Van Dessel Motivus Maximus – Options To Go Fast

After a hard fought second place at the Rock Lititz Bike Race and Block Party, I had a chance to catch up with Guillaume Nelessen’s Van Dessel Motivus Maximus. There was something special about the Van Dessel Factory Team rider’s bike, it was equipped with disc brakes.

Replacing the Rivet, the Motivus Maximus was rolled out rather quietly compared to other larger brands in the industry. Van Dessel had one on hand at Interbike’s Outdoor Demo where Van Dessel owner Edwin Bull also launched the  new Full Tilt Boogie cyclocross bike, and the Jersey Devil hardtail 29er.

What Bull and his team created with the Motivus Maximus is something interesting that you don’t see much in the industry, cross compatibility. Initially, the only decision you need to make, besides the size, is rim brakes with quick release or discs with thru-axle. Don’t worry though, you are not locked into this decision if things change down the road. Say you went with the rim brakes, but you go disc with thru-axles for cyclocross, and want to make things simple between your equipment. Just swap out the fork, and you are done.

The frame itself is set up for to take rim or disc brakes out back, and you can even swap the dropout inserts to go between quick release and thru-axle. Talk about future proof.

So, on to the rest of the frame. Starting up front, Van Dessel put some aero considerations into the bike. The head tube keeps a slim profile, but flares to hold the headset bearings. At the bottom, the fork and frame are shaped to blend together, and the rim brake fork has a small recess for the front brake. Shifting, mechanical or electronic,  and mechanical or hydraulic brake lines are all internally routed with removable plates to make things a little easier and keep the frame tidy.

As you work your way back on the frame, the top tube keeps a rather squared off profile. The downtube shows a little more variety, starting with an aero shape down to the bottle cage. Once there, Van Dessel flattened out the tube to help hide the bottle from the wind.  The lower portion looks to take a wider shape to maximize stiffness and take full advantage of the pressfit 30 bottom bracket. The seat tube also has some shaping to manage airflow coming off the bottle and heading towards the rear wheel. The back of the tube is curved to bring the wheel in tighter to the downtube.

The back end of the bike features small seatstays to add some compliance to the ride, and some massive chainstays  to help maximize power transfer. If you run rim brakes, the rear brake tucks neatly into the recessed seatstay yoke. Finally, the modular rear dropouts let you choose between quick release and thru-axle to adapt to what the future may eventually hold. My only concern, without riding the bike, would be how the rear end copes with being built to handle rim or disc brakes. Many brands alter the design and lay up on their disc brake bikes to handle the additional stresses put on the frame by the brakes.

On Nelessen’s bike, the team went with a SRAM Force Hydro Disc set up. The second tier line has been proven internationally with the SRAM Force CX1 grouppo, but includes the front derailleur and left shifter guts. The cockpit is all FSA, with an SL-K setback seat post, OS-99 stem, and K-Force carbon bar. For a saddle, he uses a Selle SMP Glider. The wheels are built in-house using DT Swiss thru-axle hubs with Reynolds tubular wheels. These are the same wheels their cross team uses as well.  Michelin Pro4 tubulars keep Nelessen rolling.

With cycling moving past standardization to today’s many “standards”, Van Dessel hopes the Motivus Maximus will be able to help you cope until the industry returns to the real definition of standards.