Nukeproof
Mega 290 Elite
Medium
Factory Yellow

Purchasing Steps from BikeCo.com (The Bike Company)

Place Your Deposit
Our team will contact you to go over common questions including common part swaps / upgrades, tuning considerations, initial setup requirements, etc.
Your bike will be built and setup for you including delivery documentation to help you better understand and fine tune the bike’s performance.

Remainder of balance is due at pickup or prior to shipment.
Delivery consultation on-site or available by phone / video conference goes over FAQ on a new MTB or eMTB highlighting common questions on suspension setup, bedding brakes, bolt checks, cockpit and seating fit, etc.
Our team will follow up several times after delivery to help you better understand minute adjustments. And of course we’re always available by phone, email or chat!

Availability Definitions:

IN-STOCK and Available Now!
Typically ready for pickup or shipment within 2-4 business days.
Custom components may change this window (we will advise).

AVAILABLE: Secure this Bike
Shows in-stock at the vendor (stock updated as often as possible).
Order is processed & shipped to BikeCo (typically 3-7 working days), built by BikeCo (usually on the day the product lands at BikeCo) for pickup or shipment.

PRE-ORDER: Due 1st week of XXX
Part of a inbound BikeCo order or shows available in this time window.
May be later or earlier than predicted depending on product availability.
Bike is due at vendor, will be quality checked, processed and shipped. (typically 3-14 business days) Built by BikeCo for delivery.

When you buy a bike from BikeCo.com you’re not getting simply a forwarded box.

Our team goes through quality control checks, builds, tunes and provides a base setup for each bike. This allows us a better chance to find the rare mechanical warranty issue, to ensure that the linkage and bearings are properly setup.

A suspension setup guide is provided and our team will begin working with you to ensure as your riding develops with your new bike suspension settings, cockpit setup, tire pressures, etc are addressed to keep you progressing.

Since we build every bike we can also offer part swaps and upgrades our competition simply cannot!

Looking for different tires? Brakes? Cockpit or Seating? Not a problem. Our team is happy to help you. Chat with our sales team about during and after purchase incentives on riding gear and accessories as well!

Your new bike typically will arrive with an absolute minimum of work required to get you on the trails. Usually this involves installing the handlebars, adjusting the headset and mounting the front and rear wheel. It’s that easy – and if you have questions you have access to the sales team and a variety of videos from BikeCo.com to help you.

Questions? No problem. Hit us up.

Mega 290 Suspension Details

Nukeproof Mega 290 Linkage

The Mega 290 features multi-link suspension. Spring support is transferred through a rocker (or bell crank, or pivot – whatever you like) link to the seatstays which applies the support against the input from the rear wheel.

This creates several angles of interest which mechanically control what percentage of the spring rate is transferred to the wheel.

At each pivot point the spring support is transferred along the linkage the angle of that input dictates the percentage of the spring rate that is resisting the input. Quick example: a spring with a 300 lb output  at a 90 degree applied angle will apply 300 lbs. As the angle changes the percentage changes based on the sin of the new angle. Sin of 90 = 1, sin of 80 (10 degrees more acute) = .9848, sin of 100 (10 degrees more obtuse) is also .9848.

The leverage ratio of these pivots also factors in – but for this let’s look at the Mega 290’s concept and not completely reverse engineer the design.

At full extension the Mega’s rear suspension sits with the shock to crank link near 92 degrees ( close to 1 to 1 spring rate applied) and the seatstay link to bell crank linkage is slightly obtuse around 106 degrees.

As the suspension sits into sag (illustrated at 30%) the shock to bell crank link becomes increasingly obtuse while the seatstay linkage angle becomes slightly acute.
Spring to linkage 105, linkage to seatstay 88.

Shown at full compression the shock to link is notably obtuse – approximately 145 degrees and the seatstay to link more acute – about 48 degrees.

In this section of linkage it produces a falling rate, or regressive mechanical advantage.

To take it a step further you can see how two other angles of interest are used to tune suspension feel and performance on the Mega 290: the Seatstay to Chainstay pivot angle and the Chainstay to ‘vertical’ from Ground Angle. (it could be argued that these combined angles are 1 functional angle to the wheel input – you can think of it either way in this case in my opinion)

This combined angle at extension measures about 120 degrees, 113 at sag and 105 when compressed.

Since these angles are closing towards 90 a rising mechanical advantage is occurring as the suspension is compressed.

In the image above you see the factors classically graphed.

The blue line represents the spring to link and link to seatstay combined angles which provide a slight rising rate from extension to sag and then a gradual falling rate to compression.

