Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2023 i Mountain Bike Rider

Until very recently, gravel was something you shovelled onto the driveway. Now though – in case you’ve been burying your head in a pile of it recently – it’s a kind of riding. One that blurs the lines between XC mountain biking, cyclo-cross, and road riding. To their proponents (and they now include once mtb-only stalwarts like Evil and most recently, YT Industries) gravel bikes deliver the kind of speed-over-the-ground thrills of a road bike, but on natural terrain and flowy singletrack. To their detractors, they are road bikes out of their element and the best way to spoil a good mountain bike ride. So who has it right? Time for mbr to step in and deliver a verdict on gravel riding… totally unbiased, of course. You can completely disregard…

CLAIFE HEIGHTS, LAKE DISTRICT 12.1km (7.5 miles) Ring in the Lake District has a reputation for involving long hike-a-bikes and white-knuckle descents but, slap bang in the middle of the fells, Claife Heights offers plenty of Cumbrian charm without too much effort. So if you’re looking to ride your mountain bike in – but not up – the mountains, this is the route for you. Starting on the edge of Lake Windermere, you quickly enter the woodland that makes up the Heights before undulating across the tops. Even seasoned riders will appreciate the mellow nature of the terrain and the chance to kick back and take in the views. GPS download bit.ly/ClaifeHeights OXENHOPE, WEST YORKSHIRE 25.4km (15.8 miles) Uphill and down dale, this route is an ideal introduction to all…

£4,999 • 29in • gtbicycles.com NEED TO KNOW ● 29er trail bike with a carbon front end and seatstays, at alloy pricing ● LE version gets top-tier 150/140mm-travel RockShox suspension components ● Mix of SRAM X01 and GX mechanical drivetrain gives great shifting ● Maxxis tyres and SRAM G2 RSC brakes enhance traction and control ● Available in four frame sizes: S to XL GT is aiming to bring back the glory days, and its new Sensor is the springboard It’s been three decades since GT were THE mountain bike suspension brand of choice, with its RTS, LTS and STS designs ridden to countless race and championship wins by a star-studded XC and DH roster. And while it has had race success and some interesting designs since, the spotlight has…

SPECIFICATION Frame HMX carbon, 150mm travel Shock Fox Float X Nude Factory Fork Fox 36 Float Factory GRIP2, 160mm travel Wheels Syncros Revelstoke 1.0 - 30 CL wheels, Maxxis Minion DHF/Dissector EXO Maxx-Terra 29x2.6in tyres Drivetrain SRAM X01 DUB Eagle carbon chainset 32t, 170mm, SRAM X01 Eagle AXS r-mech and GX Eagle AXS shifter Brakes Shimano XTR M9210 four-piston, 203/180mm Components Syncros Hixon iC carbon handlebar/stem 780x45mm, Syncros Duncan Drop post 170mm, Syncros Tofino saddle Sizes S, M, L, XL Weight 13.7kg (30.7lb) Contact: scott-sports.com GEOMETRY Size ridden L Head angle 63.9° Seat angle 72° Effective SA 77.2° BB height 342mm Chainstay 440mm Front centre 823mm Wheelbase 1,263mm Seat tube 440mm Top tube 631mm Reach 485mm £10,999 • 29in • scott-sports.com THE RIDER BEN SMITH Position Art editor Mostly rides Forest…

JAMIE DARLOW FRONT SECTION EDITOR Fifteen years on mbr testing gear, bikes and trails, and editing the Hot Stuff pages: JD’s product knowledge is as broad as it gets PAUL BURWELL CONTRIBUTOR Elite-level XC racer turned trail schralper, been riding since Gary Fisher was a boy. Tested everything going, from Flexstems to auto-shifting ALICE BURWELL CONTRIBUTOR Chip off the old block, young Burwell’s big into trail riding, racing and modern art. Enduro podiums expected this year MICK KIRKMAN CONTRIBUTOR Spent years racing BMX, then 4X and DH, and is still ultra-competitive, despite what he says. Has been testing bikes for two decades mbr ratings explained The scores on the doors 1-4 Something’s wrong. It’s rare, but sometimes a product will have a design flaw or some other weakness that means…

