Sunn Revolt Gp and Neuro Evolution rev. 1

[sunn]

Revolt has seen lots of action but is still going strong. I bought it new in the heyday of Sunn -98. I replaced the Obsure 55 with Manitou SX -R back in the day. It does not affect the geometry too much and feels ok. In this Revolt Sunn used Shimano XT-parts except for the back shifter (XTR). Apart from that Manitou front suspension, bearing and riser bars Revolt is in its original shape and I intend to keep it that way.

Neuro Evolution is the 2nd of the two Neuros that found their way to Finland. This is the first Neuro Evolution model Sunn made after they started anew.

Both bikes have the original Python tires. I even have the original -98 Hutchinson Python "Olympic tires" stored. I also have the 70+ Obsyss for the Neuro stored but wouldn't dream on using it . I would recommend RS Duke for anybody still riding these.

Neuro has no parts from "Shitmano", the V brakes are from Avid as usual and it's now fitted with the ESP 9.0 shifters. Those horrible "Half Pipe" shifters had to go.

Apart from the ESP 9.0 shifters, Icon stem and RS Duke SL front suspension Neuro is 100% original. Later on, Sunn even used RS Duke SL themselves in Neuro-models.

Both bikes are quite dusty and the tires on the Neuro are muddy . They haven't been used for awhile, though.

Also: viewtopic.php?p=121478#121478

 

[plexus]

i used to have a revolt like that, loved that bike.

 

[MONTARAZ]

Nice bike
That's one of my "wanted" frames, one of my favorites, along with the K.Explosif.

 

[Chris]

i used to have a revolt like that, loved that bike.

That makes two of us!

Mine had a red sticker though not blue.

Hey Sunn I see you've kept it virtually standard, looks great. Are they the original python tyres too?

Wish I'd never sold mine

 

[cce]

try to find one of the white dukes for the neuro, it'd look ace.

 

[Anthony]

Some knowledgeable Retrobiker put me right on why Sunn failed as an economic entity.

My reading of it is that they spent too much money on (a) supporting their race teams and (b) building their in-house components like Obsys that weren’t actually any good, and neither of those policies gave them much of a payback in terms of sales volumes. The Obsys thing was fairly clear – they backed a loser when it came to elastomers and 40mm travel. But the racing one is more complex – at one point they were world champs at xc and dh, but nobody even knew about it. You might know the world champion’s name, but what kind of bike does he use? If you don’t know that, what’s the point in the manufacturer sponsoring him?

Oh, and maybe mountain biking didn’t take off in France to the extent that Sunn senior management thought it would?

All in all, nice bikes, but bad business decisions - equals company went bust.

 

[cchris2lou]

Company did not go bust , it still exists .

Max Commencal was the boss , but was sacked by the board .

the company ran into trouble at the same time as all the other ones , such as GT , mongoose etc...

The MTB market in france is huge , and Sunn was doing really well , but in the late nineties , nobody wanted to pay £3000 for a DH bike .

 

[plexus]

Wish I'd never sold mine

That makes two of us!

 

[Anthony]

Company did not go bust , it still exists .

Max Commencal was the boss , but was sacked by the board .

the company ran into trouble at the same time as all the other ones , such as GT , mongoose etc...

The MTB market in france is huge , and Sunn was doing really well , but in the late nineties , nobody wanted to pay £3000 for a DH bike .

Thanks Chris, but he was sacked because they were losing money, wasn't he?

I know GT and Mongoose were taken over at around that time, but Specialized, Trek, Giant, Scott, Marin, Kona didn't run into trouble. I'm happy to be contradicted because you know a lot more than I do, but I thought he established an extravagent cost base and didn't sell enough bikes to justify it, so they had to pull out of most of the things they'd been doing?

Don't want to hijack the thread though, they were still really nice bikes. Used to have a nice little Vertik myself once:

 

[sunn]

Obsys Carbon is not bad. It works very well. But it needs a lot of care. Something a pro team easily manages with its pro mechanics etc. To a more casual rider that kind of maintenance is a lot to handle. But in those times weight meaned a lot and it was not unheard of to even use a conventional front fork. Manitou Spyder R was a cheap and good suspension in those times. I still have one in it's original shape.

When Max Commencial left and Sunn started anew they had some fresh ideas. Neuro was the first big hit in this new era. It was very well received around here and thanks to me they even imported Sunn bikes here to Finland .

Now they are back to the roots. They have very nice Revolt in their 08 catalog and a new Titanium top of the line- hardtail too. That 100mm suspension is not typical in Sunn hardtail, though .

A white Duke Sl would indeed be nice. But it is very hard to keep clean. Believe, I know. I've still got a white Obsys in the closet. Besides, it just wasn't available that year around here in Finland. I guess that you could get it in any colour as long as it was black like good ol' Henry used to say .

About the tyres... those are the original ones. I still have some stored in the closet.

Sunn Bicycles:
http://www.sunn.fr/en/collection/2008/VTT/

Sadly, Sunn is no longer supported here in Finland. MTB is no money maker around here any longer. It was a huge business in the early 90's, though.

To do: I guess I should post pictures of a Xircuit Un. It was a real workhorse. Not lightweight and lacking the elegance of Fuji Sl or Titanium, but a very solid and durable bike.

Picture of the Revolt with red sticker: http://photo.pinkbike.com/photo/405/pbpic405039.jpg