In green is graphed the lower combined (or singular depending on your thought) angle from the wheel vertical into the seatstay. This mechanically rises from extension through compression.

Below is a reinterpreted version of this graph that might be easier to grasp the rising / falling concept (inverted from previous)

Blue shows mixed Rising to Falling mechanics while the green illustrates overall rising mechanics.

Now, looking solely at the input angles (disregarding the lever differences) if we combine all of the above angles the differences between the upper assembly and lower assembly produce a mechanical advantage that rises through approximately 70% of the stroke before slightly lower towards full compression.

Let’s invert the graph for a more intuitive view of the concept.

Inverting the graph (so rising is up, and falling is down) when you review the arc you’ll see that from Extension to Sag (first 30% of travel)  through to about 60% of travel is rising notably quicker then the arc shifts to flatten and decline slightly.

This helps increase the Mega’s planted feel deep through the stroke.

Of course with the Float X2 riders have a lot of tuning capacity in the compression and volume tuning as well.

Let’s take a quick look at the arc difference between the more enduro Mega and the more trail oriented Reactor’s mechanical advantage rates.

Let’s reinterpret the graph a bit logging 30% sag as the reference so we can better illustrate the comparative arcs plotted together.

Both the 130mm travel Reactor and the 160mm travel Mega have falling rates of mechanical angular advantage in droop travel (from sag to completely extended). In fact the combined angles are extremely close.

Sag: Reactor ~ 304 and Mega ~306

At Extension the numbers are similar as well: Reactor ~ 315 and Mega ~318.

When compressed the variance is greater with the Reactor ~ 289 and the Mega ~298.

When we review the arcs a lot of the suspension’s personality and its interaction with the damper can be seen.

Note on the Mega with it’s longer travel, longer shock and longer pivot lengths the mechanical advantage rate is rising until approximately 70% of the stroke or so. Then it starts to dip back down.

Compare this to the smaller travel and “poppier” riding 130mm Reactor. Droop travel shows near parallel advantage and rise when charted. However as the bike sits deeper than sag the mechanical advantage illustrates two major personality differences.

First, it continues to rise for the entity of its length and second it rises at a greater rate per mm of travel.

This generates a more, I’ll say lively response from the fully compressed shock. Which, balanced with the lower travel, since you’d be using “full” travel in smaller terrain than on the larger bike makes sense.

Now to tune this Nukeproof has provided the best shocks on the market.

The larger travel Mega also features the more robust Float X2 shock with high an low speed compression as well as volume spacing. This gives riders range to tune “against” the mechanical drop near the end of the stroke for mom pop or support deeper into the travel.

On the 130mm Reactor the FOX Float X is spec’d with low speed compression as well as volume tuning options. For riders looking for the ultimate “plush” air suspension setup on the Reactor chat with our team about a BikeCo Pro Tune on the Float X. Using proprietary oil weights, unbeatable bleed techniques as well as (well – let’s say 7 secret herbs and spices right?) our team can fine tune the suspension’s performance for your size, riding style, terrain, ground speeds and setup.

I highly recommend the BikeCo Pro Tune on the X2 as well as the improved bleed and oil flow create a notably more consistent feel through travel and heat ranges.

What does this all mean?

Well this design lends itself to air shock tuning as overall the model suggests an accommodation at deep in the travel.

Air springs by nature are progressive, the Mega 290’s design produces a linkage that feels more plush through the travel while still providing mechanical support in conditions that utilize more shock stroke (high speed corners, chunk, etc).

As the air spring is compressed and increasing its PSI the linkage is tuning out some of that increase to keep the bike feeling planted and able to use the travel.

On the Mega 290 the FOX Factory X2 gives riders the widest tuning range utilizing the low and high speed rebound, low and high speed compression controls as well as volume spacing.

Depending on how linear of a feel is desired riders can add volume spacers (to increase the air spring’s ramp rate) or increase clicks on the compression to use the damper’s hydraulics to slow the shaft speed in certain scenarios.

Looking a little deeper you’ll see the instant center intersections illustrated extending from the linkage to seatstay and chainstay. Now there are A LOT of concepts around about the perfect fit for this and this isn’t a suspension thesis. What I will say is that having the instant center arcing near the bottom bracket, where the majority of your weight is loaded downhill TENDS (if the rest of the design is doing what it should!) to produce bikes that are easy to “drive” from your feet during direction changes, or planting them back down, etc.

The Nukeproof Mega is wheel behaved for an Enduro MTB level of travel. The Mega is designed with suspension linkage that rides neutral in most conditions and doesn’t suffer from knife edge setup concerns. That means with the FOX Float X2 riders have a wide range of settings available to fine tune what they are really looking for out of the Mega.

