Following on from our recent test of Pipedream’s Nevis hardtail, here’s the development prototype of the company’s full suspension bike. Pipedream is big into titanium, and the front end of this bike is the same 3Al/2.5V tubing as the hardtails. The back end, though, is aluminium. The FSR-style linkage arrangement is very Turneresque, but that’s no bad thing. The bike will offer 5-6in of travel.

Obviously this bike is some way from a finished product (although it looks pretty sorted). Much of it is made overseas, although Pipedream is aiming to get the CNC work done in the UK in the interests of quality control and ease of making changes.

The history of titanium full-suspension bikes isn’t a glittering one – lots of them have ended up being too floppy in all the wrong directions – but we know that Pipedream can make a stiff front triangle, and it’s making life easier for itself by using an alu back end. Whether the Ti front offers any compelling advantages will hinge a bit on how much the frame ends up costing, and that’s still up in the air at the moment. Depending on how it pans out, this may become a production bike or it might be special-order only. Obviously if Pipedream gets lots of interest, it’s more likely to make it to production…

More at www.pipedreamcycles.com.