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POLYGONCOLLOSUSDHXPOLYGONCOLLOSUSDHX Chris Clark Jason Stevens

MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH POLYGON CAME WHEN I MET UP WITH JAMES AND ANDRE FROM BICYCLES ONLINE AT THE AUSBIKE EXPO IN MELBOURNE. THEY ARE THE AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTORS FOR POLYGON AND HAD EASILY THE MOST IMPRESSIVE STAND AT THE SHOW. BICYCLES ONLINE IS A BIT OF AN AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS STORY AND DESERVEDLY SO, THEY ARE TWO OF THE NICEST GUYS YOU’LL MEET AND HAVE A TRUE PASSION FOR OUR SPORT.

Rider wearing:Jersey: Dakine DescentShorts: Dakine BoundaryKnee Pads: TLD – KG 5450Helmet: 661 - RageGoggles: Oakley - Mayhem

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Let’s start with a bit of a history lesson on the brand. Polygon is part of the biggest bike factory in Asia, and before you label it with any preconceived negative ideas on quality, understand that some very popular and well respected brands of bikes have come from the same factory. If I told you exactly which brands these were I’d have to come after you. This massive buying power is how the costs are kept so low. The Collosus is testament to this. It’s almost too good to be true how much awesome gear is on this bike for the price. Saint cranks, gears and brakes, while everything else is KORE, a brand making a big comeback with some very sexy bits. Do I have to mention the Deemax rims? Rarely are these a factory item, let alone wrapped in tubeless Schwalbe tyres. This is without a doubt one of the best spec’d bikes to come out this year.

Enough promotional talk, how’s it ride? We all know that feeling once the full face helmet is pulled down and you slip on the goggles, you become just that little bit more invincible, well throwing your leg over the Collosus takes that invincibility to the next level. You almost become Sic Mick himself. Which is no surprise since the factory DHX frame really isn’t that different to the prototype that has carried the Hannah family to take out 2 National championship races. It is the same frame, same geometry, the same components, just more bulletproof reliable than the lightened version Mick Hannah rode to victory in the Nationals. Everything about this bike screams confi dence! From the Fox 40’s to the Saint components to that eye popping white and raw frame, nothing on this beast is a compromise on quality for the price, it’s amazing! The DHX can be had for just on $5K, about $900 less than a Giant Glory of similar spec. If you had to buy the components on the Colossus individually you would be looking at more than the purchase price!

The word plush does not come close to describing the ride on this chariot. This bike uses all of that 8 inches of travel to the max! Fox have provided plenty of smooth Kashima goodness with those massive RC2 forks up front. These things offer bags of lateral stiffness and a huge amount of tuning options to dial in any run perfectly.

The DHX RC4 rear shock is almost hidden by a mass of machined alloy and a fancy carbon fi bre guard. It has both low and high speed compression adjustments and bottom out control. The factory fi tted 350lb spring was perfect for a 75kg rider such as myself, but most beer connoisseurs out there will need a 400lb. Have fun changing it over though. I did bottom out once or twice and the shock did a great job of making this as soft as possible. Hitting big drops on this thing is easy as the rear end is so forgiving, it just soaked it all up without complaint. The FS2 geometry suits the rough stuff and loves to do it at speed. That mass of machined alloy may look complicated but it actually has less pivots than the last model offering good stability and behaviour over nasty ruts and loose rocks. Low speed pedalling is tough work though, due to the rearward path the axle takes in the fi rst parts of its travel. The length of the chain changes, sucking most of your effort. Pedalling is not what this thing is made for, get a shuttle rig or a chairlift and go nuts because once you are up to speed the pedalling shortfalls are almost insignifi cant compared to the fun you’ll be having. I’d even be tempted to enter a chainless event on this thing as it just wants to take off from underneath you and keep going.

The view from the cockpit is very commanding, the 800mm wide KORE bars give heaps of stability and even though white does make them look wider they make you feel a little gorilla like while riding. They don’t fi t through doorways in holiday cabins either... Bars this wide would be perfect for someone tall like Peaty but most of us would be taking to them with a hacksaw. Even though haven’t clipped them any trees just yet, snipping 10mm off each end would bring them closer to reality. The KORE direct mount stem is neat and suits the setup nicely with plenty of headset spacers to play with. The matching white and silver t-bar saddle and 30.9mm zero offset post are light and comfortable. Better still, it never got in the way!

I was concerned that the bike felt a bit upright at fi rst, the 64 degree head tube angle could be slackened with a headset kit for those who like the lounge chair feel, but it really isn’t necessary for the Australian conditions in my view. Same goes for the length, the rear end of the Colossus is adjustable by 10mm but I didn’t mess with it, as the middle setup was comfortable for me right from the get go. It’s still a fairly short bike when compared to other mediums, this was a bonus for me as it felt easier to manoeuvre around tight berms. At 17.4 kg this rig is really predictable and easy to control in the air, giving an old hack such as myself the opportunity to practice some whips, with no disastrous results, yay me! Stiffness and low centre of gravity allows the Colossus to rail berms with ease, the Muddy Mary’s stick to the ground like a fat kid on cake. All you need to do is lean in and hang on tight!

The cable routing however is a beacon of bad design, the rear brake and shifting cables hang lower than a set of dogs nuts under the bottom bracket. Unfortunately this is a necessity due to the way that as the suspension drops the slack in the cables is taken up. The low routing makes the cables a magnet for unwanted debris and they are begging to be eaten by a rock. A few hard runs had me snapping the cable tie holding the rear brake cable to the chain stay letting it rub on the tyre. The only real down side to this bike.

The Saint gear is so reliable, the M820 brakes have a lot more feel than the older Saints, absolutely no fade on longer runs and they are really easy to adjust and bleed. Thanks to the short cage rear derailleur, gear changes are lightening fast and amazingly solid. The chain slap is almost existent thanks to the Saint Shadow + clutch setup and tidy MRP Mini G2 chain guide and taco. However, the chain sits pretty close to the seat stay when in the higher gears so it’d be worthwhile getting some protection on there. Overall through it’s fairly quiet on the trails when compared to other bikes in the same price range. The only noise it really made was the cables slapping against the plastic guards on the bottom of the down tube when landing a jump.

In summary, this bike is quick! It is made to go fast downhill and not a lot else. It’s defi nitely one to hang onto as all it wants to do is speed out from underneath you and show you how to really attack a track! It’s no wonder that the Hutchison UR team are having so much success on these bikes.

Polygon back up their bikes with a 5 year warranty on the frame and 2 years on parts, not that you’d need it. With a spec as good as this! For those still not convinced by the price and high spec level, Bicycles Online offer a 14 day test for punters out there to decide if it’s the bike for them (I told you they were cool guys). Personally I don’t think they would see many, if any, come back. I’m just glad they don’t need me to return it for another few weeks, I think I’ve found my next DH bike.

POLYGONCOLLOSUSDHXFrame // ALX Hydroformed w’FS2 fl oating suspension. Avalible sizes: Sml, Med, LgeFork // Fox 40 Fit RC2 w/Kashima (8” travel)Rear shock // Fox DHX RC4w/Kashima (8” travel)Drivetrain // Full Shimano Saint throughoutBrakes // Shimano Saint (8” rotors)Dashboard // KORE bar (800mm wide)KORE direct mount stemWheels // Mavic DeeMax UltimateRubber // Schwalbe Muddy MaryRRP // $5198.00Browse // www.bicyclesonline.com.au

The Best Just Got Better.

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155mm travel next generation dw-link® suspension

0012PV_v2_Mach6 FP Revo Ad.indd 1 13/11/13 10:29 AM