Posted on August 17, 2022 by Cory Benson
Pole built a new factory in Finland, made & learned from “tons of mistakes”, and now has new Voima ebike models with much shorter lead times and more ways to buy them. But that big shift effectively killed the production of their Stamina enduro bike. Not to worry though, there’s a replacement in the works. It’s a project that’s been in the works since even before the Voima launched, and we’ve got the teaser photos of this next-gen pedal-powered Voima prototype that drops the motor, yet maintains the wild high long-travel VPP swingarm design…
This story started out with a blog post by Pole, proudly proclaiming that they’ve got their new Finnish factory up and running – at higher output levels than ever. And that after a bunch of setbacks, they’ve really shaken things up and made a ton of managerial, technological, and manufacturing efficiency improvements. Now producing more ebikes every 2 months than they did in the previous year. And that has brought lead times down from over six months to just one.
It’s a continuation of Pole’s resolution to building better & stronger, which we saw last year with their Remastered Stamina in True Gold – even though that bike is no longer… It’s a story worth reading if you want some behind-the-scenes in the bike industry or if you are simply interested in knowing more before you buy a Pole mountain bike.
Read it here, straight from Pole.
Pole new Voima 190mm CNC-machined enduro ebike,
But at the same time, the Voima ebike itself has got its own updates – refined battery & motor mounts with improved cooling, reshaped lighter & stronger linkages, improved tire clearance, new frame protectors, a new integrated seatpost clamp, and upgraded internal cable routing. In fact, while it looks mostly the same in profile, it’s clear that the new Voima eMTB is almost completely redeveloped from when it launched just one year ago.
And now that Pole can make more Voimas, they’re making it easier buy them – a new Light Core Trail Edition and a limited monthly Express Special Edition offer preconfigured complete ebike models – or you can stick with the customizable build, just no more frameset-only option.
The Pole Voima Core Light in the original Raw Clear finish gets a fixed build of 180mm Zeb Select fork, SuperDeluxe Ultimate Air shock, SRAM NX drivetrain, Code R brakes, and Mavic e-Deemax 30 wheels with Maxxis EXO tires at global pricing from 6447 € (before VAT).
The Pole Voima September Express limited edition gives you the choice of 3 colors – clear, storm gray, or true gold – and a build kit that will change each month based on what Pole has in stock. The September bike gets a Zeb Select 190mm fork, SDG post & saddle, Maxxis tires, Miranda crankset and CaneCreek 40 headset… then you can customize the build starting with a SRAM NX kit & Code R brakes from 6850€ (before VAT).
Completely custom builds are still possible if you want to go that way too. But framesets are out, because Pole has components and knows you’ll get a better complete bike price through them anyway.
OK, so the Evolink actually got its 1.4 update last year. It’s not CNC-machined, but the 5th anniversary of this ultra-long, slack, but agile trail bike that we tested out years ago is still pretty killer.
And now it’s back in stock. The upgraded 144mm travel trail bike will set you back a lot less than a Voima, starting at just 3990€ on bikes available right now.
…now back to that Pole prototype you wanted to see…
The completely new Voima ebike manufacturing methods in the new factory cut out 70% of the human labor, but that also meant the new production lines don’t really work for the old Stamina enduro bike – not even in its latest gold Remastered iteration. So Stamina production is done. But Pole isn’t done with human-powered mountain bikes…
Their eEWS racer Leigh Johnson may compete mostly on the e-bike, but like some of the other Pole athletes, they’ve been testing the next generation Pole prototype mountain bike since late 2021.
Pole founder Leo Kokkonen has been on a few different prototypes for even quite a bit longer. In fact since before the launch of the eMTB Voima. And this human-powered Voima even showed up in Pole’s ‘e-bike in detail‘ video from the eMTB launch last summer. But this week Kokkonen shared that “new bike day is almost here“, taking speculation to the next level…
Pole describes the new prototype as a “motorless version of Voima”; and it sounds like it’s not so far off to a proper official launch. For now, we don’t have any real details other than to say that it obviously looks a lot like the latest Voima eMTB – just with a smaller bottom bracket area and a smaller downtube since there is neither a battery or motor.
It’s also pretty clear that it shares the same automated CNC-manufacturing technologies that Pole says have made the bikes more reliable, and more sustainable from a business perspective.
The suspension layout is obviously the same – including the high oversized rear swingarm and 2 massive links that drive the shock with a high-pivot VPP linkage. It even appears to share the same links as the ebike, since Kokkonen used his pedal-powered prototype to show of the Voima’s lighter links with improved tire clearance on social media.
Suspension travel very well could be the same 190mm at the rear wheel as the ebike, Kokkonen admitted as much with the early prototypes. But it could also get a bit reduced to improve pedal-ability since you won’t have an electric motor to get you back up the hills?
We do know it has a threaded BSA bottom bracket, it builds in a modular mount that can fit an ISCG chain guide with an adapter, and it now has the same integrated seatclamp of the latest updated Voima ebike.
It’s a pretty logical adaptation of the unique ebike that seems to have been more in-demand than any other Pole mountain bike before it. Whether they call it an enduro bike, a freeride bike, or a gravity bike is pretty much all we don’t know.
We can only imagine that a pedal-powered iteration of the Voima would be equally as desirable as the eMTB… maybe even more so. It certainly won’t come cheap with all of that made-in-Finland machining. But without an expensive Bosch motor & battery… it will definitely be both lighter and more affordable.
There’s certainly a lot going on at Pole these days. In addition to updated ebikes, bikes & the all-new prototype, they also are in the process of setting up a USA subsidiary to ease import and distribution in the states, as well.
And back in Finland, Pole is actually already working on another new factory (with all those lessons learned) to multiply their CNC-machined bike production capability. That will be key to get that new enduro bike out the door, as it will likely be in high demand!
Cory Benson is the EU Tech Editor of Bikerumor.com.
Cory has been writing about mountain bikes, enduro, cyclocross, all-road, gravel bikes & bikepacking on and off for over 25 years, since before several of these even had names in our industry.
Prior to that (and at times, concurrently), Cory worked as an Architect specializing in environmental sustainability, a IBD bike shop designer & consultant, an independent product designer, a bike shop mechanic, and a mountain biking instructor.
Based in the Czech Republic for over 15 years, Cory spends much of his time traveling around Europe, riding bikes, and meeting directly with many of cycling’s key European product developers, industry experts & tastemakers for an in-depth review of what’s new, and what’s coming next. A technical off-road rider at heart since the 1990s, Cory’s cycling has evolved to cover everything from the wide range of riding aero road bikes on dirt roads to thrashing enduro bikes in the European bikeparks & trail centers, with plenty of XC, CX & gravel in between.
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
With no chainstay the loading on the pivots has to be really high especially laterally. I feel I could break that bike.
Should have called it the POLEarity – opportunity missed. 🙁
© Copyright 2022 Bikerumor, All Rights Reserved