We usually see one or two new mountain bike brands launching every so often. Hudski Bikes out of Northern California is the latest, and they are doing things a little differently.
Will Hudson and Brian Syzkowny developed the Hudski brand, from a “shared love for bikes and driven by the beauty of simple design,” says Hudski. Syzkowny worked at Specialized, and the two of them designed the new frame, fork and handlebars to be durable and make maintenance as simple as possible.
Right now, Hudski has one bike available called the Doggler. The Doggler is a rigid bike, built on the principle of simplicity, but with a healthy dose of beauty mixed in.
“The Hudski Doggler is designed to maximize the versatility and stoke of a rigid bike. It’s better than your hybrid, it’s better than your gravel bike, and it’s better than your 90’s mountain bike.”
Hudski has three build levels for the Doggler: City, Gravel, and Mountain, proving that there’s more than just suspension that separates a bike made for commuting and the trails.
The Doggler frame is aluminum and it’s paired with a carbon fork, both of which have plenty of tire clearance. The frame can fit a 29×2.25″ or a 27.5×2.6″. The City and Gravel builds come with 700c wheels, and the Mountain build comes with 27.5″ wheels.
All of the models also include a dropper post. There are a few interesting notes on the Doggler that should excite some people. First of all, the rear axles are still spaced for 142x12mm and it includes a threaded 73mm bottom bracket.
The full carbon fork uses a 44mm offset with a 100x15mm axle, and it can also accomodate a 100x12mm axle.
The Doggler geometry is made to be progressive and is “loosely based on modern trail bikes with cues from XC and Gravel frame design.”
The City build will have a PNW dropper post, a Shimano SLX 1×12 groupset, Hudski Longhorn 27 sweep bars and Maxxis Grifter 29×2.0″ tires. They approximate the weight at 24.2lbs.
The Gravel build also gets the PNW post and a Shimano SLX drivetrain, with Hudski Longhorn 16 bars and 700x50c Maxxis Ramblers mounted on 25mm internal width rims. Hudski has the approximate weight at 24.2lbs again.
The Mountain build will get the PNW post, Shimano SLX kit, Longhorn 16 bars, but add wider 30mm rims and Maxxis Rekon Exo 27.5×2.6″ tires. The Mountain build also has a 10-51t cassette and 180mm brake rotors front and rear. The weight jumps a little bit to 24.9lbs.
Geometry on the Mountain build with 27.5″ wheels is set with a 437mm reach in a size M, a 69.2° HTA, an 1,118mm wheelbase, 450mm chainstays, and a 73.2° seat tube angle.
The bikes are available for pre-order today and framesets will be available in March 2021. Framesets include a fork, Chris King headset and bottom bracket, a Hudski top cap, and a Salsa seat post collar. All builds are priced at $2,000. Check out the Hudski website for more info.
