro Geometry

The Summum is a DH race bike through and through. A 63-degree head angle that is fully adjustable by 1- or 2-degrees in either direction (on the Team version), and adjustable chainstays that are still 445mm long even in the shortest setting tell of a bike that was made with one goal in mind: to go fast. Note that the Forward Geometry design is slightly toned down here, as was the case with the Foxy Carbon. Instead of adding a whole 50 or 60mm to the top tube, and offsetting that with a zero-length stem, here the numbers are more like 35mm extra length, coupled with a 20/30mm adjustable stem. The extreme version of Forward Geometry was often criticized for making it hard to properly weight the front wheel, and for having a tendency to push in slow corners, which made the bike too specialized for a larger group of riders to enjoy. Mondraker listened and reigned the concept back in a bit, which we find to be a good compromise.

Zero Suspension

The Summum Carbon uses Mondraker's "Zero" suspension system, a multi-link virtual pivot layout with a fully floating shock. The goal of the Zero suspension system was to create a bike that pedals efficiently but offers a lot of small bump compliance. On the Summum it pumps out 205mm of travel, and going off our impressions of the Foxy Carbon we rode earlier this year we'd expect it to work well in its DH form too, if Mondraker have made sure that the leverage ratio here is progressive enough to deal with bigger hits.

Mondraker Summum Carbon Pro Build Kits and Pricing

The Summum Carbon Pro will be offered in 2 versions and as a frame-only. The Team edition features a no-holds-barred build that comes in at a hefty EUR 8,099.00, while the regular version featuring some Onoff parts (Mondraker's in-house component brand) will set you back EUR 5,999.00. Not cheap, but this is where pricing is at for most high-end carbon DH bikes these days. Note: Mondraker is not distributed in the US at this point, but to translate those numbers a straight Euro-to-Dollar conversion yields $10,000 and $7,500 respectively. The brand is currently seeking North American distributors and if successful, will open the US market over the next 12-18 months.