THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO MOUNTAIN BIKES AND GEAR

VOL.
23

THE BIBLE OF BIKE TESTS I THE MUSKRAT HAS A SERIOUS PELT

the northeast kingdoms

winning formula

JAN/ FE B 20 16

FORKS | DRIVETRAINS | DROPPERS | TIRES

TRAIL-TESTED IN RURAL VERMONT

ROLLING OUT THE NEW FUEL EX 29

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bike all in one.

Fuel EX 29 | trekbikes.com

p: Brice Minnigh r: Joey Schusler, Sam Seward

Pursue your thrill.

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The experience is everything.

PHOTO HANSI JOHNSON

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OPM O.D.L XC domination

Photo: Martin Bissig | Rider: Nino Schurter

011 CO N T E N T S

heavens bench. east burke, vermont I photo: reuben krabbe

gear

features

VOL 23 I NO 01
084 CROSS COUNTRY

119 FORKS

042 BREAKING IT DOWN

090 TRAIL

123 TIRES

We take you behind the

scenes of the annual circus
of The Bible of Bike Tests.

102 ALL MOUNTAIN

127 DROPPERS

112 WOMENS

131 DRIVETRAINS

ON THE COVER
Bikes gear editor Ryan
Palmer rails a corner
on the Ibis Ripley LS
during this years Bible
of Bike Tests. Photographer Reuben Krabbe
captured this image on
Kitchel in the Kingdom
Trails network.

departments
017 START HERE

050 SKETCH

020 LETTERS

058 BUTCHER PAPER

026 PROFILES

062 GRIMY HANDSHAKE

034 BUZZ

138 OFF LINE

068 KINGDOM COME

One decision made by a
single landowner decades
ago in East Burke, Vermont,
spurred singletrack salvation
for the rural town.

014 MA S T H E A D

EDITORIAL
Editor | Brice Minnigh
Photo Editor | Anthony Smith
Art Director | Shaun N. Bernadou
Managing Editor | Nicole Formosa
Gear Editor | Ryan Palmer
Online Editor | Jon Weber
Director of Photography | David Reddick
Studio Photographer | J.P. Van Swae
Senior Editor | Vernon Felton
Editor-At-Large | Mike Ferrentino
Interns | Hayley Helms, Sam McMain
Captain Gravity | Mike Vihon
Senior Writers | Graham Averill, Kristin Butcher
Contributing Writers | Berne Broudy, Ryan Cleek, Kim Cross, Travis Engel, Kurt Gensheimer, Yuri Hauswald, Lacy Kemp,
Devon ONeil, Greg Chopper Randolph, Tess Weaver Strokes, Lydia Tanner

ANTHONY SMITH

Senior Photographers | Mattias Fredriksson, John Gibson, Bruno Long, Sterling Lorence, Jordan Manley,
Scott Markewitz, Stephen Wilde

VOL 23 I NO 01
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017 S TA R T H E R E

by ryan palmer I photo: anthony smith

time counts
AND WE WOULDNT HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY

TWO THOUSAND, FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY TWO. THATS THE

number of hours our 17-person crew worked setting up, riding, photographing, studying, debating and lming 30 of 2016s most enticing bikes for this years Bible of Bike Tests. Heres another number:
1,680. Thats how many miles nine testers rode during our annual
two-week mission to create mountain bikings most comprehensive
and honest buyers guide, now in its seventh year.
That doesnt include the hundreds of hours of planning in the
months leading up to the test, or the thousands of hours spent
writing and editing some 25,000 words, combing through 9,990
images and cutting up 10 hours of raw footage. So if you happen
to be in the market for a new bike, youve come to the right place.
Why do we bother with all this when the status-quo, pay-to-play
model for gear guides is quick, easy and protable? Because those
guides arent designed to benet you; they exist to bring in large
chunks of revenue during off-season advertising months.
You deserve more than that. Were passionate mountain bikers ourselves, and we know how difcult it can be to cut through
the marketing noise when it comes time to fork over our hard-

earned cash for a new bike. We also know how hard it is to believe
product reviews when the same companies being reviewed are
the ones purchasing ads. But we know who really keeps the lights
on around here: you. Its because you continue to read and trust
Bike that companies continue to spend advertising dollars with us.
What kind of friends would we be if we didnt have your back when
youve had ours these past 23 years? This is why each of the 30
bikes in this issue has been carefully chosen based on its merits,
price points and to reect the wide range of disciplines that interest
you (regardless of whether a given brand is an advertiser).
While youre reading this, we might be on the phone with a
company weve annoyed, trying to explain the importance of being
honest. But its all worth it, even if this issue and the 30 accompanying Roundtable Reels videos on bikemag.com help just one
person nd the bike of his or her dreams. And if a new bike isnt
in the budget this year, there are plenty of pages in this issue
with no mention of head angles or chainstay lengths, including
a feature on this years Bible destination, Vermonts Northeast
Kingdom. Enjoy. And thanks for keeping the lights on.

#ALLGUTSALLGLORY

020 L E T T E R S

Floridas limestone backbone.

You ran a story about racing at
Santos Trailhead below Ocala.
May I suggest San Felasco
Hammock State Park next? Its
not at there.
The Grimy Handshake
is always a favorite. Please
remember that it is often your
older readers who still read
print media. Articles like those
above are often why we buy
Bike. Hardtails live as well.
BILL LONGENECKER;
NEPTUNE BEACH, FL

PRINT LIVES

I am now very happy to be

back as a subscriber. Your
December issue (Volume 22/
Number 9) has been a delight.
The feature stories reminded
me of why I read the very
rst issue of Bike more than
22 years ago! SurReality,
Sucker Punched and The
Giving Trail reminded me of
why I still read Bike.
I read the very rst issue of
Bike. A friend, Mark Wilson,
even had several photos
published in Bike. I stopped
reading it for a while when
it seemed like most of the
pictures were of ying bikes
doing stunts. Pictures like the
hot Buzz shot of Nick Quinn
and Reg Mullett in Alberta,
Canada, are fantastic.
I just wish more hardtail bikes were shown and
reviewed. I am a 68-year-old
mountain biker with a $7,000
Felt Six LTD carbon 20-pound
delight. I could have bought
a decent dual-squish bike for
the same money, but my goal
is bike ridingnot pretending
to be a motorcyclist.
My rst mountain-bike ride
was in 1985. I still love the feel
of a hardtail in the mountains
and on the hilly trails of central

Bill, thanks so much for

sticking with us for most of
the past 22 years. Its been a
long ride, with several different editors (and, as a result,
several slightly different
editorial biases). But through
it all weve tried to keep the
main focus on the pure joy of
riding mountain bikes. Like
you, some of our editors still
love riding hardtails, especially
on buff, high-speed ribbons
of owy singletrack. Well do
our best to show some more
magazine love to hardtails this
year, because we also know
that both print and hardtails
are alive and kicking. Ed.

ADVENTURE ADMONISHMENT

I have been a constant subscriber since about 1996 or

so. I am writing today for the
second time since I began
subscribing, and I want to say
thank you to everyone at Bike
for doing such a great job.
I would like to comment on
the recent letter from Jake Otsuka, who stated that he has
been in the bike industry for
about 20 years and that you
guys at Bike wasted an entire
issue on bikepacking (Sep-

WRITE US
Bike welcomes your input, and were suckers for cavalier use of the English
language. Letters may be edited for length, but dont expect us to x all
your spelling mistakes, okay? Send correspondence to: Editor, Bike magazine, 2052 Corte Del Nogal, Carlsbad, CA 92011. Or send an email to:
brice@bikemag.com.

tember/October 2015, Volume

22/Number 7). I would like
to remind Jake that mountain
biking is supposed to be an
adventurous sport and some
of us enjoy really getting out
there. The information in that
issue was very helpful to those
of us who do not read what he
calls a more dedicated mag
for that purpose.
I enjoy all types of biking,
but to be able to get on my
mountain bike and go for days
at a time without assistance is
what it is all about. The adventure of it! So I say to Jake, load
up the gear and give it a try;
you may nd you like it! And
if you happen to be near New
Jersey, I would gladly go for a
ride. Thanks again, Bike, for all
the good years!

ture, and so is our staff. Its all

about getting out and enjoying
the wilderness, and the bike is
an excellent tool for exploring
the backcountry. Ed.

HELPFUL VARIETY

Unlike Jake Otsuka, I found

the recent issue on bikepacking (September/October 2015,
Volume 22/Number 7) very
helpful. I am sure that every
trail Jake rides is downhill
singletrack heaven, but where
I live there is a lot of at
between the fun. I have been
planning a 480-kilometer trip
along the Greenbelt Route
here in Ontario, Canada, ever
since it opened last year. Keep
up the variety!
TREVOR HUGHES; BY EMAIL

JOE GORMAN; KEYPORT, NJ

Right on, Joe. Mountain biking

is denitely all about adven-

After reading all these letters,

we wonder if Jake Otsuka will
give bikepacking a try? Ed.

