Mountain Bike Rider - August 2023

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F E AT U R E 52 mbr AUGUST 2023 What follows is not quite a manifesto, but I hope it will spark a few ideas and even help set a few plans in motion for a bright, twowheeled future. KEEPING EVERYONE TOGETHER We call family rides ‘sandwich’ rides, because they involve a grown up lugging a huge backpack full of lunch, snacks, coats and discarded layers. Given our children’s age gaps, to ride together has generally involved some use of kit. The Follow-Me-Tandem (followmetandem.co.uk) is brilliant for towing for a bit then having some help on longer routes. And we’ve enjoyed the Kids Ride Shotgun seat (kidsrideshotgun.co.uk) for a razz around local trails. I’m pretty sure our third child’s first word was ‘faster’. We also have a basic kids’ bungee Towwee to whip out of a back pocket on big climbs to save the Big One’s legs. Although she’s faster than me on most hills, and rides on 26in wheels now, the tow is to protect her energy stores for a big day out. She has eventually grasped the concept of letting me take the strain rather than busting a gut to half-wheel me. (I have no idea where these instincts come from). These tools mean we have managed to normalise weekend rides, introduce the thrill of flowing singletrack and allow us to ride together. The kit is pricey, but often available on the second-hand market, and even rentable to try out in some places. WORKING ON SKILLS I have been inspired as a parent and kids’ club leader by mountain bike clubs like TrailCoach in Scotland. I recently stood on a windy, damp hillside watching a stream of tiny kids with steely faces stamp down hard on their pedals and tackle a rooty descent I had just ridden. I’d class it as Fun But Scary. They were loving the challenge. ENCOURAGING PROGRESSION Riding blue trails can start on a balance bike, and in fact can be more fun than little ones trying to navigate pedals, even after they’ve mastered pedalling. Throw a few bumps into the mix for a small child trying to reach and pull brake levers and things can rapidly get spicy. But as soon as children get the feel for pedalling and gain the confidence to move around a bit on the bike, it’s amazing what they can achieve. Supporting children to accrue the skills and confidence necessary for trail shredding is a key ingredient on the route to Fun Times. There are no medals for winning the ‘my child can pedal at two’ competition. They pedal when they’re ready. And even then, riding on trails regularly might simply not be an option, and not everyone has a pump track nearby. For tiny ones, keeping rides regular is the magic SOME COACHES OFFER HOLIDAY CLUBS, PARTIES AND GIRLS- ONLY SESSIONS There’s something about mtb that brings out the cheeky chapess A family ride in the country is easy to divert off the beaten track A seat in the cockpit is still a thrill even for frequent flyers

AUGUST 2023 mbr 53 For small humans, having a bike that isn’t too heavy, and has bolts and spikey bits neatly and safely tucked away, really can change the whole experience of mountain biking. It used to be that bikes for tiny shredders would be limited to Islabikes or Frog, but the market has exploded. If money is no object then think about the Early Rider Hellion, but other brands offering serious rides for little ones include Cannondale, Nukeproof, Trek, Orbea, Vitus, Whyte, Squish and some specialised brands like VPACE. Some parents fork out for full-suspension beauties for their little ones, but the jury’s out whether the extra weight really makes it worthwhile. There is a very active secondhand market for children’s bikes, especially for hardtails with large-volume tyres that are perfect for most children. TOP KIDS MOUNTAIN BIKES Q Early Rider Seeker or Hellion: eyewateringly pricey but beautiful bikes (earlyrider.com) Q Orbea MX: Great value range of hardtail mountain bikes (orbea.com) Q Islabikes mountain bikes: pricey but lightweight (islabikes.co.uk) Q Whyte trail bikes: big-volume tyres make all the difference (whytebikes.com) Q Nukeproof Cub Scout: hardtail range: good value rides (nukeproof.com) Investing in the right gear It’s not just bikes, though. Although many children are happy shredding in a tracksuit, some are motivated by looking more like their heroes (that’s you, that is). And it’s not just dress-up. Children have opportunities to shred all day at places with an uplift like BikePark Wales. As rides get longer, trails get gnarlier and interest and engagement grows, you’re likely to wonder how a few choice investments can maximise their enjoyment and safety. It all costs, though. The Little Rippers Recycled Facebook group is a great source of second-hand Five Tens, protective baggies, pads and waterproofs, which get sold on as kids grow. There are also some specialist local bike shops like OnePlanet Adventure and PedalaBikeAway that have a reasonable selection of kit for small humans, like back protectors and helmets (which should always be bought new). TOP KITFOR KIDS Q Bell helmets make well priced, light weight and brilliantly safe kids helmets. Check out the Sidetrack for a belter of a lid that comes in multiple colours. Q Endura kids mtb clothing is good value and lasts well, but Decathlon equally offers good quality wicking gear at a decent price. Q For shoes, the Five Ten VCS Freeriders are well worth the cash, and they come up second-hand quite often. Q Getting kneepads small enough can be a challenge. The 7iDP Transition pads are good and comfy for smaller kids, and don’t cost crazy money. Q Tough waterproof clothing that is actually waterproof is hard to come by for children. Although not mtb-specific, you can’t beat Muddy Puddles or Spotty Otter for proper outdoor gear. The usual Fox, Endura or Nukeproof gear comes in kids sizes too. ingredient, even if that involves a pavement and a grand tour of Tesco. Parents with the most confident little shredders report them riding everywhere: library, nursery, school, veg shop. Then when time, little legs, and wheel sizes align, the trails will be waiting. Somewhere along the line, I discovered mountain biking skills training was a Really Good Thing. Every time I sign up for a day’s coaching, my own enjoyment and progression leaps. Unsurprisingly, the same applies to kids. There are plenty of skilled coaches out there who have experience getting the best out of children at any level, whether it’s nailing a drop, or just figuring out the magic that happens when heels go down and your chin comes up. Some mountain bike coaches – like Pedal Progression – offer holiday clubs, parties and girls-only sessions. It’s well worth the investment to get little ones a step closer to the regular shred. Competition hots up in the young shredders cup Easy Rider Hellion 16: a kids’ dream machine

F E AT U R E 54 mbr AUGUST 2023 FORM A TRIBE When the Smallest One was a baby, I started a children’s Go Ride mountain bike club with a friend. We couldn’t believe there was no organised, regular ride for children on our local trails. Our club, Bristol Shredders, has regular rides that do a good job of normalising mountain biking for kids and parents alongside the usual swimming lessons and Saturday morning footie. A guided ride around the local trails, a shared triumph or two, and a well-earned hot chocolate all brings mountain biking within reach. We have children in the club whose parents can’t even ride a bike. So if there’s a local club, join it. If you can volunteer, sign up. Groups for kids to ride together do exist up and down the country, but there aren’t as many as there should be. Take a look at the Little Rippers Facebook group, where regular rides are organised at different bike parks like 417 and Dare Valley Gravity Bike Park, or check the British Cycling website (britishcycling.org.uk) for lists of Go Ride clubs. If there’s nothing near you, why not start one up? British Cycling are keen to support groups and clubs, especially where there is a remit to encourage underrepresented groups into mountain biking. GIRLS Girls and women are still hugely underrepresented in mountain biking and face unique barriers to participation, and to feeling really included in the sport. Girls and women from ethnic minority backgrounds are even less represented. And simply too many girls drop out of sport, often before they hit double figures. Research from the University of Bristol into ‘gender injustice in action sports’ has shown how difficult it is for women to feel included in mountain biking. This research emphasises that visibility is really important for making women and girls feel they belong in mountain biking, and to open up opportunities for inclusion, engagement and retention. For girls, it is deeply off-putting joining in with a sport dominated by boys. Asking my nine year-old about this, she told me “I’m downheartened (sic) when it’s all boys on a club ride. I really like it when another girl turns up to ride”. Our girls need to see people like them taking part. We need to make girls feel sure they belong. HOW TO SUPPORT GIRLS IN MTB Ensure bikes and kit fits. Try to set girls up for their own adventures. Find kit they enjoy wearing, that feels good and works well. Good sources are Decathlon for good-value outdoor clothing, or the Little Rippers Recycled Facebook group for pre-loved mountain bike specific gear. Role model women in mountain biking. Show girls photos of women in the sport and read them stories of girls and women shredding! A great place to start are Instagram stories from Rachel Atherton (@ rachybox), Tracy Moseley (@tracy_moseley), Tahnee Seagrave (@tahneeseagrave) and Evie Richards (@eviealicerichards). Role models don’t have to be elite racers, though. Mums are the best role models. Seek out friends to ride with for your girls, and invest in those friendships, on and off the bike. We all need a group of adventure buddies, no matter what age. Seek out girls-only rides, skills coaching, events, races – anything to help girls recognise they have a place in mountain biking. The kids club at the Forest of Dean, for example, runs monthly girls-only sessions for their Little Fodders kids club. One day we’ll stop talking about it, but for now our girls need special support. TO RACE OR NOTTO RACE Instagram is awash with tiny racers. Parents post videos of their little ones nailing incredible jumps and drops, asking for ‘follows’. On the one hand, competition can really bring out the best in us. Look at @pint_ size_cyclist Daisy Adams and her impressive race results, or at the other end of the scale, James Rothwell’s incredible endurance feats, like coming third in the male pairs at the Kielder Chiller 24-hour race with his dad, elite racer Rich Rothwell. Racing inspires some, but for others it is simply about finding some flow and enjoying an exploration with their family. Yet, should racing appeal, there are plenty of options out there. There are gravity races for all wheel sizes at the Scottish Enduro Series, all-ability mtb races at the Forest of Dean, cross-country races like the huge events hosted at Cannock Chase, and even kids’ gravel enduro races like the one at the Dukes Weekender. There are also adventure races like the Mini Burn in Margam Park, where mountain biking is interspersed with kayaking and orienteering for a bit of extra fun. Racing isn’t for everyone, although perhaps mountain biking could be if we just figure out the best ways to support our children to enjoy it. Purely for selfless reasons, of course. Nothing to do with planning a future of family weekends in the hills and holidays in the mountains. All in the name of parenting. WE ALL NEED A GROUP OF ADVENTURE BUDDIES In the club: Bristol Shredders hold their certificates with pride Building girl power is as easy as having fun with mum

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After profiling him a decade ago, we catch up with Owen Pemberton, founder of Forbidden Bike Co. and early proponent of size-specific geometry, to talk all things suspension design Words: Alan Muldoon Photos: Andy Lloyd, Roo Fowler F E AT U R E 56 mbr AUGUST 2023

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F E AT U R E 58 mbr AUGUST 2023 lmost 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, he also has a company to run. We caught up with Owen when he was back in the UK for the recent launch of the new Druid V2 to talk about all things bike design, suspension and get some insights into what he’s been doing for the last decade. In the interview that follows, Owen speaks candidly about his early days at Norco and his shift in thinking with regards to suspension design. He also opens up about his fears around high-pivot idler designs being the latest industry darling, and the risk that they could suffer the same fate as Plus-size tyres. Owen had a lot more to say on multiple topics but we didn’t have enough space to include everything we discussed here, including a deep dive into pedal kickback and the limitations of certain suspension configurations. So if you like this and want to read more, the unabridged version of our conversation with Owen is available at mbr.co.uk. NEW STARS REVISITED 10 years ago we made a number of bold predictions. With a dollop of insight and a bucketload of guesswork, we shone the mtb spotlight on eight trailblazing young guns that we predicted would shape the future of mountain biking. From visionary photographers and filmmakers to advocacy campaigners, innovative designers, and up-and-coming racers, these were the individuals we augered would really influence where, what, and how we would ride. Now, a decade later, we thought it would be a good idea to catch up with our class of 2013 and see how their lives and careers have progressed. And whether we are any better at spotting young talent than we are at predicting the lottery numbers. REVISITED Owen gives Muldoon the lowdown on the latest Forbidden innovations

AUGUST 2023 mbr 59 TODAY, OWEN IS THE OWNER, FOUNDER AND HEAD ENGINEER AT THE FORBIDDEN BIKE CO.

