Mongoose's new Teocali platform gets a slight travel boost to 150mm plus a revised hydroformed aluminium frame. (James Huang/BikeRadar)

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Mongoose's versatile Teocali trail bike range will lean a little more towards the all-mountain end of the spectrum when the 2011 model comes out later this year.

Rear wheel travel grows only slightly to a full 150mm but the all-new alloy frame should toughen things up for more heavy-duty use. In particular, linkages and pivots – whose designs were borrowed from Mongoose's gravity range – between the front and rear triangles have been substantially bolstered for a more precise feel in rough terrain and improved wheel tracking.

Tubing diameters have been increased in the swingarm and more aggressive hydroforming is used up front to further stiffen things up. In a nod to the upcoming Teocali's expanded capabilities, head tube angle has slackened to 68 degrees and Mongoose will even offer a 'Mega' variant with downhill enduro style parts, including a 160mm-travel fork.

The new Teocali will retain Mongoose's effective FreeDrive suspension design

Mongoose still intend the Teocali to be pedaled uphill most of the time, however, so they retains the model's proven FreeDrive suspension system. Though complicated looking at first glance, it's essentially a high single-pivot design in terms of axle path for good performance on square-edged bumps but without the usual negative pedalling effects.

As the suspension moves through its travel, the additional linkage at the bottom of the frame pulls the bottom bracket rearwards, thus maintaining a relatively constant effective chainstay length and essentially neutralising pedal forces. Having ridden FreeDrive-equipped machines extensively in the past, we expect the new Teocali to be a very capable rig – and likely quite fun, too.

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