Earlier this year, Privateer pulled the covers off its new Gen 2 161 and 141 platforms, introducing a host of refinements and upgrades while building on what made the first-generation bikes so good. And now it seems as if Joe Connell, one of Privateer's athletes, has just won a round of the Scottish National Downhill series on what looks like a Privateer downhill bike.

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It's always great to see a new bike winning but, for Privateer, the sentiment looks to be a little different as we're hedging our bets that this isn't a specific downhill mountain bike. It looks identical to one of the prototype 161 Gen 2frames that we've seen the likes of Fergus Ryan riding on before the bike's release but there's one key difference.

2024 privateer moar linkage (2).jpg, by Liam Mercer

We already know that Privateer is pretty stringent with its testing and a glance through the 161 Gen 2's FAQ page states that the bike is compatible with dual-crown forks and that the bike can be over-stroked to run a longer 65mm stroke shock (as opposed to a 60mm stroke) which boosts rear wheel travel up to 174mm.

However, there looks to be a little more to the story as we've been tipped off that this particular bike is running a custom link. Compared to the original link, it's super shiny and hard to miss. We reckon this boosts the rear travel up to 200mm, making the 161 Gen 2 both an enduro bike and a downhill bike.

2024 privateer moar linkage.jpg, by Liam Mercer

We know there's a demand for a Privateer downhill bike but we don't know whether the brand will bring this link to the market. But the project does suit the brand incredibly well, we reckon so watch this space.

• www.privateerbikes.com

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