Just in: Pinnacle Arkose 2

Similar shifter on the Genesis Day One Alfine. Anyone who thinks they might be put off should try it. It really isn't a problem at all, especially if the drops are of the shallow variety.

I find it completely instinctive now, often going for the friction shifter (that isn't there) on my more conventionally gear/shifter combination bikes until I remember what I'm riding

Weird shifter? Has no one seen a bar end shifter before?

Really liked this bike when it came into my work a few weeks ago. Would have loved to have seen this as a single-speed CX bike but probably would be pretty niche. I quite like the colour actually, well done James!

It's a nice concept! Bar-end shifters and full hydraulic braking are both pretty hassle-free things. Hybrid disc brakes would allow for brifters, but would not be as low maintenance.
A ratcheting bar-end shifter might well work with the wider range Shimano MTB rear der/cassette, but perhaps the buying public is too hung up on indexed shifting for that idea to be viable...

The bike seems a bit heavy, especially considering the simplified components. (Perhaps part of the weight might have something to do with the chosen brakes, too, are mechanic disc brakes lighter?) But since the bike is more of a all-rounder than a CX race bike, it's still light enough. I like it.

Have you seen this

http://brimages.bikeboardmedia.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10...

This would get rid of the bifter

I've got a Pinnacle MTB in a similar colour, looks ace in real life IMO!

Argos 74, sorry to hear your bike was pinched. There's still the Arkose 1 with BB7/Sora and 3 with BB7 SL/105 in the 2014 range so there's most bases covered. The £100 gap between the 2 and 3 last year was so close that we decided to try this. Calling it the Arkose 2 was just down to price hierarchy.
The reason for the bar-end was that we wanted to offer full hydro brakes at a reasonable price, that meant we needed an alternative shifter. The idea for a simple 1x10 / single bar-end shifter fitted with the generally fit+forget hydro brakes and we then had a spec that we all liked (I'm saying 'we', I'm deflecting blame / sharing credit where due!). In future it may have a front mech, or 1x10 like this again.

The colour, I blame road.cc's pics or a lack of sunshine: ) it's a metallic green, looks great in natural light (or a dark room, to some)

Some thoughtful touches here, such as the calliper mounts and the chain catcher; I like it.

I suspect the hand of James Olsen was involved in this radical re-design; he's the guy previously responsible for the huge success of Genesis Bikes and he could do a lot of good for Evans' reputation.

But yeah, that colour?

Can't see how this is an improvement over the 2013 model, or the reasoning for the changes. Given the choice, I'd plump for the 2013 model over the new version.

The 2013's Avid BB5s (replaced by hydraulics) gave plenty of consistent stopping power, and the conventional shifters worked well on and off road - I took mine out for commuting, bimbles on the TPT and blasts round a MTB course. Until some ingrate nicked it just before Christmas...

That bar-end shifter just looks and feels wrong. Cross top levers (now gone) were also useful in tight handling situations. Shifting from 2x10 to 1x10 looks to be more saving on cost to accommodate the hydraulics brakes.

To top it all off... switching from muted black/grey to lime green. Ew. After six hours in the saddle, I feel like vomiting anyway. With this, everyone would.

The fork is full carbon btw, on both 2013 and 2014 models.

The fork's all carbon and may be the same as some others (who may use the carbon or Al steerer option, not sure), it's an open-mold fork. No secrets or thefts there )

An XT mech with a 36T would be nice but Shimano 10s MTB is a different pull ratio which means no bar-end shifter (Microshift don't have a 10S MTB bar/thumb shifter). SRAM would work but bumps the price up a fair bit and we didn't initially intend this as a bike used where fast shifts or wider ratios are important. More of a simpler all-round bike, just a different option. Feedback from off road use is good though and the bar-end is easier in use than many expect (I have a SS MTB and another with thumb shifters so I'm quite happy riding it off-road).

I think bikes that some people don't see the point in and others 'get' right away are great, so we thought we'd make a few to see how it went. It's also raised a few conversations that help us all think through how a bike can be used or specified.

Nice bike. But the colour choice...?

Looks lovely bike though for a rough road track, unless you spend all your time in the drops? Which is unlikely for this bike your going to have to shift hand positions to change gears, that I suspect is going to get tedious really quickly,

Looks great. Very neat post mount brakes front and rear - no adapters used.

Full carbon fork, or alloy steerer?

I was looking at this the other day in Evans. Thoughts: shifter is weird, the concave headset top cap will collect water, colour and finish look great, and I love the idea of a 1x10 commuter bike.

One other thing. That fork... if it wasn't for the mudguard eye on the outside, it is an absolute dead ringer for the one on my Boardman CX, even down to the angle of the dropouts and the ridge across the crown just under the headtube. So who has stolen whose mould?

Great price but wouldn't care for that front shifter at all

Nice. N+1.

{pedant} Sheldon sez a 700-35@(100rpm+38-11)= 27.9MPH {/pedant}

Ahem.

If they'd thrown an XT 36/11 on the back they could have gone for a 40 ring, you'd get 29.4MPH out of the top end with an easier bailout gear for grinding the hills.

And the 36T-max Deore Shadow mech is the same price as the 105.

Jus'sayin.