Production Privée Shan 5: Bike Review

Words by Jared Erickson / Photos by Liam Woods

Intro

Being a small boutique mountain bike manufacturer nestled in the mountains of Andorra, you may not have heard of Production Privée until now. Housed under the same roof as our friends over at Forestal, the brand exudes passion for creating bikes that break the mold and they have been hard at work doing just that for over a decade. I've been spending some time aboard their new Shan 5, an all mountain bike that's built to tackle a wide range of terrain with confidence and fun. Let's dive into the details and learn more about this unique bike. 

Details

In the flesh, the Shan 5 is surely a sight for sore eyes. The MCS 4130 heat treated steel front triangle boasts some seriously beautiful welds and has a distinctive look. Paired with clean lines of the carbon rear triangle, the end result is a simple aesthetic that looks like a properly capable mountain bike. Manufactured in their own facility in Andorra, Production Privée is able to control every step of the process from sourcing the materials to painting the final product and everything in between. Sharing a facility and resources with Forestal allows them to collaborate and take advantage of advanced manufacturing processes and technologies that would surely be out of reach for any other bike brand of this size. The end result is a bike that's beautifully engineered, very well made and of the highest quality. 

When it comes to the details, the Shan 5 features standard boost spacing, an integrated headset, internal cable routing, a SRAM UDH, PF92 BB interface and a water bottle/accessory mount underneath the downtube. Spec wise, we received this bike as a frame only so we built it up with our own parts. Production Privée offers the bike as a frame only and as a rolling chassis, so you can dial in the bike however you please. This is an extremely important variable because this bike is so versatile. You can build it up as a long legged, slacked out trail bike, or as a beefed up trail bike that's suitable for enduro duty on the gnarliest trails you can find. More on that in a moment.

Ride Impressions

On the trail, this bike has a lot of qualities that I really enjoyed. The properly modern geometry puts you in a great pedaling position, so the bike pedals incredibly well when paired with some relatively efficient tires. For context, I've ridden this bike with a more trail bike oriented tire setup as well as a full on DH tire setup to see how the bike behaves in a myriad of situations. With a faster rolling tire setup, the bike absolutely rockets around your local singletrack and feels surprisingly efficient and energetic. When built up with some beefier tires and wheels, this bike turns into a descending monster and has an insatiable appetite for steep, technical terrain.

Simply put, the single pivot suspension design combined with the steel construction and modern geometry creates an energetic-feeling pedaling platform while climbing and pedaling, yet allows for a planted, confidence inspiring ride on the way down. The large pivot bearings and hardware allow for very little lateral flex which is seemingly noticeable when pushing the bike and suspension to its limits. The strength of the steel paired with the carbon rear triangle certainly plays into the ride feel of the bike - it feels solid and somewhat muted underneath you while plowing through rough sections of trail, yet it still has that spritely feeling I mentioned before. This bike is somewhat of an oxymoron, and that's part of what makes it great. It's still early on in the test period of this bike, but so far we're thoroughly impressed by it and will be sure to include a long term review when we have more saddle time down the road as well. 

Final Thoughts

The Production Privée Shan 5 is one of the more unique bikes that we've come across in some time, and it's certainly one of those bikes that people will be asking about the trailhead.  With its thoughtful use of materials, modern geometry, and distinctive design, it has that ideal combination of elements that creates a great mountain bike. So far we are very impressed by this machine and can't wait to see what else this unconventional bike company has in store.