60 mbr AUGUST 2023 mbr OK, let’s get one thing straight right off the bat. Did you call your brand Forbidden Bike Co because you are making the bikes you were forbidden to design at Norco? Owen Pemberton: Honestly, I don’t think I’d have even pushed for a bike like the Druid at Norco. The move was more about designing the bikes I want to make. It’s in my nature. If I can’t find the thing that I like, then why not just make it? Also, I wanted to see if I could build a brand, but no one was going to hand me, an engineer, a job as a brand manager. So I created it for myself. But to answer the question: no, it is because our HQ in Cumberland, Vancouver island, is near one of our riding spots which is called the Forbidden Plateau. mbr How come you launched the 130mm-travel Druid first, especially given that high-pivot idler designs are more common on longer-travel bikes? OP: For the most part the Cumberland trail network is a lot like the riding in the UK, it’s not super-steep, so that’s why the Druid was developed first. If I ride the Dreadnought on our local trails, I’m bored because the bike is bored. It needs gradient and speed to come to life. We have that at Forbidden Plateau and Mt Washington, both of which are Dreadnought territory. mbr With the Dreadnought being the second bike to launch, how did things evolve from the Druid? OP: Mostly in sizing. I actually designed both bikes at the same time. We launched the Druid and the plan was always to follow with the Dreadnought soon after, but I had a company to run. That gave me time to tweak the Dreadnought though, so we went half a size longer than the original Druid, and the same changes have been carried over to the V2 Druid. I do feel a little bit bad though, as we won’t be catering to smaller riders quite a well as before. And much as I’d love to offer seven sizes for each bike, we can’t currently do that. mbr How important is it to have a 100% rearward axle path, and is there a travel limit to that with a single-pivot design? OP: The Dreadnought is 100% rearward and the Druid V2 is pretty close too, but yes there is a limit, As the travel increases the pivot would need to be at the seat tube junction with the F E AT U R E IF I CAN’T FIND THE THING THAT I LIKE, WHY NOT JUST MAKE IT?

AUGUST 2023 mbr 61 top tube to maintain that trait. If you look at previous designs of mine, like the Norco Aurum downhill bike, it was 100% rearward and as you push the pivot higher, the anti-rise starts to get too high, even for me. That said, I don’t ever want to ride a bike with low anti-rise again, because after many years riding standard four-bar bikes with low anti-rise, I don’t want a bike that pushes all of my weight onto the front wheel on anything steep, when braking. mbr One question that comes up a lot is: If the rearward axle path has to come forward on rebound, isn’t it just smashing into bumps that much harder? OP: When I hear that, I get what people are saying. But what they tend to miss is that the wheel moves with the impact and usually when it’s rebounding it’s not driving into the ground. Instead, it has usually left the ground. So that argument fails. mbr Do you think it’s also a misconception that the suspension is less effective under braking with higher anti-rise values? OP: It’s going to be more susceptible to packing down. So the shock is going to struggle more to recover under repeated hits, as the high anti-rise magnifies the effect. Especially if you are dragging the rear brake. So any bike with a significant amount of anti-rise will increase chassis stability by getting the rear suspension to sit down, which negates the effects of fork dive, and rewards good braking technique and punishes bad braking technique. If you’re dragging the rear brake, anti-rise is a hard thing to overcome. To me, it’s not a negative, though. mbr What, if anything, have you changed your mind about with regards to suspension design in recent years? OP: I used to be totally of the school of thought that you need a nice straight progressive rate, start to finish, for consistency. But as we push bikes harder, if I used a constant rate of progression that feels good at bottom-out, it would be challenging in the mid-stroke, especially on faster chunky hits, as it wouldn’t allow the bike to absorb high-speed impacts as the shock isn’t able to move fast enough. By using a variable rate design, that’s not erratic, I can get closer to the characteristics that I want at each stage of the travel and for different-travel bikes. Which is why the Dreadnought is less progressive than the Druid in the mid-stroke, it’s a bike for charging hard on rougher terrain. mbr Shock tune is fundamental on any suspension design, but are there unique traits of a high-pivot idler design that you have to accommodate? OP: Anecdotally, I don’t have any evidence as to why that Explaining axle paths is second nature to Forbidden founder Owen The Druid V2 has grown in length but is still well suited UK trails The high-pivot idler design is the technical core at the heart of all Forbidden’s bikes

F E AT U R E 62 mbr AUGUST 2023 should be the case. But I do find that I can run the rebound faster and athletes have said the same thing. So if you bounce on a Forbidden bike in the car park and you think it’s right, the rebound tends to feel a little too slow on the trail. But I’m not entirely sure why. mbr Is it because your bikes feel more planted, so having a faster rebound helps make them feel more poppy, even if that’s true of any bike? OP: Once you get one of our bikes set up properly, it rides like a bike with more travel than it really has. I suppose that’s quality over quantity, and I’ve never been a big fan of having more travel than is really necessary as it can make a bike really sluggish. With shorter-travel bikes like the Druid, the faster rebound is really important, as it helps the bike ride higher and recover faster from bigger hits. With so little travel you can’t really afford to have any packing down in the shock. mbr You’re a big proponent of proportional rear ends and building it into the front triangle was such an elegant engineering solution. Does the idler design make that harder to do? OP: No. Because with an idler design, the anti-squat can be kept constant across all sizes even when moving the pivots relative to the BB to give size-specific chainstays. Also, with an idler, the amount of anti-squat generated by the chain tension is determined by the position of the idler, and that’s in the same position on all sizes relative to the suspension pivots. There is still a change in anti-squat, but it’s down to the centre of gravity height of the rider changing, not the frame design. ANTI-SQUAT CAN BE KEPT CONSTANT ACROSS ALL SIZES When it comes to rapid disassembly, Owen’s no idler...

AUGUST 2023 mbr 63 Basically we end up with an optimised suspension package, while still allowing us to have a consistent weight bias on every size of bike. mbr Suspension set-up impacts weight distribution dramatically too, right? OP: Yes, you can correct it with the suspension. And one of the things we have been playing around with is setting the suspension up to push more weight onto the front, but then the suspension isn’t performing as well. Which is why the new DH bike has interchangeable dropouts to adjust the chainstay length. But we’re actually going in the opposite direction to most, i.e. longer. So on more moderate gradients that are fast, you can lengthen the rear end and weight the front wheel more easily. mbr You’re moving in a different direction with the geometry on your bikes too, so what brought that about? OP: From the geometry side of things, what I was seeing is this push where we’re getting more aggressive in the way bikes are being ridden, speeds are picking up on trail bikes too, so it’s all morphing more toward what riders have traditionally been doing on downhill bikes. Especially bigger-travel trail bikes. There was a drive to gain stability on bikes, but it was all in the front end. It is almost as if brands had a wheelbase number in mind from DH, but all on the front end. Head angles have been catching up too, because when bikes first started going really long they still had steep head angles and what you ended up with was a decent wheelbase, but your hands were too far forward, and the head angle was too steep. So the bikes weren’t balanced. mbr Sounds like you’re describing the early days of Forward Geometry? OP: Perhaps, but I just want to shoot myself when I read stuff from brands saying that the longer front end adds stability and the shorter rear end keeps manoeuvrability. I’m convinced that a lot of engineers would benefit from riding lots of different bikes, maybe even BMX. By taking a much simpler bike like a BMX you can understand what different changes can have in regards to handling. Like front-to-rear-end weight bias, how BB height affects it. All of these things can affect how manoeuvrable a bike is, not just how long the chainstay is. mbr Do you think idler designs favour flat pedal riders, and specifically, having a longer chainstay, because flat pedal riders have to drop their heels more to keep their feet on the pedals, which in turn rotates their body rearward? OP: I would say that a well-designed bike favours flat pedal riders. I’m pretty short, so in the grand scheme of things, I should want short chainstays on my bikes compared to average-height riders. But I’m after the same balance. I certainly don’t want a chainstay that’s longer than the reach and what you tend to get is a lot of really vocal tall people saying how bikes should be. But I’m at the other end of the scale, saying, hang on a minute. mbr You cut your engineering teeth designing classic four-bar designs, so how long has the process been to get to where you are now? OP: I’ve been designing bikes for almost 14 years. I learnt what four-bars can do, and that’s why for an aggressive riding bike, I’d never want to ride a regular four-bar again because I don’t want to ride a bike with such low anti-rise. That was a real eye-opener for me. At Norco, I didn’t really ride lots of different bikes, so one of the things when starting Forbidden was to make that a goal. And while I never set out to design a high-pivot bike, I just set out to design a good bike, one of the key things I really wanted to do was have a consistent weight distribution across the size range. The engineer in me was always frustrated when I first pitched Gravity Tune at The battle-hungry Dreadnought is the purest incarnation of the high-pivot ethos The Druid V2’s CAD file is a snapshot of Forbidden’s digital drawing board

F E AT U R E 64 mbr AUGUST 2023 Norco, because we had all the numbers figured out, then it was decided that riders wouldn’t accept chainstays that long on the larger sizes, so we had to reduce the jumps in chainstay length to 5mm to keep them shorter. And 5mm was just chosen as a random number, it wasn’t figured out. And I still see brands with five sizes of bike and only two or three rear-end lengths. And they are quite small jumps, so it annoys me when journalists say they have size-proportional chainstays, when they just have different rear-end lengths. If you have five sizes and two rear-end lengths there’s nothing proportional about that. Yes, I know things get dumbed down, as some of the readers won’t get the nuances, but it’s still frustrating. mbr So are you going to stick to your guns and build bikes with longer chainstays? OP: For the time being, we’re sticking to our guns. There are so many bikes out there for people that want a shorter chainstays and shitty suspension action because of chain influence, and a fully forward axle path. Those bikes already exist. I’ve ridden all of those bikes and I don’t like them so I designed a bike that I like. mbr The DH bike and Druid V2 are clearly not single-pivots, is that a direct result of the constraints of the single-pivot design driving anti-rise too high as travel increases? OP: Yes, and if you look at Commençal, it switched from a single-pivot to a six-bar… because with some suspension designs you can manipulate the anti-rise more than with others. I actually looked at doing this back when I was starting Forbidden, but I couldn’t figure out how to package it all. I knew single-pivots worked, and it’s a good way to make a frame as you have two carbon frame members with very good tolerance and alignment. But I’ve been working on the updated design for the downhill bike ever since the Dreadnought was completed. I’ve always known that to get more travel, anti-rise needs to be manipulated to stop it getting too high. And with some of the things we’ve learnt with the current bikes – even just little things like stones getting caught in the frame – we wanted to move away from having overlapping frame members, so the inverted four-bar is a good solution. mbr I think idler designs give a lot of brands a new story to tell, but does it worry you that so many manufacturers are jumping on the bandwagon? OP: Yes, some brands are really afraid of missing out on any new trend. And it’s because they don’t really develop things, as they aren’t actively trying to make better bikes. They are just thinking, “we need to do that too”. I believe that’s a bad way to do business, as you’re always playing catch-up. Instead, you should be hiring the kind of people that understand the type of products you’re trying to make, understand riders’ needs, then develop the products that meet those needs. Not every brand is guilty of following trends, but there are quite a few. Am I worried that high-pivot designs and idler pulleys will get lumped into that trendy category? Sure, and there’s always a chance that it could end up like Plus tyres, just because too many brands didn’t understand them, and didn’t take the time to do a good job, instead they were just throwing ideas at the wall to see if any would stick. The Dreadnought may be unsinkable but it still floats on a sea of zeros and ones “The suspension is killing us!” When Owen speaks, audience attention is guaranteed The crucible of competition is the place where theory and practice come together

T E C H N I Q U E 66 mbr AUGUST 2023 Elite competitor Innes Graham shares the secrets of maintaining your energy levels and dialling in race-ready focus Words: Andy Barlow Photos: Andy McCandlish R A C E - R E A D Y S K ILL S P A R T 3

AUGUST 2023 mbr 67 T H E C O A C H A N D Y B A R L OW Before joining Dirt School Andy liked to win things – races like the Scottish XC Champs and the Scottish Downhill Champs. Since 2009, though, he’s coached some of the world’s best riders with Dirt School and helped bring on the BASE MTB course at Borders College in the Tweed Valley. But what Andy really likes to do is communicate those pro techniques to everyday riders. omething strange happens to mountain bikers as soon as they hear someone say, “3, 2, 1, GO!” Any skill or grace that would normally allow you to flow down trails suddenly disappears. Frantic urgency kicks in, and you start making mistakes and rushing things. If this is the case with us, then how do the top riders make it look so easy? And how do they have the time to react to unfamiliar tracks so quickly? This issue we’ll take a look inside the mind of a seasoned racer. We’ll streamline all of that hysterical urgency into simple processes, giving you a solid game plan to take to any competition or event this year. Focus on the things that are under your control and you’ll find the things that are out of your control won’t matter that much any more. Innes knows what it takes to get on the podium at the highest level WHO IS INNES GRAHAM? Innes is both a Dirt School performance coach and EDR racer. As well as competing at the top level internationally, Innes also helps deliver Dirt School’s BASE Mountain Biking course, so he’s well-placed to communicate the lessons he’s learned in the heat of battle. P R O C E S S V E R S U S O U T C OME Everyone wants a good result when they enter an event, but the best way to make this happen is to separate the process from the outcome. In this case, the outcome is your overall position. Where you finish in relation to others will be entirely dictated by the processes that you manage to do, or not do, on the day. This works on a number of levels too. If you break a track down into pacing zones, areas where you need to lower your body position, safe places to brake, and lines that you want to take, you will have a solid game plan that keeps you heading in the right direction the whole weekend. If you make any mistakes along the way, instead of panicking and becoming more frantic, ultimately leading to more mistakes, you can snap right back to your game plan and settle into the flow of it again. It also works when it comes to reflecting on the event afterwards, because the whole success of your weekend isn’t hinged on your result. Instead you can look at which processes you managed to execute well, and which ones you fell short of, again giving you a solid game plan to improve on next time. Focus on executing the process neatly, and the outcome will take care C ON T R O L T H E C ON T R O LL A B L E S There are things that you can control, and things that you can’t. Recognise the difference between the two and focus on the former rather than wasting energy on the latter. Factors like the tracks you are racing, the weather, other competitors, even things like how much money you have to spend on your bike – these are all out of your control when it comes to racing an event. Stressing that you don’t have 170mm of travel, or that so-and-so is racing in your category, or that it’s been dry all week and it’s forecast to rain, are all completely out of your control. Examples of things that are under your control are when you go to bed, how you react to mistakes, where you pedal, what your body position is on the technical sections. Focus on aspects that are completely within your reach, and go out of your way to do something about them, and without you even realising it, those factors that are out of your control will evaporate. Separating the things that you can control from the things that you can’t will make it much easier to focus on stuff that you can influence