£76.99 SPECIFICATION Weight: 940g • Height: 51cm • Hose length: 47cm • Valves: Presta, Schrader, Dunlop • Contact: silverfish-uk.com You probably can’t tell from the picture, but the Tiny Tanker is about half the height (and weight) of a regular track pump, and boasts many of the same features. Birzman’s thinking was to make a more portable version of The Pump – its flagship product – for those with limited space. That’s me then, someone who crams my bike or bikes into the back of a family estate. Like every other track pump from Birzman, the Tiny Tanker is made from CNC-machined aluminium, and as such it looks sleek and minimalist. There are a few scrapes in the barrel where it’s teetered over, but otherwise it still looks good after…

£4,175 Think Top Fuel, and the image of a XC race bike instantly springs to mind. But like a faded Polaroid tucked into the corner of a dusty picture frame, it’s not an accurate representation of the current design. With the Fuel EX increasing in travel, the Top Fuel has been swept along in its backdraft and seen in high definition, it’s now a capable 29er trail bike with modern sizing and 120mm travel. Trek offers the new Top Fuel in carbon and alloy options, where the Top Fuel 8 tested here is the high-end alloy build. Regardless of frame material, all Top Fuels come with integrated down tube storage. And while the quick-release hatch under the bottle cage isn’t big enough to cram a three-course lunch into the frame,…

The pursuit of progress can be a maddeningly elusive pastime. Sometimes we can touch that carrot with our outstretched fingertips, other times it feels demoralisingly unreachable. Throw in the natural erosion of physical and mental ability thanks to the ageing process and the simple fact is, most of us will be riding around on an endless plateau, no matter how many climbs and descents we do. So how do we escape that rut? Well, hopefully we have some suggestions on page 40, where we’ve compiled a special feature with stacks of tips to help you become a better rider. In addition, there’s some exclusive insight into what it takes to stay at the top of the sport for two decades, with tips from Greg Minnaar and his coach, Alan Milway.…

We don’t cover much downhill racing here at mbr, and we spend even less time talking about DH bikes themselves. The Giant Glory is more interesting than ‘just’ another new 200mm-travel, gravity-gobbling time machine though, because this bike will change the way Giant makes all its models… and perhaps even the rest of the industry too. We’ll get to that in a minute, because the Glory deserves a lot of attention from the offset. This is the fifth generation, made famous by ‘that’ Danny Hart run in the wet at Champéry in 2011. Incredibly it’s the first full carbon version. Also new are 29in wheels, or more accurately 29in up front and 27.5in at the back as sold, in a standard mullet set-up. Giant says its Factory Off-Road team has…

It can be frustrating to hear yourself utter the words ‘I used to be able to…’ and to tell anyone who will listen what you could do – and would still do – but for work commitments, family, age…. Re-living a fast and reckless youth on your mountain bike is not the aim here. Rather, the goal is to ensure you can enjoy more years of quality riding, fitness and even skills development when you creep over 40, 50, 60 years of age and beyond. Greg Minnaar needs no introduction; the four times world champion has been racing downhill World Cups for over 20 years. With Worlds titles spanning from 2003-2021, he has had a huge career at the very top of sport – and enters 2023 as a 41-year-old…

£12,500 • 29in • saddleback.co.uk NEED TO KNOW ● All new full-carbon 29in XC/marathon/down-country platform ● Available in two travel versions where DW-Link suspension offers on-the-trail swappable travel from 95-103mmr 106-115mm depending on the shock stroke ● Bikes are matched with either 100mm or 120mm-travel forks ● Frame weight is reduced by up to 400g compared to previous Mach 4 SL ● Four models plus frame-only option for the UK, bikes start at £8,500 The new race-ready Mach 4 SL takes down-country versatility to the next level ‘Challenge the threshold’ is the concept under which Pivot’s new Mach 4 SL has been designed. It’s unashamedly ‘Challenge an XC and marathon race platform, but to call it just a race bike is to do it a complete disservice as the new…

