Neko Mulally Will Race Handmade Alloy DH Frames by Frank the Welder 54

Neko Mulally, #USDH heavy, has broken free of frame sponsor shackles and is hitting the 2022 World Cup downhill circuit on a frame he personally designed. He has enlisted the help of iconic frame fabricator, Frank the Welder, to take ideas from brain to computer to physical reality.

Exclusive interview with Neko Mulally

-photos by Logan Mulally and Zach Faulkner

Neko's goal is to keep the bike simple with a design that gives him the ability to control the performance attributes he prefers.

Vital Information

• Two aluminum prototypes - one high (but not too high) pivot and one low pivot
• 29-inch front wheel, 27.5-inch rear wheel
  
• Rocker-style four bar / Horst link suspension design
  
• 8-inches rear travel
• 30% progression, 50% anti-rise (low pivot), 60% anti-rise high pivot
  
• Low pivot bike axle path moves forward 15mm at bottom out
• 63-degree head angle
• 345mm bottom bracket height
• 455mm chainstay (low pivot), 450mm (high pivot) - chainstay lengths at sag are similar
• 475mm reach using 40mm stem with 52mm fork offset
• 38 pounds, low pivot with FTD inserts front and rear. Approx 39 pounds, high pivot

Neko's Sponsors for 2022

• Ride Kanuga
• Worldwide Cyclery
• Maxxis
• FOX
• Reserve
• Fox Head
• Spank
  
• Kogel
• WD-40
• ODI
• Factor
• WTB
• HandUp
• GoPro

Listen to the interview in our podcast channel