First Test: Spot Mayhem 140 – A Mountain Bike with Titanium Leaf Springs – Pinkbike

There are three build kits, all based on the same full carbon frame, with prices starting at $5,999 for the 4-star build and going up to $9,499 for the 6-star build. Unfortunately, the Mayhem 140 is not available at the moment – ​​Spot is accepting pre-orders now and bikes will ship in September.
Details

The Mayhem 140 has a look all its own, and I’ve been getting more questions than usual from other trail riders. Sure, with its bright blue paint job, it doesn’t exactly go unnoticed. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an asymmetrical frame design—Specialized’s Stumpjumper EVO or Orbea’s Rallon come to mind—but in those cases, a brace extends from the top tube to the seat tube. With the Mayhem, it extends from the junction of the seat tube and top tube to the center of the down tube, bisecting the front triangle. The design is meant to help support the shock and evenly distribute impact forces. Spot calls it the Slaybar, but even typing it makes me cringe a little—not every feature needs a clever name.

According to Spot, the bike far exceeds the ASTM Category 4 standard, which is good news for riders who tend to treat their trail bikes like mini-enduro machines. It’s said to be 56 percent stronger than the existing Mayhem 150, while being 10 percent lighter than the Mayhem 130.

There’s room for a standard-sized water bottle, but there’s no storage space in the frame. For riders who are adamant about carrying everything they can on their bike, I bet there’s a bag maker out there who could make something that would fit snugly into the front triangle.

The main pivot and front shock mount bolt directly into the frame, and all fasteners are accessible from the non-drive side. It’s a thoughtful feature, with one exception: Spot opted for T30 Torx bolts instead of a 5mm or 6mm Allen head. Yes, I’ve heard the spiel about why Torx is better, but many multi-tools don’t have T30, which makes it frustrating if you want to tighten a bolt on the side of the road.

After a few rides I ended up getting even more familiar with the linkage while trying to chase away a very annoying squeak. It turned out that there was no grease on the pivot pins – once I sorted that out things settled down, hopefully for good – we’ll see how it goes over a longer term evaluation period.

The titanium leaf spring is the Mayhem’s calling card, and I’ll explain how it affects the suspension shortly, but as for the actual design, it allows Spot to achieve a frame design that only uses 6 bearings, which helps reduce weight and maintenance. This leaf spring mounts to the front triangle with two bolts, and there’s an extension forward where a bottle cage can be mounted.

Suspension design

Spot’s Living Link suspension design uses a short link that runs from the center of the seat tube to the swingarm, and a lower link that runs from the down tube to the lower part of the swingarm.

It’s this lower arm that sets the Mayhem apart: it uses a titanium piece that acts like a leaf spring. The way the spring is oriented allows it to act as a negative spring in the initial part of the bike’s travel, creating a softer initial stroke. Deeper into the travel, its effect changes and it acts as a positive spring, straightening the leverage curve until 75% of the travel is reached. At this point, the curve becomes more progressive, increasing the amount of bottoming resistance. This is a change from the Mayhem 130’s setup, which became regressive at the end of the stroke, requiring it to rely more on the air spring and volume spacers.

The leverage ratio above illustrates the effect of the leaf spring: it’s not just for show. Without it, the Mayhem’s S-shape leverage curve isn’t as pronounced.

As for anti-sag, this value increases over part of the travel, peaking around the sag range before decreasing as the bike moves forward. The goal is to create a bike that feels efficient when pedaling and reduces the influence of chain forces deeper in the travel.

Geometry

The Mayhem’s numbers seem pretty typical for a bike like this at first glance, with a 65.2-degree head angle, 475mm reach for a size L, and relatively short 435mm chainstays for all sizes. Size-specific chainstays seem to be a big deal these days, but I think I’d rather see the same chainstay length for all sizes than read marketing blurb on a bike that’s supposedly fully optimized for each size with only a few millimeters of chainstay length variation.

The seat tube angles are nice and steep for each size, and this angle increases for the larger sizes, which will hopefully keep taller riders from finding themselves too far back. It’s worth noting that the real The seat angle is also quite steep, meaning the seat angle won’t change as much at full extension.

The seat tube length is rather long on the Large and XL sizes, although I’m currently running a 213mm Bike Yoke seatpost with room to spare – it’s 30mm away from being completely slammed.

Models and prices

This isn’t me riding, but this video was filmed in a similar area to where I spent time on the Mayhem.

Driving impressions

Put aside those kinematic graphs, stop trying to find fault with the geometry numbers – what matters is how the Mayhem 140 actually rides. And you know what? It’s a blast. My notes for the few rides I’ve taken so far all center around a similar theme that can be summed up in two words (best pronounced with an East Coast accent): devilish fun.

Much of that enjoyment comes from the suspension feel: It’s supportive where it should be, with a very soft bite toward the end of the travel. The RockShox Super Deluxe and its hydraulic adjustment system work well with the Mayhem’s leverage curve, and the overall setup feels perfectly matched to the bike’s intentions. I ended up making bigger moves on the Mayhem than I usually reserve for longer-travel bikes, largely because I didn’t care if I’d end up blowing the travel on landing. The Mayhem’s manners reminded me of the Scor 2030 I enjoyed last summer; that bike has less travel, but it had a similar, almost bottomless suspension feel.

The geometry isn’t the longest or slackest, but it works well for the bike’s all-around intentions. 65 degrees is slack enough to not feel clunky on steeper terrain, while still keeping the bike’s handling on the faster side for tighter trails. I could definitely see this bike being a great bike for big rides in the high country near where Spot is headquartered—the climbing position is upright and comfortable, and the suspension is efficient without being harsh, ideal for long rides over a variety of terrain.

The last time I drove a Mayhem I felt like the suspension was Also The Spot is a capable trail bike, with a locked-down feel that reduces available traction on slippery climbs. The new version easily addresses those previous complaints, with grip for the climbs and improved bottom-out resistance for the descents. There’s no shortage of good trail bikes these days, but Spot seems to have cooked up something a little different, a bike with suspension performance that helps it stand out from the crowd.

Photos: Anthony Smith
Video: Doug Jambor