The frame design

On first sight, the Liteville 301 frame does not look very much different from a conventional full-suspension MTB frame where the shock is placed parallel to and under the top tube. The main difference is, that the shock is not mounted, as usual, with the front connected to the frame, but instead with the rear connected to the connection of top tube and seat tube of the main triangle.

The decision to „reverse“ the shock mount has important reasons and is not just a design gag or just to do something different. It was our goal to design a real multi-pivot frame with a statically „healthy“ construction. That means, that all forces are to be introduced into the frame as softly as possible for frame and shock.

A key advantage of the reverse shock linkage is to introduce the forces of the rear triangle and shock into the main frame triangle right at the very solid connection between seat tube and top tube. In addition, the introduced force is working against the force being exerted by the rider via seat post and seat tube and is partially neutralized. In standard full-suspension frame designs with the shock parallel to the top tube, all forces act in the same direction and as a result the stress on the frame is much higher.

The frame
For maximum stiffness and durability every single tube is multiply butted and the overall frame construction consistently adheres to oversize principles. For MK11, the headtube of the Liteville 301 is equipped with the new Full Integrated "Syntace VarioSpin tapered" headset - the first of its kind. This allows an additional +/- 1.5° headangle adjustment independeant of the bottom bracket height. This also allows the use of all available 1 1/8th and tapered steerer tube forks. The tapered design with pressed in bearings does not only provide better stiffness and increased life time of the bearings (even when using standard 1 1/8 steerer forks), but also reduces the frame weight.
For an even preciser steering, since Mk8 we have increased the lower tube diameter from 53mm to 57mm. This, in combination with also enlarged upper tube cross section, guarantees a stiffness which did not seem possible with frames of this weight category. This provides an extremely secure and precise response and handling. The seat stays and chain stays are also butted differently on the left and right to accommodate for the different loads resulting from the chain pull and breaking forces. A specially challenging area – as with all Liteville frames – was once again the bottom bracket area. Here, bottom bracket, main pivot, front derailleur, rear tire, chain guide (optional) and the rear gear cable have to all work in harmony with each other. The unique and patented Neutral Center Path (NCP) provides non-length changing and uninterrupted gear cable routing resulting in the longest cable service intervals ever seen by mankind. At the same time it was also the key feature making space for the patented Syntace Chainguide System (SCS) as thanks to the NCP we were able to place the SCS close and directly mounted to the chain stay, allowing for creation of the lightest and best performing chain guide construction.

Construction type:
Diamond frame in oversize with 4-bar linkage diamond frame design,
up to 5x butted tubes.

Material:
Custom made Aluminium with special heat treating.

Surface:
• Shotpeened for best material strength and fatigue properties, Raceblack anodized with lasered logo.
• Works finish (Limited edition)
• Powder coated with about 160 RAL colors with 650 color options.

To the Raceblack anodised surface finish and the colour selection in powder coating, we additional offer a limited number of works finish frames of every production (limited edition). The new Liteville works finish is a real raw aluminium surface finish. It is no raw colour imitation of a metallic surface. It displays the natural irregular surface structure of our craftsmanship.
Changes over time such as darkening in tone and formation of darker areas are mandatory with this finish. It is this, which creates the natural charm of the patina of a real works finish aluminium surface.
By the way, this surface can be reworked either mechanically or chemically. You can scotch-brite the surface, you can polish it matt or to a mirror finish or even coat it as desired.

Statically superior:

The suspension system
Since evolution MK10 a special focus has been to optimise sensitivity in combination with optimal travel usage. Of course, given the pre-requisite, to still provide extremely neutral pedalling performance. To provide this, the kinematics had to firstly be refined. Secondly, all rocker link and shock pivots have been replaced with needle bearing. And last but not least, the Litevile MK11 has been equipped with a FOX Float CTD Kashima coated shock with custom Liteville tuning.

General causes of bobbing:
Firstly, the mass of the rider causes bobbing, when he/she is for example pedalling out of the saddle. To eliminate this cause, the best thing is to work on a smooth pedalling stroke – you either have it or if not, you may need to practice it. Secondly - and this is the critical cause - the chain torque, brought into the system by the rider, also causes bobbing. However, through optimum positioning of the 4 pivots of the rear triangle (of major importance is the position of the rocker link) the chain torque introduced into the system by the rider, can be completely uncoupled from the movement of the rear triangle. Even under full acceleration the rear will not bob, regardless of the gear selection. This careful pivot placement eliminates the necessity for so-called “anti-bob” or platform shocks.
To the above-mentioned bob-free attribute, it should be added, that this is to remain for the entire rear wheel travel, in order for the rider to be able to ride over large obstacles (such as large roots), without the chain length changing, so you can maintain a good even pedalling motion whilst the rear end passes through its travel. In our Liteville 301 the relatively long rocker link (with respect to the shock stroke) takes care of this, as the rocker arm angle change remains relatively small as the rear end cycles through its travel.

