Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i Mountain Bike Rider

Sheffield is a city that just gets things done. New trails and jumps grow with amazing regularity, seemingly due to the sheer will of the riders, regardless of whether the powers that be are on side, or the funds available. This is the punk ethos that put Sheffield – a relatively small Yorkshire city – on the map. And this DIY attitude permeates into Sheffield’s mtb scene too, where it runs so deep that many (almost all) of the tracks and trails developed over the last 15 years or so stem directly from a proactive community of riders and advocates. With Ride Sheffield close to the heart of it all, locals have essentially built up an ever-more effective culture of fundraising and action. Unsurprisingly then, the two newest trails Sheffield…

DARE VALLEY GRAVITY BIKE PARK, SOUTH WALES Have you ever taken your kids to an attraction, only for them to find the gift shop/coin-press machine/dead bird in the car park infinitely more interesting? Of course you have. Take them to Dare Valley Gravity Bike Park this summer, though, and they’ll struggle not to be entertained. For starters there’s a brilliant tarmac pump track right by the car park that’ll distract them from the rotten bird. The main attraction, though, is a five-minute trail in the finest tradition of blues, that is safe enough for new riders and kids to learn on and enjoy, but with doubles and supported berms for more experienced riders too. Trailcraft built it with two additional pump tracks on the trail – break off from the…

£4,949 • 29in • cotic.co.uk Cotic’s charismatic steel-framed FlareMAX is back for round five, and it’s embracing the down-country theme it stumbled across back in 2018. First a bit of background though. Born five years ago as the 29in version of the 27.5in Flare, the 5th generation FlareMAX still rolls on big wheels. The frame tubing is mostly a custom ‘Ovalform’ version of Reynolds’ premium 853 air hardening steel too, so it doesn’t look radically different from earlier iterations. Dig a little deeper however and it’s clear that the design has continually evolved. Yes, the signature ‘DropLink’ suspension still yields 125mm of rear wheel travel, just like on the 3rd Gen bike, but the kinematics have changed, inspired by Cotic’s mid-travel Jeht bike, and introduced on the previous FlareMax. And…

Almost 10 years ago to the day, we shone the spotlight on Owen Pemberton in a feature titled, “These People are Changing Everything”. The idea behind the feature was simple: showcase key personalities in the mountain bike sphere who were pushing boundaries and defying convention. The rising stars of mountain biking, if you like. In that article Owen stood shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Manon Carpenter, Sam Needham and Katy Winton. Back then, the straight-talking Englishman was a frame engineer at Norco, Owen pioneering size-specific geometry while establishing a new life for himself in British Columbia, Canada. Today, Owen is the owner, founder and head engineer at the Forbidden Bike Co. He’s still based in Canada but in addition to designing high-pivot idler bikes with size-specific chainstay lengths,…

£10,999 • 29in • scott-sports.com THE RIDER BEN SMITH Position Art editor Mostly rides Forest of Dean Height 5ft 9in Weight 76kg THE BIKE ■ Scott’s range-topping carbon trail bike with 150mm travel, paired with 160mm-travel Fox 36 Factory fork and no TwinLoc ■ Fox Float X Nude shock is hidden in the frame for low centre of gravity and ultra-clean lines ■ 29in Syncros carbon wheels and chunky 2.6in Maxxis tyres ■ High-end spec includes SRAM X01 AXS shifting and Syncros Hixon one-piece bar and stem If I had a pound for every time someone asked if the Genius LT 900 Tuned was an e-bike I’d be rich! OK, not rich enough to cover the £11k asking price for this flagship bike, but you get the gist. It’s not, of…

The best mountain bike kit for warmer weather has to do more than simply look the business. Summer shorts and jerseys need to keep you cool and comfortable when the temperature rises, and to achieve this and ensure maximum breathability, ventilation and rapid moisture wicking, they turn to high-performance technical fabrics and innovative features. The right choice of summer kit will depend on your nearby trails and local climate, whether or not you wear kneepads, as well as your preference when it comes to styling and design. In warmer weather, comfort and ventilation is key, and while fit can be quite personal, the number one priority is that your kit shouldn’t restrict your movement on the bike, run too hot or get saturated with sweat. Technical fabrics and weaves are…

