The Litespeed Pinhoti has a history that appropriately matches our area’s rich mountain biking heritage. It all starts with the Pinhoti Trail, our centerpiece backyard trail just a few miles from our Chattanooga, Tenn. headquarters. The Pinhoti Trail extends between the N. GA mountains down to Flagg Mountain in Alabama, featuring some of the most technical, rugged and remote singletrack in our neck of the woods. The most notable sections are celebrated annually with the famed Snake Creek Gap Time Trial mountain bike series—a point-to-point race over 34 miles of technical ridge-line singletrack, Pinhoti Trail riders are challenged with roots, rock gardens, off-camber banking and tacky forest dirt. Dotted along its wending path by markers featuring the area’s wild turkey footprints, the Pinhoti Trail is quite simply the best of mountain biking—some say one of the most challenging—and fun—mountain biking in the country.
It was not a whimsical undertaking when we named the Pinhoti; the bike has truly represented the pinnacle of pure trail excellence, capable of scrambling ascents with boundless energy, with unsurpassed surgical precision on technical descents. It was the best in titanium trail riding.
Now, the best has gotten better. We’ve updated the geometry, delivering confidence that allows you to go with open, reckless abandon. Tubeset shaping that enhances comfort for the long ride. As trail riding has evolved, our engineers got more creative, and did a complete makeover, modernizing our signature trail model….and as ever, delivered it in painstakingly handcrafted titanium. Introducing the Pinhoti III; more confidence, more agility, more comfort, more fun.
The Pinhoti III remains a highly versatile machine offered in a speed-hungry 29” and a 27.5+ build that accommodates for the added footprint while delivering the confident traction and technical handling advantage found in 27.5+ tires.
On its face, the Pinhoti III gains a whole new range of tube shaping. From curves of the downtube and seattube, to the subtle shaping along the stays, all tubesets have been updated in the interest of performance gains, namely greater vibration damping capacity. The Pinhoti III’s compliance will help keep you at your freshest, on even your longest days of ardent trail smashing.
We’ve made the new Pinhoti a trail bike capable of expanding your ability to attack the mountain. With a slacker head angle, a slightly elongated front center and a head tube that is the stiffest it’s ever been, the Pinhoti III gets even more deft and predictable in tight quarters. We’ve also shortened the chainstays, adding to the Pinhoti III’s nimble, agile handling. So hack switchbacks with confidence. Carve a tight path through the trees. Carry speed across the ridgeline. Scramble up the steepest pitch. The Pinhoti III will go confidently where you point it—without penalty.
To accommodate for a wide range of tire and chainring clearance, the Pinhoti III employs an asymmetric dropped chainstay receiving a striking new CNC-machined titanium chainstay yoke.
And it gets tons of special touches, including an updated dropper post cable integration port.
All told, the design changes result in a frame weighing just 1,649 grams (size medium)—a savings of 95 grams over our previous version of the Pinhoti.
Whether you’re looking at marathon race day or a day of carving the trail with friends, or anything in between, the new Pinhoti III will take your ride day experience to the next level. Playing on the trails have never been so fun.