What a great September/October (Volume 22/Number 7) issue! I believe the

stories and photography will inspire those of us who normally only use our bikes
for single-day adventures to take the leap and give an extended trip a try.
There are two points, however, in which I think Bike could have done a
better jobespecially considering the overall tone of the issue was encouraging those who have never been bikepacking to give it a try.
First, there is no mention of Leave-No-Trace ethics in the issue. With
more users of all kinds venturing into the backcountry, it is absolutely necessary for Leave No Trace to be practiced. The recent example
of the Oregon Outback race being cancelled as a result of
riders not following Leave No Trace illustrates the importance
of this common practice.
Second, I believe that you would be hard-pressed to
nd a seasoned backcountry enthusiast who would venture into the wild for an overnight trip without a sleeping
pad. While at rst glance the value of a sleeping pad appears to only be in the comfort it affords the user, equally
important is the insulation that it provides. A sleeping
pad is a key part of a well-thought-out sleep system that
ensures the user is able to properly thermo-regulate under
all conditions. Having a sleeping pad be suggested as
optional does not seem wise.
Bikepacking appears to be taking off. Lets be sure we
are all good stewards of our resources and that we are properly prepared to encounter the elements that we may face.
KRIS NESSLER; BY EMAIL

Kris, were thrilled that you enjoyed our bikepacking-themed

issue, and we agree with you that bikepackers should follow
the Leave-No-Trace rule. And like you, we believe in the
insulating properties of a sleeping pad. For your helpful suggestions, were sending you this 2016 Fox
Factory 34 Float fork. It should also help
you stay warm in the wild. Ed.

I
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Barry Wicks/Fontana California. Photo: Kevin McRee

KONAWORLD.COM

CAN YOU FREERIDE A FAT BIKE?

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trail geometry, the Blizzard rides like a proper mountain bike.
Explore new terrain, fall on your face, venture beyond the
groomers and snowshoe trails! Can you freeride a fat bike?
You can and you should.
BIKES.COM/BLIZZARD
Rider: Geoff Gulevich
Photo: Fraser Vaage
Location: Coastal Mountains, British Columbia

ANTHONY SMITH

026 B I K E T E S T BR IG A D E

RYAN PALMER

BRICE MINNIGH

VERNON FELTON

Bikes gear editor was voted most likely

to have a heart attack at this years Bible
of Bike Tests. After his third year in the illustrious role of Lead Bro Herdera title
he borrows for two weeks each year from
managing editor, Nicole FormosaPalmer
handles the stress like a seasoned pro.
Like his potentially career-limiting move of
getting in the face of editor-in-chief, Brice
Minnigh (his boss), after assuming he had
left the luncheon meat ensconced in a
swarm of ies. And he was Cool Hand Luke
when UPS thought the best way to make
up for losing contents from a box was to
replace the missing items with a random
starter motor.
When not destroying his body with stress
and vices, he does so by riding short-travel
29ers downhill as fast as possible. He loves
ow trails as much as anyone else, but lives
for the kind of techy, natural singletrack he
grew up riding on the East Coast. The only
passion that Palmer has had longer than
riding mountain bikes is working on them.
FAVORITE RIDE: Ryan picked the Ibis
Ripley LS. No wait, the Trek Fuel EX 9 29.
Crap. Both bikes were an absolute riot to
ride. For the money, the Trek is unbeatable. It also manuals better, has a slightly
longer toptube and its suspension performance is incredible.
But the Ibis Ripley LS blew Ryans
mind with its cornering agility, snappy,
yet planted demeanor and supple but
supportive suspension feel. It was also 3
pounds lighter (and $3,300 more) than
the Trek. He preferred the Ibis, but it
wasnt a fair ght. More people can afford
the Trek, which means more smiles on
trails. For Ryan, that tipped the scales in
favor of the Fuel.

As the editor of Bike, Brice is supposed to

be the boss of the editorial operation. But
in reality, he spends more time taking orders
than actually giving them. And his cyclical
deadline-chasing patterns bear more resemblance to a hamster on a wheel than
anything one could reasonably expect from
a publications edit leader. As such, Brice
has become an invaluable source of comic
relief for Bikes staff and contributors, some
of whom have made playing practical jokes
on him a part of their daily routine.
Despite the constant abuse, Brice has
somehow survived all seven Bible of Bike
Tests campaigns, and hes become a crusader for the ever-rened testing process
and the importance of solid journalism to
quality bike reviews and videos.
Though he loves riding everything from
pinner XC race whips to full-blown DH
sleds, Brice can usually be found aboard
a 5- or 6-inch-travel bikeeven if hes on
a ride with extensive climbs. For this and
many other reasons, the Bike staff has
come to consider Brice his own worst enemy, and fellow editors point out his masochistic streak every time he absconds
from the ofce on some ill-conceived adventure in a remote part of Afghanistan,
South America or a former Soviet Republic
such as Georgia.
FAVORITE RIDE: Though Brice is a
staunch supporter of medium-travel 29ers,
he has an annoying habit of raving about
most of the Bible test bikes as soon as he
returns from his laps. This year he professed his love for at least a dozen different
steeds, but the ones he ended up stealing
the most for extra-credit rides were the
Yeti SB4.5c and the Specialized Camber
Comp Carbon 29.

Despite some 30 years of vowing to employ

chamois cream before his next ride, Vernon rarely, if ever, remembers to do so. He
has been an editor at Bike, in one capacity or another, for the past 17 years (give
or take a few months, during which he
claimed to have lost his cell phone, forgot
that email existed and was super sorry
about the whole affair).
Despite these and myriad other shortcomings, Vernon is back, performing his
role at The Bible of Bike Testssomething
that amounts to riding bikes, knocking
himself unconscious and eating more bacon than he is rightfully due. As moderator
of the Roundtable Reels videos, he also
rubs his chin thoughtfully, curses less frequently than usual and assumes the role
of senile-but-friendly grandfather gure.
Vernon lives in Bellingham, Washington,
and is fond of anything made of wool.
FAVORITE RIDE: Vernon always approaches this as less an exercise in pointing his nger at the best bike of the bunch
and more a matter of answering the following question: If a pack of chimpanzees/IRS
agents/orcas stole every bike he owns and
he could replace those bikes with just one
model from this lot, which would it be? The
bike in question would need to be versatilesomething capable of both long crosscountry rides and technically demanding
descents.
This year, that bike proved to be Pivots
Mach 429 Trail. It wasnt an easy decisionthe Ibis Ripley LS and the Yeti SB4.5c
nipped closely at the Pivots heels and were
a bit more fun to just toss aroundbut the
Pivot does everything an aggressive trail
bike should and doesnt harbor a single
crappy component.

PORTRAITS: REUBEN KRABBE

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ANTHONY SMITH

028 B I K E T E S T BR IG A D E

NICOLE FORMOSA

MIKE FERRENTINO

JON WEBER

This year was Nicoles third stroll down

Bible-testing lane, and the experience
continues to be a fruitful exercise in how
to balance co-habiting with the ripe riding gear of more than a dozen fellow crew
members and maintaining her sanity. For
her, the most interesting part of the Bible
has been seeing the evolution of womens
mountain bikesfrom the days of low-end
frames hung with a sacriced parts selection to the batch of legitimate and smartly
specd bikes we tested this year.
Nicole started mountain biking 10 years
ago while she was living in Colorados high
country. When the snow nally melted that
July, she went to a second-hand sports store
to nd a distraction for the eight weeks of
summer and wound up with a $200 aluminum hardtail. She fumbled her way up and
down enough alpine singletrack to catch
the bug, and has been riding ever since. A
career journalist, shes really pulling for the
apostrophe and feels like it will regain the
respect it deserves any day now.
FAVORITE RIDE: As usual, there were
multiple worthy contenders for the gold star
of the test, but for Nicole, the Yeti SB5c Beti
was the bike that made her heart beat fastest. The ideal bike for Nicoles home trails
in Laguna Beach, California, is one that can
make the countless steep re-road climbs
pass quickly and as pain-free as possible,
but still handle the chunky-rock singletrack
descents and zero-traction dirt inherent
to southern Californias trails. The Betis
Switch Innity platform is the best-climbing
suspension shes ever experienced and,
that, combined with a lightweight frame,
balanced geometry and a very capable 5
inches of travel, makes the Beti a worthy
companion for everyday rides.

At best a mediocre rider, Mike has more

bad habits ingrained from riding bikes
since the horrible years of the 1980s than
most other people can hope to accumulate
in their natural lifetimes. He bums out other
testers because he cant manage to wean
himself from his antipodean colonial need
to run the front brake on the right side of
the handlebar. And, like Travis Engel, he
also over-tightens his pedals.
He is, however, somewhat valuable at
gauging suspension performance, due in
no small part to his unerring ability to case
the landing of even the smallest, most benign double. And, given that his riding style
has been most charitably described as like
a monkey fornicating with a football, he is
constantly managing to nd new ways of
ruining corner apexes and can occasionally
surprise the other riders by not always being
last down the hill. In all other, non-bike-test
related aspects his reputation precedes him
and is probably deserved. Not the least of
which is his tendency to abuse commas.
FAVORITE RIDE: The Transition Patrol
is the bike that won Mikes heart this year,
in spite of the eld being stacked with bikes
that wereall the way across the board
hard to fault. Normally the trend of bikes
getting longer and slacker up front would
freak Mike out, but theres a concurrent
steepening of seat angles and a trend to
keep chainstays short, and the results are
that these long and slack bikes are a whole
lot more balanced than Mike rst expected.
The Transition epitomizes and capitalizes
on this trend, and it is a personal gamechanger for Mike. On a workmanlike level,
the Patrol is well conceived and cleanly executed, and thankfully retains a threaded
bottom bracket.