SPECIFICATION Frame 4130 cro-mo Fork Cane Creek Helm Air, 130mm travel Wheels Hope Pro 4 hubs, Hope Fortus rims, Schwalbe Hans Dampf Addix Soft 29x2.35in tyres Drivetrain SRAM GX Eagle 32t 170mm chainset, GX r-mech and 12-speed shifter, 10-52t cassette Brakes SRAM G2 R four-piston, 180/160mm Components Sonder Aspect 780mm bar (31.8mm), Sonder Piskie 35mm stem, X-Fusion Manic 150mm post, Sonder Abode saddle Sizes S, M, L, XL Weight 14.5kg (31.97lb) GEOMETRY Size tested XL Head angle 64° Seat angle 70.5° Effective SA 74.5° (@760mm) BB height 315mm Chainstay 435mm Front centre 805mm Wheelbase 1,240mm Down tube 755mm Seat tube 485mm Top tube 670mm Reach 483mm £2, 89 9 • 29 in • alpkit.com THE RIDER SEAN WHITE Position Freelance writer/tester Mostly rides Forest of Dean, Mid Wales Height 6ft 2in…

SPECIFICATION Frame FACT 11m full carbon, 170mm travel Shock Fox Float X Performance Fork Fox Float 36 Rhythm, GRIP damper, 170mm travel Motor Specialized SL 1.1 Battery Specialized SL1 320Wh Display Specialized MasterMind TCU Wheels Specialized 110/148mm hubs, Specialized hookless alloy 30mm rims, Butcher Grid Trail Gripton T9/T7, 29x2.3in Drivetrain Praxis forged M30 chainset, SRAM GX Eagle r-mech and shifter Brakes SRAM Code R, 220/200mm Components Specialized 6061 alloy 800mm bar, Specialized Trail 50mm stem, X-Fusion Manic 150mm dropper seatpost, Specialized Bridge Comp saddle Sizes S2, S3, S4, S5 Weight 19.4kg (42.8lb) Contact specialized.com GEOMETRY (LOW SETTING) Size tested S4 Rider height 6ft 1in Head angle 62.7° Seat angle 67.2° Effective SA 75.6° BB height 337mm Chainstay 450mm Front centre 841mm Wheelbase 1,291mm Down tube 757mm Top tube 635mm Reach 485mm £7,400…

The mountain bike industry and the media love to pigeonhole bikes by travel, but some models simply refuse to be boxed in. In this test we have two such bikes: the new Lapierre XRM 6.9 marathon bike and the Trek Top Fuel 8 short-travel trail bike. Now, it would be easy to assume that both of these bikes are trying to solve the same problem – ride every trail as fast as humanly possible – from opposing directions, but both brands are actually trending in the same direction… upwards in travel. For the XRM 6.9, Lapierre uses its stock XC frame, adding a 120mm-travel fork (10mm more than the XR) to slacken the numbers a touch, where the burlier build kit also reflects the increased versatility of the bike. In…

In the world of mountain biking, the physical aspect comprises merely a fraction, roughly 20%, while the remaining 80% lies within the depths of the mind. Navigating trails demands little from the body; it is the mind that serves as the ultimate frontier, dictating how the trail manifests itself within the intricate web of neurons, woven by past experiences. Despite the significance of the mental realm, we dedicate countless hours honing our physical prowess, often overlooking the vital task of nurturing the mind. Behold, an image capturing Jim’s triumph over his inhibitions, as he fearlessly tackles the narrow Lakeland gully, transcending the boundaries imposed by his own psyche. Tristan Tinn Tom Pidcock kicked off his 2023 mountain bike campaign in explosive style with a dominant win at the opening round…

MOST WANTED TOM PIDCOCK’S PINARELLO DOGMA XC £TBC When Tom Pidcock won Gold at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo (held in 2021, of course) he did it on a blacked-out BMC Fourstroke. This is only interesting if you already know he’s sponsored by road team Ineos Grenadiers, with bikes supplied by Pinarello, a brand that until now had no XC mountain bike to its name. That all changed this year when it launched the Dogma XC, a bike that’s still not listed on the Pinarello website and is only available to Pidcock and team-mate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. It’ll be available to buy in March 2024 next year, perfectly timed for the 2024 Olympic Games hype. Perfect timing for Pidcock too though, who went out and won both the Men’s Elite Cross-Country…