T E C H N I Q U E 68 mbr AUGUST 2023 P R E P A R E DNE S S Knowing the schedule and layout of an event is a huge help in letting you plan your weekend. Making your meals beforehand will take the stress out of standing in food queues with one eye on your watch, and getting your bike serviced the week before the event will take the doubt out of any reliability concerns. Even things like getting a good parking place will make a difference. INNES SAYS “Leading up to an event I try to take care of as many things as possible in advance. That means during the weekend I have less to stress about and can dedicate more time to the most important things, such as learning the trails by using headcam footage, recovering from the physicality of riding/practising and fuelling for the next day. When you’re trying to make good progress you’ll be burning through your energy levels faster than you’re used to on a recreational ride, so come prepared. Gels and dedicated energy bars are a great way of keeping your carbohydrate levels topped and helping to prolong your body’s own internal glycogen stores. Couple this with a good carb drink, with added electrolytes if it’s hot, and you’ll be able to maintain your energy levels for longer. This will enable you to concentrate better, pedal harder, and make fewer mistakes as the day goes on. INNES SAYS “Food is fuel. Failing to eat enough of the right things is like trying to drive a car with an empty tank. Practising a fueling strategy pre-race is something I find important, along with identifying what sort of fuel your body performs best on. Also, people forget that eating well in the days leading up to an event is equally important as during the event. Gels, bars and also some real food, like the classic peanut butter sandwich, are a safe bet for race day.” E A T B E F O R E Y O U ’ R E H UNG R Y / D R INK B E F O R E Y O U ’ R E T H I R S T Y WE A T H E R Yet another example of something that is completely out of your control. How you react to it, though, most definitely is. If the weather looks bad for the weekend then do you have time to fit a mudguard? Change your tyres? Put a different lens in your eye protection? Change your lines on the track? Focus on things that you can do something about and it will settle your mind, allowing you to feel satisfied and confident when everyone else is getting frustrated. O T H E R P E O P L E One of the worst things you can do at a race is get hung up on what other people are doing. Looking at a start list and seeing names that you recognise, can really get into your head. Even hearing about lines or gaps that certain riders are hitting can make you doubt your own choices. Have a plan and stick to it. INNES SAYS “This goes back to the point about controlling the controllables. Don’t waste your energy getting stressed about what others are doing. Focus on your own behaviours. Even if you find your thoughts lingering on distracting or negative things, one way to get back on track is by reminding yourself that your thoughts and feelings don’t win races, behaviours do. Try to go back to ticking the boxes of things in your control and you’ll be grand.” Planning ahead and testing your race set-up beforehand will allow you to iron out any kinks before you have the added stress of the event Food is fuel Don’t let wet weather get you down. Use it to inform what lines you’ll take, how you’ll set your bike up, and what you’ll wear. Then sit back, stay positive and watch everyone else lose their minds when it gets slippery

70 mbr AUGUST 2023 T E C H N I Q U E Going through the sequence or rhythm of a track can be a great way of practising it without even being there. Headcam footage is good to learn a track from, but even just visualising a trail before you drop in will remind you about all the grip points, braking zones, important turns and physical sections. INNES SAYS “Remembering a trail, or at least key sections, is equally important in downhill as it is in enduro. Unless you’re blessed with a photographic memory, remembering the entirety of multiple stages is impossible, but try identifying ‘landmarks’ before important sections that may require a specific gear selection or line choice. Watching back headcam footage, taking notes, drawing pictures of features and also taking pictures during a track walk, are all great ways of remembering trails.” V I S U A LI S A TI ON FL A S H LI G H T During a race run it sometimes helps to visualise your attention as the beam of a torch or flashlight. If you are going slowly, you’ll be shining that beam fairly close in front of you. If you are going faster, you’ll have to shine it further out down the trail ahead. If instead you start shining that light on a part of the trail that is now behind you, or even worse, at another person or yourself, then you’ve taken your attention away from the trail ahead. You have limited mental processing capacity. Keep focused on the things that are still in your control – namely the trail ahead of you – and you’ll be able to go through your game plan in a logical and composed way. R E C O V E R Y For any high-level athlete, in the run-up to a race, any activity will be carefully planned to maximise performance and not waste energy. Unfortunately those of us who work ‘normal’ jobs don’t have the luxury of putting our feet up and resting for the few days leading up to a race. However, anything you can do not to waste energy will give your body an opportunity to recover. This might include calming down your cycle commute to work the week before, saying no to the after-work ride with your mates or deliberately cutting out alcohol or sugary snacks for a few days beforehand. Eat well and try to sleep. Not only will there be a psychological advantage in knowing that you’re prepped and ready to go, you can wake up after a couple of consecutive days feeling refreshed. INNES SAYS “A few simple lifestyle changes can make a huge difference to your performance. A consistent bedtime that allows you to get a minimum of eight hours will be hugely beneficial along with eating a balanced diet using fresh ingredients that includes a good amount of carbohydrate and protein.” Going through a track in your head or watching footage that you recorded during practice will allow you to go fast by keeping your trail knowledge familiar Staying focused on the track that still lies ahead of you will block out any mistakes that are now behind you The more repeatable a skill or technique is for you, the more you can rely on it under pressure. Innes is sending a huge gap here that most riders would fall short of. Doing it in a race run is no problem when you’re confident you can do it 100% of the time

AUGUST 2023 mbr 71 R I S K V S R E WA R D When it comes to the challenge of racing technical trails there will always be choices on the track that you can make to save you time. Some of those choices carry a lot of risk though, and that level of risk will vary depending on your experience, ability, and what you’re comfortable with. Simply put, a line that works for someone else might not work for you. You’ll need to weigh up the risk involved and decide for yourself if it’s worth taking. INNES SAYS “Regardless of your level, there will always be sections of trails that make you more nervous than others. The way I decide whether or not to take gnarlier lines during a race is by going through a simple process: One, can I visualise myself doing this in my head? If yes then step two is to try the line in practice. If it’s successful, ask yourself: ‘how repeatable is that for me?’ If you feel confident enough to do the same line or jump time after time then it’s probably on. In other words the ‘roll the dice’ attitude is never a good thing when racing.” It’s often too easy to get bogged down in the stress of a race weekend. You want to give it your best shot, but it can often feel like things are conspiring against you. If you can, try and keep sight of the reason why you ride in the first place – to have fun! It’s helpful if you can recognise genuinely funny things as they happen. That way you can keep the spirits high and the vibe good. Be nice to the marshals, and chat to the folk around you. They’ll be feeling the same as you and might appreciate the honest conversation. INNES SAYS “Getting into the right mindset to race will be different for everyone. For me, being lighthearted and having a bit of a laugh with my immediate circle will settle some nerves and also distract me from the task ahead, which at times is a good thing! I also find that if I project confidence in the way I talk and carry myself, even if I don’t feel 100% confident, I can almost trick myself into that headspace. Remember though, confidence can be portrayed as arrogance and no one wants to be ‘that guy’ so be aware of that.” W H Y ? We all ride, and race, our bikes for different reasons. Perhaps it’s simply about hanging out with your mates for the weekend, or maybe it’s a good excuse to train or stay sober. Racing could be providing you with the chance to ride the best tracks in new locations. Or it could be a combination of all of these things and change at different times of the year depending on what else is going on in your life. Whatever your motivation, don’t be too hung up on the result. If you look to tidy up the process, then you’ll be focusing on the right things. P O S ITI V E E NE R G Y Remember, at the end of the day it’s about having fun and enjoying yourself, so don’t take it too seriously Innes is so comfortable in his ability to clear gaps that jumping over the stump to a patch of dirt on the outside doesn’t seem like that big a deal Andy, however, is playing it safe, deciding to keep his wheels on the ground. Why take the risk?

O ver the last two years I’ve counted 12 hardtails that I’ve either reviewed or put through the wringer as a longtermer. That’s a fair old number, and if I’m picking favourites, I’d place the Signal ST right up there in my top three. This steel hardtail is not perfect though, and when I run through that list of bikes in my head, many have notable design details and features that I feel would improve the Sonder. Take the third-generation Nukeproof Scout 290. It sports SRAM’s UDH (Universal Derailleur Hanger), that not only makes sourcing a replacement hanger simpler, but also allows the fitment of SRAM’s latest T-Type Transmission. Two wins in one right there. The Scout V3 also has a neatly integrated rubber chainstay protector and additional frame protection on the underside of the down tube – reducing noise and maintaining the paintwork. Then there’s the recently overhauled Santa Cruz Chameleon. It's the only bike of the dozen to use adjustable dropouts – allowing you to fine-tune the effective chainstay length and weight distribution of the bike. Sure, Sonder uses proportional chainstay lengths on the Signal ST to balance everything out, but while the 435mm back end on the size XL goes some way to creating a lively ride, I found the long 450mm chainstays on Whyte’s 629 placed me in a more balanced riding position. Yes, adjustable dropouts add weight, cost and complexity, but they could help riders find the sweet spot between playful and super-stable. There are some small details too. Like the Signal ST only having one set of bottle cage mounts, which keeps the seat tube free of fittings that may interfere with a longer-stroke dropper post. For most rides, one bottle suits me just fine, and like many of you, I only reach for a hydration pack for big days out, preferring a waist pack for sub two-hour sessions. The Merida Big Trail I reviewed sidesteps conventional thinking, with two bottle cage mounts on the down tube – one above the other. A hidden benefit is the bottle mounted higher up on the down tube remains clean in wet weather as it’s protected by the front mudguard. So, additional frame protection, adjustable dropouts, a SRAM UDH and a second, well-placed bottle mount would nudge the Signal ST even closer to the blueprint for my perfect hardtail. Oh, I haven’t even talked wheels… I’d really like to try it as a mullet/MX set-up, with a plump 2.8in Plus tyre on the back for extra traction and comfort. Most surprising of all is that with over 45 years of development, there’s room for hardtail innovation. Amazing. Countless hours on the trails make this the ultimate test of performance as well as reliability LONG TERMERS 72 mbr AUGUST 2023 SEAN’S SONDER SIGNAL ST GX £ 2 , 8 9 9 • 2 9 i n • a l p k it . c o m THE RIDER SEANWHITE Position Freelance writer/tester Mostly rides Forest of Dean, Mid Wales Height 6ft 2in Weight 87kg THE BIKE Q Handmade 4130 steel frame with size-specific chainstays and up-to-date trail geometry Q Cane Creek Helm airfork upgrade comes with 130mm travel – the sweet spot for a 29er trail hardtail? Q Full SRAM GX Eagle drivetrain with a super-wide 10-52t cassette Q Hope Fortus wheelset, an upgrade over Sonder’s housebrand hoops and a solid choice for12 months of heavy use MONTH 16: Sean puts the Signal ST in his top three, but there’s still room for improvement WHY IT’S HERE It blends classic steel tubing with modern geometry I'd reallyliketotryitasa mullet/MX set-up, with a 2.8in Plustyreon the back A second, higher bottle mount would improve the Signal ST

IN THE SHED AUGUST 2023 mbr 73 Scott Genius ST 900 Tuned £10,999 29in Pivot Firebird Pro £8,200 29in Sonder Signal ST GX £2,899 29in 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 32t170mm 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 Weight14.5kg (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 Seattube 485mm Top tube 670mm Reach 483mm Merida's Big Trail gets it right with its crud-dodging bottle cage placement Nukeproof's Scout is Eagle-compatible thanks to its Universal Derailleur Hanger Adjustable dropouts, like the Santa Cruz Chameleon's, would add colour to the Sonder's palette