This was Jons rst Bible since joining

Bike in early 2015. The rest of the staff
thinks its hilarious how his last name
ts his position as online editor, and he
thinks its pretty funny how long it takes
Brice Minnigh to spread cream cheese
on a bagel.
Instead of nding ways to make more
money, J-Webs has spent his short career nding ways to make mountain biking
more affordable, working at a shop in his
adopted hometown of Burlington, Vermont,
before taking on his current gig at Bike.
Returning to one of the most picturesque areas in Vermont sent him into a
downward spiral of homesickness, but
playing a part in the reviews he often referred to as a shophand was well worth the
despondency.
FAVORITE RIDE: Evils Insurgent, Ibis
Ripley LS and Salsas Pony Rustler come to
mind. But it wasnt until the better part of
our two weeks in Vermont was up that Jon
met the one that really got under his skin:
Treks Fuel EX 9 29.
Jon wasnt even testing the Fuel. He
was out for a ride with CJ Scott, the trails
manager at the Kingdom Trails, when the
bike blew him away with its understated
handling and efciency. It pedaled exceedingly well, even with the shock fully
open, and its mild-mannered handling
meshed with the Kingdom Trails terrain
like eggs and potatoes.
The Trek Fuel EX 9 29 is a truly balanced ride, ready for anything from crosscountry races and long rides in the wilderness to just messing around on your
favorite backyard trails. Plus, at $4,000,
it happens to be one of this years most
affordable options.

030 B I K E T E S T BR IG A D E

KRISTIN BUTCHER

LACY KEMP

TRAVIS ENGEL

Dabbling in everything from costume-laden

races to bike trials has given Kristin enormous respect for bikes and riders of all
forms. These days, the Butcher Paper
columnist enjoys riding around Boulder,
Colorado, creating socially awkward situations through thinly veiled innuendo and
holding out hope that her forever-Floridian
legs will stop hating her on climbs.
When she learned she would be able
to take part in this years Bible testing,
Butcher drooled even more than normal,
excited to spend time at Bible Camp, where
she is constantly reminded of the passion,
integrity and calamity that goes into this
magazine. With her garage full of cobbledtogether bikes and her bank account full
of cobbled-together payment plans, she
understands that buying a new bike is no
small undertaking, but a moment that can
dene a decade of adventures.
FAVORITE RIDE: Asking someone who
prioritizes bikes over darn near everything
else to choose a favorite is a form of cruel
and unusual punishment. The Cannondale
Habit and Yeti SB5c Beti made Kristin not
entirely hate climbing, while the Juliana
Furtado XX1 and Scott Contessa Genius
700 let her glimpse the beauty of perfectly
balanced rides. She even indulged her
love of stupid lines aboard the Specialized
Rhyme 6Fattie.
But it was the Liv Intrigue SX that made
her want to grab it by the handlebars, straddle its sculpted frame and see just how fast
she could make it go downhill. The term
plush has been used and abused ever
since elastomers went the way of the dodo
bird, but Kristin insists its the most tting
descriptor of a bike so aptly named for the
feeling it elicits.

Residing in a funky tree house in Bellingham, Washington, Lacy has trails right out
her front door. So shes usually out tooling
around on her bike or lost somewhere in
the mountains with her smelly dog, Roscoe. Born and raised an east coaster, Lacy
moved west to study criminal justice at the
University of Washington, which really is just
another way of saying she didnt really have
a clue what she wanted to do after college.
Writing organically found its way into
her life via short ctional stories that no one
ever read and comical blog posts about her
ridiculous life that people found somewhat
entertaining.
Lacy has worked in the bike industry for
the last 7 years and is the owner of From
the Chairlift Marketing, keeping herself
busy as an athlete manager, lm producer
and writer. She believes good conversation is a lost art and hopes to resurrect that
through her stories.
FAVORITE RIDE: When considering
price, the way Lacy rides and the terrain
she prefers, the Liv Intrigue SX was an
easy choice. No, its not carbon, and no, it
doesnt have a top-of-the-line spec, but it
does do what matters most to Lacy: It absolutely hauls ass downhill.
Lacy is the type of rider who will sacrice ease of climbing for a machine that
makes her giddy while descending. The
Intrigue SX doesnt exactly crush ascents,
but it performed better on climbs than Lacy
anticipated.
And though the Intrigues $4,475 price
tag isnt necessarily what she would call
cheap, it certainly wasnt the most expensive bike of the testand Lacy felt it was
considerably more fun than some of the
higher-priced options.

Part consumer advocate, part devils advocate, Travis strives to look at bikes from the
diverse perspectives of the riders who will be
buying them. His two decades of shop experience have made him quite nerdy about
the nuts and bolts behind both new and old
bicycle technology. Those years have also
made him wary of the rising median price of
todays high-end offerings.
Travis doesnt assume that you have a
bottomless bike-buying budget, but if an expensive bike happens to feature something
valuable that you cant get for less, hell call
it a bargain. When hes not weighing your
next bikes pros and cons, Travis is building big dirt jumps and running a small bike
company. His bikes fuse BMX and mountain, which also happens to be a good way
to describe his riding style.
FAVORITE RIDE: The Bible favorites
are meant to be soul mates, not one-night
stands. If Travis wanted the latter, he might
have picked the Norco Revolver for its
quickness or the Evil Insurgent for its condence. But the bike he could see himself
waking up beside every morning is the
Santa Cruz Bronson CC.
On paper, the Bronson has the numbers
of an all-mountain brawler, but its neutral
cockpit pedaled as comfortably as a trail
bike. And depending on suspension setup,
it can feel progressive and lively. Though
Travis enjoys charging through chatter, leaning deep into some gushy shocks, the Bronson behaves with a little more elegance.
Travis likes breaking his tires free of the dirt,
both horizontally and vertically, and this bike
slides and leaps with consistency and grace.
Theres also the lower-priced C version, so
you can nd true love for less than the cost
of a wedding ring.

ALL-NEW
FOR 2016

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034/035 B U Z Z

matt yaki. revelstoke, british columbia | photo: ryan creary

036/037 B U Z Z

brandon semenuk. les deux alpes, france | photo: ale di lullo

gee atherton. windham, new york | photo: sven martin

conor macfarlane and mike hopkins. rossland, british columbia | photo: bruno long

038/039 B U Z Z

ryan howard. lake tahoe, california | photo: ian collins

darren berrecloth and richie schley. cajon pass, california | photo: ale di lullo

brandon semenuk. sunshine coast, british columbia | photo: adrian marcoux

040/041 B U Z Z

paul basagoitia. carson city, nevada | photo: baxter redfern

BREAKING
IT DOWN
A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
TO THE BIBLES CREATION

BY BRIC E MINNIGH
PHOTOGRAPHY BY REUBEN KRABBE
Welcome, dear reader, to our seventh-annual Bible of Bike
Tests. The magazine youre holding in your handsor reading
on your laptop or tabletis just the beginning of what well be
bringing you in the coming months. This issue is meant to
give you a broad overview of the years most promising bikes,
components and soft goods, just as youre starting to gear up
for another season of riding.
We know that mountain bikes and parts dont come cheap.
And the decision of how to spend your hard-earned money is a
big one. So we want to make sure you have all the information you
need to make the choices that are right for you.
Over the next few months, well be publishing extended reviews of all 30 bikes in this issue on our newly redesigned website, bikemag.com. Each of these reviews will have a corresponding Roundtable Reels video featuring our testers often-lively
debates over how the bikes performed, all complemented by clips
of us actually testing the bikes. We hope this candid approach will
give you a real sense of what these bikes are all aboutbefore you
shell out the cash or plunk down the plastic.
042/043

BREA K IN G IT DOW N

Before you dive into the reviews, wed like to give you a
glimpse of what it takes to produce this issue and 30-plus
videos (see Start Here, page 17, for the actual time tally).
For the seventh year running, our editors and a seasoned
crew of testers convened at another world-class riding destinationthis time the Kingdom Trails of East Burke, Vermontto spend a couple of weeks trail-testing the best new
bikes and parts. We burned the candle at both ends, riding
bikes, discussing bikes, photographing bikes and lming
bikes. This is when we gather the experiences, information
and documentation needed to produce this content.
But the process of creating The Bible starts long before
this. Throughout each year, our staff stays abreast of new
technology and standardssuch as this years new rash of
plus-size rigsthat are changing bikes (and the way we ride
them). After discussing what we think are the most important new developments, our gear editor, Ryan Palmer, drafts
the list of bikes to be covered and starts pestering marketing managers to send us production models. This year, we
settled on 30 bikes spanning cross-country, trail and allmountain categoriesincluding six womens-specic models tested by three women with diverse riding backgrounds.

CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY

For the rst week of October 2015, courier vans dropped
off countless boxes at the former horse stables of Burklyn
Hall, an historic 35-room mansion where we were lucky
enough to be based (see Kingdom Come, page 68).
After opening the parcels lled with bikes, forks, shocks,
tires, brakes, dropper posts, helmets, pads and apparel,
we divvied it all out to individual testers. Then this years
mechanicAlex McAndrew, a local pro racer and longtime
shophandbuilt up 30 bikes and prepared them for testing.
Enter the real fun. We then spend the better part of two
weeks shredding the Kingdom Trails and Q Burke Mountain Bike Parks gravity runs. Bikes are assigned to specic
testers, who set them up in accordance with manufacturer
recommendations, personal weight and riding style.
Shock pumps and multi-tools stay glued to each tester.
Over and over, air pressure in forks, shocks and tires are
measured. Sag is set. Tire pressures are adjusted. Cockpits are personalized. All these settings are meticulously
recorded on a test form that each rider must ll out for
each bike. Ever since our rst Bible boot camp in 2009,
the completion of these forms has been a crucial step in
the process, as it allows testers to note their impressions
while the experience is still fresh in their minds.