SET UP YOUR SUSPENSION Suspension is designed to improve control and reduce fatigue, but if it’s not set up correctly, it can hinder, rather than help, your riding. W12hile the science of suspension would run to many chapters, there are a few fundamental steps to getting a good ballpark setting. PRO TIP Try to use the same pump when making changes to your shock pressure, as the gauge may read differently between pumps. SHOCK SAG Sag simply refers to the position the bike settles into with a rider on board. It’s your starting point before fettling any other parameters. Begin with the rear suspension, assuming you have it. While many guides advise you to set your sag in what’s often referred to as the ‘attack’ position, we’d suggest taking a…

ABOUT THIS SERIES One of the most exciting things about mountain biking is that it’s always changing. From the bikes we ride, to how and where we ride them, things never stand still for long. And here at mbr we’re convinced things are getting better. The Trailblazers series is our look at the people, places and events that are behind these changes; helping to define and improve riding in the UK right now. From behind-the-scenes volunteers out digging trails in their spare time; people lobbying for more access to trails; those working to get more people from all backgrounds out riding; grassroots race organisers making events happen, through to the riders who are changing how and what mountain bikers ride; we want to tell the stories and give recognition to…

SPECIFICATION Frame Hollow core carbon, 165mm travel Shock Fox Factory Float X2 Fork Fox Factory 38 Grip 2, 44mm offset, 170mm travel Wheels DT Swiss 350 110/157mm hubs, DT Swiss XM 1700 30mm rims, Maxxis Assegai EXO+, MaxxTerra 29x2.5in tyres Drivetrain Race Face Aeffect R 32t chainset, Shimano XTR M9100 r-mech and XT shifter, Shimano XT M8100 10-51t cassette Brakes Shimano XT M8120 four-piston, 203/203mm Components Pivot Phoenix Team Low Rise Carbon 800mm bar, Pivot Phoenix Team Enduro/Trail 50mm stem, Fox Transfer Factory 170mm post, WTB Volt Pro saddle Sizes S, M, L, XL Weight 15.05kg (33.18lb) Contact saddleback.co.uk GEOMETRY (LOW SETTING) Size tested L Head angle 64.1° Effective SA 77.5° BB height 358mm Chainstay 436mm Front centre 828mm Wheelbase 1,264mm Down tube 766mm Top tube 630mm Reach 493mm £8,…

£149.99 SPECIFICATION Weight 9.5kg • Length (folded): 1.5m • Contact: chainreactioncycles.com The Lifeline Pro workstand claims to blend pro-level build quality with ease of use, at a price that’s appealing to the home mechanic. It also boasts a maximum bike weight limit of 40kg, making it suitable for e-bikes, and has a wider range of height adjustment than most competing workstands too. At just under £150, this is Lifeline’s top-spec stand, and although one step up from the hit-and-miss world of chain store specials, it’s significantly cheaper than benchmark workstands from Feedback Sports and Park Tool. It uses a design that’s similar to many brands, with folding twin legs and a telescoping keyed strut within the main tubular steel support. This stand’s smaller footprint is a plus point over tripod…

£3,999 For the XRM 6.9, Lapierre takes the full carbon frame from its World Cup XC bike, the XR, adds a longer-travel fork, a dropper post and slightly burlier components, and hey presto, Laipierre has a marathon/down-country bike. But has it worked? Before we answer that, let’s take a closer look at the details. Frame travel on the XRM is quoted at 110mm, but we measured it at 95mm, which is an alarmingly big discrepancy. It uses a flex-stay design to save weight, where the carbon back end is big and burly, with the wide main pivot stance and deep chainstays providing ample stiffness. The front end comes in four frame sizes, S to XL, and the standover height is really good for what is essentially a hopped-up XC bike.…