The Polygon 2023 Siskiu D7 SE is a steal at $1,399

The bikesonline site currently lists the 2023 Siskiu D7 SE at $1,399. For all sizes. The MSRP of $1,599 is lower than the $1,899 of last year, and matches the sales price they had late in the year for less popular sizes.

The “SE” model for this year adds boost spacing to the fork and front wheel. The fork is now a Suntour Raidon 32 Boost Lo-R, previously it was a RockShox Recon Silver RL. Both are air spring forks so without reading a lot of reviews (hard to find online), or direct experience, we can assume they are in the same performance ballpark. The current version of this SunTour fork seems to have been changed to a 34 mm stanchion so it makes sense Polygon made a good deal with SunTour for their (now outdated?) 32 mm fork.

Otherwise the spec on this bike seems unchanged. It includes Deore 11 speed with the M201 brakes, Nobby Nic tires, dropper post, RockShox Deluxe Select+ shock. It even comes with pedals!

The lack of boost spacing on the front was the only odd, price saving spec that was of note to me for the 2022 model. It wasn’t so much that I think the type of owner that this is perfect for would so much as notice any performance difference with the 10 mm wider boost hub and fork. Most would not. But more that it might possibly make purchasing used upgrade wheels more difficult. Small detail, but now fixed. So this is nothing but win. IMO. Interestingly, bikesonline still lists the non-boost fork version as a 2023 model without the SE designation for $1,599 ($1,699 MSRP) in all sizes. I’m now thinking the SE stands for Special Edition and they may not have committed to this as the strategy going forward. Time will tell.

My friend seems to really be enjoying his 2022 Siskiu D7 and I was impressed by the quality when I helped him finalize his setup. It’s a good entry level enthusiast bike, to my eye. It has all the modern attributes for the full suspension “down country” type of MTB. 120 mm travel. 29” wheels. 1x drive train. Hydraulic disc brakes. A dropper seatpost. My brief summary of the competition suggests this is a $2,500 price point bike. The main difference of interest will be the weight and the geometry of various offerings in this price range.

The site lists a weight of 15.7 kg (34.6 lbs) for a size Large. My friend’s 2022 size Medium with 27.5” wheels weighed 33.5 lbs on my scale. So there is likely no big diff with the weight of the 2023 SE models over the prior editions. It can be hard to find weights for competitor offerings with the size listed. On a quick google I saw reference to the Orbea Oiz H30 at 30 lbs, the Trek Top Fuel 5 at 34.4 lbs, the Specialized Stumpjumper Alloy at 35.6 lbs and the Giant Anthem 29 2 at 26.8 lbs.

The Giant Anthem is targeted as more of a XC racer so meeting low weight targets is key for that model. Otherwise I’d say the Polygon is within the weight range for roughly similar competitors, and this is particularly impressive for the $1,000 savings. A weight motivated owner could probably drop a few pounds by using that savings on lighter bar/stem, saddle, dropper post, tires and/or maybe even a wheelset.

In summary; this is essentially the same bike in 2023 with a MSRP that is $300, or 17%, lower than the 2022 model. At the current sale price, it is 26% cheaper than the 2022 MSRP and about 50-60% of the price of similar specification offerings from the mainline major brands. This is amazing.

Additional Reading: Australian Mountain Bike on the 2020 D7. bike-test.com on the 2022 D7. Gear Lab on the 2021 D7. Beastie bikes on the 2021 D7. Bike Radar on the Siskiu T7 “trail” model.

Note: Facebook groups dedicated to the Polygon Siskiu models have some warning/complaining about frames cracking, typically at the top tube weld with the seat tube. The chatter seems to be that Polygon will warranty and send a new replacement. It is unclear to me (and many happy owners) whether this is occurring at rates higher than any other aluminum frame MTB. My experience from back in the day is that Al MTB frames do have a tendency to crack, I had this occur with the Mongoose Toblerone top tube IBOC myself.

The wheelset probably weighs about 2188 grams. An XT set at 1932 is about a half pound lighter, and I think there are many ~1900 options. A little more cash could take this to a ~1500 gram wheelset for a 1.5 pound saving. It’s pretty easy to drop a quarter pound with a fairly inexpensive handlebar swap. The dropper post probably weighs about 545 grams. A popular alternative from PNW gains only about 40 grams, and it is probably pricey to squeeze much more from the post.

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