Clockwise from top left: trailhead test-form session; the womens

test crew takes a break at the bike stable; measuring the shock
stroke to dial in sag; Lacy Kemp completes yet another test form;
Burklyn Halls dining-room table became our makeshift ofce for
two weeks; Grimy Handshake columnist Mike Ferrentino has
grimy hands because he doesnt wear gloves when he rides.
044/045

B R E A K IN G IT D O WN

ANTHONY SMITH

BEHIND THE SCENES

ANTHONY SMITH

ANTHONY SMITH

ANTHONY SMITH

Clockwise from top left: trail time is the best time; feeding the
laughter; Vermonts fall colors in full force; lmmaker Rupert
Walker always hustles to get the clips; lm-crew shuttle; we
converted this former horse stable into a bike barn; mechanic
Alex McAndrew is usually smiling; time to lm the Roundtables.

Everyone is encouraged to be brutally honest with

their thoughts on ride quality, suspension design and
performance, aesthetics and the array of parts on each
bike (and how all of this measures up to the bikes price
tag, as well as to the other bikes in a given category).

RIDE AND DINE

Of course the actual riding is the most important part
of the entire operation. Each bike is ridden hard on
back-to-back hot laps of test tracks suited to the bikes
intended purpose. This enables each tester to immediately compare how bikes in the same travel range stack
up against each other.
Our nine-person test squad includes riders with
wildly varied backgrounds and strengths (see Bike
Test Brigade on page 26), which helps ensure that our
nal assessments reect a broad range of perspectives.
With veteran magazine editors, ex-racers, bike shop
employees, a former World Cup mechanic and a token
dirt jumper on the team, weve got our bases covered.
Once the sun goes down, we head to the mansion,
shower and gorge ourselves on a gourmet meal (prepared by our talented chef, Anna Poutous) before lming our nightly Roundtable Reels discussions. These
talkswhich often turn into animated debatesgive us
the chance to exchange opinions and ultimately synthesize them into our nal reviews. We hope theyll give you
greater insight into how testers truly feel about the bikes.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ARGUMENTS

Cameras and lights are set up, beers are cracked and
the on-camera Roundtable Reels debates begin. Bikes
are gloried and vilied. Suspension platforms are picked
apart. Components are evaluated against sticker prices.
Arguments over the advent of plus-size bikes ensue.
Jokes are made at each others expense. Even the occasional insult is hurled. Then all the empty beer bottles
are put into recycling bins and everyone goes to sleep for
a few hours. The whole charade is repeated, day after day,
until all the bikes have been properly evaluated.
When the trail testing, photography and lming are
done, everyone heads home. Reviews of bikes and components are written, edited and fact-checked. Photos are
carefully selected and incorporated into the magazines
layout. Footage is reviewed, sliced up and transformed
into the Roundtable Reels videos well be rolling out on
bikemag.com over the next three months. And by the
time the ink in this years Bible is dry, well already be
planning next years.
046/047

BREA K IN G IT DOW N

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050 S K E T C H

by berne broudy I photos: anthony smith

dirt hero
KNIGHT IDES LEGACY LOOMS LARGE IN EAST BURKE

WHEN KNIGHT IDE WAS 27 YEARS OLD, HE WENT ON HIS

rst real mountain bike ride, joining his younger sister Lilias on
the trail. I puked on that ride, he says. I felt like an idiot with
my jeans and boots on, riding my crappy, rigid Giant Yukon. But
something on that ride woke something up inside me.
Now 42, Ide is considered the godfather of northern Vermont
mountain biking and the unofcial mayor of the town of East
Burkehome of the Kingdom Trailswho brought downhill and
enduro-riding to Burke, then took it to levels no one imagined possible. Ide brushes off the praise. Hes more interested in talking
about his latest passion project: developing a backcountry hut-tohut ride on 900 acres of private land near his hometown.
Born in Brownington, Vermont, and raised by hippie parents
on an 80-acre sheep farm, Ide grew up skiing, shing and hiking.
By 19, he was a dad and didnt recreate much. He raised his son,
built things from stone and skied when he could.
Then at 28, Ide stubbed out his cigarette for good, walked

into East Burke Sports and rode home on a Trek 6500. In the
rst week, he atted on every ride. I always wanted to make my
bike y through the air, he says. The rst week I blew 10 tubes.
Jumping is all I wanted to do.
Ide upgraded his bike parts and eventually ditched the Trek for
a Santa Cruz Bullit. Then someone from Sinister Bikes spotted him
at a jump demo and gave him a contract. He started to travel to
destinations in Canada and the western U.S. where downhill was a
thing. Every place I went, I realized that East Burke could offer all
the same aspects of mountain biking I was traveling for, so I came
home, says Ide.
By the mid 2000s, Ide and his crew, the NEK Freeriders, were
poaching runs on hiking trails and deer paths on nearby Burke Mountain. A ranger busted the group, but the nonprot Kingdom Trails Association (KTA) negotiated with the state to legalize Ides rogue trails.
We trusted Knight and knew he would take care of those trails
and build more, says Tim Tierney, executive director of the KTA.

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052 SKETCH
He helped us understand a new kind of riding, and the potential
we had here.
Ide hosted unofcial freeride festivals, recruiting riders on the
MTBR forums to ll entries. The runs were barely more than moose
trails. Riders slept and partied at the campground, loaded into Ides
dump truck with bikes and shuttled to the summit. They rode Wear
and Tear, named for the toll it took on riders bodies and bikes. Two
out of 50 people would ride whole thing, says Ide. Bikes would be
bouncing off the slopes and ying off the mountain.
That gave Ide the idea for a new business: a shuttle service
to the top of Burke Mountain. He bought an old airport bus with
250,000 miles on it, and charged shuttlers $5 a ride or $20 for the
day. Thats when he rst met local pro Alex McAndrew, who now
rides for Transition Bikes. We did three laps before the brakes
started smoking profusely, then Knight ipped between shuttling
us in his dump truck and his pickup truck, McAndrew says.
Ide is a ticker tape of ideas. Look past his square jaw and gaptoothed smile, through the goggles or safety glasses, and his profoundly deep and intelligent eyes reveal his passion, energy, drive
and determination. A hardworking Yankee to the core, his fundamental tenet is that hard work gets you what you want.
He built an indoor jump park in a family-owned building in St.
Johnsbury. And when he wanted dirt jumps in his backyard, he
built them. I have a compulsion to be in the air on my mountain
bike, and I have a construction company that owns excavation
equipment, he explains. So I built mountain bike jumps. His
mini mounds and tame tabletops grew to legendary proportions
over time, both physically and anecdotally, with pro riders and production companies seeking them out.
Ide dismisses the awe and wonder over his private park. For
every hour of excavation time Ive put into my acre-and-a-half of
backyard dirt, ridersincluding a lot of famous handshave put in
10 times that in shovel time. Timo Pritzel, Aaron Chase and Cam
Zink have all helped sculpt Ides jumps. Segments of Kranked 7
Daymien Ide

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EQUIPPED

054/055 S K E T C H
were lmed in Ides yard, as was an episode of Chase, Zink and
Dave Smutoks Hold on Loosely tour. Red Bull lmed there for
its Signature Series promo video. Its no claim to fame, but its
pretty cool for someone who loves that part of mountain biking as
much as I do to get texts from friends all over the country saying,
Hey, I saw your backyard on NBC today, says Ide.
Digging in the backyard is also how Ide became a dad for the
second time. His then-girlfriend (now wife) Jen was working as
a para-educator in neighboring Lyndonville. She brought home
a weekend guest named Daymien, an unsettled kindergartner
and foster kid with a reputation for being uncontrollable, who had
bounced between homes.
All I did on the weekends back then was dig and ride bikes,
says Ide. The kid spent the whole weekend digging with me and
riding in the backyard. I couldnt believe how much he loved to dig. If
youre into the freeride aspect of mountain biking, theres a connection that transcends generations. Most avid riders have experienced
that connection. I made that connection with this kid.
Ide and Jen had never talked about having kids, adopting or getting married, but when Daymien was headed to yet another foster
home, they both wanted to protect him. They became his foster family, then spent six months tryingand failingto convince friends to
adopt him. At that point, our choice was to adopt ourselves or send
him packing, says Ide. We were in love with himso it really wasnt
a choice at all. And Ide could relate to Day. He saw something at
our house that he wanted and he worked hard to get it.
We would joke growing up that he was a true knightalways

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Handmade in Germany.

kind, generous, taking care of people, says Lilias. Knight is how

he rides, concurs Tierney. Hes all in, going for it with everything
he jumps intohe backs up his words with his actions.
If you didnt know Ides rsum, itd be easy to pass him off as a
guy whose greatest talent is with a shovelafter all, hes one of the
best-respected trailbuilders in the East. But that would be severely
underselling him. He sees the possibilities, not the obstacles, and
acts on them, says Lilias. He pushes the limits with everything
he does; he works his ass off, he does things right and hes really
damn smart. Its possible that he thinks about bike-related stuff

Drift

A typical Wednesday
summer evening at
Ides place, post-jump
session.

every second of every hour of every day.

She might be right. Currently on Ides to-do list: Make sure
Burke produces top riders. Hes coached kids before, but this year
Ide created the East Burke DH Enduro Team. I want to make
mountain biking part of the average Vermonters life, like soccer or
basketball, a sport offered in school, says Ide. In B.C. and the
Pacic Northwest, riding is part of the culture. I want that for Burke
and Vermont as well. And its happening.
Thats because Ide is making it happen.
He also recently revived his guide service, IdeRideMTB Tours,

with McAndrew and his girlfriend, Ella Skalwold, to bring more riders
to the Kingdom. He employs seasonally ve people building trails, and
Ides typically out working in the dirt by 5:30 a.m. and hitting jumps
until dark. He also manages rental properties for mountain bikers.
I do it for the love of it. I never really thought I would end up
staying here in Caledonia County my whole life, says Ide. But
when I got into mountain biking, that clinched it for me and its
what kept me here. I see joy on a riders face when they ride great
trail. It makes me hoot and holler and yell and scream. It gives me
an awesome feeling inside.

