Hayes Bicycle Group Introduces All New XC Group 3

Hayes Bicycle Group

You wake up at 5:00 am in your plush hotel room. You’re drowsy, but luckily you prepared for this by packing your portable espresso machine. Post-espresso slam, you hop in the shower, it’s race day, and that means race day razor. You need to make sure your legs are smooth, because that’s what the pros do, and pros are fast. Next, you slide into your freshly dry-cleaned skin suit and hit the road. It’s time to race. You pull up to the event, hop out of the car, throw on your headphones, and pop onto the trainer to spin it out. You see the competitors, circled up around a truck laughing and not warming up, that’s not for you. No distractions on race day. At the start gate, you disregard the competitor advances and pleasantries, you are focused and determined to get the gold. The starting gun erupts, the race is on, you push hard on the double-track because you know it is your strong suit, you can hold off everyone in the single track as long as you get there first, this is your strategy throughout the race. Once the race is done you pack up your things, hit the road, and plan out your rides to train for the next event.  

While this pre-race ritual resonates with some, we understand it does not reflect the entire category of XC riders. So, what about the other guys? The riders who camp at race venues, and maybe have one too many beers around the campfire the night before. The riders who would rather sprint for a chance at some air off a stump than save it for the climb. The riders who look for components that allow them to race XC on Sunday, hit some flow trails on Wednesday, smash rock gardens and get tech on Friday, and do it all again the next week. Don’t they deserve a bit of love too? 

Well, we think they do. This is why when we developed an all-new XC group we kept both riders in mind. To do so is not easy, our engineers needed to find the perfect balance between weight, stiffness, and reliability that best served both audiences simultaneously. This meant countless hours staring into computer screens, weekend runs into the office to check on tests and an unhealthy amount of energy drinks. As they say, hard work pays off, and we are proud to announce an all-new collection suitable for all XC riders no matter their focus on the trails. 

Manitou

Re-introducing The R7

It only seemed right that our new XC or down-for-whatever country fork would carry the name of R7. Bringing it back to the mid-2000s when XC races were a weekend-long party and 26-inch wheels were still a common sight, the R7 reigned supreme for its reliable, lightweight chassis and easy serviceability.

The new R7 is available in both a Pro and Expert level each available in 27.5-inch and 29-inch wheel sizes with travel internally adjustable from 80mm-120mm.

Chassis

When developing the chassis of any Manitou fork our primary goal is finding that perfect balance of weight, stiffness, and reliability. Thanks to our Reverse Arch, we are able to position the arch further away from the axle. The lower tire clearance behind the fork relative to the center of the axle allows for a shorter arch which yields 13% increased stiffness compared to a forward arch fork of the equivalent weight. Because of this, we are able to use 32mm stanchions to save weight while keeping stiffness closer to that of a larger stanchion fork with a forward-facing arch.

Damper

When developing the VTT Pro damper we set out with a goal to maintain a rock-solid lockout without compromising the open and mid settings. The downside to many dampers with firm lockout modes is that in any other position than lock-out you will reach some critical shaft velocity that chokes off the low-speed flow path. When this happens the damper peaks at nearly the same lock-out force as the locked-out position. This translates to harsh force in the hands and possibly a lack of control. The all-new VTT damper solves this issue by eliminating the high-speed spikes while maintaining the lock-out force demanded by most XC users. This allows the fork to have a less progressive high-speed response while maintaining some low-speed support without getting wollowy. This is achieved through independent shim stacks (one for lockout and one for the other two positions). By controlling the shim stack through which the oil flow is diverted we can manipulate the characteristic of the damper to be locked out, digressive, or progressive to meet the demands of the rider and terrain. 

Spring

New for 32mm chassis we are adapting our proven Dorado Air to fit the needs of shorter travel riders. The Manitou Dorado Air spring system contains a unique balancing valve that equalizes the positive and negative air chambers during the air fill process. This gives the spring rate a consistent feel without any flat or dead spots in the stroke, along with giving riders of different weights the same initial stroke feel. For R7 we have tuned the volumes in each chamber to give ideal support and feel for shorter travel. Also included on the air leg is our Incremental Volume Adjust (IVA). The IVA modifies the volume in the positive air chamber with a set of self-contained spacers which dictate the fixed position of the IVA piston. This self-contained volume reduction system has five different settings allowing great ramp-up tuneability without the need for additional parts.

