The cold reality of bike testing is that a bike comes not as an individual piece but as the combination of parts from various suppliers and that no matter how much love goes into someone’s bright idea performance is partly ruled by the outside.
DIRT ISSUE 143 – JANUARY 2014
Words by Steve Jones. Photos by Andy Lloyd
At £2645 the Polygon Collosus is reasonable, but for several hundred pounds less many people will no doubt be considering getting a far superior sprung Canyon with Cane Creek rear shock and RockShox BoXXer R2C2 forks. A few hundred more gets you a BOS shod YT Tues. There’s some big hitting competition going on for this part of the market so there are some hard choices to be made.
With the Polygon Collosus you still get Mavic, MRP and the invincible Shimano Zee brakes, and this is worth bearing in mind because the bike is put together incredibly well in terms of the rest of the componentry package. For the price it’s not a bad offering, certainly on par with the majority of brands with similar hardware that don’t take the direst sales route (cutting out shops, meaning cheaper bikes but less support).
Detailing on the Collosus is excellent and the neat rear fender is a real nice touch enabling easy access to the rear shock’s rebound dial. Good cabling, fork bump stops all work well, the paintwork up to the task in hand – having a rough time in the woods. Available in three sizes the geometry numbers are as to be expected reasonably close with the competition although the bottom bracket did seem a shade on the high side.
Yes but it’s a bike that’s been proven on the World Cup circuit. Well yes and no. Whereas the production Collosus’ rear rotates around the bottom bracket team rider (and World Cup racer) Mick Hannah’s does not. I can only imagine that this has been to aid power transfer through the pedals. And the dual link system is also altered too. Interestingly the bike stays pretty solid when pedalling sat down, it’s only when you start climbing on the pedals that things become interesting.
The rear suspension on this production Collosus works reasonably well, the progression is certainly good and everything feels straight forward underneath, offering no untoward actions or weirdness. A bike however is only as good as its dampers. The Fox Van RC and RockShox Domain go up and down well enough but they are hardly works of art. Still it’s an entry level bike so we cannot be too harsh here, and relative to similarly sprung bikes it offers consistent damping.
The ride characteristic is good although there does seem to be an emphasis for weight to be thrown forwards on the bike putting a bias onto the fork. More damping and stronger spring rates are required up front as the bike was not evenly matched out of the box.
If I was in the market for a Polygon I think one eye might be on the fact that they are already making alterations to the suspension design on team race bikes. I’d also be considering the +42lb weight.
Price: £2645
SPECFrame: ALX Alloy Downhill, 8”
Front Fork: RockShox Domain RC
Rear Suspension: Fox Van Performance RC
Shifter: Shimano Zee
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Zee
Brakes: Shimano Zee
Pedals: Kore Race II
Crankset: Shimano Zee, 165mm, 36T
Chain Guide: MRP Mini G2 SL
Bottom Bracket: Shimano Hollowtech 2
Chain: Shimano Tiagra
Cassette: Shimano Tiagra, 11-25T
Hub Rear: 12X150mm Thru Axle
Hub Front: 20X110mm Thru Axle
Rim: Mavic Ex 325 Disc
Tyres: Schwalbe Muddy Mary 26X2.35”
Saddle: Kore T–Rail Performance
Seatpost: Kore Twin Bolt
Stem: Kore Torsion Direct Mount
Handlebar: Kore Torsion, 800mm
Headset: FSA Gravity SX Pro
Size: Small, Medium and Large
