GET THAT CHAINLESS FEEL

Italian DH racer and engineer Fabrizio Dragoni watched Neko Mulally finish third at the 2014 World Champs after breaking his chain and Aaron Gwin win the 2015 Leogang World Cup after doing the same, and began thinking of ways to give a full-suspension bike the feel of riding chainless, while retaining the ability to pedal.

Benefits of riding with no chain include more sensitive suspension (due to the removal of riderinduced resistance) and therefore better grip, improved braking (because hauling on the anchors doesn’t cause suspension jack) and no pedal kickback (which can occur when the chain is put under tension as the suspension compresses). Dragoni’s solution is the ochain – an ‘active’ chainring spider that allows the ring to ‘float’ as you pedal, letting the chain move freely back and forth as your suspension compresses. The result, he says, is a faster bike and a less fatigued rider.

The ochain system allows you to set six, nine or 12 degrees of float before the chainring engages, so it should work for all types of riding. With a claimed weight of 299g, if it works as well as Dragoni claims, there seem to be few downsides to bolting this onto your bike, apart from the cost. We look forward to putting in some hours on it. ochain MTB Active Spider

£299.99 www.cyclorise.com