The Pole Machine: A 160mm 29er CNC’d from a Block of Aluminum

The Finnish brand Pole has just announced their latest mountain bike: the Machine. It’s a 29er with 160mm of rear travel designed to pair with a 180mm fork. Like the rest of Pole’s bikes, its geometry pushes the long, low, and slack envelope off the table and into the trashcan. The Machine sports a raked-out 63.9° head tube angle, a 510mm reach (size large), a 20mm BB drop, and 445mm chainstays. That last figure is longer than is currently fashionable, but Pole thinks the increased length adds stability and provides good balance front to rear.

So all that would be news in itself, but the real story here is the frame’s construction. It’s aluminum, but instead of being welded up from a set of hydroformed tubes, the Machine is CNC’d from a block of solid 7075 T6 aluminum. The front and rear triangles are made in three separate pieces that get glued together. The result is a metal frame that has the swoopy tube shapes of a carbon frame. Personally, I think it’s gorgeous.

Other interesting features of the Pole Machine include an asymmetric rear shock layout; room for three water bottles, with two inside the front triangle; completely external cable routing; and clearance for tires up to 3″ wide. The asymmetric shock arrangement effectively gives the Machine a longer seat tube so riders can run extra long stroke dropper posts.

The Machine frame will be made 100% in Finland, and it’s gonna cost you a pretty penny. A frame alone runs 3,450€, or around $4,100 US. Two complete builds are offered: the TR build is roughly $6,500 and the EN build is about $8,200.

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