Fox 32 Float 29 FIT CTD TA fork

Fox has ruled the short travel category since it rewrote the rule book with its original Float 14 years ago, and the current version still leads the race and cross-country riding pack.

The carefully sculpted lowers and scooped arch make for podium friendly weight. It's not the stiffest short travel fork but the 100mm version generally puts the front wheel where you want it most of the time and holds it there obediently if you keep the pressure on. The Shimano co-developed 15mm cam axle is best in class and easily adjustable to get your preferred closing position.

Kashima coated stanchions and the new seals and fluids of Fox's anti-friction pack make this year's Float the most supple yet. The FIT cartridge pulls an outstanding amount of consistent control out of the 4in stroke so you can stay off the brakes and hit properly toothy trail sections with real speed and commitment.

The CTD ADJ lever makes big picture damping changes through Climb, Descend, Trail easy on the ly and there are remote control options in conventional cable or IRD electric lavours. The outer ring and central knob adjusters fine tune low speed and high speed compression to sync with your personal performance tastes and add a inal polish to performance.

Price is good considering the standout performance and you can even choose the all black knob and logo Stealth version here if the conventional cosmetics are a bit bright.

Travel 100mm (80 and 120mm available)

Wheel size 29in (26in and 650b available)

Weight 1542g

PRICE 1090$

Merida Big Nine 100

Wit the bikes swapped over, we head out on the same loop again, this time on the 29in Big Nine 100. Whereas the Big Seven was snappy off the line, the 29er takes a couple more pedal strokes to get up to speed. That said, once it's up there, it's easy to keep the big wheels rolling, allowing us to cover ground with ease. The fire road is at times a little rough, and the bigger wheels roll over the imperfections so we barely notice them.

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Chromag HiFi 35 (50mm) stem

This is a seriously solid stem. Chromag use 5mm Allen bolts throughout, which makes it that bit easier to fit because you don’t have to swap tools. Once torqued up to the recommended 6-8Nm, it clamps both steerer and bar solidly, with no appreciable flex. We couldn’t get it to twist on the steerer, either in our static test or when riding. It’s also available in a 35mm length and three other colours. At 204g the HiFi is the heaviest stem on test by some margin, despite being one of the more expensive offerings here. Price $112

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KONA SHRED

With a reputation for no-nonsense ruggedness and a background in the always progressive and punishing riding of Canada, Kona have been building hardcore hardtails for longer than almost anyone else. The Shred is the most expensive bike on test but it’s a proper trail tank.

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COMMENCAL EL CAMINO 3

Commencal are going from strength to strength at the moment and they’ve taken their tough trail hardtail bang up to date with 650b wheels. With its skinny rims, crankset and fork, the El Camino certainly isn’t perfect and it’s the least hardcore bike here. The handling, smoothness, speed and all-round agility of the basic bike still make it a real blast for technical trail riding though, and it’s a great base for upgrading over time.

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ENVE M50 29" Wheels

Utah based company ENVE have been making drool-worthy carbon components for some years now. Despite the fact that carbon rims are becoming more and more common on mountain bikes these days, you can guarantee that ENVE wheels will be a talking point when someone is eyeing off a steed. Instantly, the big bold logos on each rim scream "fast", "light" and to some extent, "expensive" The kids call this 'bling'.

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All Arround MTB

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