The Nukeproof Dissent 297 Frame: A privateer’s dream downhill bike

Developed in conjunction with the world’s fastest riders, downhill mountain bike racing is baked into the Dissent’s DNA.

Remarkably tunable, ultra-stable and designed to go really, really fast, the Dissent 297 is a high-performance downhill bike equally at home in the bike park as it is between the tape on a World Cup track.

The frame-only version of the Dissent 297 comes with the stellar-performing RockShox Super Deluxe Coil Ultimate DH RC shock, the same shock that comes stock on the Dissent 297 RS complete bike. Being just a frame, the rest of the build is up to you — make it into your own big mountain shredder.

Like many of Nukeproof’s best bikes, the Dissent started life as a test mule that performed so well, we decided to put it into production. The resulting bike is a privateer racer’s dream — armed with a series of flip chips that allow you to tailor the bike to your style and specific terrain, the Dissent gives you the power to fine-tune your setup like a factory rider.

How it Rides

Every production bike begins life as a test mule, but few test mules ever make it to production.

When we were developing the Dissent, we built a modifiable frame — a “test mule” — with suspension linkage and chainstays that could be adjusted on the fly by engineers testing various spring curves in the real world. Realizing the prototype rode really well and this adjustability might be something our riders would like, we refined the adjustment points, cleaned up the mule and, viola! The Dissent came to be.

It’s built on a custom hydroformed 6061 aluminum frame with 200mm of travel in the rear paired with a burly 200mm fork out front. At the main pivot of the rear suspension is a four-position flip chip that gradually ramps up shock progressivity as you cycle through the settings.

• Setting 1: 17% Progression – Starts with the least progressive rate off the top, has the most mid stroke support and then ramps up the least at the end. Sam Hill's setting of choice.
• Setting 2: 21% Progression – What we consider the “Goldilocks” position — It’s just right! Our recommended setting that suits most riders most of the time and is the stock setting shipped on the Dissent.
• Setting 3: 26% Progression – This is the position that Adam Brayton prefers and has raced to several medals already this year. If it is progressive enough for “Gas to Flat” himself, then it is probably progressive enough for you too!
• Setting 4: 30% Progression - Starts with the most progressive rate off the top (most supple over small bumps) and has the least mid-stroke support, but then ramps up the most at the end. Great for riding a bike park with loads of braking bumps and massive jumps and drops.

We’ve been clever in how we’ve engineered the flip chip so as you cycle through the settings there is just a 1% change in sag — meaning you won’t need to change spring rate as you flip the chip. Geometry and travel are also not altered as you change settings. Lastly, at the rear of the bike there are adjustable dropouts that allow for a quick change in wheelbase for further custom tuning.

Designed to instill confidence while hauling absolute ass through the jankiest of tracks, the Dissent is a racer’s dream.