Those looking for poppy support in and out of corners can utilize the compression settings as well as volume spacers. This extra support is particularly notable in higher speeds and with larger riders.

Riders looking for a more linear feel will run less volume spacers and compression.

Since the X2 has great adjustability riders can even modify air pressure, typically in the 3-5% range at max, and adjust compression and volume to generate their desired performance.

Too Much? Too Soon? Well, when you buy from BikeCo.com you don’t have to be a suspension setup expert. We are. And we take the initial deliver as well as setup adjustments as clients acclimatize to their bikes very seriously. Our team will help you with initial setup tips and be in touch to talk you through fine tuning and changes as your ground speeds increase! Learn more about the advantage of buying from The Bike Company in Lake Forest CA below.

Advantages of Buying from BikeCo.com

There are notable advantages to purchasing your new eMTB or MTB from The Bike Company (BikeCo.com).

Since 1999 sport to race level MTB, and eMTB as it came about, is all we’ve done. We strive to bring the best products across a wide range of price points to our clients. You’re not going to see “almost” bits here – what we carry are the proven best in MTB parts. No nonsense, no guessing. If we carry it we will ride it from bikes to riding gear to maintenance bits and tools – it’s here because it deserves to be.

Possibly more valuable to our clients is the level of after sales support and access to fine tune suspension, cockpit setup, tire choices, etc.

We take great pride in helping our clients improve their riding experiences. When you take delivery of a new bike, or suspension from BikeCo.com our team will be reaching out after delivery to go over performance and answer any setup questions you might have. Totally new to the sport? Don’t worry: our team will ask leading questions to help us understand what you’re feeling on trail and what settings might help tune your bike to perfection.

Want to take your bike’s performance to the next level? Chat with our team about BikeCo Pro Tune Suspension!

Mega 290 Fork Travel Options

Stock from Nukeproof: 170mm

The Nukeproof Mega 290 is spec’d with a 170mm fork from the factory.  This provides the 64 degree headtube angle across all sizes from Small – XX-Large.

180mm Option

Some riders may gravitate to a larger travel from end on the Nukeproof Mega. A 180mm fork will slacken the headtube, increase the bottom bracket height, lengthen the wheelbase and increase the trail measurement. Depending on riding style, ground speed, and terrain some riders may see this as a great performance option while others will prefer the stock 170mm option.

Not sure which is right for you? Chat with our team and we will help you define which riding attributes steer riders to which fork.

By the way: with the FOX 38’s design travel can be adjusted with air shafts – so you can have the best of both worlds if you like.

Air Spring & Volume Spacers

The FOX 38 provides riders a range of setup options using air spring as well as volume spacers.

Suggested sag is 15% for a firm feel and 20% for a plush fork. On the stock 170mm setup 15% equals 25.5mm of sag. 20% will use 34mm of sag.

Volume Spacers

The 170mm FOX 38 is factory spec’d with 2 volume spacers (bike manufacturers may or may not change this). The 170mm fork can carry a maximum of 5 volume spacers.

Do not install more volume spacers than the FOX advises. Installing more than the maximum volume spacers will result in  product damage and potential for injuries, etc.

Learn more about the FOX 38 on FOX’s Tuning Guide Here (opens in new tab)

FOX 38 GRIP2 Rebound Controls

The GRIP2 damper provides both Low (LSR) and High (HSR) rebound controls.

The addition of the High Speed or HSR control provides increased rebound control to account for the higher PSI produced by aggressive or heavier riders.

Typically riders will adjust LSR, Low Speed Rebound, to suit riding style and taste and refer to FOX’s guide for the appropriate HSR, High Speed Rebound, pairing.

FOX GRIP2 Compression Controls

The FOX GRIP2 damper provides Low and High speed compression controls to fine tune support.

Compression circuits hydraulically damp (or slow) the fork’s input assisting the air spring in providing appropriate mid-stroke and bottom out feel.

Low Speed Compression helps provide mid-stroke support. This allows a bike to ride taller in the travel in cornering while resisting brake dive, rider weight shift and other slow shaft speed inputs.

High Speed Compression works to fine tune bottom out feel as well as other high shaft speed inputs also known as square edge bumps. Example: if you sprint straight into a curb you’re likely to engage the High Speed Compression even if you’re not using full travel. This is due to the speed of the shaft moving oil to compensate for the hit.

Air Spring & Volume Spacers

Both the stock FOX Performance Float X as well as the FOX Factory X2 offer offer air and volume adjustments.

