Pivots are the single most important factor affecting the durability and lateral stiffness of today’s mountain bike suspensions.  How many times have you ridden a beautifully crafted bike and after a few aggressive runs at Northstar or Whistler you are left with loose linkages and/or creaking pivots. 

No other pivot system matches the strength and durability of a properly designed and lubricated needle bearing system.

Needle Bearings are bearings for rotary motion that incorporate needle-shaped rollers instead of ordinary bearing balls.  Compared with other rolling bearings, they are compact and lightweight but have a large load capacity; therefore they are excellent for mountain bike pivots.  In general, one would have to use a larger and heavier ball bearing to match the strength of a smaller and lighter needle bearing.  They are widely used with high reliability in engines, transmissions, and on aircraft landing gear.

On some so-called maintenance-free sealed cartridge bearings (ball bearings) common on multi-pivot frames, mechanics have been known to pop off the seals and re-grease them to prevent them from disintegrating; However, some seals were not designed to be removed often and doing so may sometimes damage the seal which leaves you with an poorly protected bearing or no choice but to replace the bearing or seal.  With the custom thrust washers and external grease ports, the Trigger needle bearing pivots stay well sealed and can be easily lubricated indefinitely.  When you ride the Trigger, say goodbye to thrashed bearings or creaking pivots common to other multi-pivot frames with inferior ball bearings.