Archibald AC1 Trail Review

Whenever I think about the time I was tastefully wasting in my 20s, I cringe a little. In my defence, I was adapting to a new country and culture, and there was so much landscape to see that it only made sense to drive the countless hours in the middle of the night to take photos of random Ukrainian Orthodox Churches in the prairies.* In contrast, some 20-something-year-olds with entrepreneurial tendencies decide to start bike companies. Good for them. Alex Troughton from Archibald is one of those people. Young, tall and full of opinions, he decided to start making bikes in his family home’s garage. I’ve been aware of Alex and his garage-built antics for a few years now. In its infancy, I thought he could use more time to refine his craft and execution. While I won’t jump on any homebrew project that promises the world, I decided that Alex’s idea had matured enough to be taken seriously. As any successful entrepreneur should, Alex kept up his friendly, engaging conversation with me for the last few years. When he reached out a couple of months ago to check my pulse, I figured it was time to show the world what he has been working on.

*Later turned into a personal photo project series

The AC1 Family of bikes

The heart of Archibald is the Canadian-sourced and extracted steel, the finest from Sudbury, ON. The stainless steel has a character I find similar to titanium in some cases. The look and finish are undeniably similar. The satin feel to the touch is pleasant. The high tensile strength of the thin-walled stainless steel has to travel around the world before it comes back to its birthplace as weld-ready tubes. This upsets me a little bit, and should you too. Unfortunately, there is no feasible process to roll, extrude, and add butting to the nickel mined in Canada’s East. The shiny metal soon-to-be bicycles have a trip log to share.

The components that make up the Archibald are, for the most part, machined in the house. Shock mounts, dropouts, gearbox armature and pretty much all the hardware. This kind of integration means that when there is room for improvement for any detail of the frame, it can be the next part to come out of the machine. The scale of business allows for quick, on-the-go developments. Alex believes in the gearbox system, which is the main attraction on his bike. Often mistaken for an eMTB motor, I had to explain to the trailside yappers that the box they were chirping at me for is indeed a transmission.

Another element that sets the Archibald apart is the fact that you can order fully custom geometry. Alex and his team seem to be slowly moving away from this to simplify the shopping process, streamline the inventory and shorten the time it takes for the customer to receive their new ride. While a fully custom bike is still an option, there are also five sizes to choose from. The bike I landed on is a slightly custom pre-production model based on the size T2 in the lineup.

AC1 Trail

All the AC1 family of bikes share the same front and rear triangles. The difference is the shock plates and shock sizes, along with a matching travel fork. The AC1 Trail is a 160/160mm trail bike, while the AC1 Enduro is a 170/170mm and the AC1 Downhill is a 200/200mm configuration. The suspension kinematics and the frame layout currently limit the AC1’s travel to 160mm in the back without affecting the intended ride quality negatively. I hope Alex can figure out an even shorter travel bike for the lineup.

Build options can be configured on the website. The test bike came with a Fox Factory 36, Factory Float X and WeAreOne Sector/Hydra 2 wheels, and a Pinion Smart Shift 9x comes in at 13,370 CAD. There are plenty of bikes out there that’ll offer a better value to get you to the trails. I don’t believe it is fair to judge the Archibald Cycles in the same circle. An Atherton S aluminum build is about 12,000 CAD, and a A Carbon build is north of 17,000 CAD. Boutique brands cost more. In theory, you should be paying for something that mainstream players can’t offer.

The Gearbox Connundrum

Archibald put a ton of eggs in the gearbox basket, and for most shoppers, this is where the decision is made. You either want a gearbox bike, or you don’t. There is no convincing a derailleur person to drop all the love and hate they have for the dangly, long-caged contraptions for a centralized, low-maintenance and quirky gearbox setup. My first experience with the Pinion Gearbox was when the equally rare and pretty Machina rolled through the Shore. That bike was unique in the sense that it didn’t really exist. AIt was a proof-of-concept hobby project and an engineering flex. The second time I met a Pinion gearbox was when the Priority Vanth rolled through town with a 9sp Ci1.9 gearbox and a belt drive. The belt added another layer of “mush” to the pedalling platform of the gearbox. In this review, I really would like to separate the gearbox from the frame and ask if, in a perfect world, Archibald could cook up a design where the end-user decides on a dangler or a box.

The Pinion Ci1.9 with Smart Shift is a pleasant experience for the most part. The compact shifter is wired into the gearbox. A 7.2V, 3500mAh battery sits on top of the gearbox and needs a charge once every few months. The form factor of the battery leaves a lot to be desired. It needs to be integrated into the system better, which would also seal it more effectively. I haven’t had any issues during my test period, but I didn’t have to charge the system. I can’t quite remember where the battery lives on the Vanth. I may have to ask Uncle Dave for a memory refresher.

The shifting is precise and instant, as long as you aren’t trying to shift to an easier gear while pedalling uphill. In those situations, if the load is greater than the shifting mechanism can handle, the Smart Shift system will attempt 5-6 successive shifts until the action is complete. If, in that second, you do not let off the pedals to below-threshold torque, no shifting will occur, but you can try again immediately. Unfortunately, there is no gear display on the handlebars to tell you which gear you are in. I would have really appreciated a barebones gear display attached to the shifter. It could also display battery life and shifting mode. These can be adjusted from the Pinion Smart Shift app which I did not try. In the app, you can select auto shift modes and pre-shift modes.

