How do I know what size or geometry I want?

Tell us what types of terrain you like to ride, how you like to ride, your weight, size, what you like and dislike about your current bike. We can advise on what will work for you if there are too many choices.

What if I have a bike already, can I swap parts over to an Ethos frame?

Yes, however the front derailleur must be Shimano bottom bracket mount type and ‘E’-Type compatible bottom bracket. Seat posts are typically 27.2mm in diameter, although this can be varied if required. Larger than 46t (teeth) chain rings are not recommended.

Do I have to have so much travel?

No, but our suspension is so well behaved there is little purpose in having less than 4.5 " travel for a XC race bike and approximately 6+" for a freeride bike.

What’s the difference between paint and powder-coat?

Paint provides many more colours to choose from, more lustre, but it’s more likely to chip. You have to treat paint with care. Powder-coat is tougher, won’t chip, rather, it will gouge, dig or scrape only with severe provocation. The colour range is limited. Powder-coat isn’t as shiny as paint. Think of it as melted on plastic coat.

What is ‘shot-peening’?

Shot peening is a process that helps improve the fatigue life of a structure. Round beads are used to hammer the surface of a material and permanently stretch it - stressing it in one direction.

Bending forwards and backwards (cyclical loading) is the worst case for metal fatigue. If you have ever broken a nail or wire by bending it forwards and backwards you have applied cyclical stress loading. Shot peening works by permanently stretching the surface. Cyclic stressing is reduced because it is stretched in one direction, improving the life of the component.

Shot peening also hammers out the minute scratches from the material. If you have ever scored glass or a plastic sheet to make it break in the right place, you have seen how scratches promote cracks. Scratches also promote cracking in aluminium. By eliminating the scratches, cracks don’t have a place to start.

Why don't you have replaceable derailleur hangers?

Actually we do. The seat stay link can be completely replaced should the hanger be unrepairable. However we believe the one-piece dropout/hanger is in most cases sturdier and will stand one or two minor realignments. We can work with you if you completely destroy one.

What is anodising?

Aluminium oxide is one of the harder substances around. Anodising is an electrical process that turns aluminium to an oxide or to stone. It is evenly deposited across an aluminium surface. Basically, the top couple of microns of the base material is turned to stone. It is very scratch resistant, almost impossible to chip and seriously prevents corrosion. For bike frames it also protects the inside of tubes, something painting or powder coating can't do. Best bit about anodising, is it can be coloured.

Hard anodising is a variation of the process, and done at low temperature and is thicker and harder. Typically hard anodised parts are only available in shades of brown or black because the pores in the oxide are too small to absorb large molecule coloured dies.

What does 'brake jacking' mean and is it the same as ‘stink bugging’?

Basically, for the suspension to remain active during braking, the member that the brake device (disk or canti) is attached to must remain constant to the ground during suspension articulation. This enables the same tyre patch to contact the ground. If the brake member rotates relative to the ground (say for example 16 degrees for 100mm vertical travel of 24 degrees for 150mm over typical chainstay length) then the wheel, and consequently the tyre, must also rotate 16 degrees, or about 50mm of tyre circumference. With the brake locked, the tyre must slide across the ground that 50 mm. More realistically, the tyre slides a bit and the friction prevents the movement of the suspension a bit, causing the rear of the bike to become loose and unstable.

With over a 100mm of rear travel, the seat stay, which is the brake member on an Ethos bike, stays constant to the ground within about 3 degrees - which is over 5 times better than a cantilever and other designs that do not have corrective links and floating brake carriers.

Stink bugging is brake torque inducing extension of the rear suspension. This tends to overload the front fork, resulting in a front down, back up attitude. Stink bugging is compounded by the natural forward weight transfer during braking. We admit the laws of physics still apply to Ethos Bicycles. Our frames are subject to weight transfer, but do not stink bug!