Patrick Morewood set up PYGA Industries last year after leaving Morewood Bikes in search of a new challenge. He's now given us a look at his first two new bikes, the Oneten29 and Zero29.
As the model names indicate, both have big wheels, with the former sporting 110mm of linkage-controlled single-pivot travel and the latter being a hardtail. The frames are hand welded using 6069 alloy tubing before being heat treated, aligned and finished at Morewood’s new workshop in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
These two models are planned for late May sales as framesets, with pricing yet to be determined. Both sport contemporary features including tapered head tubes and Syntace X-12 rear through-axles, but what first caught our eye was their progressive geometry. They have short chainstays for 29ers (435mm for the Zero29, 440mm for the Oneten29), and slack head angles (69.5° and 70°, respectively).
The Oneten29 is a sleek looking bike, with pivots that rotate on Enduro bearings – the angular-contact-style main pivot bearings are of particular note –fastened using Morewood’s own Interloc bolt system.
“I decided to stay with single pivot, this has always been my style,” Morewood told BikeRadar. “The bikes will, however, use a very short link rocker to squeeze the floating shock.” This allows more control over the suspension curve and also isolates the main frame from shock-related stress, so it can be built lighter.
The Oneten29 is meant first as a trail bike
Why 29?
PYGA's three co-owners – Morewood, Mark Hopkins (head of CAD design and co-founder of Leatt-Brace) and Andrew Bloom (marketing and communications manager) – all have backgrounds in gravity, trail and all-mountain riding. As a result, they came to the table skeptical about 29ers.
Their aim was to make big-wheeled bikes that felt more like 26in bikes, yet still retained the benefits of the larger wheel size. To achieve this, they've come up with a geometry based around slack head angles (for stability), short stems (for precise steering) and short stays (for maneuverability).
"I'd ridden some 29in bikes with steep head angles and long stems,” said Morewood. “I found that if I put a short stem on, the steering would be quicker but not very stable. This led me to making a slacker head angle than usual, but with the intention for a shorter stem to be used. The result was just what I wanted.”
After focussing on 29in wheels for their first two bikes, the trio are now looking at other options. “We definitely have plans to move forward with the 650B wheel size,” said Morewood. “However it'll only be because the 29er may not be suitable for certain applications, such as long-travel bikes.”
A pre-production Oneten29 waiting for parts; PYGA will initially sell the bikes as frames only