On the first couple of rides, the shifting experience was less than ideal. I shifted in the wrong direction often, which produced some scary moments on jump trails while trying to pedal into take-offs. The gear mesh felt rough and crunchy, and I hated the soft-feeling engagement on the first three gears. As the rides went on, the experience evolved from pure frustration to management. I gained muscle memory for shift direction and the crunchy feeling subsided as the unit wore in as advertised. I still can’t tell which gear I am in until I run out of gears. The gear ratio, however, is excellent. Similar to a 28t chainring on a 52t cassette, the granny gear is absolutely insane. You can pedal up inclines at lower heart rates than others. 9 gears are plenty with a 568% on the 9-speed and 600% on the 12-speed. The gearbox decides how sporty your uphills are going to be. Combined with a 40 lb bike and Schwalbe Albert tires, you are not ascending in a sporty manner.

The Geo and the Suspension

The 160/160mm bike is on the longer end of suspension travel number to be called a “trail” bike. The ride quality reflects that as well. The AC1 trail has an 80.5° seat angle, which is by far the steepest I’ve ridden. The position is comfortable, and thanks to my longer arms, it doesn’t feel like I’m falling forward when the bike is rolling on flatter ground. When the trail gets steep, I appreciate the on top of the bike feeling this steep angle brings. The seatpost is a 180mm OneUp and there is room for 210 for me there, which I would have appreciated. The Archibald is also the longest bike I’ve muscled my way down the mountain. At 473mm reach it feels reasonable in the saddle, but combined with the 465mm chainstays on the 29er, the wheelbase adds up to 1251mm. The bike I am riding also has a custom 63.5° head angle to add to the mix. The stack is lower than I expected at 624mm and could use some help from 35-40mm riser bars and a slightly shorter stem than the 40mm it came with. The AC1 climbs well on tight switchbacks and, apart from slightly lower front end, is a beast to be reckoned with when it comes to trail manners.

I inflated the Fox 36 to 85psi with 2 volume spacers. The Float X is at 195psi and rather touchy on rebound. I am going back and forth between two clicks of rebound and it is making a big difference in how the bike handles. I think I’ll be able to stay in the faster rebound setting with a taller cockpit, for a lively-feeling bike that hides its weight well. The AC1 Trail descends well above its travel numbers would suggest. You can comfortably take this bike to your next enduro race. None of this makes sense considering its a full 29er, it has the wheelbase of a semi truck and the rear center is longer than an Aussie mullet. The centred position on the chassis lends itself to relaxed steering from the pedals. You can lean the bike in, and the radial Scwalbe Albert Trail in Super Soft compound hooks up no matter the ground underneath. There are no funny moments. Just pure business class speed. The AC1 manuals surprisingly well too. While it definitely requires more work to get the front wheel up, once there, it stays locked in place.

Hayes Dominion A4 brakes with 203mm rotors are light in action, heavy in performance. They don’t require a ton of effort to pull, and they don’t dish out all their power at once. The harder you squeeze, the more you get. There were a couple of times I wanted more power earlier on, but I am picking hairs here. I can live with them on any bike, any trail. We Are One / Industry 9 Sector wheels are well-suited to the bike’s character, but they came with a wonky tape job from the factory. They feel compliant without the unwanted flex. It would be interesting to see how these wheels feel on different bikes. The Hydra 2 hub feels familiar and engages instantly. With a high pivot setup and gearbox doing gear duty, the effects of the instant-engaging hub are muted somewhat. There were a couple of bigger drops where I felt the Archibald wanted to accelerate from underneath me upon landing. I am chalking that up to the high pivot suspension and the overall longer geometry. Perhaps a more adjustable shock rebound circuit would have helped.

On flow trails, the AC1 felt happy if a little bored. It loved carving turns on well-sculpted berms and boosting off jumps. It hid its weight well and provided a fun riding experience. On the gnarlier tracks where tire placement is everything, the traction on tap was welcome, and the lighter rear wheel with none of that derailleur and cassette nonsense was well appreciated. The 11sp Shimano Linkglide chain did its job without a fuss and required very little, if any, lube. The constant chainline of the gearbox will probably mean thousands of miles before a new one is needed. If you much desire, a belt drive upgrade is available, but it’s not the direction I would go. I’m leaning toward the derailleur at this point.

The Archibald formula is dialled. The fit, finish and materials are nothing short of breathtaking. The geometry is surprisingly good, combined with a well-thought-out suspension platform. I would say skip the trail bike and go straight to the Enduro model with more travel on tap, with no real drawback to the overall experience. Ride the bike park all summer and do a few Whistler Valley climbs; this is the perfect one bike. The 10,000 km service intervals on the Pinion gearbox and the lower center of gravity are really hard to argue against if you ignore the shifting quibbles. Does the Effigear option shift better? I don’t know. Is Pinion going to improve and build on their already pretty good platform? Probably. Does the Madrone derailleur seem like a perfect match for the Archibald? Abso-fucking-lutely yes! Give me a UDH rearend and a regular bottom bracket on the AC2, and I will have to try very hard not to put some money down on a frame.

I don’t need to preach the gearbox gospel to the choir. Those people made up their minds a long time ago. Those folks often ride alone on gnarly-ass trails while we are wasting time on blue flow group rides. They know what they want, and they know how to get it. I am curious, though. I want the Pinion Ci – Series to get lighter, less draggy and better at shifting under load. I am sure we are only a year or two away from it all. There is no doubt the efforts to combine the gears and the motor in the same housing are well underway. I am happy pedalling the Archibald AC1 on rides where the climbs are paved, and the downhills are double black.

Archibald AC1 Trail