SAG is adjusted by PSI – typically Enduro riding styles gravitate to 25-30% sag. This would measure about 17mm for a plush setup.

Volume Spacers

Volume spacing provides fine tuning options to support the air spring.

By adding volume spacers, thus reducing the volume, you increase the air spring’s ramp rate for improved bottom out support and pop.

Conversely removing volume spacers produces a more linear feel as the air has more volume during shock compression per mm of travel.

Do not install more volume spacers than the FOX advises. Installing more than the maximum volume spacers will result in  product damage and potential for injuries, etc.

Learn more about the FOX Float X2 with the FOX Tuning Guide Here (opens in new tab)

Stock: Fox Performance Float X2

Provides riders Low Speed Rebound Adjustment

Upgrade: FOX Factory Float X2

FOX FLOAT X2 Rebound Controls

The X2 rear shock provides both Low (LSR) and High (HSR) rebound controls.

The addition of the High Speed or HSR control provides increased rebound control to account for the higher PSI produced by aggressive or heavier riders.

Typically riders will adjust LSR, Low Speed Rebound, to suit riding style and taste and refer to FOX’s guide for the appropriate HSR, High Speed Rebound, pairing.

Low Speed Rebound is located near the Compression Controls and 2 position switch. High Speed Rebound adjustments are made on the opposite end of the shock near the eyelet.

Stock: FOX Performance Float X2

On-the-fly Open / Firm Lever

Upgrade: FOX Factory Float X2

FOX X2 Compression Controls

The FOX X2 provides Low and High speed compression controls to fine tune support as well as a 2 position OPEN or FIRM switch..

Compression circuits hydraulically damp (or slow) the fork’s input assisting the air spring in providing appropriate mid-stroke and bottom out feel.

Low Speed Compression helps provide mid-stroke support. This allows a bike to ride taller in the travel in cornering while resisting brake dive, rider weight shift and other slow shaft speed inputs.

High Speed Compression works to fine tune bottom out feel as well as other high shaft speed inputs also known as square edge bumps. Example: if you sprint straight into a curb you’re likely to engage the High Speed Compression even if you’re not using full travel. This is due to the speed of the shaft moving oil to compensate for the hit.

The FOX X2 provides 16 clicks of Low Speed Compression adjustment as well as 8 clicks of High Speed Compression controls.

PSI / Spring Rate

MTB suspension must accommodate a wide range of rider weight. To achieve this nearly all forks and rear shocks use an adjustable air spring.

By varying air pressure riders set a desired sag, or percentage of travel that the bike “sits into” under neutral loading.

Modifying this sag percentage will change small bump compliance as well as bottom out characteristics.

Learning how to Pre-Charge your suspension pump will help you make finite adjustments to sag.

Typically 15% sag is for a firm setup and 20% sag is considered plush.

Air Spring Fine Tuning Control(s): Volume Spacers & Compression

Volume Spacers
Air springs ramp rate, sometimes called Spring Rate, is based on how air compresses in the containment cylinder. As the air is compressed the PSI increases according to the decreasing volume of the containment. This is done via non-compressible volume spacers in the air chamber.

Compression.
Hydraulic damping assists air spring providing support in mid-stroke and bottom out.

Opposing Control: Rebound.
Higher spring rate will drive the suspension back to neutral with more force than a lower spring rate. To keep the bike from skipping across trail rebound damping is utilized.

Volume Tuning

As suspension compresses (travel reduces) a piston moves closer to the end of a sealed container. By decreasing the volume of the container the PSI pushing back on the piston is increased.

By adding or removing non-compressible volume spacers riders modify the air spring’s ramp rate which directly changes the amount of support and bottom out feel of the fork or shock.

By removing volume spacers a rider increases the available volume in the suspension. The larger volume compresses less per mm of travel resulting in a lower PSI per mm of travel. This creates less support and is utilizes more travel.

Adding volume spacers decreases the available volume. With less air volume the PSI per mm of travel increases providing more support and greater resistance to bottom out.

Opposing Control: Rebound.
Rebound may need to be adjusted for volume tuning depending on how drastic of a PSI change is being tuned in or out of the suspension.

“Helping” Control: Compression.
Compression provides additional support and bottom out resistance.

Compression

Compression controls provide damping to slow suspension travel as a load is applied and the suspension is compressed. (easy one right?)

When riders have found sag and volume spacing preferences compression controls provide minute adjustments to dial in performance. Adding compression provides more support allowing the suspension to ride taller in its travel which is important when dialing in a bike’s personality in corners, etc.

