Polygon Bikes Releases The New XQUARONE DH Series 9

Continuing on from the highly publicized XQUARONE EX with R3ACT 2Play suspension platform, Polygon is excited to release what will surely be one of the most talked about DH bikes this year. The looks may be polarizing and the unique design gives skeptics plenty of fuel, but the reality is that long before we announced this bike to the masses, it has been proven against the clock by some of the best riders in the world. But, the XQUARONE DH series isn't meant to be just about downhill racing, we designed this bike to do more than just race the clock – this bike is built as a gravity oriented bike, with adventure DNA within it.

Using the NAILD system, these downhill bikes have been developed for a wider riding spectrum, with pedaling performance and gear ratios that are comparable with All Mountain bikes. The Polygon UR team has ridden prototype versions of the XQUAREONE DH to podiums around the globe and these riders have seen massive reductions in race run times. This bike is much more than a 218mm DH race machine and we believe that riders of the XQUARONE DH will be won over by this unequaled ride. Just one year after the release of the incredibly capable 180mm XQUARONE EX all mountain bike, we’re upping the ante with the big bike our race team and freeride athletes have been begging us for. Mick Hannah stood atop the World Championship podium and Tracey Hannah took an impressive 10+ seconds off her fastest ever race time in the highly respected and demanding Garbanzo DH at Crankworx Whistler, while Sam Reynolds and Kurt Sorge have been using this bike to fulfill their lifestyle riding goals for months.

Frame Features

Most people don’t focus on pedaling efficiency when it comes to their downhill bikes, but a major factor in the design and development of XQUARONE DH was the pedaling capability. Polygon worked closely with the NAILD team to create a system that offers a truly capable downhill bike that can also be pedaled back up a majority of trails. When ridden with the suggested sag, the XQUARONE DH has between 98% to 110% anti-squat value throughout the entire gear & travel range. Polygon's goal while designing the new XQUARONE DH bike was to make a bike that is fun to ride. For this very reason we have chosen to build this bike around 27.5-inch wheels. We intentionally bucked the trends in an effort to offer the most enjoyable ride to a wide variety of gravity fiends looking to have fun on their downhill bikes, whether it be shuttling laps on local trails or riding the bike park.

The uniquely shaped frame is entirely made from carbon fiber and weighs 8.8 pounds (with shock), while top spec’d complete bikes weigh less than 32 pounds. Thanks to our close relationship with NAILD, we’ve been able to work together closely to integrate several key features into the new XQUARONE DH. To keep the back end short and stiff, we designed the bike around a 440mm chainstay length with Super Boost 157mm rear wheel spacing. To further ease any stiffness concerns we’ve incorporated 34mm Torque Caps on the non-drive side of the rear hub to keep the rear wheel tracking straight and true. In keeping with the latest technological advancements, the XQUARONE DH utilizes 225x75mm Metric shocks with a Trunnion mount.

Much like our XQUARONE EX line of bikes, the DH models utilize the NAILD R3ACT 2 Play system. The DH frames however, use the Hit It category of tuning that we developed with NAILD and our factory athletes. The Fox Factory X2 shocks are custom-tuned with incredibly light damping circuits to give us the famous R3ACT ride our fans have grown to love. By reducing the damping restrictions in the shock and allowing the suspension design’s kinematics to handle the heavy lifting, we’ve created a bike that offers rear wheel compliance unlike anything you’ve ridden before.

NAILD R3ACT Suspension

NAILD’s unorthodox suspension theory comes from founder, Darrell Voss’ perspective on damping. This outside the box thinking was crucial in developing the suspension design on XQUARONE bikes. NAILD asks us to step back, and look at what dampers do before trying to reexamine what you believe about suspension. “Dampers equal restriction. Restriction equals resistance. Resistance equals friction. Friction equals loss of energy,” Voss explains. Rather than adding more damper restriction to compensate for a mediocre suspension design, Polygon and NAILD worked together to create a bike that needs minimal shock damping restriction. Less friction in the shock means a faster moving rear wheel.

Geometry

Available Builds

The XQUAREONE DH will be available in two builds as well as two frame set options. The two models start at $4999 USD for the DH 8 to $6399 USD for the flagship DH9. The frame-set will be offered without fork or with fork starting from $2999 USD and $4399 USD, respectively. For more information please visit www.polygonbikes.com.