Privateer is a brand that's best known for its no-nonsense, mega progressively shaped 161, a bike that's designed especially for privateer enduro racers. Since, the brand has taken the very same concept and has applied it to a shorter travel suspension platform, creating the 141. We've managed to get one in the office and here's a quick look before it goes off for testing.

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The enduro focussed 161 became very well loved by the crowd who like to throw themselves down silly steep or mega technical alpine trails, thanks to the bike's travel and seriously aggressive geometry. The 141 takes the 161's idea but morphs it to create a more versatile and trail-friendly machine for those who might sample a little more than just the steep and big stuff.

This more well-rounded bike, while still rocking a mighty progressive shape, has had its angles calmed down a touch compared to the 161 in a bid to offer a more stretched-out seated position. This has been done to give the rider more room over the bike to move around when tackling undulating trails.

While we're talking about geometry, the 141 gets a slacker 78.72° effective seat tube angle than its bigger sibling but there's then a 64.5° head tube angle and a 485mm reach on this P3 size frame. There's then a 446mm chainstay resulting in a 1266mm wheelbase on the 29" wheeled bike. So the 161's racy pedigree is certainly apparent.

2022 privateer 141 FL cable guide.jpg, by Liam Mercer

The 6066-T6 aluminium frame follows an all killer-no filler mindset, so there's very little internal cable routing to make brake servicing easier. Instead, Privateer has included neat guides at either side of the head tube that should keep rattle down while avoiding cable rub. The OneUp V2 dropper, however, is internally routed for a sleek look and to keep cables away from the rider's knees.

2022 privateer 141 FL linkage.jpg, by Liam Mercer

As expected, the main pivot bearings are offset to make space for the chainring but here, the brand has included three cartridge bearings to better share the load. Speaking of bearings, they're pretty huge on this bike, which suggests better durability and longer service life. A single-piece rocker link aids the cause by keeping alignment true while adding stiffness, says Privateer. Oh, and there's plenty of room in the front triangle for a bottle cage.

Along with a threaded bottom bracket, there's an ISCG-05 mount, making home to a OneUp chain guide.

2022 privateer 141 FL fork.jpg, by Liam Mercer

The 141 runs both Fox and RockShox suspension, featuring the Float X Performance Elite shock handling the 141mm of rear suspension with a custom tune, especially for this bike/ A Pike fork with a Charger 2.1 RC2 damper then sorts the 150mm of travel at the front.

2022 privateer 141 FL mech.jpg, by Liam Mercer

While there are two models of the 141 available at the moment, one sporting Öhlins goodness, we've got the GX build in for testing, which employs SRAM's GX Eagle drivetrain and SRAM Code R brakes with four-pot calipers. 

The wheels here come from HUNT with the Trail Wide wheelset. This comes with 30mm internal widths, PSR triple-butted spokes and it's draped with Schwalbe tyres. At the front, there's a Magic Mary EVO which is 2.4" wide, and uses the Addix Soft rubber and Supertrail casing. The Hans Dampf at the rear comes in the very same specification, although this one is 2.35" wide.

Finally, the cockpit is handled by Race Face with an Aeffect R 40mm stem, holding a Turbine 800mm bar. That OneUp dropper we spoke about earlier offers 180mm of drop to the WTB Volt saddle.

All of this will set you back £3,689 but the 141 is also available as a frame only for just £1,589 including that Fox shock. If you're looking for something a little blingier, the Öhlins model is priced at £4,499. That one's of course sorted with Öhlins bouncy bits including a coil shock but it also gets a Shimano groupset.

There we have it, that's everything you need to know about the Privateer 141 before a full review coming very soon, so be sure to keep an eye out to catch that one.

• www.privateerbikes.com

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