Mara

Following last year's launch of our Mara Pro we are happy to announce the release its slimmed down and XC focused sibling, the Mara. Using crucial tech first shown in the Pro version the Mara features the same smooth air spring design as well as our proprietary SKF Internal Floating Piston (IFP) to minimize any initial breakaway stiction. What makes this IFP so special is its utilization of a flexible membrane and lip seals instead of a rigid disc. This allows the center of the IFP to begin its movement upon compression and rebound before the actual lips of the seal break free increasing initial sensitivity.

Damper

The four-position Incremental Platform Adjust (IPA) damper offers a wide range of compression adjustment from an open mode ready to smash through rock gardens to a firm platform setting that offers the support you need while battling those leg-burning climbs. It does this by utilizing two separate shim stacks to maintain an ideal balance of low-speed and high-speed compression damping throughout the adjustment range. The first of these is the preload stack which is controlled by the IPA knob. As you turn the knob clockwise you begin to increase the preload on the shims directly without the use of springs or carriers. The lack of springs and carriers minimizes moving mass and maximizes the speed at which the shims are able to respond to trail inputs keeping your rear wheel cool, calm, and collected no matter how choppy the trail is. The second shim stack is a fixed velocity stack that was carefully designed to increase small bump sensitivity and provide the correct amount of high-speed compression to control the wheel with the lowest amount of harshness. This provides the rider with more chassis control, better small bump sensitivity with excellent bottoming control, less deflection through the rock gardens, and phenomenal ride quality in all conditions.

The rebound on this shock is similarly controlled through two separate circuits. The first of which is a tapered needle that provides the ability to tune the rebound damping to account for rider weight, leverage ratio, and air spring settings. Adjustment of this needle through the knob affects the entire damping range but most noticeably controls the low-speed rebound. The second circuit is a fixed shim stack carefully optimized to preserve the correct high-speed rebound as the needle is adjusted up or down. This provides the rider more control, better traction, and steering precision while minimizing the need to adjust for changing trail conditions.

SUNringlé - Düroc 30 Pro

The Build

The wheels are laced with straight pull Wheelsmith DB14 spokes and alloy nipples. The total weight of the set is 1690g and will include everything you need to set up tubeless within the box. Freehub options include HG, XD, and Microspline.

The Super Bubba X utilizes the same drop in ratchet ring tech as the Super Bubba, eliminating threads for easy service and rock-solid interface. However, instead of the two offset 45 tooth rings found in the Super Bubba, the X features only one 90-tooth ring. This, combined with an offset six-pawl freehub body, results in the same high engagement of 4 degrees and shaves 55g to bring the total weight of the rear hub to 285g.

ProTaper

Hyperlite Bar

As the name suggests, this bar is not just light, it is Hyperlite. At just 125g when you first lift the bar you may wonder if the 8oz bicep curls you've been practicing all quarantine have paid off. And while that may be true, don’t let it distract you from the fact that this thing is very light.

ATAC Stem

The ATAC is back. One of the oldest names in the high-end stem game has returned. This time it's blinged out with all titanium hardware and a fresh laser etched finish. Available in 10mm increments ranging from 50mm all the way up to 100mm, this 90g stem is ready to steer you to victory, or the pub post-ride, whichever you prefer.

Forty Post

For those of you who prefer to rock a stiffy, we would like to present you with our new Forty carbon seatpost. As the name suggests the post is available in a 40cm length with zero offset for both 30.9 and 31.6mm seat tubes. Thanks to its carbon construction and Ti hardware, this post comes in at a scant 212g. While this post falls into our XC collection, it is suitable for anyone looking for a lightweight rigid seatpost for any occasion or discipline.

Combined with some of our existing products these new offerings complete our XC collection. To view the entire collection click here to visit our website.