Three is good enough for most people: While there’s enough travel quality to fly hardtail pilots, most trailriders will find Procalibers travel too short.
Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, National Mountain Bike Series Cross-Country Champion, began designing the bike during the last off-season. JHK, a self-confessed hardtail fan, wrote his main goals on a notepad. The rear suspension would need to be less than 10kg and must transmit horsepower, just like the Fisher Big Sur hardtail that he was winning on. He then began to sketch a rough draft for Gary Fisher’s Race Day suspension platform.
JHK THE Bike Designer
Jeremy is soft-spoken and unassuming. His design work is also impressive. It takes only three inches to win on both the world and domestic circuits. One pivot would suffice; it would be a large, wide one at the fore of each bracket. It would be the same height as that of the middle ring’s top. The suspension would be locked out of climbing in the granny by pivoting from there, and stabilize movement in the middle. The suspension would remain semi-active while flying over ruts and powering in the big circle.
DID JHK RELEASE THE MONOSHOCK?
You bet he did. This design has been winning races for years by Haro, Santa Cruz, and Cannondale. Mono is the ideal cross-country design. High pivot pedals work extremely well. It has a forward pivot position, which places more riders weight on the rear suspension while standing or getting over the back. The mono is mainly active when braking downhill, even with rider weight.
DOS JHK DESERVE AN ENGINEERING DEAGREE?
Procaliber frames feature nicely hydroformed tubes from the 6000 series, a strong swingarm pivot forging, lightweight windowed dropsouts, wishbone shock mounting, hourglass head tube, and wishbone shock mount. JHK may have even requested the very cobby-looking welds.
Cleanliness of the downtube-routed cables is a good sign. There is a cable guide remnant at the junction of the top tube and the head tube. A medium frame weighs a respectable 21 kg. Gary Fisher can provide the frame for you.
BONTRAGER BOUNS
Bontragers Race Lite carbon hardware looks amazing. The seatpost features a unique saddle clamp design and the riser fatty bar is perfectly shaped. The Race XXX Lite carbon fiber stem is a nice addition. The Bontrager Race Lite Lux saddle is also noteworthy.
Jeremy enjoys running double, sometimes single ring cranks. He asked for a 7 cm wide bottom bracket. Monos’ elevated stays allow for a narrow stance (Q factor). Mountain bikes should have a 7 cm lower bracket.
HAMMERING
No surprise that NMBS #1 Jeremy Horgan Kobelski retained Gary Fishers Genesis Geometry. The generous 61 cm top tube is joined to a 9 cm stem and a 66 cm wide bar. This results in a chassis that maintains a normal sitting position. Genesis Geometry (or JHKK) pushes the head tube further. This prevents the rider’s front wheel from being too heavy, especially downhill. The front of the bike is faster and more agile over bumps.
The rider remains perfectly centered and can easily balance one wheel or another. The Procalibers has a shorter stem which is more suited to the wide riser bar. The Gary Fisher is a great cross-country race bike for singletrack. It can steer precisely when climbing, hammering or descending. The comfortable cockpit allows the rider to do more efficiently and effectively thanks to its chest-expanding design.
JHKs ARE THREE INCHES ENOUGH!
We rode most of the time with the shock off and pedaling on Manitous Platform Plus technology. It has a solid feel and absorbs bumps which slow down hardtails. The S-Type shock almost locks up when you flip the lever.
You will never need more travel to ride down terrifyingly-rough descents. The three inches of movement are cut short here, and the smoothness from the monoshock disappears when you brake hard.
JHK created Race Day as a platform to replace Sugar. This design is more open, with less travel and pivots. It also has a lot of forward motion. The Manitou S-Type shock works brilliantly.
WHAT IS JHKS DESIGN IDIOSYNCRASIES?
1) The Jones XR tires are 2.25 cm and 6 cm in width, and measure 2.10 cm and 5. cm respectively. This is a great thing for an XC racing bike. 2) However, why not put on a rear tire that indicates it should be run with the knobs in chevron pattern pointing forward? (Scooping dirt for more traction.) It can be reversed by racers to make pedaling easier. 2) If you have Stans why not put tubes in tubeless tires? It is difficult to place the tire on the rim with them and it is very difficult to fit the airtight beads. 4) The bike weighs in at 118 kg. This is far too heavy to be considered a race bike. 5) RockShoxs Motion Control system is great and eliminates the need to use a remote Poploc Adjuster. The additional cable and the bar-mounted adjuster increase weight and complexity.
JHKs NEW WEAPON
This bike could be your ultimate cross-county racing weapon. Yes, Jeremy may have been off the mark in terms of weight. The rest of the bike is just as race-bred.
Price
USA: Country of origin
Weight: 118 kg
Hotline 879-8735
Frame tested Medium (44 cm)
Bottom bracket height 31 cm
Chainstay length 41 cm
Top tube length: 61 cm
Head angle 70
Seat tube angle 72
Standover height 77 cm
Wheelbase 108 cm
Front Suspension Travel (8 cm)
Rear suspension travel 8 cm
Aluminium frame material
Fork RockShox SID World Cup
Shock Manitou S-Type SRL
Rims Bontrager Race Lite Disc
Tires Bontrager Jones XR
(2.25/6 cm f/r
Hub Bontrager Race Lite Disc
Brakes Avid Juicy Seven
Brake levers Avid Juicy seven
Crankset Bontrager Race X Lite
Carbon GXP
Shifters SRAMX.O trigger
Front derailleur Shimano XTR
Rear derailleur SRAM X.O
Chainrings Bontrager Race X Lite (44/32/22)
Cassette SRAM PG 990 9-speed (11-34)
Pedals Shimano 520 (not included).