I f 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 course, as there’s no battery hidden inside that meaty down tube, and that bulky chunk of carbon around the bottom bracket doesn’t shroud an electric motor, instead the Fox Float X Nude Factory shock is nestling inside, lowslung and protected from the elements. Well thought out integration is the name of the game with Scott’s new Genius platform and while the shock being hidden inside the frame is the most obvious example, there are others that I have come to love. Like the first time I tried to remove the wheels to put the bike in my car. The rear axle has a lever that unwound it – easy peasy – but the front axle is a floating bolt-thru design, which is pinched tight in the fork dropout. With no tools in the car, I was about to run back into the office to grab a hex set from the mbrworkshop when I remembered the rear lever is removable. Hey presto, a 6mm hex for the axle and a T25 Torx key for the controls and pivots were revealed, allowing me to loosen the pinch bolt and remove the fork axle. A very neat solution spoiled somewhat by the length of the hex key – it’s too short to rotate through 360° without striking the fork leg, making it a bit of a start/stop process. Then there’s the tyre-plug kit stashed in the ends of the integrated Syncros bar/stem combo. Swapping the stock Syncros grips for squidgier Burgtec Bartender Pros has meant that I’ve had to stash the plugs in my riding pack, which is a shame, but it got me thinking about the one key integration feature that Scott has neglected to include – some sort of SWAT-style storage in the down tube. Even something as simple as the Integrated Tool Storage from Scott’s sister brand Bold would be welcome. But then Scott probably wouldn’t be able to hit that impressive 13.7kg build weight. It’s probably why my bike arrived with the non-standard Syncros Cache bottle cage fitted, that features an integrated multitool with chain breaker for even more integration. All I need now is to figure out where to stash my lunch. L O N G T E R M E R S 74 mbr AUGUST 2023 MONTH 3: Even though his new Genius is packed with integration and storage solutions, Ben can't find anywhere to stash his lunch THE RIDER BENSMITH Position Art editor Mostly rides Forest of Dean Height 5ft 9in Weight 76kg THE BIKE Q Scott’s rangetopping carbon trail bike with 150mm travel, paired with 160mm-travel Fox 36 Factory fork and no TwinLoc Q Fox Float X Nude shock is hidden in the frame forlow centre of gravity and ultra-clean lines Q 29in Syncros carbon wheels and chunky 2.6in Maxxis tyres Q High-end spec includes SRAM X01 AXS shifting and Syncros Hixon onepiece bar and stem BEN’S SCOTT GENIUS ST 900 TUNED £ 1 0,9 9 9 • 2 9 i n • s c o t t- s p o r t s . c o m WHY IT’S HERE Because it’s the first Genius without a TwinLoc remote "Hmm... room for a sarnie beside that hidden shock?" Rear axle conceals hex and Torx tools Syncros bars house a handy tyre-plug kit

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 MaxxTerra 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 Weight13.7kg (30.7lb) Contact: scottsports.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 Seattube 440mm Top tube 631mm Reach 485mm AUGUST 2023 mbr 75 JAMES’S PIVOT FIREBIRD PRO £ 8 , 2 0 0 • 2 9 i n • s a d d l e b a c k . c o .u k THE RIDER JAMESBRACEY Position Freelance writer Mostly rides South Wales Height 6ft1in Weight 75kg THE BIKE Q 29er enduro race bike with 165mm rear travel married to a 170mm-travel fork Q Fourframe sizes, all with proportional chainstay lengths Q Flip-chip and an angleset-friendly 1.5in head tube offer plenty of adjustability Q Ready-to-race Pro spec with Fox Factory suspension, DT Swiss wheels and Maxxis EXO+ Assegaityres 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 DrivetrainRace Face AeffectR32t chainset, ShimanoXTRM9100 r-mech andXT shifter, ShimanoXTM8100 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 Weight15.05kg (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 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 it up with max-intensity intervals and hill repeats. Sometimes it’s twice a week, then there’ll be a gap for two weeks where the Firebird never sees the light of day. Now, when you keep a high-performance product idle for too long, parts have a tendency to randomly seize, make noises or just feel off. Not the Firebird. Every time I roll it out of the shed I am half-expecting to spend several minutes fettling but this is never the case. Take the Wolftooth Resolve dropper post and Light Action lever for example. These work first time, every time. No bleeding, purging, battery charging or cursing involved. Riding in deep dust can create a grind paste, so to help preserve the drivetrain I’ve changed up my lubing routine. I remove the chain, degrease it, then dry it in the oven before applying a dry wax lube. It doesn’t last as long as normal lube but it prevents any dust and grit from taking hold, keeping things smooth and hopefully extending the life of my chain and cogs. So yeah, I have been faffing with the Firebird in the kitchen rather than the shed, but who’s keeping score? MONTH 10: James’s riding has been sporadic of late, but the performance of the Firebird has always been 100% consistent WHY IT’S HERE It’s a red-hot race bike Wolftooth Resolve dropper is a fit-andforget hit with James

T here 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 – sixbolt or CenterLock with either a SRAM XD driver or a Shimano MicroSpline. The rear hub features Industry Nine’s six-pawl freehub with 4° of engagement. The pick-up is ultra-quick and it literally purrs when you’re freewheeling. Reserve is only selling the front wheel with 15x110mm boost spacing, but the Industry Nine front hub is modular, so you can upgrade to a 20mm axle or RockShox’s oversized Torque caps should you wish. You can also choose either 29in and 27.5in diameters, although, when I checked, the PBP webshop isn’t currently allowing you to mix and match if you have a mullet bike. Now here’s the key info – the wheels are covered by a lifetime warranty, but Reserve also has a crash replacement policy in place, which means if you wreck them, it will sort out a replacement at a reduced cost. With its raised centre section to add extra meat around the spoke nipples, the rim is definitely burly. It also has a 4mm asymmetric offset, which means the spokes are shifted over to even out tension. Industry Nine uses oversized aluminium spokes in most of its wheels, but tying the 30 HD together are 28 double-butted stainless-steel spokes. They’re laced three-cross and the build quality is superb. When testing wheels, I always use Maxxis tyres as a benchmark because I’m familiar with how they set up tubeless and what they feel like on the trail. The Minion DHF and Aggressor both seated easily, but subsequently I had an issue with them leaking. All tubeless tyres leak air and need topping up to an extent, but I’ve had to do this before every ride in this instance. I’ve taken the tyres on and off a few times, inflated them to 60spi with a compressor, lubed the bead with soap, changed the sealant, but they still drop around 5-6psi overnight. Maybe I was just unlucky, as other Reserve wheels we have ridden have not had this problem. If you have a stereotypical idea of what a carbon wheelset is supposed to feel like, then you won’t be disappointed. The Reserve 30 YOUR TESTERS 76 mbr AUGUST 2023 JAMIE DARLOW FRONT SECTIONEDITOR Fifteen years on mbr testing gear, bikes and trails, and editing the Hotstuff pages: JD’s product knowledge is as broad as it gets. 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. 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. RESERVE 30 HD WHEELSET £ 1, 6 9 5 SPECIFICATION Weight:1,872g (Front: 834g, Rear: 938g) • Six bolt or CenterLock, 27.5in or 29in • Rim width: 30mm (internal) • Contact: pbp-uk.bike Freehub purr indicates a quality product The Reserve comes teed-up for tubeless fans Double-butted stainless steel spokes lace hub to rim HD is super-stiff, and this directly translates to an accuracy that you don’t get with an alloy wheelset. However, there’s less vertical compliance compared to carbon wheels like the Crankbrothers Synthesis E and SRAM’s Zipp Moto. I could feel more trail chatter through the bar, and this was something that was mentioned previously in the Zipp Moto review. Crankbrothers and Zipp induce compliance by using a different rim for the front wheel, but Reserve uses the same rim front and rear. I suppose that lifetime warranty and crash policy do have a cost – it results in a stronger and more durable wheel, but one that’s also not quite as comfortable. DANNY MILNER EDITOR Been hooked on mtbs since the late ’80s, and testing them for three decades. Dream ride? Lush Oregon singletrack.

mbr ratings explained The scores on the doors AUGUST 2023 mbr 77 1-4 5-6 Something’s wrong. It’s rare, but sometimes a product will have a design flaw or some other weakness that means we can’t recommend it. Steer clear. OK – one or two faults but it has potential. 7 Good – worth considering. 8 Very good – for the money, we’d buy it. 10 Simply the best – we couldn’t fault it. 9 Excellent – a slight mod or two and it might be perfect. If you want to put the icing on the cake of a Gucci bike build, a carbon wheelset is the most popular upgrade, and, while the Reserve 30 HD doesn’t have the ride feel of a few other topend carbon offerings, it’s a bombproof option with the warranty to back it up. Not quite a wheel for life, but pretty close. It also sounds expensive on the trail – that high-pitched whine from the Industry Nine freehub tells everyone within 50 yards that you’re riding a premium wheelset. Paul Burwell RAPHA MTB TRAIL HIP PACK £70 SPECIFICATION Weight: 355g • Colours: Olive Green, Black/Grey • Contact: rapha.cc When Rapha branched outinto mountain biking a couple of years ago, it was tempting to think a brand whose image revolved around stylised monochrome images of noble suffering on road bikes might not be entirely welcomed by muddy bikers in the woods. But as a secret roadie myself, I’d already seen the quality and thoughtfulness that goes into much of the brand’s kit. So I’m not surprised Rapha has already won over many mountain bikers. This hip pack is a prime example of the brand’s values, proving that prioritising styling and design doesn’t automatically have to mean any performance compromises. Because, aside from its tasteful looks, Rapha’s hip pack also boasts the tech and features needed to perform when clattering down a filthy trail. No matter how good the storage is, to be considered suitable for mountain biking, a hip pack mustn’t flinch an inch when riding. Even fully loaded, form-fitting blocks of densely padded foam keep this pack nicely lifted from the small of the back, making it comfortable and stable. With less wraparound side wings than some of the best rivals, I had concerns that it might move around too much, but it proved not to be the case. The raised/textured foam panels sit perfectly, allowing airflow to prevent sweat build-up, and waist belt straps mean it doesn’t peel away from the spine under the weight of the contents. These woven nylon waist straps don’t offer any wing pockets – I find these useful for quick access to a multi-tool or energy bar – but this decision may help with the secure fastening, as they never wriggled loose or suffered from gradual creep during a day’s riding. In terms of organisation, there’s 3L storage advertised. This seems optimistic at first glance, but you can stash quite a lot in comparison to something like Camelbak’s Mule 5. Inside the Rapha’s large internal pouch there are elasticated organisers and an extra fold-over zip outer pocket. One other feature that deserves praise is the mesh bungee on top that’s useful for a jacket, extra layer or even muddy goggles. There are also two external pouches that are designed for water bottles, but can also store other items – I used one to hold a spare tube. For a perfect 10 rating I’d like to see the addition of a wing pocket on the hip, but everything else about Rapha’s hip pack is totally dialled, and the waterproof fabric, rubberised zips and clasps are all (unsurprisingly) top quality. Better still, despite the premium brand image, Rapha’s MTB Trail Hip Pack is not that expensive compared to equivalent established mtb cargo brands, and actually costs less than some similarly-sized rivals. Mick Kirkman

N EW P R O D U C T S 78 mbr AUGUST 2023 One of Leatt’s latest knee pads is this sleeve-like Airflex Hybrid with a tubular fit and mid-level coverage and protection. The long (35cm) sleeve has Leatt’s perforated Airflex padding cupping the knee with a kind of memory foam-style impact gel padding. On top of this are harder plastic sliders to protect against heavier impacts at the knee bone and upper shin – the last part being a prime zone for accidental attacks from pedal pins when things go wrong. There’s also an extra panel of foam padding just above at the bottom of the thigh muscle to resist further knocks from handlebars. The main sleeve uses a coarse woven mesh fabric on the front and sides to resist abrasions and a finer transparent mesh on the back for better cooling and a softer touch against delicate flesh. An elasticated band with silicone grippers holds things in place at the top of each leg and the pads extend further up the thighs than many. Leatt’s fit is good; tight but not restrictive and the knee cap zone stays perfectly in place. During a day lapping Dyfi bike park I had to pull the thigh band higher multiple times though, as the upper elasticated band isn’t as thick as some. And with the overall construction a bit soft and floppy, this upper part can wriggle down the leg if things get really hectic on the bike. Obviously, this might not happen for everyone, but I do have pretty big thighs and had a reasonably tight fit at the top to keep things stable. The cupped-out shape seems to keep the impact-hardening Airflex part in place around the knee though. Aside from the occasional pulling up, overall comfort is excellent with a really soft, cosy feel against skin and no rubbing. Cooling is pretty decent too, especially round the back where plenty of air reaches your legs through the fine mesh. Leatt’s extended coverage pads are comfy and unrestrictive then, but I’ve had better stability with similar tube pads like 7iDP Sam Hill pads and the high price here is also £40 more than that rival product, and there plenty of other options besides. Mick Kirkman LEATT AIRFLEX HYBRID PRO KNEE GUARDS £ 1 2 9 SPECIFICATION Weight: 392g pair (Large) • Colours: Black • Sizes: S, M, L, XL, 2XL • Contact: hotlines-uk.com POC OSEUS VPD KNEE PADS £ 1 3 0 SPECIFICATION Weight: 332g pair (Large) • Colours: Black • Sizes: S, M, L, XL • Contact: pocsports.com POC’s Oseus VPDs are targeted as a do-it-all knee protector for any type of mountain biking, with the Swedish brand claiming they’re good for trail riding through to DH. The VPD part describes POC’s own harden-on-impact polymer that’s pre-shaped in a very ergonomic, pedal-friendly, cup around the kneecap, and there are also two separate smaller padded VPD zones on the sides. Perforated for better airflow and cooling, the big portion of VPD material is thick and protective and does the heavy lifting in terms of protection, with the highest Level 2, DH-level, impact certification. The smaller side panels then fend off any little knocks and dings that can happen catching the inside of the knee against the frame. The pads are a fully slip-on design with no extra Velcro wraps or fasteners to tighten. For stability, the interior of the upper thigh straps is heavily covered in silicone gripper dots and both top and bottom use thick elasticated material. Key to the pads staying in place so well are these thick stretchy bands and also a special fabric shaping inside that tensions the inner material and pulls the two pre-bent ends of the pads into shape once your knee cap slots into the dished-out VPD knee cup. All POC's materials are top notch, as is the build quality, and fit and stability when riding is excellent. Despite the smaller coverage area, these pads feel really protective where it matters and completely wrap the knee. The Oseus pads are extremely flexible too, so there’s virtually no resistance against leg movement while pedalling and no hot spots or stiffness while cranking. My only gripe is the smaller pads on the side can be felt a little in the tender zone near tendons, but because the pads are so stable, I had no rubbing or chaffing. These are among the best pads I’ve used, but a lot of money compared to something like the similarly shaped and performing Sweet Protection Sas Tec pads that are almost £50 less, but I reckon they are slightly less well constructed and finished than these top quality POC numbers. Mick Kirkman HEAD TO HEAD

