Mountain Bike Trail Bikes Reviews
Santa Cruz Bicycles Tallboy CC X01
Santa Cruz is probably best known for its iconic Syndicate Team and V-10 downhill machine. Still, their offering of high end XC, enduro and all mountain bikes can compete with the biggest brands in the industry. We took the Hightower for a spin during the Backside Bikes test day in Verbier, Switzerland. With such a short time on the bike,…
BMC Switzerland Fourstroke LT 01
BMC’s Fourstroke has been on the market for a few seasons now. With their LT version, they provide a fully with a little more travel and oomph compared to the regular Fourstroke. The 120mm travel front and rear, and integrated dropper post gives you that extra boost on the descents. About the brand Swiss bike brand BMC radiates that Swiss…
Merida Bikes NinetySix RC XT
Out of the box I’m an all rounder, I love Enduro type riding but I don’t live in an area rich in big hills or abound with technical trails. I love big days out and short blasts equally, bikepacking is also a great joy to me when I just need to get away for a bit. Challenging myself to make…
Kona Bikes Process 134 DL 29
There are very few bikes I wish I had bought, but the Process 111 from about 4 years ago has to be one of them. A bike way ahead of its time, it combined short travel with big bike numbers to create a unique and amazing ride. The 111 was forgotten about and Kona continued with the long travel Process…
Rocky Mountain Bicycles Altitude Carbon 70
The last few years has been a good journey for Rocky Mountain Bikes, and with the Altitude undergoing a progressive facelift their ‘aggressive trail’ bike has been well received around the globe. With the Slayer filling the big, hard-hitting enduro category, the Altitude is free to concentrate on being a long travel trail bike, or shorter travel enduro machine. It…
Merida Bikes One-Twenty 6000
Continuing Merida's overhaul of their full suspension range, the 120 is the latest model to be brought up to speed. Sharing the style and layout of the bigger 160 and 140 models, the 120 aims to be everything the modern trail rider wants from a bike. Merida claim this new bike is the best balance of 'trail oriented riding on…
Cannondale Bicycles Habit 2
Cannondale has undergone somewhat of a transformation of late. New riders, new style and new bikes, most notably the acquisition of Rat Boy and the latest incarnation of the Habit. Usually renowned for one-sided forks and quirky technology, they clearly have moved on from old habits in more ways than one. No Lefty, no switches and no special shock, this…
Marin Bikes Rift Zone Carbon 2
The Rift Zone in its modern form has been a blinding success for Marin, coming right into the heart of the mountain bike market with an affordable trail bike that is both capable and fun to ride. Not setting out to be a race bike of any genre, the bike is simply for riding, and certainly for having fun. Roll…
Pivot Cycles Trail 429
Pivot has wasted very little time in overhauling their range, delivering new versions and brand new models at what seems like an alarming rate. Switchblade, Firebird, Mach 5.5, Mach 6, all of these feel like they were released only yesterday. The style, engineering and even elements of geometry have been shared across the range to produce a coherent collection of…
Marin Bikes B17 1
For those of a certain age, the name ‘Marin B17’ will invoke fond memories of early full suspension mountain bike design, happy hardcore on the radio and probably more than a little luminous lycra. Halcyon days indeed! The original B17 was one of the first bikes designed for throwing about and having fun on; making use of a more progressive…
Rose Bikes Pikes Peak 2 AM
Since the beginning of the 20th-century, German company, Rose has grown through family generations from a tiny bike shop into a huge direct sales outfit, which employs nearly 350 people. Their latest to their bike range is the Pikes Peak which offers two different 27.5 bikes based on the same versatile lightweight (2380g) carbon frame. Aimed at the ‘enduro’ end…
Vitus Escarpe VR 29
For 2018 the Vitus range gets an overhaul, with all the main bikes getting some updates. If the Sommet is the full enduro race machine, then the Escarpe is better described as a trail bike, but as I found out testing the previous version, it could easily play enduro if required. For this year the geometry gets a tweak, wheels…
