Prototyping, Testing & Sending It on the New Knolly Podium

via Knolly Bikes // Photos by Margus Riga

Rarely, to our knowledge, does a designer of a premium DH rig see the bike manufacturing process from front to back. Everything from designing the bike on the computer to riding the finished product on the terrain it was built for. Noel Buckley, owner and designer of Knolly Bikes, has been designing bikes for over ten years. His first frame design was the V-Tach in 2004 followed by Endorphin, Delirium, Podium, Chilcotin and just recently the new Warden. His original V-Tach design was simply to build himself a bike for terrain he enjoyed riding on the North Shore Mountains of British Columbia. That same design, or at least the patented & proprietary 4x4 suspension, is what has led to the current Podium DH frame.

The new Knolly Podium in all its glory...

Noel is the very first rider to test any new model. He takes his bikes, such as the Podium, to the terrain he wants the bike to perform on, specifically in this case Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver. We often get asked how the Podium came to fruition and what makes the bike what it is. So we thought we would get it from the man himself as he talks about the journey of the Podium, a couple technical features about the design and his thoughts on the future of Knolly Bikes:

Don't just take his word for it, though. Watch as Garett Buehler and Linden Finiak get their shred time in on the Podium:

Knolly's Four by 4 suspension secret sauce delivers 8.5-inches of bump gobbling, big hit squashing travel.

It's always suns out, guns out with Knolly team rider James Doerfling.

It's the little details that count. From the custom titanium fasteners to the built in fork bumpers, Noel sweated the details on this one.

Ryan Berrecloth dropping in on the North Shore. Can you say steep?!

12x157mm thru axle. As burly and stiff as they come.

Garett doing work on the Podium at Mach 10.

ISGC mounts and a hydro-formed one piece tubular chain stay are just icing on the cake.

Doerfling doing as Doerfling does high up in the Whistler alpine.

Cheers for checking out the Podium. For more info, visit knollybikes.com.

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