N EW P R O D U C T S 80 mbr AUGUST 2023 Visible on the feet of Amaury Pierron and Thibaut Dapréla ofthe Commencal Muc-Off team,these distinctive shoes should be familiar to any World Cup DH fan. The only difference being thatthese are the flat-pedal versions, while both French stars race clipped in. At first glance the Tensor Flat looks like a huge shoe, but actually it’s just a trick of the eye caused by the bright white perimeter. They’re pretty light, too, considering their full-on DH intentions, wrap-around moulded bumper, and TPU toe protection. In addition there’s a raised, padded inner ankle to cushion against crank knocks. So the Gravita Tensor manages to be tough without being heavy, but what about the fit? Like the clip-in version, Fizik employs a lace up design bolstered by a broad Velcro Powerstrap. And inside there’s a full neoprene sock. Taken together, these three things create a really secure, stable fit – your foot simply doesn’t move inside. However, the heel is very low, which can cause a bit of rubbing – a taller heel would be even better at preventing lift. They’re also quite hard to pull on, and the heel tab doesn't really help as much as it could. Finally the off-centre laces feel a bit unbalanced and create some tightness in an area of the foot most of us aren’t used to sensing pressure. Walking is not very comfortable, and there’s a distinct lack of cushioning through the midsole, so impacts did start to take their toll on my feet after a while. Flip the Gravita Tensor over and there’s a Vibram Megagrip rubber sole with a very Five Ten-inspired dotty tread pattern. There’s acres of surface area and not too much in the way of fancy sections with the aim of doing different jobs. In short, it works pretty well. The grip levels are getting on for what you’d expect from a Five Ten Freerider Pro, and it feels like there’s traction coming from the rubber as well as the pins meshing with the tread pattern. As such my feet felt stable and planted and that gave me confidence in rough sections. However, the Fizik Gravita Tensor is extremely expensive. You could save £70 and still have a great choice of shoes that are just as grippy (perhaps more so) as well as being more comfortable to walk in. In terms of performance, the Fizik is an 8/10, but add in the price tag and it sinks to a 6/10. Danny Milner Hope doesn’t make its own dropper (yet?), but this new underbar remote lever is designed to work with the many cableoperated posts on the market. There’s everything you’d expect from Hope in terms of a shiny, feature-packed, CNC aluminium product that’s made in the UK and comes in a range of funky colours. Like the best remotes on the market, Hope’s lever rotates on a sealed bearing for a smoother, more precise action, and this also helps ensure the mechanism stays tight and waggle-free for longer. Extra special details include an adjustable paddle position that changes the amount of force needed to actuate the post by up to 20%. Increasing leverage provides a lighter action and more travel, and decreasing leverage provides a snappier action with less travel. What’s cool about this design (other than how useful it is for adjusting thumb feel) is that it can also perfectly fine tune exactly where you want the grooved lever to sit under the grip. There’s also a ‘reach’ adjuster to tune how far out the lever blade sits at the start of the stroke. This is needed as the super-clean direct mount fixing only works with SRAM’s Matchmaker, or Hope’s brake levers. Hope’s lever is really nicely shaped with no sharp edges and can pretty much replicate a shifter, which makes total sense in terms of balancing thumb feel with a regular gear paddle on the opposite side of the bars. I fitted Hope’s lever to replace a One Up gen 2 dropper remote that has an overly sharp edge sticking out like a triangle towards the thumb, and also sits too close to the underside of the grip. With One Up’s lever, I’ve frequently caught and hurt my left thumb knuckle on the pointy edge when riding, but Hope’s lever was a cinch to adjust into a comfortable and accessible position. Aside from the improved ergonomics, the icing on the cake is the potential for extra leverage that brings a noticeably smoother action, and also being able to tune lever force and paddle placement exactly as preferred. Everything about Hope’s new dropper lever works extremely well, and considering the quality, £60 seems like an excellent price when popular aftermarket options like Wolf Tooth and Race Face are more expensive. Mick Kirkman HOPE DROPPER POST LEVER £ 6 0 SPECIFICATION Weight: 39g • Colours: Black, silver, purple, red, blue, or orange • Contact: hopetech.com FIZIK GRAVITA TENSOR FLAT TEAM EDITION £ 1 8 9.9 9 SPECIFICATION Weight: 736g (size 43) • Sizes: 36-48 with some half sizes • Contact: fizik.com

AUGUST 2023 mbr 81 HT SUPREME PEDALS £ 1 0 4 .9 9 SPECIFICATION Weight: 388g • Platform thickness: 15mm, Platform size: 100x100mm • Contact: ison-distribution.co.uk HT has a large range of clips and flats, and as the name suggests, the Supreme is its flagship flat pedal – it certainly looks the part in this oil-slick finish. It starts life as a basic aluminium extrusion, which is then heavily CNC-machined. This trims meat from the leading edges and corners to boost clearance when leant over, as well as saving precious grams. On the scales, the HT Supreme is a good 70g lighter than the Burgtec Penthouse MK5 and Nukeproof Horizon Sam Hill Enduro. HT mixes pin designs on the Supreme’s platform, with three being a set-screw style that threads in from the top, while the rest are all inserted in from underneath. It also uses a replaceable SAP washer system, so you can tune the height of the latter by just removing a small steel washer from the head of each pin. On the axle, HT combines a quality self-lubricating IGUS bushing with mini cartridge bearings. A little bit of lateral play developed in the axle during the test period, but the bearings are still perfectly smooth. In terms of size, the platform is on par with Nukeproof’s benchmark Horizon, but oddly it feels smaller. The platform has around 3mm of concavity when measured from the outside to the centre, but it has a raised centre section and I could feel this under my foot when riding. As a result, the Supreme isn’t quite as stable, and with that extra height on the inside, my foot didn’t feel as planted. This won’t matter for smooth, mellow trails, but ride anywhere rough or steep and you’ll have to work a little harder to keep your feet locked in place. The sharp pins offer a good amount of bite, are easy to remove and the height adjustability is a nice touch. It’s also well-made and good value – the oil slick adds £20 to the bottom line but it’s still £10 less than most brands charge. My main issue with the HT Supreme is that it just feels a little small, and that central ridge can disrupt stability. Paul Burwell FINISH LINE EASY PRO BRUSH SET £ 1 7.9 9 SPECIFICATION Includes: 5 brushes • Contact: freewheel.co.uk If I had to recommend five workshop essentials, a good bush kit would be one of them. This is not because I really like cleaning my bike after a muddy ride, but rather because I actually hate it. A good range of cleaning tools takes the edge off my irritation, and can also speed up the process, so I don’t actually have to be spending any longer than necessary. Finish Line’s Easy Pro brush set includes five different scrubbers, and they each have a function. To get the worst off you’ll use the big dog, which has soft bristles designed not to damage delicate paintwork. It’s not stiff enough to scrub the tyres, but it’ll shift most dirt from the frame, fork and wheels. If you want to get into those hard-to-reach areas, you then choose one of the four smaller sweepers. The lozenge wheel brush will clean between the spokes. The little bottle brush is good for in between linkages and behind the chainring. The small toothbrush is for jockey wheels and the chain. And the paintbrush is a bit like one of those car detailing brushes that you can work into tight spaces. The bristles on the detail brush and the mini brush became mangled after one use – the former needs to be softer and the latter a good deal stiffer. No problems with the bottle brush, but it’s the one I use the least. This all sounds pretty negative, but it’s totally par for the course. Brushes have a hard life – you throw them around, leave them outside and generally treat them with disdain because you just want to get the job done. Finish Line’s Easy Pro Brush Set does get the job done and is also one of the cheapest around. If you hate cleaning your bike, this brush kit won’t change your attitude, but it might help you get it done quicker. Paul Burwell

82 mbr AUGUST 2023 SUMMER SHORTS & JERSEYS Howwetest Fortunately, we had weather to match our summer riding kit test, with constant scorching days that ramped up rider temperatures and really challenged the sweat absorption and drying potential of fabrics. We assessed comparative fit, sizing and comfort while out pedalling, and also the position and capacity of pockets and the effectiveness of fit adjusters and zips. We also washed each set of kit and timed it on the washing line as a rough and ready check to see if drying times matched our experience on the trails. U S E D & A B U S E D T he 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 crucial to ultimate performance, and many of the materials here use sophisticated, aerated constructions, with different fabrics in G R O U P T E S T Hot weather calls for sweatwicking kit to keep you comfy on the trails; we put five pairs of jerseys and shorts to the test particular body zones according to their properties. The way garments are tailored or articulated to flow with body movements and work seamlessly on the bike is also crucial. Shorts or jerseys that are either too tight or too flappy and don’t stay securely in place can chafe, flap and annoy, so we’re looking for discrete, unobtrusive seams as well as highly breathable construction and secure fasteners and adjustments. And the only way to put these factors to the test is by riding garments for long distances in warmer weather. So the recent hot spell has let us rack up the miles and really put this gear through the wringer. Many brands produce jerseys and shorts for both men and women, with the main difference usually being the cut of the jersey and colour options. This means the technical performance of fabrics, breathability, durability and performance should translate between the sexes if you’re looking at women’s kit from the same brands. Words: & photos: Mick Kirkman

AUGUST 2023 mbr 83 JA R G O N B U S T E R Knowyourshorts&jerseys FABRIC Most fabrics here use some variation of nylon/polyester mix, often with elastane added to give some degree of stretch. Polyester is strong, cheap, light, and good at wicking. Flatlock seams are popular in jerseys and shorts as they rub less against bare skin. Some short seams are now ultrasonically welded or taped too, which not only creates a smoother join but can also build impressively lightweight and unobtrusive garments. VENTILATION Trail jerseys for hot weather often use perforated material to encourage air circulation and improve drying times. Different materials are often used under the arms or across the back, and some feature mesh back panels. Zipped vents on shorts or jerseys let you tune the amount of cooling air that can enter on a hot day, but these add weight and cost, and zip collars look a bit too traditional for some tastes. ANTI-ODOUR Many fabrics use bamboo, charcoal, metallic elements, or special compounds mixed in to prevent odour build-up. This is more essential on jerseys where sweat and smells can be more of an issue in hotter weather. WAIST ADJUSTER AND FLY To tune exact fit, most shorts come with some form of waist adjuster, either external or hidden. These can be ratchet-style, use hook and loop fasteners, or simple belt loops. Whatever is used, it needs to be quick and easy to fasten and unfasten, as well as totally secure. You also don’t want any sharp or irritating fabrics or edges pressing into the midriff or small of the back. POCKETS Riding packless is very popular, so pockets on trails shorts are crucial to many riders. And while you don’t want huge cargo pockets that flap against your thighs, you do want enough space for a modern smartphone, a house or car key, and maybe a multitool. Ideally, any pockets should keep contents secure and close to the body so they don’t rattle around. CUT Comfort without clinginess is the holy grail here. Short length comes down to personal preference, rider height and whether or not you wear kneepads. Too high and the shorts can ride up above pads and expose an unflattering band of skin known as the pad gap. The best cut for trail riding is loose fitting without being overly baggy, with many jerseys utilising multiple panels to form a shape that’s optimised for a typical riding position. DURABLE WATER REPELLENT Several shorts here use a treatment (called DWR for short) added to the fabric to make water bead and run away, rather than pool on the surface where it gets absorbed. It’s useful on shorts to prevent uncomfortable wet bottoms while pedalling.

