Yorkshire based Carbon Wasp unveils the Truffle
New cross country bike comes with a UK made carbon frame
More News
The Trail 429 gets an all-new flip chip, a geometry tweak and a vertically mounted shock
Cervelo expands its portfolio with a new cross country rig
Yeti is bringing turquoise back to the XC racing with its revived ASR.
Get the low down on newbies - the Fugio, the Mantle and the TarnTanium
Carbon Wasp, a brand producing carbon frames from scratch all within the UK has announced its newest bike. The Truffle is a full suspension mountain bike that's designed to do it all, whether that's cross country, trail, or even a bike park lap or two. Here's everything you need to know.
- The ultimate guide to frame materials: what's best for bikes?
- Best mountain bikes for under £3,000 - capable trail bikes that won't break the bank
- The best titanium mountain bikes you can buy
When designing the Truffle, the guys at Carbon Wasp wanted to create something that could be built into a lightweight cross country bike but was also durable enough to take on some seriously techy descents. With that, the bike offers 120mm of travel at the back that compliments the stiff carbon frame, says the brand. It can then accommodate up to a 140mm travel fork, boosting the bike's capability when the trail goes down.
Carbon Wasp says that it took a full three years to nail down the carbon lay up schedule and set up the supply chains required to build the bike. The Truffle is made from pre-preg carbon fibre that's sourced in the UK which is then laid up in Leeds. The frames are painted locally to the brand. All of this allows Carbon Wasp to keep tight control over the build quality while ensuring shorter lead times.
Each frame's components are made completely from carbon with the front triangle, rear triangle and linkage all moulded as single pieces, increasing stiffness and reducing the weight, says Carbon Wasp. Keeping the weight extra-low, the Truffle makes use of a flex pivot, minimising the amount of hardware in the frame. Speaking of the hardware, the frame makes use of fully sealed cartridge bearings, making the frame Yorkshire proof.
As for the Truffle's geometry, it's definitely modern, to say the least. A large frame comes with a 480mm reach, there's then a 65.5° head angle, and 440mm chainstays (on the large). There's also a 76° seat tube angle. As it's a bike that's designed for XC and trail riding, it's shaped to get a rider up a hill efficiently while being capable of getting rowdy down the trails.
2022 carbon wasp Truffle down tube.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Carbon Wasp has put a lot of thought into the suspension kinematic on the Truffle and with the aforementioned flex stays, it's designed to offer its 120mm of travel progressively while feeling plush. The shock progression is 38% throughout the travel and 27% from sag to full compression. Making the platform stable when climbing, it gets 115% anti-squat at sag.
Because Carbon Wasp is a fairly small company at the moment, the brand is only offering the Truffle as frame-only. As the frames are made to order, you can request a custom colour for the same money, although if you want to go all fancy and get a multi-colour paint job, it's best to give Carbon Wasp a call.
The Truffle frame is kitted with a Cane Creek DB Air will set you back £2,800 but if you already have your own shock that'll fit, the price will go down to £2,400. Frames are available to order now with delivery being around three weeks.
You might also like:
