We here at Canadian Cycling Magazine like our classic bikes. Classic means different things to different people, of course. While some love the early ATB-era mountain bikes, and others prefer the rainbow of ’90s anodising, not as many turn their rose-tinted gaze at the early aughts freeride era.
There are some reasons for that. The heyday of freeride wasn’t exactly about clean aesthetics. The vibe was more about survival, with any kind of polished finesse being jettisoned in favour of industrial-looking designs that brands hoped would make it through more than a handful of cliff hucks, stair case gaps and good old drop to flats. This was the era of Karpiel, Rocky Mountain’s RM-series, Kona Stab, Brooklyn Machine Works, Canfield, Balfa, and many more. It was also the golden era of freeride movies. New World Disorder, Ride to the Hills, Digger’s North Shore Extreme and a pile of other VHS tapes that are now referenced more than they’re actually watched (who still has a VHS player?).
Recently, while scrolling the classifieds for old school gems, I saw something that stopped me in my tracks. The Chunk Juggernaut. A massive assembly of glimmering metal with forks that made the infamous Monster T look like a cross country fork. I needed to know more. 300mm travel? A 400mm fork?!? What IS this thing? I had to know more. So I asked.
Meet the Chunk Juggernaut: A DIY Freeride fever dream
The Chunk Juggernaut, as its been dubbed by its creator James Agate, is a beast. That’s a Marzocchi Shiver that it absolutely dwarfs in the lead photo. Despite looking like children’s tires, those are 26×4.0″ wheels it’s riding on. As mentioned above, massive travel numbers.
Chunk came into existence four years ago, when its creator needed a summer project to “keep busy on the weekends.” That added up to between 50 or 60 hours, mostly on the tools as he admits there wasn’t a ton of time put into ironing out details of the design.
Agate has a background in welding and in downhill, riding from around 2002 to 2012. Both are on the background as his career went in a different direction and, like many of us, his decade of downhill and freeride wound down as real life obligations took over. The love for the old school never died, though. Along with the Chunk, Agate has an impressive collection of classic freeride bikes, from the known favourites to more rare and obscure bikes (like a B-1 Woodbumble DH rolling on 24″ fat tires).
“I’ve found myself buying and collecting the frames I thought were cool when I was more into the sport,” Agate explains. “The early 2000s bikes have always looked better than modern stuff to me. They have much more personality and unique designs.”
That eventually led to creating the Chunk.
“It was honestly a project I did because I could,” Agate explains, adding that getting time on the machines to keep his skills up was a big part of the motivation. “I wanted a project that involved a lot of lathe and mill work. I figured this would fit the bill.”
A wild machine, but with reasonable standards
The bike itself uses mostly standard mountain bike parts. That makes this very one-off custom frame easy to maintain and repair. The fork is a bit of a mystery, even to its creator, but is borrowed from an early 2000s moto that he’s tweaked the valving and oil on to feel closer to what you’d expect on a mountain bike.
The frame is as beefy as it looks. The main tubing is 3″ OD, 1/8″ wall aluminium. Those beefy swingarms? 1×2″ box tube. In line with the classic freeride look, the head tube angle is wildly steep at 69 degrees.
The suspension itself, all 300mm of it, is a little more complex. Chunk runs on an adjustable rising rate linkage, with an an adjustable BB height. Agate says the original plan was to have a combination of the rising rate linkage with a rocker to a secondary shock. “That bonus shock would be ratioed backwards to act nearly locked out except under the hardest of big hits,” he explains. Again, drop to flat era defined. Creating the space for the extra shock added so much length that Chunk’s inventor said travel would have been around 28″ to bottom out both shocks, so that idea was scrapped.
For all the effort that went into building it, Chunk’s creator admits it doesn’t get ridden to its potential. “All I do is cruise around the neighbourhood on it. I’ve got to many adult obligations to risk injury finding out how it really performs.” Which, if you’re trying to find the limit of a 300/400mm freeride bike, is a very reasonable concern.
Made just to be made
In an era where 3D printing and easy access to professional-level software means literal high schoolers are making garage brand bikes that are as, if not more sophisticated than any mass-market destined bike from a major brand, the Chunk stands out. It’s not polished. There’s no fancy tooling paths from an expensive machine or proprietary standards. It is as raw as the spirit of early freeride was. Bender would be proud.
When I talked to Alex Troughton from Archibald Cycles recently, he mentioned that he believes everyone should try making something. What Troughton makes for Archibald is, to be very clear, is incredibly polished and impressive. But the sentiment stuck. And I think the Chunk is a great example of this. It’s not designed to sell. It was was made just to be made. Because Agate wanted it to exist and took the time to make it happen. And I am, personally, happy Chunk exists.