CUBE Bikes Stereo 140 HPC SL
When Cube rolled out their 2018 range last year it featured a mix of both old favourites and revamped models. The Stereo range didn't get a huge overhaul other than some tidy batteries on the electric range, and in the standard bikes, the 120 and 160 remained unchanged. It was the 140 that had seen the full makeover and was…
Marin Bikes Rift Zone 3
In recent years Marin have seriously stepped up their game. The appointment of Matt Cipes as their MTB Product Manager in 2015 putting them on a mission to bring their range back to the top level, where they belong. With a swathe of new bikes over the past 2 years, the output has been excellent, with well-received bikes across the…
Rose Bikes Root Miller 3
Rose Bikes may not be the first name that trips off the tongue when you ask anyone about big bike brands, nor are they even that well known when talking about the convenient and expanding world of mail order bikes. However, do your research, and you’ll find a company steeped in history and offering a banquet of bike build options…
Specialized Bicycles Stumpjumper FSR Comp 29
Specialized’s Stumpjumper has been around longer than most of us have been in long trousers, first hitting the market in 1981 in steel hardtail guise and since then it has gone on to become the go-to, do-everything, jack-of-all-trades trail bike of the Specialized range, reinventing itself year on year to stay with - and often just ahead of - the…
Marin Bikes Hawk Hill
Change is afoot at Marin, the long established brand with more MTB heritage than most is returning to form in a gradual and purposeful way. Those who have a keen eye for the detail may notice some subtle changes in the 2017 range, but they won't be found at the top end, rather it's happening where most riding occurs, in…
Giant Bicycles Trance 1
Giant's Trance has been around for a long while now in many different guises but has essentially stayed true to its original design as a versatile trail bike. It has had big wheels and small but is still focused around a mid-travel machine capable of riding all day, taking in both the ups and downs in equal measure. What we…
CUBE Bikes Stereo 140 HPA SL 27.5
The Stereo range is broad and is a name applied to lots of bikes in the Cube range. They all feature the same suspension platform but come in 4 different travel sizes, 120mm, 140mm, 150mm and 160mm. They are available in aluminium or carbon (in some models), 27.5 or 29er and the 150mm version is now with Plus size tyres.…
Rose Bikes Granite Chief
For 2017 Rose have updated two of their classic trail bikes, the Root Miller 29er and the Granite Chief in smaller 650b wheels. The geometry has been modernised and brought up to date to do battle in the fiercely competitive and difficult-to-define Trail category. The Granite Chief is based around a 150mm Horst link frame and matched up front with…
Orange Mountain Bikes Four RS
With so many new bikes and revised versions of the iconic single pivot machine coming out of Halifax, it's easy to forget that the Orange Four is still a very new bike. Having just dropped the Stage 5 and Stage 6 only recently, the focus seems to be clearly on the big wheelers, yet this short travel 650b trail bike…
Canyon Bicycles Neuron AL 9.9
German direct sellers Canyon have a solid range of capable bikes; we tested their Spectral last year and were very impressed, but what of the rest of the collection? The Neuron fits into the line up below the Spectral (in terms of travel) and the even more aggressive Strive, but above the XC orientated Lux. These four full suspension bikes…
Merida Bikes ONE FORTY 800
The One-Forty range is Merida’s contender for the (you guessed it) 140mm travel 27.5” All Mountain sector, with the top of the line 800 sporting a pair of 150mm RockShox Revelations up front, which gives some indication as to the persona of this solid looking bike. Revelations now share the same chassis at Pikes with 35mm stanchions and are much…
Pivot Cycles Mach 5.5
Pivot appear to be on a non-stop bike producing mission. The last year has seen new models and revisions across the range including the well-received Switchblade and Firebird. As I write this they have done it again with the launch of their e-bike; the Shuttle, at Eurobike adding yet another bike to the range. The Mach 5.5 dropped into the…
Kona Bikes Process 111
