First look: The Angeles spade prototype was designed by a 19-year-old
The future looks bright for the youth taking advantage of the technology available to us today. Take nineteen-year-old Ethan Eggert from Bend, Oregon, for The Angeles spade prototype was designed by 19-year-old Ethan Eggert from Bend, Oregon, and features a 170mm travel frame built for enduro racing and freeriding. The frame is machined from large blocks of billet aluminum to form halves and then bonded together, with the emphasis being on building the frames sustainably by molding 7075-T6. The base is a full 29er enduro bike with 170mm of travel at both ends using a 205 x 65mm travel shock. The design uses two short links with only half of the top component visible from the side profile, while the reversible headset cups allow you to adjust the reach by 5mm to fine-tune the fit and style of the bike. The frames are being considered a size Large frame with a base reach of 480mm (+/- 5mm) and a stack height of 635.
Published : one year ago by Brian Ross in
The future looks bright for the youth taking advantage of the technology available to us today. Take nineteen-year-old Ethan Eggert from Bend, Oregon, for example, who makes his own enduro frame under the Angeles brand name. The 170mm travel “Spade” prototype is a CNC machined frame built for enduro racing and freeriding.
Ethan admits friends helped him make the prototype a reality with photography, marketing, and 3D printing test models. However, he designed the frame, connection and graphics himself.
The brand’s name and theme comes from Port Angeles, home of the Northwest Cup – one of Ethan’s favorite places to ride. He then stumbled upon an appropriate model name while picking up an ace of spades, a Bicycle brand playing card complete with angels on the back.
Borrowing from newer manufacturing techniques, the spade is machined from large blocks of billet aluminum to form halves and then bonded together. The emphasis will be on building the frames sustainably by molding 7075-T6, but Ethan hints that Angeles bikes won’t be limited to aluminum construction. It is also strongly emphasized that this frame is a prototype and is subject to change.
A driving factor in kinematics for the Spade was a primarily vertical axle path and also a frame that allowed for versatility in setup depending on riding style. The basic functions have not been neglected either, so that the frame can hold two water bottles.
Angeles Bikes wasn’t ready to share the kinematics just yet, but the design uses two short links with only half of the top component visible from the side profile. This upper arm acts as a rocker arm to compress the shock from above, similar to Cannodale’s Jekyll.
Between the interchangeable dropouts, geometry flip chip and shock spacers, the frame can be set up in eight unique configurations. The base is a full 29er enduro bike with 170mm of travel at both ends using a 205 x 65mm travel shock. That can be brought down to 160mm by reducing the travel to 57.5mm and paired with a fork of the same length. On the other end of the spectrum, the Spade can also run multiple dual-crown builds; 200/170 mm with MX wheels or 190/170 mm with both rear wheel sizes.
Then there are the reversible headset cups, which allow you to adjust the reach by 5mm to fine-tune the fit and style of the bike. Ethan claims the Spade is both “a racing weapon and a freerider’s dream.”
Normal standards are also part of the equation with a 73mm threaded BSA bottom bracket, 52mm chainline and UDH-compatible dropout. There are also ISCG tabs and the cables run internally through the front frame triangle.
As it stands, the single prototype is being considered a size Large frame with a base reach of 480mm (+/- 5mm) and a stack height of 635, which ranks in the middle of most other brands’ offerings.
There are a couple of numbers in the seat tube that jump off the side with a longer 450mm length and 82-degree angle. Then the head tube is also on the attack side, measuring 100mm long and sloping back to a slack 63 degrees.
Thanks to the exchangeable dropouts, the chainstay length can vary between 440, 450 or 460 mm. There’s also a vertically offset dropout to compensate for the drop that a 27.5-inch rear wheel would create. In full 29er mode, the bottom bracket drop is 25mm
All those numbers add up to a 1289mm wheelbase (in the 450mm chainstay setting) to keep things in check for enduro racing and freeriding alike.
At this point, Angeles hasn’t set a price, but says they will have a small batch of frames ready for sale by the end of the year. To get in touch with Angeles Bikes you can email them at: [email protected]