While the majority of bikes on the market are 29ers, brands are increasingly offering mullet configurations as an alternative. And while the early mixed-wheel models were little more than frankenbike mash-ups, the bikes you can buy now are usually bespoke variants without compromises in geometry. But why would you choose one? What are the pros and cons? And can you feel the differences on the trail? Armed with two versions of Intense’s latest enduro bike, the Tracer, we set out to find some answers. THE THEORY Some of the oft-repeated generalisations about mullet bikes are that they are more agile, playful, and indeed more fun, than full 29ers. Hand in hand with that is the assertion that mullet bikes change direction more easily, and that they take less effort to…

£12,000 • 29in • saddleback.co.uk I find it ironic that my news feed is constantly presenting me with horror stories about the potential dangers of AI. Yet, the feed itself is driven by AI. Maybe it’s trying to tell me that my days as bike test editor at mbr are numbered, and soon all bike reviews will be compiled by ChatGPT. Too late… I think some already are. But what’s this got to do with the Pivot Cycles Shuttle LT 29 Team XTR? Well, it’s blatantly obvious that the model name has been configured to satisfy a search engine, rather than provoking the desired emotional response in a living, breathing, human being. On the plus side, it does give you a pretty good snapshot of the bike rather than a…

£8,200 • 29in • saddleback.co.uk THE RIDER JAMES BRACEY Position Freelance writer Mostly rides South Wales Height 6ft 1in Weight 75kg THE BIKE ■ 29er enduro race bike with 165mm rear travel married to a 170mm-travel fork ■ Four frame sizes, all with proportional chainstay lengths ■ Flip-chip and an angleset-friendly 1.5in head tube offer plenty of adjustability ■ Ready-to-race Pro spec with Fox Factory suspension, DT Swiss wheels and Maxxis EXO+ Assegai tyres With desert-like conditions leaving the trails here in South Wales resembling something more akin to California, I’ve been getting in as many hours on the Pivot as possible. And even with my current XC race commitments I’m still managing to swing a leg over the Firebird and get my pulse racing from pure adrenaline, rather than simply ramping…

TESTED THIS MONTH It’s to the Germans’ great credit that you can still get a first-class bike for £3,000 For more than a decade now, Canyon and YT have been locked in a tussle to decide who can supply the world with the best direct-sales bikes. These two internet sensations were responsible for shaking up the industry in the teens, showing the big players how to spec great parts on a bike and still keep the price rock-bottom. Offering us the proverbial baked confectionary and the right to ingest it too. The Canyon Torque Mullet AL 6 and YT Capra Core 2 GX continue that great tradition, and are even more important today, we’d argue. While top-end bikes costing five figures are not uncommon (£20,000 one day soon?), most of…

It’s hard to believe but the Capra is nearly a decade old, having launched in 2014 with a carbon frame, killer parts list, 27.5in wheels (modern indeed) and a price tag literally half that of the competition. And while it’s true this Mk3 version isn’t the absolute giveaway the Capra once was, thanks to stiff competition from the other direct-sales brands, it’s still unbelievable value. In fact, that gave us something of a problem because the Core 2 GX mullet version was on sale during the test for £2,799, and if YT could have guaranteed it would stay there, we would have had to bump it up a mark on price alone. It’s now back up to full price, so let’s get back on track. YT introduced the third iteration…

There were signs last year that a new era in downhill was just over the horizon, but few would have predicted that two out of the first three World Cup DH races would have been won by 18-year-olds, fresh out of the junior ranks. First Jordan Williams delivered a clinical run in Lenzerheide to win the opening round. Then Jackson Goldstone narrowly missed victory in Leogang with a small mistake in sight of the finish. But with a maturity well beyond his years, the Lilliputian Canadian skimmed and skipped his way down the brutal Val di Sol track to take round three ahead of legends such as Loic Bruni and Loris Vergier. Could we be witnessing the changing of the guard? Karolina Krasinka / Red Bull Content Pool It’s almost…

