The Digit Datum is an all-mountain/trail bike with one critical innovation, a rear suspension strut, that opens the door to a lot of new capabilities.
Datum (n.): 1. A single piece of information. 2. A fixed starting point of an operation. Both of the dictionary definitions offer solid entry points to understand what Digit’s latest mountain bike brings to the table.
Following a successful crowdfunding campaign last summer, the very first Digit Datum mountain bikes — with their novel strut-based rear suspension — will hit the trails next month. And all the bike’s unique attributes cascade from that single component.
Digit says the Analog Suspension cuts weight, maintains pedaling feel from traditional four-bar suspensions, adds chassis stiffness, and increases reliability. It even says it accommodates the longest dropper posts on the market and leaves room for an extra water bottle.
And it provides 140 mm of rear travel with a 27.5″ rear wheel and 29″ front wheel “mullet” setup.
Digit Strut Rear Bike Suspension Details
Led by Tim Lane and developed in California, the company developed the Analog Suspension to answer a weakness it identified in most existing four-bar systems.
During an extensive research and design process, the designers found that the upper link of many traditional shock-based systems undergoes a lot of angular displacement in an impact. In other words, the bike gets slushy when the rider lands a drop. Conversely, the Analog system functions like one long link that gives more control through the distance of travel.
And all the linkages in traditional rear suspension systems contain multiple sources of play and many components to get moving and reverse direction (“stacking up” of suspension.)
Availability and Delivery; ‘Some Assembly Required’
