SPATS HYDRA FRAME UPDATE

It’s been a busy few months. The bike was finished for the Worlds and was on display at the show. The feedback was great and the interest was overwhelming, I still haven’t stopped replying to emails! The SPATS XC just went through its last stages of testing for strength and rider comfort and control. Brent Miller and the boys from Bike Culture in Canberra rode it for the last couple of months. The front Rock Shock was tuned and so was the XX cockpit for rider comfort, the bike was ridden against other well known bikes that boys like to ride and train on so the standard was high, but we were confident that the bike would meet the expectations of the boys. The feedback was great and we were almost on track. Every time I talked to Brent Miller there was always a list of small changes from a professional rider’s and mechanics point of view. Did I forget to say that Brent’s also a gun when it comes to building & tuning bikes? The SPATS XC Hydra came back with ten out ten for stiffness; the new Hydro-formed top & down tube was the latest in tube technology coupled with the Srams BB 30. We had been working with a tube company for the past 2yrs on this one so it was smiles all round when the boys were happy with the bike! It was back to the drawing board for a few small changes for the SPATS XC hydra, the geometry was tweaked the rear seat stay was drastically changed for strength and esthetics and the rear drop outs were re designed as well. Follow the pictures bellow and we will walk you through the changes. Enjoy!

The geometry was tweaked. We extend the effective top tube by 10mm taking it to 620mm which will add to the bike’s stability at higher speeds. The 10mm will also give the riders more options for choosing stem lengths and some more room in the cockpit.

We increased the head tube length by 15mm.

The drop outs were also modified, the arc between the chain stay and the seat stay was increased and pushed further out to triangulate this area some more. It helped strengthen the area by spreading the load.

We wanted to change the rear Seat Stay to keep the lines of the frame flowing.

The Chain stay was also modified so that we could improve ankle clearance. We also widened the tubes were they intersect the bottom bracket which will add to making the bottom end more rigged.

Tubes widened as they intersect the BB

The down tube was also raised were it intersect the seat tube making the stand over height slightly higher by 10mm. This helped us gain some strength in the seat post area while improving seat post depth of insertion

SPATS buidls a custom 4X bike for leigh Darrel

Spats recently built a custom 4X bike for Canberra based 7 times world BMX champion Leigh Darrel. The new 4x bike was finished just a few days before the UCI World Championships at Stromlo in September.

Leigh raced the bike on the Friday night for the first time. The Spats team were all watching with anticipation at the second last set of doubles on the lower part of the track. When the team heard that Leigh was on the gate ready to race and the silence from the crowd blanketed the track we knew it was going to be tense. My heart was beating and all could think of was “sh@& Leigh’s on a bike that we designed and built”. When the gun went off we were all screaming and going off! And so was the rest of the 10,000 strong crowd. The race was fast and fluid and Leigh looked right in his element. It was smiles all round when Leigh came around the corner right in front of us in the lead and took out 1st place in the race. Leigh had made the semi finals on the new Spats 4X!The semi final race come up so quickly we barely had time to comprehend it! Spats were in the semi final of a UCI event. The race was just as intense as the heat. However disaster struck when Leigh was knocked off his line by another rider on first corner! Leigh did not recover but it was great to see Leigh and Spats debut at a world cup event the Spats 4X did its job and we were all proud of Leigh’s great effort.


Congrat’s Leigh on great racing! We hope you enjoy these pics of the event (and the bike!).

Spats Hydra Series XC on show at the UCI World Championships @ Canberra Australia

Hi Guys here's a few shots of our new Hydra series XC bike. It was a busy few days and nights at our local bike hang out, Bike Culture in Canberra. Brent Miller, Adriano and I spent some late nights putting it together before its debut at the world Championships. As you will see from the pic's only the best parts will do. And boy were we smiling when the DHL man dropped off a full XX group set. A Special thanks to Rob Eva from SRAM who supplied us with all the gear.

Brent Miller putting some hours in

The new XX brake lever

Spats New Hydra Series Coming Soon

Spats is on the verge of releasing its new Hydra series of bikes. The Hydra series will be the first of its kind to be constructed from Hydroformed Titanium Tubes, making them lighter and stiffer with unique fluid aesthetics.

The range will include a Road frame, Cross-Country(XC) hardtail frame and a Four-Cross (4X) frame. All frames will be available in small, medium and large sizes and are designed around SRAM's new top end groupsets and components. In the MTB rodels this means SRAM's XX groupset!

These frames are currently in final testing with Spats' pro riders, including 7 time BMX world Champ Leigh Darrell on the 4X, and have made sneak appearances at Ausbike 2009 and the UCI 2009 World Cup at Mt. Stromlo in Canberra.

Keep watching for release dates!

Spats Blog Goes Live

This is the first post on, the Spats Bikes new blog. We are now live and blogging!