26
.5
27
29

Hook.

X-King 2.2 /2.4 Mountain King 2.2 / 2.4

Trail King 2.2/2.4

Baron 2.3 /2.5

Der Kaiser Projekt 2.4

NOBODY PUTS CAMBER

IN THE CORNER
Nothing should be dened by what it isnt. Not big enough,
not small enoughwhatever. The Camber is just ne where it is.
Its the ultimate speed-loving trail bike, after all. So bring this
magazine with you on your next rideyoure going to need some
reading material while youre waiting for your buddies at the top
and bottom of the trail this weekend. specialized.com/camber

058 B U T C H E R PAP ER

by kristin butcher I photo: ian collins

learning curve
THE BEST PART OF PROGRESSING IS PASSING IT ON

AT LAST COUNT, THERE WERE 24 BIKES SCATTERED ABOUT MY

housethe result of a penchant for cheap steeds and a proclivity toward never getting rid of them. Thankfully, Im surrounded by
wheeled miscreants who think it makes perfect sense to stuff two
dozen bikes in a shoebox-sized house where a family of four shares
one semi-reliable toilet. I own bikes with sissy bars and drop bars,
xed gears and freewheels. There are trikes and fatbikes (I know, I
know) and something for everyone to love and hate. But out of all the
bikes embedded in my life, only one incites the same question from
every person who sees it.
Sowheres the seat?
My trials bike, a tiny whip of a thing with 20-inch wheels and
an obnoxiously wide handlebar, is an odd duck among a gaggle of
goons. There is no seat because this bike wasnt born for speed, but
to be coaxed into stillness and peppered with explosions of nesse.
For years, I measured my progress in miles per hourthat is until I saw a trials rider balanced perfectly atop a handrail. My sense
of self-preservation would prevent me from ever doing the same
thing, but that didnt mean I couldnt try. Soon, I sandwiched every
ride with increasingly long practice sessions. Feeble track-stand
attempts punctuated by embarrassing public falls gave me thighs
speckled with black-and-blue remnants from my failed efforts at
retaining control.
Over time, the bruises faded and track stands counted in frac-

tions of a second grew until I couldnt keep track of the minutes.

Next came attempts to endo without going over, pivoting on my
front wheel, drawing quizzical looks from maternity ward nurses as
I queued up Ryan Leechs Mastering the Art of Trials.
Id invested thousands of hours practicing, but I still couldnt
perform the hallmark skill of trials riding. I couldnt magically pedal
up and begin hopping on my rear wheel. After splurging on a seatless bike designed specically for stupid parking-lot tricks, I grew
giddy at the thrill of instant gratication. The rst night after assembling the bike, I put my feet on the pedals and with a ick of
my foot, I cranked up onto a picnic table, hopped 3 feet over to a
rock spire and pivoted to a 4-inch railroad tie.
Then my jerk of an alarm clock did its job and my superb skills
faded back into the land of the subconscious. With the taste of
success (and morning breath) fresh in my mouth, I groggily rolled
out the door ready to turn the rear-wheel hop portion of my dream
into a reality. Except, I couldnt do a damned thing. I couldnt track
stand or pivot or balance on my front wheel. The only skill I carried
over to this new bike was my well-honed ability to fall. Once again,
I practiced and fell and practiced again. I waited for the bruises
to heal until the world slowed down as I stood in awe, perfectly
motionless. Slowly, my skills transferred over to the silly new bike,
but my progression stopped just shy of the trick that brought this
bike to my quiver in the rst place.

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060 BUTCHER PAPER

Thats about the time I met Doug White
in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Doug doesnt
wear a cape, though he rightfully could.
Years ago, he performed with Cirque du
Soleil, directed the bike trials portion of the
1996 Atlanta Olympic ceremonies and designed trials courses at NORBA races back
when that was a thing. While Doug could
rattle off an impressive history, his proudest
achievement isnt found on any rsum.
My son is better than me, Doug whispered with a sheepish grin. But dont tell
him I said so.
Doug adjusted my brakes and changed the
tilt of my handlebar while I machine-gunned
questions toward him. Then, on a sidewalk in
downtown Chattanooga, we practiced. Before
meeting Doug, I spent six months practicing
pedaling up into a rear-wheel hop. Three days
later, I nailed it for the rst time.
Thats why I love skills. Skills are intangible, and yet they can be passed down like
a family heirloom or a bad meatloaf recipe.
In Wisconsin, I met a 10-year-old kid
named Tommy. He came out to help build
trails but couldnt stop asking about my
bike with no seat. His already-big eyes
doubled in size when I handed it over to
him. When he asked where to start, I taught
him how to stand still. Then I showed him
how to shift to the nose of the bike without
falling over (except for when he did). He
practiced for two hours before he had to
run home. I still wonder if his mom went
to the garage the next day to nd the seats
removed from all their bicycles.
On a recent weekend, when fall was igniting high-mountain aspens, I headed out for a
ride with my 6-year-old son Logan. After riding trails around Mud Lake and an obligatory
crawdad-catching break, Logan spotted a
series of stairs. There were 21, which I know
because he counts everything. Out loud.
Can I ride down those stairs? he asked.
Prior to this, Logan had ridden off the
occasional curb, usually by accident. After
a few tips and demonstrations, I stepped to
the side and buried my parental nervousness under a smile. He began pedaling and
I ran beside him just as I did back when he
rst learned to ride a bike. I held onto hope
that I could prevent him from falling, but I
knew the truth. Falling is lifes way of teaching us how to get back up again.
The autumn colors were beautiful, but
they paled next to my sons dimpled grin as
he cranked uphill to try again (and again).
Its still too early to tell if biking will be his
thing in the same way its mine, but for a
moment I glimpsed a future where I whisper to a stranger, My son is better than
me, but dont tell him I said so.

062 G R I M Y H A N DS H AK E

by mike ferrentino I photo: paris gore

thanks given
IN APPRECIATION OF THE FINE LINE BETWEEN OBSESSION AND PASSION

THIS IS BEING WRITTEN 23 DAYS AFTER RETURNING FROM

the annual frenzy of bike testing the staff of this magazine gets to
enjoy/endure each year. In two weeks and two days, the seasonal
pageant of gluttony, revisionist history and family weirdness known
as Thanksgiving will take place, rendering the entire nation comatose before sunset. It is mid-November in mid-coastal California,
and the early predictions of a solid El Nio winter are already bearing
some credible fruit. The past two Mondays have dumped about an
inch apiece on the land here, and the conditions are being met with
expected rapture by the dust-parched and traction-starved local cyclists here at the end of a long drought.
Rain is great news on the patch of dirt I co-own with a good
friend. We have a couple miles of fresh singletrack agged, and
once the skywater hits the soil here the dirt goes from concretehard to easily workable with a shovel overnight. Soil that was baked
almost white during the many scorching months of summer turns

chocolate and fragrant, goes right where it is thrown and packs

down beautifully. Now, before the somewhat-fallow poison oak
sprouts into thick forests of green as the days lengthen again, is
the time to lay out ribbons of trail, cut in benches, sculpt berms,
repair the ravages of the previous year, take lines out of our heads
and start sweating them onto the ground.
I love this time of year. I always have. Once upon a long, long time
ago, in a seasonally reversed hemisphere, it meant Sundays spent
racing motocross in an exquisite mudscape. The smell of two-stroke
pre-mix, back when people still ran Castrol R in their gas, mingled
with the heady scent of wet dirt drying on expansion chambers and
cylinder ns; that shoots me straight through the heart and makes
me feel the dewy grass between my 11-year-old toes. A couple of
decades later, and the silvery light of winters short days were all about
skinsuits, step-through dismounts, embrocation and the gracefully
choreographed agony of cyclocross. Now, that same feeling in the air

FLOW
THE 2016
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064 GRIMY HANDSHAKE

brings with it a new sense of anticipation, as those rst shovel
bites into soft earth herald an entirely different form of physical
self-abuse. Dirt under the nails, hands growing new callouses
atop old, leaning into the steady rhythm of shovel chunk and
swing, learning to pace the work the same way you have to
learn not to run too fast out of the gate because this is all going
to take a whole lot longer than your crosst workout, bub; next
to being a lumberjack, this is about the most perfect thing to do
with a winter. This is the season of digging.
Obsession and passion have always shared different
sides of the same coin. For me, that coin ip has at times
been illuminating and at others carried damnation. Passion
is the dreamscape of inspiration. It brings with it the ability to
transcend ones own state of being and envision something
more. It also can teeter straight overboard into obsession
without warning, leaving one wondering down the line where
all those years went. I have at times been passionate about
bike riding, bike wrenching and bike racing. I have also at
times taken that to the point of obsession, where the rest
of my life fell out of balance. It is with a mix of both relief
and regret that I feel less obsessively passionate about bikes
these days. I can think about cycling with more clarity than
before, but I also dont burn with that transcendent hunger
anymore. In a magazine about bikes, it is probably heresy to
admit that. But I have been doing this for a really long time,
and I am now enjoying the perspective every bit as much as
when I was so blindly passionate about mountain bikes that
I literally couldnt think about anything else.
Theres a blessing in ratcheting back from the obsessive
end of passion, at least as far as mountain biking and my
here and now are concerned. The riding here, and now,
is not awesome. There arent many trails within a 45-minute drive, and those that are close by are not the kind of
stuff thatll be showing up in the magazines anytime soon.
There is, however, a solid network of gravel roads that involves daunting amounts of uphill riding. Fortunately, that
ts well with my masochistic side, and I can nd just the
right amount of turning the pedals until my brain stops trying
to eat itself with a good hour or two of grinding up empty dirt
roads. It snowed just uphill from here the other day. Twenty
miles from the coast, snow! It was magic.
These little stints at the pedals are good. They feed the
habit just enough to keep the obsession at bay. And I return
to dig around in the dirt, imagining a section of trail that
features no straight lines, slowly trying to carve this series
of long, arcing turns that feed one to the next in sinuous
non-transition. I imagine riding them, hoping they will feel
the way I imagine as I dig. Meanwhile, as we pace around in
the woods, plucking ticks and hanging ribbon, the older dog
indulges his wood-rat addiction. Relentlessly digging and
snufing through the myriad nests that line the north-facing
woods, he goes after them so hard that he breaks toenails
out of his feet. He gets fungus infections on his face. He gets
bitten. He will not stop. He reminds me of how I used to be
about riding bikes. I never knew when enough was enough.
Glad those days are behind me, I say to myself.
So its good, holding this love of bikes a little looser
these days. I have time to do other things. Other things, like
building trails. Hours and hours and countless hours in the
woods, in this perfect wintertime, building trails. Trails where
I will ride bikes. Wait! What?