With too little compression a bike will sit deep in the travel. This compromises cornering and braking force resistance. Headtube angle, bottom bracket height, front to rear weight bias, etc are modified as a bike goes through its travel. Maintaining control of the use of travel is paramount for good performance.

Since compression hydraulically slows the suspension’s use of travel it therefor lowers the air spring’s PSI. Properly setting compression controls will help ease the load on the rebound system by controlling the air spring’s push back onto the rebound circuit.

Too much compression will cause a bike to feel harsh and not use appropriate amounts of travel.

Generally, compression settings are fine tuned after sag and volume spacing have riders “in the ballpark.”

Low speed compression controls mid-stroke as well as support in cornering and against brake dive.

High speed compression helps with bottom out and high shaft speed inputs.

3 positions switches are a type of compression circuit with Open the most plush, Mid providing some additional support and Firm for climbing. If you climb in firm remember to put it back to plush for the downhill or you’re in for a potentially rough ride.

Rebound

Rebound damping controls a suspension’s shaft speed returning to a neutral position. Or, how fast the air spring pushes back as the load changes.

More rebound damping slows the suspension by decreasing the amount of fluid allowed to pass through the hydraulic design.

Less rebound damping allows the suspension to return faster with less hydraulic restriction on the damper.

Rebound setting is based on weight, ground speed, terrain and aggression. Setting the rebound properly means finding the right frequency or feel for your riding.

If your rebound is too fast, or doesn’t have enough clicks of rebound, the bike will tend to skip and suffer poor small bump compliance.

When the rebound is too slow, or you have too many clicks of rebound, the suspension may “pack up” creating a harsh ride as each bump uses progressively more travel forcing the suspension deeper into the travel, which will have higher spring rates.

Opposing: Air Spring PSI / Spring Rate.

“Helping” Control: Low & High Speed Rebound.

Some suspension is designed with 2 rebound circuits. The High Speed Rebound circuit is designed to provide additional control resisting increased PSI late in suspension travel.

Typically High Speed Rebound settings are used as the Low Speed Rebound controls edge towards closed. Example: you might not use any clicks of High Speed Rebound until you reach “X” clicks on the low speed.

Nukeproof Mega 290 Elite Spec:

Frame:
Nukeproof Mega 290 Carbon, 160mm Travel

Fork:
Fox Float 38 Performance Elite 170mm, 44mm offset, 29”, 110×15

Shock:
Fox Performance Float X2 230×62.5mm

Wheels:
Nukeproof Horizon V2

Front Tires:
Maxxis Assegai 29×2.5″ 3C MaxxGrip DD

Rear Tires:
Maxxis Minion DHR II 29×2.4″ MaxxTerra DD

Brakes:
Shimano SLX M7120 4 piston

Brake Rotors:
 203mm Front / 203mm Rear

Cranks:
Shimano SLX M7100 170mm, 32t

Chain Guide:
Nukeproof Guide

Rear Derailleur:
Shimano SLX M7100 SGS

Shift Lever:
Shimano SLX M7100 12sp

Cassette:
Shimano SLX M7100-12 10-51t

Chain:
Shimano SLX M7100 12sp

Headset:
Nukeproof

Grips:
Nukeproof Sam Hill Signature

Handlebar:
Nukeproof Horizon V2
S/M = 12mm Rise 780mm Wide
L/XL/XXL = 25mm Rise 800mm Wide

Stem:
Nukeproof Horizon 45mm

Seatpost:
Brand-X with Brand-X Remote
S: 125mm, M: 160mm, L: 170mm, XL-XXL: 200mm

Saddle:
Nukeproof Black

Mega 290 Elite Build Frequent Swaps

Below are some common swaps for the Nukeproof Mega 290 Elite Complete

Mega 290 Elite Build Frequent Swaps

Common swaps:

Brakes: Magura and TRP are the most common changes here. Magura has more modulation while the Shimano come on a bit stronger. Riders who like Modulation may gravitate to the revised Hope 4 options which bring notably more power to the Hope lineup. TRP brakes are gaining traction for riders who like the Shimano feel but may want a touch more modulation from the longer brake lever.

Wheels: Onyx silent hubs, Chris King hubs, and Industry Nine are at home on a build at this level. We work with a range of carbon rims to allow you to fine tune rim width and stiffness as well. Wheels are a BIG part of a bike’s personality so chat with our team to get it right the first time!

Cockpit: If you have a cockpit you like let’s get it on the bike. Or upgrade to a carbon bar or 35mm combination to find tune your build.

Seating: Like cockpit, if you have a saddle or seatpost you love its a common change across all the builds.

SRAM Wireless Shifting: Upgrade to wireless shifting at time of purchase.