84 mbr AUGUST 2023 7MESH ROAM SS SHIRT £ 5 0 SPECIFICATION Weight: 115g (L) • Colours: Black, Bottle Blue, Cinnamon, Douglas Fir • Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL • Contact: 7mesh.com Designed and tested in Canada, 7mesh’s Roam short sleeve shirt is the brand’s staple trail riding top, in what it calls a mid-weight fabric. It’s actually lighter than many other brands’ summer tops at just over 100g, but not quite as thin as the brand’s flyweight Sight shirt. At first glance, the Roam cut looks like a bog-standard t-shirt, but there are more sophisticated shapes where the back panel joins the shoulder section, and the fit tapers in a bit towards the waist rather than hanging down all flappy. The fit is athletic without being skintight, and we like how most of 7mesh’s colour schemes are pretty subtle and classy, and you can also get this jersey in plain black. With greater texture and a heavier-weight fabric than the Sight, this Roam also has an SPF 50 treatment to stop UV light getting through on blazing sunny days, and keeps its cool thanks to an open fabric structure and tiny horizontal ridges on the interior face of the material. These ribs appear to keep the fabric porous and permeable to air, but there isn’t a fully open, perforated design here like some options. 7mesh’s top doesn’t look that complex, or use multiple fabric types or panels for the £50 asking price, but what it does do is deliver while riding. The material really breathes and seems to let heat and steamy interiors get some air, and it’s also very rapid drying; to the extent it was the quickest to dry in our washing line test. It dries just as fast while riding, and it’s the top that seems to recover most quickly from sodden patches after hard climbs. By somehow managing to stay damp rather than soaked, it will definitely appeal to riders that run hotter and sweatier than average. Overall, this is a really effective top that edges ahead of many competitors by being comfy and airy, as well coming from a company with a robust ethical business model. 7MESH GLIDEPATH SHORTS £ 1 3 0 SPECIFICATION Weight: 190g • Colours: Loam, Black, Midnight Blue, Redwood • Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL • Contact: 7mesh.com This Glidepath is a lightweight, super breathable trail short made with a four-way stretch fabric and six different size options. It’s exceptionally cool and comfortable, and offers more stretch than any other on test. The wafer-thin material is similar to Rab’s Crank short, and manages to be fantastically fast drying, light against skin and swishy and freeflowing, while still maintaining its tailored cut. A DWR coating repels splashes and rain, and the fabric never gets too saturated and sweaty. There are two classic jeans-style hip pockets and two horizontal zippered pockets (perfect for a phone) that are very stable and secure. The Glidepath is advertised as ‘relaxed fit’, but check 7mesh’s comprehensive sizing chart (that includes hips and thighs independently), as the recommended Large felt huge (with a 34in waist) compared to others on test. We’re not big fans of 7mesh’s ‘hook and ladder’ waistband system either, with its ‘suedette’ band that hooks into five different width options. Assuming you get the right short size, there’s plenty of adjustment, and it’s very lightweight and low profile, but you can’t fine tune the fit as precisely as you can with the Glidepath pant, which uses a thread-through locking waist adjuster and belt loops. Almost unnoticeable when moving around on the bike, this is the most comfortable short on test, partly due to the bottom hem being taped (laminated) together, so there’s no excess bulk or weight on the knee, but also because 7mesh has nailed the cut everywhere, with a close-fitting shape that never flaps, but also doesn’t cling or grab while pedalling or pulling shapes on jumps and descents. The 7mesh Glidepath is a pretty much perfect lightweight summer trail short, and also looks cool off the bike. Its high levels of performance are matched by a high price, but the lifetime crash replacement policy means this is a short that will last, and that helps to justify the upfront cost. TEST WINNER! JERSEYS

AUGUST 2023 mbr 85 ALPINESTARS DROP META JERSEY SS £ 6 5 SPECIFICATION Weight: 61g (L) • Colours: Black, Black/Grey, Yellow/Black • Sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL • Contact: alpinestars.com One of Alpinestars’ key summer riding jerseys is this ultra-lightweight Meta top, using a 92% polyester/8% elastane main fabric. The material is perforated all over in a reasonably fine tea bag-style mesh. With multiple panels across the shoulders and underarm area, Alpinestars’ cut and tailoring is one of the most sophisticated on test. The shoulder yoke part is joined in two panels underneath the throat, and there’s a bonded (rather than stitched) neck line that’s cut loose and open and feels almost invisible above the collarbone and around the neck. Two curved fabric panels form the underarm zone, and at the tail the lower hem is dropped down to cover the lower back. Alpinestars’ Meta jersey comes in four colours, with this black and yellow scheme having a hint of Star Trek to it, but there’s also more subtle all black and grey/black options. Hanging lightly off the torso without being too flappy or loose, this is a very free feeling jersey and particularly roomy around the neck line. The fabric has loads of stretch for good freedom of movement and the shape is really nicely cut. At typical riding speeds the Meta allows plenty of airflow, but its smaller fabric perforations don’t quite pump enough air inside to evaporate sweat away from the skin as quickly as the most effective jerseys we’ve tried. That’s not to say it isn’t reasonably effective in terms of wicking moisture and drying quickly, it’s just that some technical tops tested here dry out slightly faster and seem to get less saturated in the first place. Obviously this will be more important if you’re a rider that really sweats a lot. ALPINESTARS DROP ALGORITHM SHORTS £ 1 0 0 SPECIFICATION Weight: 110g • Colours: Black, Pewter Grey, Sparrow Grey • Sizes: 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40in • Contact: alpinestars.com These Alpinestars shorts are made from a mid-weight fabric mixed with 15% spandex to allow extra conformity while pedalling. While the material isn’t as thin and aerated as some we’ve tried, it strikes a pretty good balance between coolness and comfort. The fabric has a slightly coarser interior surface, which keeps it from getting too sticky and clingy against legs or liner shorts, and laser-cut perforations effectively encourage airflow. This ventilated zone is at the sides of the groin, rather than lower down the leg, and it seems to do a better job of cooling and promoting air flow than most rivals in this test. The nylon material here is sourced from 85% nonvirgin fabric. There’s a multi-directional stretch for enhanced freedom of movement, but it’s not quite as elastic as Endura’s Singletrack Lite. Two main hip pockets are roomy enough even for max-size smartphones, and the contoured fit and stiffer fabric keeps contents safe without flapping or bouncing. At the waist, a soft wicking lining on the sides absorbs sweat, and a double fabric panel at the small of the back helps keep the shorts nicely in position. To tighten, the front fly wraps over and cinches with a plastic ratchet. There’s a broad range of adjustment to dial in different waist sizes and small enough increments to tune perfect tightness. One downside of this ratchet system is that it can twist the fly flap a little to one side when cranked tight, and also has all the tensioning at the front, rather than wrapping round more evenly on a continuous elasticated band like some Velcro designs. Alpinestars’ Drop Algorithm short is really comfy, feels top quality and is also pretty well ventilated thanks to the thigh holes. We’d class it more of an all-rounder than a pure summer short though, as the fabric isn’t quite as light and minimal as some.

86 mbr AUGUST 2023 ALTURA KIELDER LIGHTWEIGHT SS JERSEY £ 3 5 SPECIFICATION Weight: 54g • Colours: Carbon, Dark Olive, Yellow • Sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL • Contact: altura.co.uk Both this flyweight short sleeve Kielder jersey and matching shorts are the lightest pieces of summer kit in this test by a margin. The jersey is just over 50g, or basically the same as a medium sized bag of crisps bought to accompany a cool pint after a long, scorching summer ride. Altura’s jersey’s made from a high wicking polyester that, according to the brand, is woven from 100% recycled fibres. The fabric is wafer thin and also a little bit coarser than others on test. Despite being so fine, there is still some texture to the inside of the material to lift it slightly off skin and allow air to move over the body. The Kielder cut is fairly simple and relaxed without being too baggy and droopy. There’s a dropped hem to cover the rear of the waist when tipped forward in the saddle and, at the collar, a low-profile neckline lets more airflow in and boosts comfort. The rear part of this neck also has a fabric backer strip against the stitched hem to create a softer touch against bare skin. Altura’s top is reasonably cool, but doesn’t flow cooling wind through it while rolling along to the same extent of some garments on test, and it also gets a bit steamier and sweatier if you’re working really hard. When soaking wet the jersey gets a lot heavier too, and holds lots of moisture. Being less vented means it takes longer to dry after hard efforts than other jerseys like the 7 Mesh, which seems to both blow and burn off excess moisture when descending, leaving it dry for the next ascent. Altura’s Kielder top snagged easily on vegetation, and after only a couple of rides there were multiple pulled threads that made it look scruffy and much older than it was. ALTURA KIELDER LIGHTWEIGHT TRAIL SHORT £ 5 5 SPECIFICATION Weight: 93g • Sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL • Colours: Black, Dark Olive • Contact: altura.co.uk Designed for hotter days, Altura’s Kielder lightweight trail short is both the cheapest and lightest on test. A big clue to being so light is having by far the thinnest material of all the shorts here, with an almost silky, shiny fabric that’s perhaps too flimsy for the rigours of mountain biking. The Kielder has a relaxed cut with enough hem room to fit over most trail-level knee pads. Both colour schemes use a textured camouflage print that’s subtle rather than screaming, as well as what Altura describes as ‘predominantly’ recycled polyester. The brand also uses a PFC-free DWR coating to protect from the elements, showers, and splashes. The Kielder lacks specially-shaped panels and a pedalling-specific cut, and being so lightweight means it is a bit shapeless. There’s a meshbacked zipped hip pocket on each side, and they are roomy enough and decently positioned, but because the main material is so flimsy, heavier phones aren’t kept stable enough and can swing around. The main issue we had though, was the short itself being unstable. Altura’s nailed the double front waist fastening, with a solid metal thread-through stud that can’t peel open accidentally. But for one 6ft 4in test rider, with a slim 32in waist, the short repeatedly wriggled down the hips while riding, even though the size and length seemed fine. Simply, with no way of adjusting the waist, and insufficient tension in the elastic, it would gradually creep down. Not having a huge amount of stretch in the elastic waist also means bigger riders who aren’t as tall don’t fit in this longish Large size either. Outside of these fit problems, there are issues with the fabric. It’s too flimsy and flappy to hold its shape while pedalling. And, despite being super thin, there’s not much airflow through the fine weave, so it doesn’t even dry very quickly if soaked with sweat.

AUGUST 2023 mbr 87 ENDURA SINGLETRACK CORE TEE II £ 3 9.9 9 SPECIFICATION Weight: 119g (L) • Colours: Tangerine, Aubergine, Black, Blueberry • Sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL • Contact: endurasport.com Alongside a focus on eco credentials, Endura involves its sponsored riders – such as Danny MacAskill and the Athertons – in design collaborations to ensure excellent function. That said, unlike Endura’s more technical kit, this simple Core Tee II is very much back-to-basics. As such, it’s just a t-shirt-shaped riding top with the added ability to wick moisture, dry fast and breathe better than a standard cotton jersey fabric. A polyester perforated fabric helps achieve this, sourced from 80% recycled materials and woven with a kind of micro mesh/tea bag style weave that’s more permeable to allow air in and out to cool the rider and evaporate sweat. The sizing is pretty generous, with the large sample shown here being bigger than most others we tested, and there’s plenty of room across the shoulders and lats. The fit isn’t really tailored or fitted to the body with extra panelling, but there is a double layer behind the nape of the neck to make it sit better. The Core Tee II runs pretty cool while riding along and there’s good air flow, but it’s less breezy than some and can get a bit soggy and saturated with sweat when working hard. We ended up with sodden patches under pecs and at the small of the back faster than the best jerseys here, and the Core Tee also doesn’t dry as quickly when wetted out, so can stay feeling a bit sticky and clingy. Endura charges a reasonable price for the Core Tee, but there’s not that much special on offer here in terms of mixed fabrics, materials and cut. In fact, many technical sports t-shirts are cheaper and as effective if you can live without Endura’s cyclingspecific brand association. ENDURA SINGLETRACK LITE SHORT £7 9.9 9 SPECIFICATION Weight: 223g (L) • Colours: Nine colour options • Sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL • Contact: endurasport.com This Singletrack Lite short is, guess what, Endura’s thinner, summery take on its long-refined Singletrack model. The fit is close without being restrictive, and Endura has mixed in enough elastane to make it very stretchy and unrestrictive when pedalling along. Even at just over 200g, there’s a cushy and comfy rear padded waistband panel that feels super-soft against bare skin and also absorbs and wicks sweat away from the small of the back very effectively. Pocket placement is near perfect too, with two front zipped ones on hips placing contents in a stable zone close to the front/side of the thigh, so there’s no swinging around. There’s also a useful rear stash pocket for small items like an energy bar or small multi-tool. The DWR coating is a useful addition, meaning it effectively fends off splashes and spray and keeps your bum drier in a summer shower. As such, this Lite short is actually way more versatile than some pure summer-only flyweight options. Key to comfort here is the great fabric and cut, delivering a barelythere feel that simultaneously holds its shape, and isn’t flimsy or flappy while moving around on the bike. We’re not the biggest fan of a flared opening to accommodate knee pads, but at least the flare effect is reasonably subtle. This less streamlined look is just about the only thing to complain about though, as the rest of the performance is immaculate. The SingleTrack Lite is super-lightweight without being too flimsy or floaty, subtle while riding and cool and airy in the summer heat. Basically, Endura has totally nailed the details, sizing and style options for both sexes here. TEST WINNER! SHORTS