Kona have been on a winning streak with the Process family since they hit the market. A set of three bikes all looking to do something similar, but with very different style. They all share some forward thinking geometry in the form of long front centres and reach, coupled with slack angles and long wheelbases. These bikes are designed to…
Vitus Escarpe 29 Pro
The Vitus range has seen a bit of a revamp over the last 18 months right down to a redesigned suspension platform. Vitus say they were aiming for a perfect balance of performance and aesthetics as they tried to create their ultimate bikes based around 'simplicity, integration and modernity'. The range now includes the 155mm Sommet, and the 135mm Escarpe…
Commencal Supreme DH V4
The standout feature of the new Commencal Supreme DH V4 is the obvious deviation from the established norm in suspension design. There’s method in their madness, though, which has created one of the most exciting and fun downhill bikes in recent years. The foundation to their idea is simple: short bikes are fun and great to ride on technical terrain,…
Pivot Cycles Mach 429 Trail
Straight out of the box the Pivot Mach 429 Trail screamed ‘ride me!’ Big organic carbon tubes that hint at a strength in depth and a bang up-to-date wish list of geometry numbers and frame features had me salivating. The Mach 429 Trail is aimed at the rider looking for a capable and fast trail bike with the added bonus…
Merida Bikes One Twenty 8000
The Merida 120 sits in that middle ground of bikes that have become collectively known as “trail”, which covers seemingly everything from around 110mm-150mm of travel in a wide variety of combinations and indeed wheel sizes. Being neither cross-country nor enduro machines, they are realistically intended to do the sort of riding most people do, most of the time. Like…
NS Bikes Snabb T1
NS is a well-known name in the bike industry, but it is more often associated with the DH and dirt jump end of the market. Their bikes have always had a unique, built for purpose look to them like they really mean business. The NS Snabb fits right into that bracket, but at the trail bike end of the range.…
KTM Bike Industries LYCAN 272 22s/33s Deore XT
KTM have been making production bicycles since 1964, and they have a deep heritage in the industry. Mountain bikes entered their stable when the sport was started, and they made their first aluminium MTB frame in 1994. They had a lot of success on the XC race circuit in the early days and by 2005 they were making carbon machines…
CUBE Bikes Sting WLS 140
First off, and for some most importantly, the Cube Sting WLS 140 looks great. In its vibrant Coral colourway, teamed with matching decals on the bars, saddle and forks, it looks slick. While away this summer, on more than one occasion, to friends' disdain, people looked straight passed an array of niche and top end bikes and the Sting became…
Forme Bikes Lathkill
Forme are based in the centre of the UK within touching distance of the Peak District National Park: an area renowned for steep hills, quiet dales and stark open moorland. The Lathkill, named after a particularly beautiful and declivitous Peak District valley, is Forme’s first offering in the full-suspension market, and represents the company’s most advanced and aggressive bike to…
Pyga Industries Oneten29
South African brand Pyga may not be overly familiar, depending greatly on which part of the world you call home. For me, this is my first time on a Pyga, and for this inaugural ride, we have the 110, the descriptive if unimaginative name for their 110mm travel full suspension machine. These bikes are the result of two guys, Patrick…
Ghost Bikes Kato FS 3
The Kato is Ghost's entry-level price offering for the full suspension trail market. It comes in multiple builds and this is The Kato 3, yours for £1259.99. With a suspension design inherited from its bigger brother the AMR, it features 120mm travel out back paired with a 130mm fork courtesy of RST, a manufacturer I haven't seen much from in…
Trek Bikes Lush Carbon 27.5
The Lush Carbon is the crème de la crème of Trek’s women’s range. The Lush series has no less than four models, each with a slightly different build package and price tag, yet the overall Women’s Specific Design, attention to detail and technology carries throughout the range. You can tell the minute you take the Lush Carbon out of the…