MOST WANTED BOSCH PERFORMANCE LINE SX MOTOR It had to happen eventually – Bosch has finally entered the ‘lightweight’ world with the new Performance Line SX system. The new motor looks familiar to us, like a shrunken Performance CX unit with a magnesium casing and two-bolt mount. Weight is a reasonable 2kg – not the lightest on the market, but still competitive with the 1.95kg Fazua and Specialized SL 1.2. It’s the output where it really shines though, pumping out an impressive 600W of peak power, putting it on par with most full-fat options and way ahead of its lightweight rivals. At 55Nm, peak torque is more in line with expectations, meaning it won’t be able to crawl up near-vertical pitches like a full-fat. Supplying power to the SX is…

£549.99 (frame only) • 29in • ragleybikes.com For 2023, Ragley has made some minor modifications to the Big Wig platform. It’s still a hard-hitting 29er trail bike with a robust 4130 steel frame, but the angles and fit have been tweaked to eke out those final few percentage points of performance. Currently the new format is only available as a frame only, as Ragley still has 2022 versions of the complete Big Wig to shift before the new frame geometry is rolled out across the range. As such, our Big Wig Race test bike was a mix of old and new: the build kit is similar to the 2022 build for £2,499.99, the frame is brand new and available for £549.99. Hopefully Ragley can hold complete build prices where they…

SEAN’S SONDER SIGNAL ST GX MONTH 16: Sean puts the Signal ST in his top three, but there’s still room for improvement £2,899 • 29in • alpkit.com THE RIDER SEAN WHITE Position Freelance writer/tester Mostly rides Forest of Dean, Mid Wales Height 6ft 2in Weight 87kg THE BIKE ■ Handmade 4130 steel frame with size-specific chainstays and up-to-date trail geometry ■ Cane Creek Helm air fork upgrade comes with 130mm travel – the sweet spot for a 29er trail hardtail? ■ Full SRAM GX Eagle drivetrain with a super-wide 10-52t cassette ■ Hope Fortus wheelset, an upgrade over Sonder’s house-brand hoops and a solid choice for 12 months of heavy use Over the last two years I’ve counted 12 hardtails that I’ve either reviewed or put through the wringer as…

RESERVE 30 HD WHEELSET £1,695 SPECIFICATION Weight: 1,872g (Front: 834g, Rear: 938g) • Six bolt or CenterLock, 27.5in or 29in • Rim width: 30mm (internal) • Contact: pbp-uk.bike There are loads of fancy carbon wheelsets on the market, some are lightweight, some are comfortable and some are just bombproof. Where does Reserve’s 30 HD sit in the venn diagram of wheel choice? Reserve says the 30 HD is designed for trail/all-mountain use, which is a big clue as to what sort of wheelset we’re looking at. It features a 30mm (internal) width rim that comes fitted with tubeless tape and the brand’s innovative Fillmore valves I tested a while back. Hubs are made by US firm Industry Nine, and there are a couple of disc/cassette mounting options – six-bolt or…

If you’ve been flicking through the pages of mbr for a few years you’ll remember the Torque as a 27.5in bike park machine with bottomless, sensitive, syrupy suspension. We couldn’t shut up about it, it won bike tests and even our Editor’s Choice award. The latest-gen bike builds on the small wheels and comes in pretty much any variation you want: 27.5in, 29er, mullet, full carbon frame, alloy, coil shock, air-sprung… e-bike even. Canyon also makes two other bikes you could race enduro on, the Spectral and the Strive, and that puts it in a different league to YT in terms of its product range and potentially its buying power for components. Whether that makes it a better bike remains to be seen. The Torque Mullet AL 6 is undeniably…