With all the talk about supply chain issues we’re still having and how it’s influenced inflation, Allied Cycle Works’ new US-made carbon fiber mountain bike may have arrived at the perfect time.
The new BC40 is made in Rogers, Arkansas at Allied’s headquarters just down the road from Bentonville. As you can tell by the inline shock and short travel fork, the BC40 is a cross-country trail bike. The frame is said to weigh 1,950g and the bike features 120mm of front and rear travel. The Allied Cycle Works BC40 can be set up with 100mm or 110mm of travel for an even snappier ride. “You will see our athletes using the BC40 in 100mm travel mode for races like Leadville this summer,” says Allied.
“The BC40 project has been over two years in ideation, development and testing, but the vision for this bike concept has been on our minds since the origins of ALLIED. A bike that extends the capability boundaries of cross-country while giving up nothing from a weight and pedaling efficiency standpoint,” said ALLIED Cycle Works CEO Drew Medlock. “We have been able to double our in-house manufacturing capacity over these last two years while simultaneously developing the BC40.”
The frame uses a four bar suspension design because it offers the lowest weight and simplest design.
Geometry on the Allied borders XC and trail categories: on a medium, there is 445mm of reach, a 76° seat tube angle, a 66.5° head tube angle, 435mm chainstays, and a 1,174mm wheelbase.
Tire clearance on the BC40 is 29×2.4″ in the rear.
The Allied XC bike will be available with custom paint jobs — even chameleon, color-changing schemes. There are also 11 standard colors and seven logo color options.
The BC40 will be piloted by Lea Davison and Payson McElveen at the upcoming Leadville 100 and Marathon Nationals. The name of the bike, BC40, is a reference to the Back 40 trails in Bella Vista, Arkansas.
All this customization, the domestic production of the bike, and small boutique nature of the brand mean that this isn’t cheap, US-made or not. Framesets start at $5,590 and complete Shimano XT builds start at $7,625. A top end build with SRAM Eagle AXS sells for just over $12,000. Check out the Allied website for more details.
- Price: $5,590 (frame), builds starting at $7,625
- Availability TBD.
