How do you lose weight in the rear suspension? Not just the weight of the actual rear suspension but also the snow that tends to collect on those deep powder days. Arctic Cat’s thinking is way outside the box with its new Alpha One rear suspension.
The Alpha One isn’t the only news out of the Cat camp for its mountain sleds. Cat also has new mountain skis—the ProClimb 7 G2—as well as a new model, the Hardcore, which is the new and improved HCR, which took a one-year hiatus from the mountain lineup.
Arctic Cat has been chipping away at the mountain frontrunners for the past few years and took another big chunk out of the leaders for model year 2019.
Alpha One Rear Suspension
You can’t ask for more out-of-the-box thinking than Cat’s new rear suspension for select Mountain Cat sleds.
Its single-beam design is not only intriguing but gives a whole new meaning to track flex. The concept/thinking is that the track will hug the snowy terrain almost regardless of the angle of the sled, whether sidehilling or laying down in the powder. We said, “almost” as eventually the track will come off the ground when the sled is tipped enough to one side.
- One single aluminum beam positioned in the middle of the Power Claw (154- or 165-inch) track.
- Obviously with one single beam instead of dual parallel rails, it’s going to be lighter to the tune of about 11 lbs.
- Reduced snow accumulation in the rear suspension because there is less parts for the snow to accumulate on. Cat estimates with the Alpha One’s design there will be as much as 30-40 lbs. less of snow riding around in the rear suspension.
- The rail itself is extruded aluminum with magnesium attachment points.
- Less rider input is required.