Descents are getting faster and faster, courses more and more technical. Simplon is responding and presenting the new Cirex, a 2021 bike that is designed to perfectly meet these requirements. The 100-millimetre platform will once again be a thoroughbred race bike with 100 millimetres at the front and rear. In other words, a race bike where efficiency and low weight have top priority. But even with ten millimetres less travel at the rear, it should perform better downhill than the previous model. Thanks to flexing seat stays, the rear triangle still manages without a Horst link, which saves weight and increases stiffness. The Vorarlberg company specifies a frame weight of 1800-1850 grams in size L (without shock). That's around 150 grams less than the old CirexSimplon has achieved this with a simpler tube design, a more compact rocker and an optimised carbon layup. There will be four frame heights from S to XL. The fact that a chain guide is now standard on the Cirex speaks for itself. The same goes for the significantly slacker and longer geometry: the head angle is 68 degrees, the seat angle is steeper at 76 degrees. The reach increases to 480 millimetres in size L and the chainstays shrink to 435 millimetres.
As with its predecessor, the new Cirex also fits two water bottles in the frame triangle, except for the S frame size. Tyres up to 2.35 inches wide fit in the rear triangle and the scope of delivery includes a minimalist chain guide that is fixed to the main bearing. To reliably protect the carbon frame, Simplon not only glues a chainsuck plate to the outside of the chainstay, but also to the inside of both chainstays. A steering impact limiter on the top tube, which is located on the lower bearing shell, protects the cockpit from impacts. Another Simplon development already familiar from the Race hardtail Razorblade is the Smart Headset. Thanks to the special headset, the cables are routed directly into the upper bearing shell and disappear into the head tube. This means that the head tube itself has no cable openings.
There will be five models of the Cirex, starting with the Deore version from 4399 euros. This is followed by GX Eagle, XT, XTR and XX1 Eagle AXS. There is a choice of three manufacturers and four suspension variants: Rockshox (SID/SIDluxe and Reba/Deluxe), Fox (32 Factory SC/DPS Factory) and DT Swiss (F232 One/R232). The lightest Cirex models with Rockshox SID SL Ultimate, DT Swiss XRC 1200 carbon wheels, Magura MT8 and Shimano XTR or Sram XX1 Eagle AXS should only weigh 9.95 kilos as a complete bike. However, they also cost 6399 and 6799 euros respectively. However, as usual with Simplon, you can also customise the details of the equipment for each of the five models in the configurator.
The Cirex with Fox suspension as a lightweight trail bike
If you are looking for a little more comfort or fault tolerance for marathons or a bike for long, pedalling-heavy low mountain tours, you can also opt for a down-country version with 120 millimetres of travel. Of course, the 120 mm version also has the nice details such as the steering stop limiter, a standard chainstay protector, integrated cable routing and the option of mounting two bottle cages. The two centimetre longer fork flattens the head angle to 67.4 degrees. The suspension on the 120 mm Cirex comes exclusively from Fox and consists of a 34 SC Factory fork and a Float DPS Factory shock. The configurator option for the seatpost is particularly useful here: for an extra € 240, a Lev Integra dropper post with a 150 mm stroke replaces the standard Simplon carbon post with a 31.6 mm diameter.