KINGDOM
COME

SINGLETRACK SALVATION IN RURAL VERMONT

BY KRISTIN BUTCHER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANTHONY SMITH

THE SUNS RAYS TURN MY PUPILS INTO PINPRICKS AS BEAMS OF LIGHT PRY MY JET-LAGGED
eyelids open, revealing a scene
that makes me question if Im
actually awake. This is probably
the rst time two-dozen mountain biking dirtbags ever shared a
mansion like this.
Were staying in the type of
historic estate you only see on
TV. Everywhere is a moment
trapped in time, from the fuse
box that looks like its own
work of art to push-button
light switches and woodwork

so intricate you wonder just

how long youve been staring
at it. Hell, even the radiators are beautiful, their metal
pressed into ornate leaves,
portraits of children and a lion
for good measure.

THE DOCTOR IS IN
One of the rst things you learn
about the mansions owner, Dr.
Donn, is that he doesnt want
you to call him Dr. Donn. I

gave up being a doctor years

ago, he says. Call me Tony.
And yet, we cant. Maybe
its because of the way he
walks around with a different
book in his hand each day,
or the plethora of facts living
at the tip of his tongue, or the
towering bookcases lled with
more pages than our admittedly well-read crew has ever
laid eyes on.
Dr. DonnI mean Tonyhas

never been mountain biking

before and has no plans to
start any time soon. So why
would an 89-year-old retired
eye doctor open up his multimillion-dollar mansion to a
bunch of mountain bike mists
looking to test bikes in Vermont
for a few weeks?
The answer came one
morning in the quiet house that
hadnt been quiet in weeks.
Over coffee and a mutual
appreciation for the solace of
dawn, Dr. Donns eyes drifted
through the window to where
the Mansion View trail traverses
his property.
Recreation is this towns
greatest hope, he says.

REUBEN KRABBE

THE CUSP OF COLLAPSE

Alex McAndrew
gets low on Burke
Mountains Upper
J Bar; Dr. Donn;
Burklyn Hall is a
local landmark and
the namesake of
the Mansion View
trail.

East Burke, Vermont, is the

type of small town where the
term local doesnt apply until
youre third-generation born
and raised. Its a town that once
thrived on dairy farms, maple
tap lines and a strong sense of
minding ones own business. As
commercial farming overtook
family farms, the town turned
to ski tourism, but that too
suffered from increasingly unreliable snowfall and constantly
changing ownership of the local
ski hill on Burke Mountain.
Like many trailbuilders in
the early 80s, John Worth
shaped dirt under the radar,
connecting old Nordic ski trails
with new singletrack in an
area where mountain biking
elicited little more than confused looks. As word got out
and more people began riding
the trails, it seemed that his
small network of unauthorized
trails crisscrossing private land
could lead to big problems.
At a time when some parts
of the country greeted mountain biking with sweeping bans
and hearty doses of skepticism, a well-respected local in
his 70s named Doug Kitchel
got wind of the burgeoning
trail system and did exactly the
opposite of what most private
landowners would do. Instead
of a problem, Kitchel saw the
070/071

K IN GDOM C OM E

beginnings of the towns greatest asset. But the real miracle

is that he convinced everyone
else to see it too. By championing the trails, he brought
landowners on board until all
of the underground trails were
fully authorized.
Kitchel helped form the
Kingdom Trails Association
in 1994, with Worth sitting as
the sole mountain biker on a
board full of business owners.
Together they saw year-round
ecotourism as the only way to
keep the town alive. Ten years
later, the Association hired Tim
Tierney as its rst full-time executive director in a move that
some called premature.
Time would prove those
people wrong.

BOOM TOWN
Amid throngs of roof-racktopped cars pouring into this
no-stoplight town, its hard to
imagine a day when East Burke
and mountain-bike destination
werent synonymous. These
days, East Burke and the surrounding Northeast Kingdom
are home to about 100 miles of
trail that weave across the picturesque landscapes of more
than 50 private properties.
Threads of dirt winding
next to fenced-off goat pens
and beneath canopies of active tap lines serve as reminders that these trail experi072/073

KINGDOM COM E

Local trail crew manager CJ Scott moves to the

head of the class on the
White School trail; fall
lift lines at Q Burke
Mountain Bike Park.

ences arent ours alone, but

gifted on the backs of trusting
landowners. Loops upon loops
let riders coil their way across
undulating mountainsides
and crank along meandering
dirt arteries seemingly built
to pump sheer contentment
throughout the woods.
Newer trails like Sidewinder
send riders along a swooptastic
half-pipe run beneath torchred maples, with consecutive
G-outs extracting giggles from
even the most cantankerous
Masshole. Trails like Moose
Alley and Tap N Die draw you
back time and again to hit that
one berm just a little faster or
oat across those roots a little
lighter, while other trails pay
quiet homage to folks who
supported the system long
before anyone knew what it
would become. Pastore Point
is named for Marilyn Pastore,
the Kingdom Trails Associations rst president. Burnham
Down, the namesake of a big
thinker, weaves low-slung ladder bridges through a cedar
swamp, while Kitchel sends
riders up and down at the
perfect pace of life.
At the ski hill, Q Burke
Mountain Resort, bikes hang
in the air on old lifts retrotted for year-round business.
On the way down, riders bury
their tires into berms, bobbing
and weaving like Muhammad

Ali, before boosting jumps or

launching off wooden features.
What you wont nd here
are burly rock gardens that
leave you wondering if you
should have packed an extra
chamois. The glacial melt
responsible for the signature
sandy loam of East Burkes
topography tossed its rocks
farther south in Vermont, creating a state lled with stellar
trail systems possessing their
own terrain, character and origin story that often leads back
to tales of collaboration, trust
and copious amounts of beer.

A FARMERS TALE
Every year, just as the beauty of
fall gives way to New Englands
notoriously harsh winters, nearly 500 mountain bikers gather
on the road next to Ford and
Nancy Hubbards farm at the
edge of East Burke. The cows
start mooing when a crackling
speaker announces the start of
the annual CircumBurke ridea
25-mile circuit known for being
wrought with snow and sleet
and the onslaught of stick seasonand the riders take off.
I think the mountain bikers
are crazy, Ford says with a
chuckle that tells you there are
worse things to be than crazy.
Ford is one of those people
who lls a room before he
steps into it. Hes a man of
many stories, some of which

From top left: community in action; the vibe is always sunny at

Mikes Tiki Bar, even if the weather
isnt; Tiki top brass, Mike Mathers
and his 13-year-old daughter,
Aleta; Ford and Nancy Hubbard
were among the rst to open their
land to mountain bikers.

REUBEN KRABBE

are even true, like the one where he planted

26 pounds of potatoes and the better part
of a nger. Hes the kind of guy who drives
his truck across town to deliver $3 worth of
eggs and whose silver horseshoe-mustache
dances when he laughswhich means its
rarely still.
Ford sat on the original board of the
Kingdom Trails Association and continues to be one of Kingdom Trails biggest
proponents. It adds to the economy of the
area, he says. Generally speaking, its
made East Burke.
Fords pride is palpable as he talks
about the decision he, his wife and their
four children made a decade ago to put all
120 acres of their land into a conservation
easement with the Vermont Land Trust,
permanently preserving it from development. We did a lot of soul searching,
Ford said. Our kids didnt think money
was the most important part.
Between the guffaws that are as much
a part of Fords speech as his graveled
voice, he points to the rippling mountainside teeming with trails. Doug Kitchel was
the initial light of the candle. He started
all of this. Thinking back to all thats
transpired since Dougs passing just a few
years after forming the Kingdom Trails Association, Fords memories well up in his
eyes and streak down his cheekscheeks
already cocked with their next grin.
Wherever Doug is today, Ford says,
hed be smiling to see whats happening.

