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Born in the North Yorks Moors backyard of Stif's headquarters, near Harrogate, the Morf is a hardcore hardtail built to tackle the extreme style of riding that's typical of the area.
“The plan for a Stif bike has been on the backburner for over 15 years,” says Sammy Smithson, one of the men behind the Morf. “We’ve been going 30 years now and we know what works and what doesn’t. We wanted to use all that knowledge to create something special. That knowledge hasn’t only gone into the frame design but also the spec that we’ve chosen.”
The bike was a joint effort involving everyone at the shop, but it was Sammy who helped come up with the angles.
“I gave Brant Richards [On-One, Ragley] a basic design with some geometry ideas that I wanted to see,” he says. “Brant then tweaked and polished these ideas using his huge wealth of design experience. We had a prototype made from these angles and went out and gave it a ride.” As soon as Sammy swung a leg over the top tube he was instantly enamoured. “It was a bit of a gamble but I was blown away by the results,” he says. “Compared to 160mm full-sus bikes, the prototype Morf wasn’t flinching. It ripped!”
So let's see it in action…
You can find out more about the Stif Morf at www.stif.co.uk.