slingshot bikes ?

[AngryScientist]

this is an interesting design i just stumbled upon on ebay. anyone ever ridden one of these?

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/s1sAAOSwzaJX2wVA/s-l1600.jpg

[Lewis Moon]

Wow, that's a blast from the past...kinda like meeting a deceased acquaintance who has come back as a zombie.
No I have never ridden one, but that thing was known to have the swishiest bottom bracket in the world.

[Dirtdiggler]

Yes I have and I had a blast riding the heck out of it. It climbed and pretty stable. Same bike, with and without gears and I had Spicer add disc tabs to the frame and Tange 1'' threadless fork.
I sold the frame because the ''scotchplate'' leaf spring that connect the rear to the top tube needed replacement and they have changed their design on how it was bonded and fastened.

Actually the original designer started another company..

http://erbbikes dot com

[David Kirk]

I spent a good amount of time on one and it was interesting. Some of the early bikes had a spring that sucked in torsion and this gave the feeling that the BB was soft as the headtube could all too easily twist relative to the seat tube. later bikes were much stiffer and the feeling of a soft BB went away. These later bikes were the best example showing that a big down tube isn't the largest contributor to a stiff BB but instead it's the chainstays that do the real work.

The odd thing about the bike was when dropping off something steep and feeling the front wheel getting closer and closer to the BB as the frame effectively folded up under you. I don't think I could ever get used to that.

If you ever get a chance to ride one take it....it's like nothing else.

dave

[93legendti]

I had a folding 650c Slinghsot road bike and it was fast, and a great climbing bike. Very easy to take down-a cotter pin in the spring and a quick release in the TT was all it took to fold the bike.

I only sold it because I hurt my back and the short HT didn't work for me any more.

[Mark McM]

I spent a good amount of time on one and it was interesting. Some of the early bikes had a spring that sucked in torsion and this gave the feeling that the BB was soft as the headtube could all too easily twist relative to the seat tube. later bikes were much stiffer and the feeling of a soft BB went away. These later bikes were the best example showing that a big down tube isn't the largest contributor to a stiff BB but instead it's the chainstays that do the real work.

Ummm ...

I think this actually shows the exact opposite.

The first generation Slingshot had a "soft" BB despite how stiff the chainstays were. It was only when the front end was stiffened up that the "soft" BB went away. This shows that the front end (which on a double triangle includes the downtube) has a major influence on BB stiffness.

[krhea]

I raced for these guys as well as shot promo pics etc for them when I lived in Michigan. Spent a ton of time in the shop mesmerized at what seemed to be crazy stuff going on with frame design. I loved my Slingshot mtn bike and rode the crap outta the thing until it was stolen when I moved to Boston. Rode the road bikes a bit as well and didn't enjoy them as much although the 650wheeled TT bikes were incredibly fast.
Mark Gronedal, the inventor/mad scientist and his brother Joel were great guys, loads of fun and shared a wonderful entrepreneurial spirit. If I remember correctly the "link" was made of fiberglass by 3M. I can remember test riding many different versions of varying "liveliness" and even having Mark "tune" one specifically for my weight and ride style.

Brings back great memories.

[Dirtdiggler]

Khrea, you probably raced with John Shell (?) from Ohio. I worked with him at Century Cycles back in 94. I was able to afford one with a shop discount. Funny with these frames is that not one was alike.. One would either show up with a gusset and campy dropouts or something different.
The flexplate was called 3M scotchplate that rumored to be used on corvette leafsprings.
I remember the hot set up were Syncros stem and seatpost 31.8, Suntour Microdrive and Velocity aeroheat hoops..

[dustyrider]

Never wanted to ride one of these...thanks but no thanks!:eek:

Here's a timely piece from PINK BIKE (http://www.pinkbike.com/news/1992-slingshot-team-issue-now-that-was-a-bike.html).

[krhea]

Khrea, you probably raced with John Shell (?) from Ohio. I worked with him at Century Cycles back in 94. I was able to afford one with a shop discount. Funny with these frames is that not one was alike.. One would either show up with a gusset and campy dropouts or something different.
The flexplate was called 3M scotchplate that rumored to be used on corvette leafsprings.

I do remember Mark saying the flexplate was of the Corvette! Most of the bikes were built "from the parts bin" so yep, you could get some interesting "marriages". I don't remember Shell by name BUT, I was an Ohioian who had moved to Michigan and I know there was at least one or two guys from Ohio that did ride/race on 'Shots at the same time. He was probably one of them.

[berserk87]

Wow. I haven't seen one of these in years.

Besides the odd design, the thing that stuck out to me the most was the lack of a water bottle cage mount on the down tube. Kind of a bummer.

[trener1]

A Friend of mine had one of these back in the late 90's, it was super light and also my size so he let me borrow it once for a road race, it climbed really well, but the course had a really fast (50+ mph) descent, boy was that thing sketchy on the fast descent.