FUELED BY DIRT
Its a cool day, but the humidity borders on
dank. People in various stages of spandex
mill about the parking lot, standing in line
074/075

KINGDO M C OM E

for burgers at the Vermont Food Truck

Company and drinking beers beneath a
thatched roof that would be more at home
in Key West than Vermont. The sign in
front of Mikes Tiki Bar says that its open
from 3pm til Cold, making you wonder
who in his right mind opens an outdoor tiki
bar in Vermont?
Meet Mike Mathers and his daughter,
Aleta, who mountain bikes during summer,
plays hockey during winter and rattles off
numbers from last months sales like shes
been running the business for decades.
Except Aletas only 13 years old. They
both ride, but not often together. I like to
look at the trees, Mike says. And I like to
buzz his tire, Aleta adds. They have a bond
and mutual respect that lets them nish
each others sentences, and its apparent
that Mike doesnt employ Aleta just because
shes a great worker, but because he loves
having her around. When I ask Mike if he
thinks Aleta will stay in the area after she
graduates, he has no trouble answering.
No, he says matter-of-factly. There
are no opportunities here.
Right now, thats a fact of life in smalltown East Burke. Though its a great
place to raise a family, there arent a lot of
choices for young people looking to make
their own way.
But that might be changing.
Business at the Tiki Bar is going well.
Damn well. When Mike got the hair-brained
idea to open Vermonts only tiki bar, he
gured hed be set if he could get a single
dollar from each of the 80,000 people who
come to ride the Kingdom Trails every year.
Hes gone way past that, regularly blowing
through 16 kegs per week. With three-

[THE KINGDOM TRAILS ASSOCIATION] ADDS

TO THE ECONOMY OF THE AREA, SAYS FORD HUBBARD.
GENERALLY SPEAKING, ITS MADE EAST BURKE.

REUBEN KRABBE

From top left: Judy

Brown and Sharon
Eustace sate riders
with local fare at
their trailside caf;
Tim Tierney; Barrett
Hibshman, 11, has
an enviable commute
to school; Lilias Ide
(far right) is grooming East Burkes next
generation of riders.

quarters of his taps serving

locally brewed Vermont beer,
the bar is the rst in a line of local businesses beneting from
tourism dollars.
I didnt realize how important the Kingdom Trails are,
Mike says. Not just to me, but
to all of us.
With an estimated $7.5
million brought to the region
through mountain-bike tourism
each year, the Tiki Bar isnt
the only trail-powered business taking off. Kingdom Farm
Lodge is an old family barn
renovated into lodging designed
with mountain bikers in mind.
There are tool stations and bike
washes outside, a mural-sized
trail map on the wall and a
community dining table with a
built-in beer trough. Bed and
breakfasts dont normally go
hand-in-hand with mud-lled
cleats, but places like the
Wildower Inn and The Inn at
Mountain View Farm dont just
accept a little grime on their patrons. They embrace it. Good
ride? is a common response
when visitors walk in with gritcrusted grins.
Theres even a caf smack
in the middle of the woods, accessible only by trail. Finding
a bustling caf mid-ride feels
like stumbling upon a mirage
in the desertexcept the scent
of grilled cheese and hot apple
cider tell you its real. Based

078/079

K IN G D O M C O ME

out of a propane-powered shed

with hot-pink window shutters,
the Market Caf is run by Judy
Brown and Sharon Eustace, a
mother-daughter team whose
locally sourced menu could
rival most restaurants, featuring everything from hot soups,
triple-decker grilled cheese
and ham sandwiches and
fresh local coffee.

SHARED SUCCESS
Across the street from a market advertising gas, beer and
worms, the two-story Kingdom
Trails Association ofce serves
as a beacon for lost travelers.
In the yellow wood-slatted
building, employees sell $15
passes and personalize maps
with neon-highlighted route
recommendations to a line that
les out the door. Though trail
passes are enforced by little
more than a lax honor system,
theyve never run into someone who didnt buy one.
When asked about the secret
to this areas success, everyone
points to Tim Tierney. Everyone,
that is, except Tim Tierney. Tim
can tell you how every person
in East Burke helped it become
what it is today. Others will tell
you about the way Tim sees
solutions where others might see
problems, or as some would say,
He can balance a shitstorm. It
seems that here in the Kingdom,
even the credit is shared.

With a trail system existing

almost entirely on private property, theres always the threat of
land being sold to developers,
especially as the popularity
of the trails drives land prices
up. This threat became reality
when a 133-acre tract of land
that is home to some of the
Kingdoms most-beloved trails,
including Sidewinder, went up
for sale. The Kingdom Trails
Association made an agreement with the Vermont Land
Trust to purchase the land,
working together to preserve
trail access and protect the
property permanently. The
catch was that the Kingdom
Trails Association needed to
raise $300,000and there was
less than four months to do it.
Word spread. Sidewinder
needed to be saved and it
couldnt be done by the town
of East Burke alone. Those
who could work miracles
with pen and paper applied
for grants. The Market Caf
donated its tips for two weeks
and donations poured in at
the annual NEMBAfest, where
thousands converge on the
Kingdom to enjoy bikes, bacchanalia and Irish punk rock.
It was a leap of faith built
on dirt and sweat. Locals who
had always put the needs of
the community above their
own would nd out if those
outside the area felt the same.

RIDE THE
NORTHEAST
KINGDOM
WHERE TO EAT & DRINK |
There are few combinations better
than post-ride drinks at Mikes Tiki Bar
and burgers from Vermont Food Truck
Company. Or walk a block to the Burke
Publick House gastropub or grab Italian
at the Foggy Goggle Osteria.

LODGING | Visit kingdomtrails.

org for information on camping, bikefriendly B&Bs like the Willoburke
Inn and Lodge, Burke View and
Wildower Inn, or book group lodging
through Burke Property Rentals.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO | The

Kingdom Trails are open May-Oct. Day
passes are $15, annual passes are
$75. Swing by East Burke Sports or
Village Sport Shop for all your bike
shop needs.
DONT MISS | Vermonts varied
terrain means youd be remiss not
to venture outside of the Kingdom.
Stowe, Perry Hill, Millstone, Hinesburg and Waterbury are a few areas
to check out.
When fundraising began, a
question lingered behind the
seemingly impossible goal: Are
we in this together?
When the audacious goal
was met in only ve weeks,
through a combination of
grants and donations, the
Kingdoms story of preserving land through partnership
continued on page 137

Burke Vermont

Recreate.
Relax. Repeat.
Get a good nights sleepyoull need it.
Because theres more to do tomorrow.

SUM
OM

T KINGD
AS

Hike a mountain. Spin your wheels.

Hit the links. Take a paddle. Catch a sh.
Look for birds. Smell the owers. Eat some food.
See a show. Buy some art. Build a campre.

ORTHE
EN

Its that simple.

R IN TH
ME

Get information on
upcoming events and lodging &
vacation packages at

www.BurkeVermont.com

Recreate. Relax. Repeat.

Burke Vermont

Mountain biking trails for all ability levels

in Vermonts Northeast Kingdom.
AGES
BIKE & STAY PACK

from

r
ove

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OUNTAIN BIKI
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kingdomtrails.org
East Burke, Vermont

PARK INFO & HOTEL BOOKING AT QBURKE.COM OR (866) 9664820

From rate based on 2 adults in a standard studio in early/late season summer.
Rates subject to change without notice.

Discover your
Vermont story.

BURKLYN MANSION
Burklyn Mansion is situated at the height of Darling Hill, with commanding views of Vermonts best kept secret, the
Northeast Kingdom. Miles of epic mountain bike riding on the Kingdom Trails network and proximity to Burke Mountain
dovetail to create the East Coasts best outdoor recreational resource. Privately situated on 86 acres; Burklyn offers 35
rooms, an indoor riding arena and stables creating a perfect setting to enjoy a refined get-a-way.
Only 3 hours from Boston and 2 hours from Montreal. An incredible opportunity awaits.
OFFERED AT $4,500,000

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Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated.

CROSS COUNTRY

HIGH FIDELITY
T RUST Y TO O LS FO R T H E LO N G H AU L

travis engel on the norco revolver 9.3 FS | photo: reuben krabbe

GO TO BIKEMAG.COM FOR EXCLUSIVE ROUNDTABLE REELS VIDEOS OF OUR TESTERS

DEBATES AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES COVERAGE OF THE CROSS-COUNTRY TESTING.

CROSS COUNTRY

NORCO REVOLVER 9.3 FS | $3,050

Final Take: An XC race bike with an attitude that begs riders
to explore broader horizons, served up at a screaming deal.

TREK TOP FUEL 9.8 SL | $5,000

Final Take: This Greyhound was designed to cover long distances fast and is tailor-made for ber-t marathon racers.

THERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE

Norco Revolver 9.3 FS. One, the full carbon frame and Horstlink suspension is the sort of thing that most other brands are
selling as frame-only deals at this price. Its a total bargain.
Two, while loudly praising this bargain, it has to be noted that
some of the parts attached to this bargain are not going to
make you a happy camper. Glad we got that out of the way.
This is a very good frame. It is light and stiff, and the geometry lends itself to carving and having a whole lot of fun, even
while hunkered down along the generous toptube and sprinting
your face off in search of nish lines. This bike would make
not only an exceptional race platform, but also would be a ne
trail bike for riders willing to sacrice some plush in favor of
commendable pedaling snap. Norco got a lot right with its leastexpensive Revolver. Its very nicely balanced, handles beautifully and is available in a very tasteful black-on-black nish that
appeals to the inner ninja in everyone. More bikes should look
this good. More bikes should handle this well.
Impeccable hammering behavior was aided further by the
lockout on the RockShox Monarch RL shock. However, bump
absorption in general had a couple ies in the ointment. The
rear suspension, even when running ample sag (as high as
35 percent), was a little harsh when it came to smoothing
out small chatter bumps. And the RockShox Recon fork would
be one of the rst items in the crosshairs of the upgrade gun
when the time came, since both performance and a blown seal
during testing marred an otherwise exceptional riding package.
The brakes would be next in front of the ring squad, and
we suspect that the Revolver would denitively kick a whole
mountain of ass with some high-dollar wheels, but we are losing track of something very important: This bike is a screaming
deal! Yeah, the fork and brakes could be better. Yeah, the rear
suspension isnt totally plush up top. But at this price, what
are you shopping for? If you are smart, you are shopping for a
good frame and are willing to upgrade down the line. This is
an awesome frame, on a bike that is very competent and fun
to ride, right out of the box. Mike Ferrentino