88 mbr AUGUST 2023 RAB CINDERCRINO ZIP TEE £ 1 0 0 SPECIFICATION Weight: 145g • Colours: Light Khaki, Orion Blue, Sahara • Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL • Contact: rab.eqiupment Legendary UK outdoors brand Rab has a huge reputation for making long-lasting kit that can handle the worst of UK conditions. And it recently launched the Cinder cycling range. You can mix and match Rab’s kit depending on conditions, and it should all play nicely together, with this Cindercrino jersey being the brand’s summer option using a soft, breathable, and fast drying fabric. The main material is a 53% polyester and 47% merino wool blend with a 125gsm weight, which is reasonably thin without making it shapeless. There’s a secondary fabric in areas that demand more cooling, with an open weave/subtle mesh structure and an 85gsm weight. With a longer front chest zip and a dropped rear hem, Rab’s styling is a bit more road/gravel and XC than enduro, but we appreciated how you can unzip the chest right down to dump heat on the longest climbs, and the thinner side panels (with more of a mesh/honeycomb fabric) are really breathable and airy. In terms of ventilation of the fabric and drying time, if you get absolutely drenched in sweat, it is not the most effective on test, and we did also find that our upper arms would get a bit warm in the close-fitting merino sleeves that extend most of the way down to the elbow. One other thing to bear in mind is the more open, textured weave is quite easy to snag on vegetation and create little pulls in the fabric that look a bit unsightly. Overall, this Cindercrino is a great top. It’s not the absolute coolest or best ventilated, but it offers a good blend of comfort, styling and fit. It’s pretty cool when you need to be, but also maintains body heat better than any other here in a summer shower or when descending after a sweatgenerating climb. RAB CINDER CRANK SHORTS £ 1 0 0 SPECIFICATION Weight: 240g (L) • Colours: Light Khaki, Anthracite • Sizes: 28, 30, 32, 34, 36in • Contact: rab.eqiupment Rab says one reason it has launched the Cinder range is because many of its cyclist employees were using garments from the rest of its line-up. You can see Rab’s heritage here in the in-house Matrix fabrics used across this Crank short. The main material is a thin, breathable soft-shell fabric that’s 151gsm and extremely rapid drying. There’s then a tougher, gridded, micro-ripstop, textured fabric on the sides, back of thighs and the seat zone, which is also stretchier. The Crank sits just above the knee (without being too short) and is treated all over with a fluorocarbon-free DWR coating to resist splashes, although this is much less effective than Endura’s treatment. The inseam is offset with a curved panel where you sit, so there’s less chance of seams digging in against the saddle, and the waistband fastens with two Velcro straps with a good range of adjustment. There are only two side hip pockets, although long thigh vents also allow access to Rab’s liner short stash pockets; £100 extra if you buy into the whole ecosystem. The pockets have plenty of room to stash a large modern phone, but on both legs, contents can default to a more backward position than desired, and we ended a few rough descents with our phone almost spun round to the buttocks inside the zip pocket. It’s also a bit easy to pull mesh pockets inside-out by mistake when accessing your phone on the trails – likely a bit of a drawback for the Instagram-obsessed. This Crank is a well-dialled short with excellent breathability and big thigh vents that can dump heat, but it’s not as stretchy and free-flowing as the most ‘barely-there’ and invisible on test – the 7mesh or Endura. The £100 price tag is on the higher side too, and we found that, like Rab’s jersey, the material snags too easily as the summer vegetation starts to invade our trails.

Price Weight Colours Sizes Contact Rating 7Mesh Glidepath shorts £130 190g Loam, Black, Midnight Blue, Redwood XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL 7mesh.com Alpinestars Drop Algorithm shorts £100 110g Black, Pewter Grey, Sparrow Grey 28, 30, 32, 34,36, 38, 40in alpinestars.com Altura Kielder lightweight trail short £55 93g Black, Dark Olive S, M, L, XL, XXL altura.co.uk Endura Singletrack Lite Short £79.99 223g Nine colour options S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL endurasport.com Rab Cinder Crank shorts £100 240g Light Khaki, Anthracite 28, 30, 32, 34, 36in rab.equipment Price Weight Colours Sizes Contact Rating 7mesh Roam SS Shirt £50 115g Black, Bottle Blue, Cinnamon, Douglas Fir XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL 7mesh.com Alpinestars Drop Meta Jersey SS £65 61g Black, Black/Grey, Yellow/Black S, M, L, XL, XXL alpinestars.com Altura Kielder Lightweight SS Jersey £35 54g Carbon, Dark Olive, Yellow S, M, L, XL, XXL altura.co.uk Endura Singletrack Core Tee II £39.99 119g Tangerine, Aubergine, Black, Blueberry S, M, L, XL, XXL endurasport.com Rab Cindercrino Zip Tee £100 145g Light Khaki, Orion Blue, Sahara XS, S, M, L, XL rab.equipment T rail riding kit has come on leaps and bounds since the days of thicker, motocross and DH-inspired garments at one end of the spectrum and road cycling-inspired, Lycra-heavy XC kit at the other end. What’s cool is how much of the gear here has found the right middle ground, and blends the benefits of both riding styles, with a relaxed look that works off the bike and also technical performance, cooling and wicking that allows you to perform while working hard. Modern fabrics and tailoring are now so dialled on many products that drying times are vastly reduced compared to some of the old-school heavy and saggy kit of yesteryear, and some of the kit here is also so lightweight and free-flowing that it’s genuinely hard to tell you’re wearing it at times. When we were shooting all the outfits for the images after testing, it was a good opportunity to talk through which shorts and jerseys we’d want to keep to actually ride in ourselves on hot summer days. The consensus is, providing money is no object, that 7mesh gets our vote for its comfortable, high-quality, stylish garments with high performance fabrics that keep you cool and dry fast. We also loved Endura’s Singletrack Lite short, which just seems to perfectly balance material choice, function and value. Rab has made a decent entry into the cycling market too, with high-performing kit, although the slightly more gravel/XC-look might not appeal to everyone, and its fabrics seem to snag a bit too easily for the rough and tumble world of mountain biking. Alpinestars’s outfit is also good quality and highperforming, but it’s pricey and didn’t stand out like the 7mesh kit. We struggled most with the cheapest shorts and jersey here from Altura, as the low price was matched by lower performance and durability. AUGUST 2023 mbr 89 Conclusion TEST WINNER! SHORTS TEST WINNER! JERSEYS SHORTS JERSEYS

B I K E T E S T 90 mbr AUGUST 2023

TESTED THIS MONTH £ 3 , 2 9 9 £ 3 ,0 9 9 CANYON TORQUE MULLET AL6 YTINDUSTRIES CAPRA CORE 2 GX MX Two big-travel bruisers made for bike park fun and with price tags that won’t kill the vibe, but which will we be raising a glass to? Words: Jamie Darlow Photos: Roo Fowler AUGUST 2023 mbr 91

B I K E T E S T 92 mbr AUGUST 2023 F or 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 us are priced out. It’s to the Germans’ great credit then, that you can still get a first-class bike for £3,000 – it’s not nothing, but great value it most certainly is. What you get for that, in this test at least, is a downhill bike you can pedal. With around 170mm travel at both ends, mullet wheels, powerful four-piston brakes and aggressive geometry, they’re built for bike park laps, the steepest natural jank, or timed stages against the clock. And to return you to the top with the least pain possible, they both employ steep seat tube angles, dropper posts, 12-speed drivetrains and lockout switches on the shocks. In fact, just how similar the Torque and Capra are is quite extraordinary, until you consider that each is designed with the other in mind. So like an off-road equivalent of Lidl and Aldi, these rival bikes have remarkably similar products gracing the shelves. Both feature aluminium frames, a four-bar suspension design, Fox Performance-level suspension, Maxxis tyres, and perhaps not coincidentally, weigh within 100g of each other. Canyon opts for a Shimano drivetrain, while YT goes with SRAM. Canyon spends a little more money speccing premium triplecompound Maxxis rubber while YT makes do with dual-compound tyres. They’re close on price too, but the Torque is £200 cheaper. The Canyon brand dwarfs YT in scale, with a bike in every conceivable category, from downhill through to down-country. This means there are arguably three enduro bikes we could have picked from to round out this test, with the Spectral and Strive the other contenders. But we opted for Canyon’s long-travel bike park warrior, the Torque. YT, on the other hand, makes just a handful of different bikes and the Capra is the only enduro/bike park bike on its website, albeit offered in a number of configurations including coil-sprung and 29er. PARTY LAPS So why go for a mixed-wheel bike at all when 29ers offer such great speed and control? Well, it’s a breakout trend, with half the field at the EDR rocking mullet set-ups – if you’re not having a party at the back, you’re nothing. Just kidding, there are real benefits to be had here, most obviously a lighter rear wheel corresponding to better suspension performance, easier braking and accelerating, and added wheel strength too. We dinged the rim of the mullet Capra, but perhaps the 29in wheel would have folded in half? They also offer better bum clearance when you’re off the back on silly-steep sections. There is also a longstanding belief that mullet wheels turn in more easily and make a bike more agile, but there’s a lot marketing hype rolled into that assertion. This test hinges on the descents then. The bike that carries better speed, provides a more engaging and enjoyable ride, and keeps you pushing, pedalling or hooking your bike on for another lap is our champion. It’stothe Germans’ great credit thatyou can still geta first-class bikefor £3,000 CONTROL T Y RE S To make the testing process as fair as possible we fitted the same Maxxis tyres to both our direct-sales play bikes. There’s no shortage of choice for gravity riding in the Maxxis range, but we decided to opt for the 2.5in Assegai up front with a tough EXO+ casing, paired with a Minion DHR II on the rear with heavy duty DoubleDown construction. We ran the medium 3C MaxTerra triple compound, which balances rolling speed and climbing efficiency against traction and grip. All tyres are available at extrauk.co.uk, prices starting at £74.99 each. 3C MAXXTERRA An intermediate compound, 3C MaxxTerra is softer and offers more traction and control than 3C MaxxSpeed, yet provides better tread wear and less rolling resistance than the softest MaxxGrip tyres. DOUBLEDOWN (DD) DoubleDown has two layers of lightweight 120 TPI casing material combined with a butyl sidewall insert to create a highly durable tyre with more trail feedback than a Downhill casing tyre and similar pinch protection. THANK YOU Big thanks to BikePark Wales for letting us test the bikes on its great trails. The uplift starts from £25, or you can pedal up for £17, head to bikeparkwales.com.

