All Arround MTB

WHY'S IT SUPER? - The 5010 was Danny's co-star in his Wee Day Out film, which has been viewed by over 8 million people. He's got a new one for 2017 but it's set up just the same - It doesn't get much cooler than having your own signature kit, and that's just what Danny's brakes and grips are - With some unique set-up tweaks, Danny has taken a normal trail bike way beyond its intended use The Scottish star's hike of choice for taking his trials skills into the hills Danny MacAskill's rise to fame has been quick and impressive. Hopping onto our screens back in 2009, the viral video sensation soon became a superstar thanks to his ability to ride the seemingly impossible. He's used several different bikes over the years, but in last year's Wee Day Out he opted to ride a Santa Cruz 5010. We wanted to know more about why he choose this model, so he agreed to let us have a fiddle with his 2017 bike, which is identical save for the colour.

While UK-based Whyte can’t compete directly, spec for spec, with the direct-sales brands, the equipment choices on the G-160 S are really well considered and the geometry is superb – and in some areas, really quite radical. At 479mm, the reach of the medium G-160 trumps that of all the nominally larger bikes here. The angles that count aren’t as crazy or out-there as you might think, though, with the head angle measuring in at 65.5 degrees and a seat angle of 74.5 degrees. At 332mm, the BB is one of the lowest on test and really does bolster the bike’s corner-carving potential. Everywhere we tried the Whyte, it was its shape that really stood out and made us want to ride that bit harder. Its proportions and cohesive build kit make it a lot of fun to ride at speed. Whyte’s competitive pricing and traditional sales model explain why the G-160 is the only bike in the top six to come with a RockShox Yari, with its less sophisticated damper. It’s still a great fork, but the Lyrik is ju

Commencal have a knack of getting frame stiffness just right, and the Meta AM V4.2 is no exception. There’s enough give to prevent it feeling harsh when you’re slapping turns or pummelling through boulder fields but it remains taut under power and surprisingly efficient on the climbs, especially considering its 14.7kg weight. At higher speeds, the suspension balance between the top-end Lyrik fork and Super Deluxe RC3 shock is fantastic, with superb mid and end-stroke support that creates an incredibly stable ride through the wildest sections of trail. It’s quiet too, with no nasty chain slap or cable rattle, so you’ll not need to faff about with mastic tape as soon as the bike lands on your doorstep. The tall 490mm seat tube was the only real issue for some testers, who found they couldn’t slam the saddle low enough on steeper descents. (It’s worth noting that there’s a 50mm difference between the seat tube lengths on the medium and large frames.) If you do have long enough legs t

The Trek may not be able to match the other bikes here for value for money, but you can buy it from a bricks-and-mortar shop and it rides well both uphill and down. Although it squats a little under power, the low-speed compression lever on the proprietary RE:aktiv rear firms things up nicely when you do need to slog to the top. Start heading back down, and Trek’s ‘ABP’ concentric dropout pivot and ‘Full Floater’ shock linkage give the suspension an incredibly active and supple feel. It makes good use of its 150mm of travel, maintaining impressive levels of traction and keeping the rear tyre – which doesn’t have a particularly deep tread – planted on the trail. There’s enough support from the suspension when you start to really push things too. Coupled with the solid chassis, this means the bike feels accurate and fast when you’re throwing it between linked turns at pace. In nadgery, tight situations, the Remedy’s agile handling and relaxed angles (even in the ‘high’ geometry sett

Canyon share the same direct sales model as Radon, YT and Commencal, which means the Strive also comes with a stunningly good spec for the money. On top of that, it’s one of the quietest bikes here. Even on the choppiest Italian trail we rode, the Strive pattered down without a peep. It needs some volume bands in the shock to get the back end ramping up for the really big hits, but once sorted it’s a wonderfully efficient machine that carries speed incredibly well. The sizing feels spot on too, and it’s always nice to see manufacturers speccing longer dropper posts where possible. Our large Strive had one of the shortest seat tubes here, at 460mm, and used a 150mm drop Reverb. This meant none of our testers had any issues with arse-tosaddle clearance on the steeper trails we rode (unlike on the Commencal, with its 490mm seat tube). What we did notice when the trail began to drop away rapidly was the head angle. On our test bike it measured in at just under 67 degrees, making it

