ELEVATING THE TRAIL EXPERIENCE
With the Collosus TLE, Polygon aims to elevate the experience of trail riders by providing a balanced and well-rounded ride for all trails. A 140mm rear end provided by their IFS suspension system is paired with a 160mm fork, and two 29” wheels do the rolling. With the ACX carbon fiber frame combined with a re-engineered linkage system, frame weight has dropped without a loss of strength or stiffness.
With their new Collosus TLE, Polygon is marking the beginning of a new era for the brand, with a push to increase the performance and quality of their bikes across their ranges and the reintroduction of carbon fiber frames.
INDEPENDENT FLOATING SUSPENSION
Polygon’s IFS (Independent Floating Suspension) system features a solid rear triangle that’s connected to the front end with two seperate links. This revised IFS system afforded the control of the Anti Squat that Polygon desired, giving more trail-friendly characteristics for this lightweight electrified trail machine.
LIGHTWEIGHT POWERTRAIN – BOSCH SX
Bosch’s Performance Line SX drive unit powers the Polygon Collosus TLE up the hill. This 2kg (4.4lbs) drive unit was recently updated to output 60Nm torque with up to 600W Peak Power. It can boost the rider input by up to 400%, giving some serious grunt. This maximum power is the same as their CX motor as standard, offering impressive drive at its low weight figure.
RANGE, EXTENDED
The Collosus TLE is equipped with the Bosch CompactTube 400 internal battery, which is fixed within the downtube and weighs in at 2kg (4.4lbs) too. Further boosting the range of the eBike system is the Bosch PowerMore 250Wh Range Extender (1.6kg / 3.5lbs), which Polygon includes with both Collosus TLE models as standard. This is a nice touch which ensures that every rider is given the range they need for bigger days in the saddle.
AGGRESSIVE TRAIL GEOMETRY
Polygon gave the Collosus TLE some purposeful geometry for the Small to XL size range. A 64 head angle signifies the aggressive trail intentions, with a 35mm bottom bracket drop sinking the rider deep in between the axles.
A consistent 450mm rear end offers great stability and weight on the front end. Riders on the smaller sizes are likely to feel it as quite long, but on our size Large test bike it nicely complimented the 481mm reach to give a well-centered position.
The comfortable 77 degree effective seat tube angle and mid-height 628mm stack height combined to give a solid climbing position with which to unleash the power of the Bosch SX drive unit.
TWO DIALED BUILD OPTIONS
With two builds on offer from the $6,299 TLE 8 AXS to the $7,999 TLE 0 AXS, Polygon continues to provide solid builds with impressive price tags. At a claimed 22.2kg (48.9lbs), the Collosus is no featherweight, but knocks a good chunk of weight off the full-power Collosus N8XE eMTB.
The two builds share the ACX Carbon Fiber frame; Magura’s powerful MT7 brakes, and Polygon’s MT6 Alloy double wall rims on DT Swiss 370 Hybrid Classic hubs. These wheels are wrapped with a pair of Schwalbe Hans Dampf tires in Super Trail and Speedgrip, which we felt to lack the traction that this bike deserves.
The TLE 0 AXS gets Fox Performance Elite level suspension to provide top performance and adjustability without impacting the price tag too hard. The drivetrain gets the SRAM XX AXS treatment, with T-Type transmission providing quality shifting and a carbon fiber XX crank.
Moving down to the TLE 8 tested, and the suspension is Marzocchi’s Bomber Z1 fork and Bomber Air shock. Drivetrain shifts down to the SRAM GX AXS T-Type, with an alloy FSA crank.
THE WOLF’S FIRST IMPRESSION
We connected with Dan Wolfe at Crankworx Whistler last year to get an initial preview of Polygon’s first entry to the SL eMTB space and film this feature. Not only did the launch date change since this meeting, but so did the name of the bike, from the Siskiu to the Collosus TLE. The details remain the same though, as well as the performance on the trail.
While Polygon has offered impressive performance for the money in recent years, this new ACX Carbon Fiber frame represents a significant boost of quality at first glance. The lines are clean and there are plentiful neat details like the integrated fenders in the rear and cut out in the top tube. With these sleek aesthetics, the excitement to hop on board and get riding was only elevated.
Hopping onto the size Large Collosus TLE, its 481mm Reach felt right at home for my 5’11” (178cm) stature. The limited adjustability of the Marzocchi suspension units fitted made the setup quick and trouble free, getting to a comfortable spot easily once air pressures and rebound speeds were set.
The rear end length was initially notable, giving great stability and front-end traction for the climbs, but requiring an adjustment to the timing for certain trail scenarios like slow speed drops. The geometry and suspension platform combined to encourage an aggressive riding style, where there was impressive support on offer and plenty of confidence to ride above the typical 140mm bike class. Even so, Polygon’s SL eMTB was well-rounded and happy to be ridden fast on less gnarly descents.
The majority of the spec held up well, though we’d have loved to see some more traction-focused tires than the Speedgrip compound Schwalbe Hans Dampfs fitted to unlock some extra capability. We also had an issue with the Magura brake lever losing pressure and limiting braking ability, but a replacement has been holding up well since. At this price tag and with a quality carbon fiber frame though, we’d consider the value proposition to be quite solid.
We’re excited to keep this eBike in the fleet and include it in our SL eMTB Shootout later this year, so watch this space to find out how it stacks up against the competition.
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