How does the new Fugitive compare to the V2 Chilcotin 151? On paper they look super similar...
Hey n3sta
By V2 Chilcotin 151, I am assuming you mean "V2 Chilcotin 155"?
As you might have noticed, our 29" full suspension product line goes something like this:
- Chilcotin 170 (170mm fork)
- Chilcotin 155 (160mm fork)
- Fugitive 140 (150mm fork)
- Fugitive 125 (140mm fork)
Seems pretty logical. As I suspect you also know, we use different stroke rear shocks to tweak the travel for each model and spec different forks as well, all to tailor the bike to a specific performance need.
GIven that that Fugitive 140 and Chilcotin 155 both use a 35 or 36mm chassis fork (Lyrik or 36), yes, they are similar in that their forks have the same chassis and only 10mm difference in travel.
The big difference though is in the frame geometry. The Chilcotin frame - overall - is focused on climbing then descending. The Fugitive frame is designed to be a bit more relaxed and this means climbing,
traversing and descending. The Fugitive is a more compfortable place to be if you are finding yourself doing a lot of riding on horizontal terrain. I don't necessarily mean flat or non-technical terrain. I mean mostly horizontal, where the trail might climb, it might go down, there could be a long ride to / from the trail, etc... The seat tube angle is about 1 - 1.5 degrees more relaxed on the Fugitive and this places the rider in a more comfortable possition when tranversing. The Fugitive places less pressure on the hands, knees and wrists when riding across horizontal terrain.
The Chilcotin has a steeper seat tube angle to offset its greater amount of rear suspension sag when climbing. However, if you're traversing, then you'll find yourself in a more forward centric position that might be a little overly aggressive. Again, these are subtle differences, but noticeable if you ride the bikes back to back.
So, I would say that technically they are close - but not quite the same in that the Chilcotin is overall a more capable descender due to the increase in travel and also the increase in progression of the leverage curve. The Fugitive is the "do everthing" trail bike: with appropriate tires, it can handle moderate drops and steep rock slabs and tech terrain. It's limit will be when it runs out of rear travel compared to the bigger platform bikes. This comes with the benefit of all day comfort on a mix of riding styles, while still maintaining enough chops to hit single black and some more moderate double black features.
Cheers,
