Lal Bikes’ Supre Drive offers some compelling upsides over a conventional derailleur drivetrain, but it also needs a frame built around the system. Lal began by partnering with Nicolai on the Nucleon 16, but now they are ready to launch their first bike under the Lal Bikes brand. So we sat down with Cedric Eveleigh, the founder of Lal and inventor of the Supre Drive, to hear all about the new Katana, get the story of its design and development, chat about material selection and ride feel, and a whole lot more.

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Lal Katana

Cedric Eveleigh of LAL Bikes on Reinventing the Derailleur (Ep.94)

Lal Bikes on Making the Supre Drive a Reality (Ep.179)

TOPICS & TIMES:

The Supre Drive (2:32)

Nicolai Nucleon 16 (3:57)

The Katana’s development (8:56)

Initial concepts for the Katana (18:11)

Ride feel of steel frames (19:00)

Performance goals for the Katana (24:48)

Handling & geometry (26:54)

Suspension kinematics (31:23)

The Supre Drive and parts compatibility (38:37)

Pricing & availability (55:05)

Final details (58:33)

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