There are no such sizing worries with the Swoop 170. In terms of geometry, Radon have hit the nail on the head here. The reach feels just right, while the aggressive angles mean you can charge confidently into whatever may lie ahead. Triangular chips at the bottom of the shock let you switch between three settings, altering the head and seat angles by 0.5 degrees at a time, and the BB height by up to 13mm. In its lowest setting, the BB sits just over 430mm off the ground, with a huge 21mm drop. If you’re confident you won’t clang your cranks on lumpy trails, the corner-railing potential of this set-up is astounding, and the security and confidence it contributes to on loose terrain makes a massive difference. Another contributing factor here is the synchronisation of the front and rear suspension. The Swoop 170 feels supple when it counts but with more than enough support when needed, and all the while delivers its travel in a measured, well-damped manner. Although the RockShox Vi

The Capra has impressed us since we first threw a leg over it back in 2014, thanks to its aggressive angles and the poise and composure delivered by YT’s progressive ‘V4L’ linkage. Considering that the AL Comp is the cheapest bike in the final six, the spec is hard to fault too – Maxxis rubber, DT Swiss wheels, SRAM 1x11 gearing and Guide brakes, plus a formidable RockShox Lyrik RC fork up front and Monarch Plus RC3 shock at the rear. This great value for money is possible because YT – along with fellow top-six contenders Radon, Canyon and Commencal – sell direct to you, the ‘consumer’, from their website. That means you can’t just wander into your local shop for buying advice or to check the bike out for yourself, but if you’re confident in what you’re doing, it’s a way of buying bikes that’s well worth considering. Without LBS backup, it’s fortunate that the Capra requires very little set-up time to get it feeling just right. We had to do little other than set the sag and rebo

The GT is one of a few bikes here that straddles the line between hard-hitting trail bike and mini downhill rig, thanks to its slack angles and lengthy 1,225mm wheelbase. Another similarity to its DH counterparts is its weight – it’s the heaviest bike on test by some way. Thankfully, the combination of a 32t chainring and 11-42t cassette means it’ll still crawl up the nastiest of climbs, though it does growl a little in the biggest sprocket. GT’s own-brand dropper post works OK, although it’s a little slow at times. The seat tube design means you can’t totally slam the post (there’s a stop at the base to prevent the post hitting the shock) and you’ll need to be mindful of overall length if upgrading the dropper in future. Up front, a 170mm-travel RockShox Yari does a sterling job of swallowing up the hits, remaining stiff and accurate as you pummel through the chunder. While the Motion Control cartridge isn’t as refined as the Charger Damper in the Lyrik and Pike, it still works i

When the going gets rough, the Rallon’s supple suspension truly shines. None of our testers had a bad word to say about the only Fox-equipped bike here when it came to its bump-eating capabilities. Point it at the ugliest set of braking bumps and it’ll chew through them in stealth-like silence, all the while keeping its quality Maxxis rubber glued to the dirt. Even with an upgraded fork and shock plus a dropper post the price of our bike was kept under $4500. What’s not to like then? Although the Rallon’s dimensions are alright on the whole, all of our testers commented on the lofty 145mm head tube and 70mm stem. Even after swapping to a shorter, zero-rise stem and totally slamming it, the almost flat bar felt too high for many, which was offputting through the turns. Price $4484

Marin’s Attack Trail only takes minutes to get used to and is a solid performer, with plenty of pop when it matters. They’ve added a bit of much-needed length for 2017, which means things are more stable as speeds pick up and less cramped when climbing. The low BB height (338mm) is appreciated too. While the Pike may have been surpassed by the Lyrik in RockShox’s line-up, it still uses the smooth Charger Damper, which makes a difference in the rough stuff. Other spec highlights include dependable Shimano SLX brakes and gearing, as well as broad Stan’s rims, which give a good profile to the Schwalbe Hans Dampf tyres. The Performance compound feels sketchy in anything other than soft dirt, though, and it’d be good to get an internally routed dropper post. Price $4125

