Hope's portfolio includes stems, handlebars, headsets, hubs, wheels, cranks and much more. In other words, everything you need to build a bike up to standard.

Now the Hope makers present the missing main component to build a complete mountain bike yourself: The Hope HB-211 frame. The prototype bike was on display at the Sea Otter Festival. The main frame is made of carbon, the rear triangle is milled from aluminum - all made in the UK. The wheel size is 27.5 inches and the suspension travel is 160 millimetres - making the bike predestined for enduro riding.

Beyond known standards

The Hope engineers thought "out of the box" and deliberately ignored existing standards. The result? A rear triangle with an installation width of 130 millimetres to allow plenty of foot clearance. The diameter of the rear hub is 17 millimetres, which provides a lot of stiffness. The hub is also a non-standard version: here, the brake-side hub flange is shifted towards the disc to create symmetrical spoke tension.

The British company is also going its own way with the brakes on its own carbon frame: the post mount is located radially in the rear section and the adaptation to larger discs is not done with the familiar adapters, but with a type of spacer. Hope thus promises lower manufacturing tolerances and a brake that is easier to adjust and works better.

Started as a design exercise

Hope states that the Hope HB-211 frame was launched as a design exercise and is not a commercial project. However, the company has indicated that series production is an option. With the in-house milling know-how and the existing infrastructure, the production of the mold, in which the carbon mats are laid out and the frame is "baked", is an easy exercise. At the company's Barnoldswick site, the Formula 1 and aerospace industries are also represented right on the doorstep, so there is a lot of expertise with carbon. Hope had already been working on its own frame since 2005.