Atherton Bikes launch AM.170
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Atherton Bikes have launched a hard-hitting big mountain enduro bike with a mixed wheel set up, straight through seat-tube and 170mm of rear travel. Atherton’s design and engineering team worked closely with Dan Atherton to create an awesome all-rounder that is “a big hitter in the bike park and a beast out on the trails.”
Dan Atherton the man of few words… Said “I’m so stoked on this one. This bike is genuinely our best yet! It’s most at home charging downhill but its pedalling ability surprised me from the first ride, the AM.170 is equally happy doing all day big mountain days as it is taking on the Oakley line. If I had to choose just one bike from our range to ride every weekend, this would be the one!”
The AM.170 includes all the learnings from Atherton’s DH mullet bike that saw Andi Kolb on the podium four times last season; it’s awesome on the downhill but it also builds upon the award-winning AM.150 so it’s mega on the climbs… You can boost jumps, really push hard in the park, but when you’re up for an adventure the new geometry and the DW6 platform work together to make those big mountain style missions altogether more rewarding.
Atherton Bikes CEO, Dan Brown said “There’s no shortage of tracks here in Dyfi so this bike has been thoroughly tested on bike park jump lines, National stages of the British Enduro Series and the 20 minute+ Enduro descents that Athy has built here in the Dyfi Forest. When we head out there on a staff ride this bike is all time.”
The AM.170 is built around Dave Weagle’s DW6 suspension platform, a development from his DW4 four-bar linkage designed to work with Atherton’s titanium lugged construction and offer an awesome all round kinematic. The entire Atherton team ride every weekend and have put in a lot of work on “ride feel”. DW6 offers outstanding small bump sensitivity, good support in the mid-stroke and is progressive enough to accommodate the biggest of hits. Custom carbon tubing achieves the perfect balance of stiffness and compliance so whether you’re climbing or descending this bike achieves maximum traction and a totally mind-blowing feeling of connection with the trail.
Moving to a mullet set-up means that the Atherton design team have been able to use a straight through seat-tube so you can keep the seat low for the descent but still get maximum efficiency for the climbs.
The company put a huge emphasis on physical fit. Dan Atherton said “20 years of racing showed us just how much of an advantage that (perfect-fit) brings so when we started Athy Bikes we wanted to offer that to everyone.” The 170 is offered in22 different sizes, from 410mm to 530mm reach which means every rider can order a perfect-fitting bike… there is even a custom-size option for mm perfect match; though with 10mm increments between sizes almost everybody will find a near perfect-fit from the standard size range. As with existing models in the current range, the seat tube angle varies with size to make sure that riders will always be in a great seated position on the bike.
The Atherton commitment to rider choice is reflected in a range of three distinctive builds and a frame-only option, each with the choice of Air or Coil shock and either 170mm or 180mm upfront to give an even more personalised riding experience. As with the entire Additive Manufactured (AM) range customers are free to switch components, or even exclude components from their order to create their dream build.
Prices for the AM.170 start from £4500 for a frameset which includes a Fox DHX2 Coil or FoxFloat X2 shock.
When it came to spec’ing full builds the Atherton Bikes team chose components that were tried and tested by the race team with support from their technicians and staff riders. DanBrown said “We wouldn’t in all conscience send riders out on anything but parts we’ve thoroughly tested ourselves.” so Stans Wheels, Continental Kryptotal tyres, FSA bar and stem and Hayes Dominion brakes are present across the range.
The starting price for a full bike is £6950 for Build 3, a specification built for durability. TheAM.170.3 focuses on rugged and reliable components at a good price and comes with a choice of Rockshox Super Deluxe Ultimate Coil or Air and Zeb Ultimate with either 170mm or 180mm up front. There’s a burly 12 speed Sram GX drivetrain and GX Eagle crankset.
From £7900 Build 2 reflects on going customer demand to customise their Atherton builds with Ohlins suspension. So the company are offering AM.170.2 with a choice of Ohlins TTX22.M2 Coil or Air and Ohlins RXF38 with either 170mm or 180mm up front.
Build 1, the Fox Factory build comes with a choice of Fox Float X2 or DHX22 with either 170mm or 180mm Fox 38s up front, it retails at £8200. All AM.170 builds are compatible with Sram’s new direct mount drivetrains, available as an upgrade – Call for more info.
All bikes in the Additive range are designed, hand-crafted and tested in Machynlleth, Mid-Wales and include a lifetime first-owner warranty, including Bike Park use.
With Dan Atherton, the prototype bike’s chief tester, out of action with a broken wrist, filming duties fell to Continental Atherton’s Charlie Hatton.
Charlie said “I’m super impressed with the capabilities of the new A.170, not that I didn’t think it would be good but it did exceed my expectations. It’s so stable whilst descending, it makes you just wanna go faster. It feels like a mini downhill bike but the best part is you can climb back up and do run after run.”