Bergamont isn’t a familiar name to most UK riders, but with decent geometry and great specs, this German brand are worth paying attention to. The EnCore uses a concentric dropout pivot to help deliver 165mm of supple rear wheel travel. This is controlled by a RockShox Monarch RT shock, with a low-speed compression damping lever that’s worth using to save energy and maintain the relatively steep 75-degree seat angle on the climbs. When it comes to the angles, Bergamont haven’t been shy. The head tube sits at a slack 64.6 degrees and our medium bike had a decent reach, at 450mm, and a wheelbase measuring just over the 1,200mm mark. Short 430mm chainstays make it nimble enough when slithering through tight sections of trail or lofting the front end up and over trail features. Ground hugger On steeper technical trails, the plush rear end feels properly planted and keeps the quality Maxxis rubber tracking every bump and undulation as you pick your way down the hill. It’ll deal with

Cast an eye over the Vitus and you’d be fooled into thinking you’re looking at a far more expensive bike. The Sommet CR is the only carbon fibre machine on test (the front triangle, at least) and still a couple of hundred quid below our upper price limit. It comes with a RockShox Reverb dropper post too, and a lighter Pike fork rather than the burlier but slightly more refined Lyrik. Getting the suspension balanced took a little fiddling and we found ourselves creeping up the spring pressure chart on the rear shock and adding volume bands to stop it bottoming out too easily. Once set up, the Sommet feels very natural and easy to get along with, although it doesn’t flatten out the trail like some of the bikes on test. There’s a tautness to the frame that lets you zip the Vitus up, around or over obstacles with relative ease and a sense of playfulness that some of these big-hitters can lack at times. It covers ground quickly on mellower trails and, at 13.9kg, climbing is more athlet

Cotic’s steel-framed (save for the chainstays) Rocket has a grin-inducingly lively ride, with more zip and pop than you might initially expect considering its 14.7kg overall weight. The ‘Fast Rolling’ compound WTB tyres help it feel rapid in certain scenarios, although they do feel a little skittish when tackling rooty cambers or on rocky hardpack sections. While the damping of the X-Fusion Sweep fork works well enough once you’re sat into the stroke, it’s not the easiest to get moving initially. Through multiple big hits where the fork fully extends as you skip across the top of bumps, you can also start to feel your hands and arms getting worked over. At 358mm, the Rocket’s BB is the highest on test and you can really feel this in poorly-supported loose turns. Price $4200

As a package, the FR AMR 6 AL looks great for the money. There’s a seriously stubby stem attached to the 780mm bar, a KS dropper, SRAM’s GX gearing and Guide anchors, and RockShox dampers. Travel is split 170/160mm front and rear, and although we’re fans of the easy-to-tune Yari RC fork and Monarch Plus RC3 shock, things never felt as balanced as we’d have liked. While the rear end is plenty plush enough and boosts traction from the nervousfeeling Michelin tyres, you’ll have to hike up the pressure and add some volume bands to stop the shock blowing through its stroke. The Ghost’s dimensions are relatively conservative, and when loading the bike hard through turns or hammering at the pedals, things didn’t feel as taut, efficient or accurate as we’d have hoped. Price $3900

Airdrop say the Edit is all about keeping things simple and creating a bike that just works. Its lines are certainly less swoopy and more matter-of-fact than most of the machines here, skewed towards function over form, which may not win the fashionistas over. But if you can look beyond the industrial outline, there are good things going on. For starters, the angles feel great. The steep 76-degree seat angle improves the bike’s climbing prowess, especially when coupled with the stretched-out 640mm effective top tube of our large test bike. A reach of just under 470mm, wheelbase of 1,220mm and head angle of 65.3 degrees make it a confident descender, while the 343mm BB height (10mm drop) improves cornering confidence. Aim it down a rockstrewn mess of a downhill track and the Edit simply flies. Even at higher speeds, the fairly central rider positioning means direction changes and line corrections are a case of subtle weight shifts rather than drastically throwing yourself about eac