Up to Mk3 in 2007 the travel was 115 mm. For Mk4 in 2007 we were able to increase the travel to 130 mm by small changes of the pivot locations and by optimising the rocker link.
For MK8 and MK9 (available from 2009), Liteville offers 3 travel options: 120 mm, 140 mm and 160 mm so that you can perfectly tune your bike according to your preferences. The novelty being: the rocker arms do not only differ in travel, but when combined with an appropriate fork, also provide the perfect geometry for both the chosen travel and riding category. The 20 mm more travel provide 0g extra weight, but increase the small bump sensitivity and suspension travel reserves with the same neutral pedalling influences and pedalling efficiency. Only the additional weight of a longer travel fork appear as a disadvantage. However, we believe this disadvantage is much less, than the advantages you have with a 140mm travel fork: Slacker head angle and better descending performance = higher descending speeds and as on the rear bigger suspension reserves.
Please note: For marathon / enduro use a full suspension bike only provides an advantage if riding trail sections on which a hardtail (even 29ers) can only be ridden out of the saddle, can be ridden seated while pedalling. Here any extra travel will be more than welcome.

Travel:
Depending on the rocker arms used either 140 mm or 160 mm are available. The different rocker arms also automatically adjust the geometry in order to provide a perfect ride for all situations for the chosen travel category when combined with a suitable suspension fork.

DynaLevel (sag indicator)
Live indicator instead of getting on and off and checking the cable tie. No more human error influenced readings and a much higher information flow live on the trail. .

Pedal jack
Responsible for pedal jack is again the placement of the 4 pivots and the subsequent elongation of the chain when the frame passes through its travel. It is important that there is no pedal jack, regardless of the selected gear. We eliminated pedal jack by precise placement of the pivots, which provides absolute minimal chain growth. By a small adjustment of the rear end pivot points, the Liteville Mk8 (and subsequent models) have been given an improved “climbing grip” for all steep climbing applications.

Bearings
For all pivots we use specific loading optimized bearings with job-specific construction.
The LV 301 bearing concept is refined: 8 x double sealed stainless bearings combined with a pair of sealed needle bearings each in the top tube and the shock eyelets.

Dropouts
From Mk8 onwards, all Liteville frames use the patended Syntace X-12 thru-axle system. Not only the sensational weight of just 39g, but also the fantastic stiffness properties and the ease of use underline this new rear axle standard.

Derailleur hanger
For perfect precise shifting function, the hanger has been designed in such a way, that despite being replaceable, it is significantly stiffer than conventional exchangeable derailleur hangers. The clue: the derailleur hanger will not bend when overloaded, instead, the derailleur hanger screw acts as the weakest link. When over-loaded, only the weakest link breaks. This bolt can easily be replaced if it ever does happen to break. The best bit: there is always a spare bolt in the bottom of your frame waiting for you to use.

Headset
The 301 MK11 uses our new - the first and only of its kind - Full Integrated "Syntace VarioSpin tapered" headset which allows an additional +/- 1.5° headangle adjustment, independant of the bottom bracket height.
TIP: bikes of this category should only be ridden with tapered frorks! Should for what ever reason, a non tapered steerer fork be chosen, no problem either... for the use of 1 1/8th steerer forks a seperately available 1 1/8th reduction kit is available.

Cable routing
We know from our own experiences how important a cable routing is that is protected from grit and dirt and uses as little bends as possible with the largest possible radii. Especially in bad weather applications, the human application forces of many bikes are increased drastically after a few metres of riding, and often a precise shifting function is no longer given. This is why we have created our integrated and patented NCP (Neutral Centre Path) cable routing. NCP stands for non-interrupted cable routing that goes along the down tube, passes through the seat tube, directly through the pivot point of the rear triangle main pivot, eliminating elongation of the housing as the wheel passes through its travel, and through the right hand chain stay directly to the rear derailleur. This provides a constant precise shifting function even in day-to-day bad weather riding with the longest possible cable service intervals.

Chain guide
Just how sensible and advantageous a chain guide has proven to be even when riding with “small travel” bikes, is something we only really know since we have spent considerate amounts of time and energy exploring various options in depth our selves. The result is the lightest chain guide with the best function we are aware of. The advantages are reduced chain whipping noises and a reduction of the annoying chain whiplashing forward towards the chain rings, and in such prevention of falling off chains from the front chain rings in difficult terrain.

Weight
The weight of the new Liteville 301 MK-11 frame in size “M” is approx. 2450g. These grams are packed with improved and weight saving frame component elements as well as super strong direct mount tabs that are often cumbersome and both flimsy and heavier accessories requiring additional assembly. These already integrated frame component elements together with the sturdy direct mount tabs save over 100g in an equivalent build! At the same time you are provided with better function, simplified assembly, and overall improved robustness of the whole system.

New for MK11
- Full Integrated "Syntace VarioSpin tapered" headset (+/- 1.5°)
- Fox Float CTD shock with Kashima coating and Liteville specific tune
- Entry point at seat tube for internal dropper post cable routing
- XXL has geometry optimised for 29" wheels (650b on the rear is optional)

Warranty:
On all mountain-bike frames delivered from 1. of September 2007, Liteville now gives 10 years (5+5) warranty on all material and manufacturing defects. A potentially necessary exchange for a new frame or frame component occurs free of charge within the first 5 years warranty period, in the 5 -10th year, a 50% discount on the respective current retail price is offered. For the installed rear shock, the warranty of the respective manufacturer is valid.

The Warranty is valid for all Liteville owners, not only for the first owner, and permits DH and race usage. Like this even most of the second-hand buyers will receive a frame with original factory warranty!

Only condition: All components are to be installed and used as outlined in the owner’s manual.

In addition, Liteville will make a special offer to every Liteville-owner even for misuse or damage due to crash influences (“Bike on roof rack against garage wall”), direct through Liteville.

With Liteville products you are in good hands, even after you have bought the goods.