Thomas Stoll was a marathon pro for years. Cornelius Kapfinger (Intend), on the other hand, has no interest in clipping a race number to his handlebars. Nevertheless, the Swiss rider and the man from Freiburg came together for a joint project. Their love of technical details and high-end materials also made the Trickstuff company sit up and take notice and work on a dream together with Stoll and Intend this winter: The cables and lines on the handlebars were to disappear.
Technically speaking, according to the project partners, the mountain bike is approaching perfection. So now the aim is to make the beloved off-road bike look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Thomas Stoll, Cornelius Kapfinger and Klaus Lieder are not alone in their study and dream of a bike without cables and wires. Alutech already presented a similar approach at Eurobike 2018. The Swiss company Thömus also tried to hide the cables last summer. As beautiful and clean as the study based on the Stoll T1 but nobody has managed it yet.
Through the handlebars into the stem via the steerer tube into the main frame
The study is based on the carbon frame of the Stoll T1 and the Intend Hero suspension fork. In order to realise their dream of a bike without visible cables, the company trio had to completely rethink the routing of the brake line. The brake line now disappears just behind the brake lever in the handlebars. Christian Gemperlein from Bike Ahead Composites laminated a handlebar with corresponding openings especially for this study.
From the handlebars it goes inside the stem and from there into the steerer tube. The brake line for the front wheel comes to light again on the underside of the steerer tube and runs from there to the brake calliper. The brake hose for the rear wheel runs from the steerer tube directly into the inside of the main frame. The steerer tube must be provided with two holes for the cable routing. To avoid kinking the cables inside the frame, the study bike has a headset with an integrated steering stop. Thomas Stoll assured us in Riva: "The study is fully ready to ride!
Wireless shifting Sram Eagle AXS makes it possible
However, the whole project only became possible because Sram was able to MTB drivetrain without shift cables presented has. "You couldn't integrate a shift cable in the same way as the hydraulic brake lines," reveals Thomas Stoll on Lake Garda. The brake cables are much more flexible than a Bowden cable for the gears. The additional cable for the seat post is also no longer necessary thanks to the electronic seat posts from Magura or Sram.
The bike is not available to buy at the moment
If you ask Thomas Stoll about the price of this bike, he just shrugs his shoulders. At the moment, the bike is not for sale. They want to wait for feedback on the study before they start selling it. But Thomas Stoll was able to tell us this much: The bike as we have it pictured will certainly cost over 15,000 euros. For that, you would get a trail bike with 140 millimetres of travel and a total weight of just 11 kilos.
