I love the right-hand picture on the wall behind - it looks like abstract art. The bike's alright too. Is this a GT Fury? The pivot looks higher to me (Which would be a good thing) and it's spec'ed more like at GT Force (a 'Hammersmith' and single crown fork).

He's got balls... or at least he did!

You're right about a hole in the down-tube, but as Giant and other's seem to be dropping that design, I guess that's not the best solution (it would definitely add frame weight). I'm not sure if you're right about squeezing in a 5 geared hub - perhaps. As SuperCo's Doc has previously worked on hub gear designs at Brooklyn Machine Works, I'm sure he's given serious thought to it. If you are serious about wanting a new DH frame, I'd drop him a line to discuss hub gears. Because of the Idler being on the swing-arm's pivot, the design could easily be tweaked to fit a Rohloff hub gear in the rear wheel. I'd also discuss with Rohloff if they would be willing to warranty the hub gear for Down-Hill use - they can be fitted with through-axles, not just quick release. Because of the short back end, the extra weight back there isn't going to be felt much.

I need to see help about this... I've gone completely OCD over this bike! I just can't stop looking at it. It's a work of genius, pure and simple.

Rear hub gears aren't warranted for DH use. Gboxx style units are a bit heavy. But, perhaps more importantly, they are bulky, so to use one would require the shock to be in a higher location or in front of the down-tube - as it was on the BCD Racing Coffin (back in '99 when they didn't know better!) Having the shock low (as it is here) keeps the bike's COG low which really improves the handling and stability of a DH bike. (Note that most of the popular DH bikes at the moment have low shocks.) BTW, this pre-production model only weighs in at around 38lbs, with a tough Truetemper steel frame. While a lightweight and compact hub or Gearbox set-up would be the ideal, they currently don't exist, so this seems to be the best solution for now. It has the excellent ground clearance of a Gearbox design (affording it a low BB height), and the chain system affords the design a high pivot point which gives the swing arm rearwards travel, which helps keep wheelbase from drastically shortening when landing big hits, and sucks up bumps much better than vertical and forward travel, typically seen on full suss'ers. High pivots went out of favour because pedalling issues, but this gearing design solves that problem. This bike is the best DH bike I've seen (and read about - just check out Dirt Mag's October issue!)

Look at that gorgeous stiff tubing! And there's nothing like riding with 9inches in the rear ;)

Oh... wet dreams again!

This muthahuckin' bike is [B]thee[/B] best bike money can't buy (quite yet.) I have wet dreams about riding this bike at Wharncliffe. But ahhh sonofabitch, why do bikes have to be so damn expensive?!

88, V10, M6, blar blar blar... This here bike is the best spec'd DH bike I've come across - check out October's Dirt Mag review of the preproduction model. Sweeeeet!