I f you’ve been flicking through the pages of mbrfor 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 great value, and if we judged our bike tests via spreadsheets alone it would be the standout winner here. Yes, the Shimano SLX drivetrain is outclassed by the Capra’s SRAM GX, but it’s functional, and crucially, the Torque costs £200 less. Add on the quality tyres (£160 worth) fitted to the Torque and you’ve racked up £360 worth of savings over the Capra – not to be sniffed at. The frame is an alloy version of Canyon’s carbon offerings. The tubing is chunky without looking like an e-bike, and just like on the Capra there’s now space for a water bottle. What it doesn’t get is the flip-chip geo adjust from the carbon Torque, instead Canyon has built the bike around the low setting. There’s no raising it into the high mode, although we never had a problem loading the front for grip or clipping pedals, so perhaps it’s a sensible cost saving. With the reach on the size XL measuring 505mm, the Torque is a generously endowed bike (but smaller than Canyon’s printed figures) with a great spread of sizes to suit different riders. The standover height is equally liberal too, letting us upsize to the XL without it feeling like too much of a gate. The increased room comes from the front triangle as the short chainstays don’t grow with the frame size, and that can really be felt by the time you step it up to an XL. SUSPENSION The previous model used a shock yoke, now the long seatstays connect directly to the Fox Float X2 shock and that makes space for a water bottle. It’s certainly not the same feel as the CANYON TORQUE MULLET AL6 original Torque either, with more support than we remember. The fourbar linkage design is similar though, and there’s still 175mm of travel to play with. The shock in question gives you low-speed compression and rebound adjustments, but you’ll need to carry a 3mm hex key if you want to tweak it on the trail, which seems rather outdated in the days of indexed dials. Being the Performance model, there’s no highspeed adjustment, which would have been handy to help the bike deal with big hits on faster tracks. Just like the YT, there’s a Fox 38 fork with 170mm travel. It’s a great fork, but on this bike you have to take a little more care on the steepest terrain as it’s not got the same progression rate as the shock, so it sits deeper into the travel than expected. COMPONENTS Shimano’s SLX drivetrain is disappointing, the shift paddles are light in use but the train ticked away in the low gears, and despite much fettling with the limit screws and alignment checks we couldn’t cure it. It never missed a shift though. There’s also a rattle from the internal cable routing, which you could probably solve if you got creative. Oh, and Canyon’s lock-on grips are rock hard. Everything else is stellar, the tyres are the perfect combination for all year round rowdy trail use, with a DoubleDown casing at the back and EXO+ with MaxxGrip rubber up front. Overkill for some? Yes, but it’s better that way round than a flat every five B I K E T E S T 94 mbr AUGUST 2023 Shimano drivetrain and four-piston brakes give the bike even spacing at the top of the cassette and reliable stopping power Small wheel out back means better bum clearance, increased strength, shorter chainstays and a different tipping point for corners Don’t want a mullet bike? The Torque is also available in full 27.5in or full 29in £ 3 ,0 9 9 Fox Float X2 Performance shock generates 175mm travel Bombproof chunky alloy frame encourages reckless trail roistering

AUGUST 2023 mbr 95 HIGHS Supportive, playful and bombproof LOWS Fork dives while the shock’s supportive SPECIFICATION Frame aluminium, 175mm travel (170mm measured) Shock Fox Float X2 Performance (250x70mm) Fork Fox 38 Float Performance, 170mm travel WheelsDT Swiss 370 110/148 hubs, DT Swiss FR2070 rims, MaxxisAssegai 3C MaxxGrip/Minion DHR II 3C MaxxTerra 29x2.5in/27.5x 2.4in tyres Drivetrain Shimano SLX 32t170mm chainset, Shimano SLX r-mech and 12-speed shifter, Shimano SLX 10-51t cassette Brakes Shimano SLX M7120 four-piston 220/203mm ComponentsCanyon G5 800mm bar, Canyon G5 40mm stem, Canyon Iridium 200mm post, Ergon SM10 Enduro saddle Sizes S, M, L, XL Weight16.6kg (36.6lb) Contact canyon.com GEOMETRY Size tested XL Head angle 62.9° Seat angle 72.1° Effective SA @760mm 79.7° BBheight 348mm Chainstay 425mm Front centre 863mm Wheelbase 1,288mm Down tube 776mm Seattube 475mm Top tube 647mm Reach 505mm

B I K E T E S T 96 mbr AUGUST 2023 VERDICT If you’re lucky enough to live near a bike park then the Torque is the bike for you. Yes, it loses out in terms of pure speed to the Capra, but not everything is a race. This bike is a hooligan, it encourages you to take the wrong lines just so you can square off turns or find extra air time, and the frame feels incredibly solid and robust and ready to take the hits. The standover height means most riders could ride one or two different sizes too. And then there’s the price, which has the Torque out on top. You could race enduro on it as well, as it’s well set up for life between the tapes and boasts the right tyres, but you might lose a few seconds to the Capra. minutes. The DT Swiss wheels are bombproof too, and the controls are spot on. PERFORMANCE Canyon set out to build a park bike with the Torque Mullet, and it absolutely smashed that goal like a wheel slapping a berm. The best bit though, is that you don’t even have to be at a bike park to enjoy it; any trail with something to push against makes the Torque feel fast and responsive. The bike excels when you’re leaning it into a series of berms, it’ll match your speed on the way in and return it with interest, and it’s noticeably faster here than the Capra. It’s a bike you want to pump every backside or scrap of support you can find, from the tiniest edge of a rut to a vast man-made camber. Likewise, anything with a lip will have you pushing into it, confident of the bike’s balance and poise. It’ll send you further, faster and higher than ever, but return you to the ground on a cushion of air. We spent more time on the Torque than the Capra trying to figure out why it’s so good here, but the clue lies in its climbing performance. Pedal the bike uphill and the shock extends slightly thanks to the higher level of anti-squat. There’s a lot of support in the suspension then, and the bike rides high in its travel, never collapsing into mushiness even on the fastest of G-outs or biggest berms, even if your arms do. For such a big bike, the Torque is surprisingly good on mellower trails too, with the front end easily loaded through your feet. Weighting the front wheel is automatic, so the bike does most of the work for you, and the short back end and diddy rear wheel helps it snap round corners like a trail bike too. This all feels amazing when you’re pushing the bike into a take-off of course, but it loses out just a little when you’re bulldozing through a rock garden. The Torque can start to feel beaten up by repeated hits at pace, and with no high-speed compression adjustment on the shock there’s very little you can do about it, to open it up and ease it into its travel more readily. It’s a park bike for sure, but it’s the groomed flow and jumpy tracks you’ll find yourself gravitating towards. There’s also a chatter to the bike, and the firmness of the frame and suspension feeds through to your hands and grips more than on the YT Capra, so it generates more fatigue. The support from the shock is way in excess of that from the Fox 38 up front, and with so much force holding the front down, the fork can feel overwhelmed on steeper tracks, and the BB sits a little higher than the Capra too. Ultimately, the Torque is crying out for a GRIP2 damper upgrade to balance it out then, and Fox will be happy to sell you one for £530. Fox Float X2 shock lacks high-speed compression and is slightly too firm DoubleDown casing makes for robust DH-capable rubber at the rear

I t’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 directsales 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 of the Capra back in 2021 in carbon only, where the reworked asymmetrical Side Wing design made space for a badly needed water bottle and better geometry, specifically a steeper seat tube angle for improved climbing. A year later this alloy version turned up, and impressively it mirrored the carbon bike in both form and function. There’s a choice of MX or full 29in wheels; the mullet version gets 5mm more travel at 170mm and, more importantly, extra progression when you get to the bottom of it. On top of those bare bones, the Capra uses a UDH, internal cable routing, and down tube protection against rock strikes. The two biggest sizes in the range get longer rear triangles to keep the bike in balance as the front centre grows. It’s not exactly true proportional geometry, but it’s useful, and rare at this price point. The XL felt a little cramped with its 480mm reach, but with five sizes to pick from – including an XXL above the XL we tested – everyone should find the right fit. Also, the Capra has an ace up its sleeve in the flip-chip, this means you can steepen the bike by a degree and raise the BB 5mm if you’re riding mellow terrain, while the low position puts you in the best position for flat-out descending. SUSPENSION Just like the Torque, the Capra uses a four-bar suspension design to deliver its 170mm travel, but here there’s a linkage driving the shock rather than the seatstays. This gives YT more control over the suspension characteristics, and it’s an easy place to fit that flip-chip. We used the Fox Float X Performance shock’s climb switch a lot on the ups, and you can adjust low-speed rebound too. YTINDUSTRIES CAPRA CORE 2 GX Up front, there’s a Fox Float 38 Performance fork, it’s not the superlative GRIP2 damper version, but the fork is super sensitive and has a compression dial that we used to help prop it up. COMPONENTS YT should not be fitting lightweight EXO-casing tyres to an enduro bike. They’re fine for some parts of the UK, but ride somewhere chunky and they’ll be be wrapped around your broken rear wheel. Buy this bike and you’ll need to invest in EXO+/DD casing tyres or similar. The rest is excellent. SRAM’s GX drivetrain is better than the Shimano SLX on the Torque, with a slightly heavier action but more reliable, precise and quieter shifting. You do pay a premium for this though. The SRAM Code R four-piston brakes are powerful and well modulated, the cockpit and dropper all absolutely sorted, the internal cable routing silent, and unlike the Torque there’s a bash guard to protect the chainring too. Our only concern are the Crankbrothers wheels. They already have several dings, but they have a good feel and the simple explanation could be that we cased jumps the Torque cleared. PERFORMANCE Pedal around on mellow trails with the bike in its low position and you’ll probably hate the Capra. With its bonkers slack 61.7° head angle and shock that likes to dip into its travel, the bars felt too high and it was hard to load B I K E T E S T 98 mbr AUGUST 2023 E13 bar, stem and chainguide, SDG saddle, Crankbrothers wheels and Maxxis tyres give the bike a high-end feel Flip-chip lets you choose between an ultra-low and slack setting or a high position for trail riding Internal cable routing, SRAM’s Eagle GX drivetrain and SRAM Code R brakes mean the Capra is whisper-quiet £ 3 , 2 9 9 Fork and shock are well matched in terms of travel (170mm) and damping characteristics Linkage-driven suspension design delivers a perfectly balanced 170mm of travel

AUGUST 2023 mbr 99 LOWS EXO tyres have no place here SPECIFICATION FrameAlloy,170mm travel(167mm measured) Shock Fox Float X Performance (230x65mm) Fork Fox 38 Float Performance, 44mm offset,170mm travel Wheels Crankbrothers Synthesis Enduro Alloy 110/148 wheelset, Maxxis Assegai/Minion DHR II Dual Compound 29x2.5in/27.5x 2.4in tyres Drivetrain SRAM GX Eagle 32t,170mm chainset, SRAM GX Eagle r-mech and 12-speed GX shifter, SRAM XG-1275 11-52t cassette Brakes SRAM Code R four-piston, 200/200mm Components e*thirteen Base 800mm bar, e*thirteen Base 50mm stem, YT Postman 170mm post, SDG BelAir 3.0 saddle Sizes S, M, L, XL, XXL Weight16.6kg (36.6lb) Contact ytindustries.com GEOMETRY (LOWSETTING) Size tested XL Head angle 61.7° Seat angle 70.4° Effective SA @760mm 77.3° BBheight 342mm Chainstay 442mm Front centre 852mm Wheelbase 1,294mm Down tube 760mm Seattube 470mm Top tube 630mm Reach 480mm HIGHS Calm, quiet & rocketship fast

B I K E T E S T 100 mbr AUGUST 2023 VERDICT The Capra is ninja-quiet, the only sound you’ll hear is the freehub, your tyres and perhaps your own laboured breathing if you’re against the clock. This adds to the general level of calm and composure the bike emanates at all times, taming trails like nothing else. If you want to go fast, race enduros or just tackle the rowdiest tracks then the Capra is superb. It is let down a smidge by the tyres though. Please YT, sort this out. Don’t be thinking this is a boring bike though, the mullet set-up means it’s manoeuvrable enough to play on any trail, and just as importantly, it’s comfortable enough to ride all day without beating you up. the front when going slow. We flipped the bike into its high position and added 10PSI more shock pressure to help weight the front end, and this, together with the lightweight stock tyres, turned it into a decent trail bike, albeit on the portly side. This isn’t what the Capra is all about though, head somewhere rougher and faster and the low/slack setting all starts to make sense. The balance between the fork and shock is absolutely spot on, tip it into a chute or a steep corner that wants to fall away from you and it just bites in, and holds you in the most efficient position for grip. There’s no doubt in your mind about whether the front will guide you round, it’s instantly trustworthy. Same story at the back, the shock dips into its travel far more easily than the Torque and this gives the bike better grip whenever you’re turning – pretty much all the time on the right trails. It’s supremely comfortable in these situations, hugging the ground without being low enough to bonk your pedals. Coming out of corners and into offcambers there’s oodles of grip, it’s a bike that’s reluctant to let go of the hillside. Time and again we found it was easy to aim high when the trail wants to slide you down the camber, and it means you can hit the best lines. We don’t remember this trait from the carbon bike; it’s been a while but perhaps the more flexy alloy frame actually makes for a better bike in these conditions. Take the Capra to a bike park and it’s unbelievably fast over roots, big slabs, jumbly boulders or nasty spines of rock. There’s not the same pop that the Torque commands though, press the bike into a take-off and it’ll absorb much of your efforts without boosting you quite as far – useful if your goal is pure speed, less so if you’re trying to maximise your airtime and get creative. It’s not that the bike gets hooked up, more that the damping deals with impacts so well it’ll minimise both the trail’s inputs… and yours. Take a closer look at the bike though and you can see it’s been built with this in mind. The chainstays are on the long side for a MX bike, which keeps your wheels on the ground, whether you’re trying to manual or smash through a rock garden. The Crankbrothers freehub is noticeably slower than that of the Canyon’s DT Swiss, and while this isn’t enough to slow you down, it is enough to isolate your feet from any pedal kickback. We doubt YT did this intentionally, but it’s an unexpected benefit. Uphill, the Capra is much better than you’d imagine, the effective seat tube angle holds you forward to stop any significant bob, and the bike sits into the travel and just gets on with it. The pedal lever on the shock is very welcome on fire-road climbs too, and the longer chainstays stop you looping out or the front wavering too badly. All this screams enduro racing. TEST WINNER! Low setting on the shock yoke’s flip-chip turns the Capra into an enduro beast Asymmetrical Side Wing design means there’s space for a bottle cage