Pretty much everyone complimented the Mega on its paintjob and was surprised to hear that it was one of the cheapest bikes on test. While the spec isn’t quite as dazzling as on some of the direct-sales bikes here, it’s seriously well considered and comes together to produce an impressive ride – for the most part, at least. The Mega’s eagerness to be ridden at speed, combined with the ‘Light’ casing of the WTB Trail Boss back tyre, meant we constantly found ourselves with rear flats. Tougher rubber would be a massively welcome addition. It’s also worth noting that the Nukeproof was the only bike on test to suffer spoke tension issues, with the rear wheel needing some attention after our final few rides together. While the Trail Boss works perfectly well on manmade bike park trails, it soon breaks traction if you venture onto more natural, muddy tracks. Up front, the Vigilante offers a much more aggressive tread, a higher volume – which helps flatten trail ripples – and WTB’s sticki

Even though it sits close to the top end of our budget, the Orange is the only bike here without a dropper post. Still, on the hill there’s no getting away from the Alpine 6’s raw speed and unique feel. If you’re a ‘point and plough’ kind of rider, the Orange probably isn’t for you. Speed comes courtesy of calculated line choice and a livelier ‘hop and pop’ riding style. The singlepivot design sends a lot of feedback through your feet and this put some of our testers off. But the majority of us really enjoyed our time aboard the Alpine. Its ability to carry and generate speed as you work it through every trail undulation is really quite astounding and it’s no slouch on the climbs either. In the rough stuff it’ll rattle you about more than the plusher multilink bikes here, though upgrading the shock to a Fox Float X EVOL Performance unit (+$90) did help smooth things out a little. And as any Orange owner will tell you, the monocoque chassis isn’t exactly stealth-like when the goi

Focus’s SAM has been around for a few years now and its keen pricing and solid spec mean it’s hard to overlook if you’re in the market for a 160mm-travel bike. Its geometry isn’t too bad, although a slightly lower BB (it currently sits at 350mm) would be an improvement. As it is, it can feel a little nervous in loose turns or when hammering through high-speed chop – and this is only accentuated by the rear end, which uses its travel up too easily and lacks support when you’re trying to load the pedals and drive your weight down through them. The RockShox Yari RC fork is a spec highlight and great considering the price, but we’d swap the Continental Mountain King II tyres out for something a little more supportive and surefooted. Price $3300

The Process manages to balance bump absorption and feedback really well, which means it has a lively ride feel but isn’t afraid of taking a battering when things get ugly. The geometry is bang up to date, with one of the longest reach measurements here and some of the shortest chainstays (475mm and 425mm, respectively, on our large test bike). All the angles are just about bang on too. Unfortunately, while the performance is great, the spec just isn’t quite as good as it should be – especially with a $450 price hike being implemented at the tail end of our testing (the Kona was originally $4500). That’s not to say there’s anything majorly wrong with any of the kit, but at this price we’d expect to see a higher-spec fork, shock and brakes, at the very least. Price $4950

While the Stereo 160 looks quite tall, with a relatively high top tube, it doesn’t feel that way on the trail. That’s partly thanks to the low bottom bracket (BB), which sits 335mm off the ground and has a 14mm drop that sinks you down nicely between the wheel axles. Standover height isn’t quite as good as on the lower-slung bikes here, though. It’s an incredibly easy bike to ride and feels very natural from the get-go, but does come up pretty short in terms of reach, which is an issue for taller riders, considering there’s just one more size up from the 20in bike here. In terms of kit, the Cube is seriously impressive. If we were to be really picky, we’d prefer to see a more forgiving Lyrik fork in place of the Pike, and while the Rock Razor rear tyre gets Schwalbe’s reasonably tacky TrailStar compound and tough SuperGravity casing, its minimal tread means things can get sketchy in the mud. High-fives to the guys at Cube for slapping a well-damped, supertacky Magic Mary VertStar