By Jack Luke

Published: Wednesday, 13 July 2022 at 12:00 am


The Lee Cougan Rampage Innova is a carbon cross-country mountain bike that offers 30mm of rear-wheel travel through an integrated carbon leaf spring.

Lee Cougan – the mountain-bike focused sister brand to Basso Bikes – claims a size-medium frame weighs 1,300g. The bike, spotted at Eurobike 2022, is due to be available from October onwards.

How does it work?

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The two hydraulic dampers are hidden beneath the black cover.
Jack Luke / Our Media

The ISS (Innova Structural Suspension) system allows the Rampage Innova’s tapered seatstays to flex on a carbon leaf spring. Two tiny hydraulic dampers then sit inside parallel sliders. These compress as the system works, adding a degree of damping and, with it, more control through rebound.

The shock tune is pre-set per frame size by Lee Cougan, but the setup can be adjusted by Gallo Moto – the brand’s only authorised suspension tuning centre.

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The geometry of the bike is typically XC.
Jack Luke / Our Media

The brand claims the setup offers the lower weight and responsiveness of a hardtail cross-country bike while offering a degree of additional comfort through the ISS system.

A similar system is offered by BMC through its MTT approach.

The rear-end of the bike features what Lee Cougan calls the “elbow design”. This sees the seatstays extend beyond the rear axle of the bike, which the brand claims helps to add vertical flex into the bike.

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The bikes will be available from October onwards.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Lee Cougan Rampage Innova geometry

The geometry of the bike is fairly middle of the road – erring into old-school – for a cross-country bike in 2022, with a 69-degree head angle across all sizes and a fairly short 452mm reach for a size medium.

SML
Seat tube (mm)420475515
Top tube (mm)590615625
Head tube (mm)100105115
Chainstay (mm)428428428
Head tube angle (degrees)696969
Seat tube angle (degrees)737373
Wheelbase (mm)1,107.61,1331,143.7
Reach (mm)428.5452459.2
Stack (mm)616.1621.1630.5
BB height (mm)310310310

Pricing and availability

Full pricing and specs are to be confirmed, but builds will start at €4,300, with more builds to follow later this year.