IF THIS BIKE SCREAMS ONE THING, ITS XC/MARATHON

racing. At rst glance, its obvious: Every detail on Treks Top
Fuel 9.8 SL seems designed for the rigors of cross-country racingparticularly the endurance/marathon variety, when ultralong distances must be covered in the shortest possible time.
For starters, its a 29er. And its hard to argue that big wheels
dont cover ground faster than smaller-diameter hoops, especially when long stretches of re road are involved. It also weighs 25
pounds with pedals, which is not too shabby for a 29er. Plus, it
has the bells and whistles associated with XC duty, such as the
Full Sprint remote that simultaneously locks out the RockShox
Monarch XX shock and SID XX fork.
Given all that, few testers were surprised when they pulled
away from their counterparts on the opening climb of our
test track. Nor were any eyebrows raised when the big wheels
blazed over root-lled, technical ascents. With added stiffness
from the Boost 148/110 spacing, jaws were dropped while descending through extended bumpy sections. The small-bump
compliance is superb for an XC rig, wrote one tester. It feels
like it has more than 100 millimeters of travel.
Another tester concurred: The rear end is so incredibly
plush. It stood out for being so supple, but still offered a decent platform for aggressive handling.
After ddling around with the rotatable Mino Link chip
which enables you to adjust the head angle by a half-degree
and the bottom bracket by 10 millimetersall testers preferred
the low setting, giving a plenty-steep 70-degree head angle.
The front end could feel a tad twitchy on tough descents, but
we agreed this was a fair trade-off for an XC race bike that one
tester wrote, motors the ats and climbs like a scalded cat.
While $5,000 is a tidy chunk of change, it gets you a purebred race whip with a smart array of parts: Shimano Deore
XT brakes, a SRAM X1 11-speed drivetrain, DT Swiss X1700
wheels and Bontrager Team Issue tires that plead to be leaned
hard into corners. And though testers lamented the genre-dictated absence of a dropper post, one tester found solace in the
super comfy Bontrager Montrose Elite seat. Brice Minnigh

086

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photos: anthony smith

SHARE THE RIDE:

#ADVENTUREBEGINSHERE

T
I
E
D
I
R

ALL

: MARGUS RIGA

ALL MOUNTAIN

now with 150mm travel fork

ENDURO

now with 170mm travel fork

YOUR PLAYGROUND
JUST GOT A LOT BIGGER.
Aggressive. Capable. Efcient. Designed and tested in Canada, the Range
and Sight Killer B are ready to attack anything the trail throws your way.

CROSS COUNTRY

GIANT ANTHEM ADVANCED 27.5 0 | $9,500

Final Take: A purebred XC steed that slays tight-and-twisty
trails while exhibiting a fun-loving, playful alter ego.

FELT EDICT 5 | $3,000

Final Take: The Edict might seem in the midst of an identity
crisis, when in fact it has a distinct character.

THIS CUTTHROAT CROSS-COUNTRY WHIP TOOK MY PREconceptions about XC race bikes and hacked them into a cool
puddle of blood. It was my favorite of the four XC bikes in this
years test and ended up being one of the overall standouts.
It must be pointed out, however, that the buffed-out, twisty
nature of the main Kingdom Trails network truly lends itself to
lightweight, short-travel bikes with steep head angles. We tested all four XC bikes with their stock parts, resisting the urge to
install dropper posts, and found them to be right at home on
the high-speed dirt ribbons of Vermonts Northeast Kingdom.
But the Giant Anthem Advanced 27.5 0 seemed like it
had been born on these trails, slicing through tight turns with
surgical precision. The bikes 69.5-degree headtube angle allowed for ultra-decisive steering: All of our testers praised the
bikes demeanor, with adjectives such as stable and surefooted being bandied about.
All testers agreed that the steeds XC-racer disposition was
perfectly complemented by the 100-millimeter RockShox
RS-1 fork, whose stiffness and torsional rigidity enhanced the
Anthems cornering capabilities. The result is a bike that begs
to be smashed into corners, responding to such manhandling
by batting the pilot out of turns like a pinball off a ipper.
This prompted more than one tester to describe the Anthem as
playfula term that is rarely applied to XC race bikes.
The carbon SRAM Rise 60 wheels were stiff and light, but
we couldnt help but wonder if the bikes ultimate XC potential
would be further unleashed if it had 29-inch wheels. While we
speculated that larger wheels could make the Anthem a more
capable marathoner, the 650b wheels certainly contributed to
its maneuverability in tight turns. We also noted how quickly
speed returned after losing traction on steep climbssomething that also could be attributed to the smaller wheel size.
While the $9,500 sticker puts this model out of reach for
many, Giant offers builds with the same composite front triangle at much lower price points ($4,800 for the 27.5 1 and
$3,100 for the 27.5 2), and the frameset is available with a
RockShox Monarch RL shock for $2,500. B.M.

CHEW ON THIS: THE EDICT SPORTS A 71.5-DEGREE HEAD

angle, which is on the steep side even for a cross-country bike.
But it also has a 120-millimeter-travel fork. For a 29er, that
usually denotes a more trail-oriented ride. If youre not already
making a squinty face, maybe this will do it: The Felts chainstays are a whopping 450 millimeters long (17.7 inches).
And while numbers can be deceiving, in this case theyre
as honest as a Texas sundown. There was plenty of tight New
England singletrack at the Kingdom Trails, and while the long
rear end took some time to come around, the steep head angle
helped our testers stick the right line.
The Edicts rear suspension uses vertically exing seatstays
to allow the rear wheel to move through its 100 millimeters
of travel. Its a simple design that keeps frame weight down,
but we had a tough time nding the right balance between a
stiff setup with good pedaling efciency and a softer one with
the traction we wanted. Tradeoffs are inherent in any suspension system, and the FAST linkage worked well enoughit just
doesnt offer the performance of more complex designs that let
you have your cake and eat it, too.
Once the Edict got moving, it initially felt more stable than
most cross-country bikes, but the twitchiness caused by the
steep head angle was intensied by the Suntour Raidon fork,
which lacked compression damping and dove through its travel
under braking. The rest of the parts, including the Schwalbe
Rapid Rob tires, Shimano Deore 2x10 drivetrain and M355
brakes performed well enough, given that the Edict 5 is really
about getting the carbon framewith its pragmatic threaded
bottom bracketout the door at a reasonable price.
This bike has the potential to be a weapon on buff, highspeed trails, and the stiff, light frame is worth the upgrades for
a rider or racer dealing with that type of terrain. But replacing
the component that needs it the mostthe forkwould require
a new front wheel or wheelset, since the stock quick-release
front hub isnt convertible to a through-axle. With that in mind,
the prudent move is obvious: Save another grand and spring
for the Edict 3. Jon Weber

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TRAIL

GO TO BIKEMAG.COM FOR EXCLUSIVE ROUNDTABLE REELS VIDEOS OF OUR TESTERS

DEBATES AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES COVERAGE OF THE TRAIL TESTING.

jon weber on the specialized camber comp carbon 29 | photo: reuben krabbe

TRAIL

TREK FUEL EX 9 29 | $4,000

Final Take | With modern technology, top spec and enviable
trail demeanor, the EX made it onto most testers shortlists.

IBIS RIPLEY LS | $7,300

Final Take | The new Ripley is more condent and capable
than its predecessor, but just as quick and playful.

TREKS HIGHEST SPECD ALUMINUM FUEL EX IS THE

sleeper in the lineupits what the company describes as the bike
for the in-the-know shop guy. At least a couple of Bible crew
members agreed, stating that this would be their bike of choice
if they had a real job.
While the rest of the 120-millimeter-travel 29ers in the EX
line have matching front travel, the EX 9 comes with a 130-mil
Fox Performance 34. Even on the not-so-steep Kingdom Trails,
most riders appreciated the extra fork travel, although one tester did mention he wouldve preferred tighter handling for the
serpentine trails there, which a 120-mil fork would deliver.
The high/steep setting of the adjustable geometry (provided by
ip-chips on the seatstay pivot) was enough for other testers to
eke out extra steering quickness.
For 2016, Trek shortened the Fuel EX 29s chainstays to
17.1 inches, creating a decidedly chipper trail attitude. New
Fuels also get Boost 148 rear and 110 front spacing, making
the bike feel remarkably stiffan appreciated characteristic of
a bike that charges as hard as this one.
A real standout in Treks technology arsenal is its RE:aktiv
shock, which makes this bike one of the best climbers and
descenders in the category, all without ipping the compression lever off the middle setting: Its like what the Specialized
Brain shock tries to do, only it actually works really well.
Testers liked the SRAM X1 drivetrain on this build; the
only other single-ring offering is on the $8,400 carbon-clad
9.9. The only real complaint on this stellar build was with the
125-mil-travel RockShox Reverb seatpost. Everyone wanted
150 millimeters of drop and for the lever to be mounted under
the left side of the bar rather than on top of it. Any quality shop
will work with you on this, but itd be nice to see those details covered on a bike thats specd so smartly otherwise. We
also wish Trek would use a normal threaded bottom bracket,
at least on its aluminum bikes. But most criticisms were replaced with whoops and hollers echoing through the Northeast
Kingdom while testers discovered just how much fun this trail
weapon is to ride. Ryan Palmer

THE ORIGINAL RIPLEY WAS A QUICK-FOOTED, RAZORsharp 29er. When it came to climbing and threading the needle on tight singletrack, it was a hard trail bike to beat. Why
then has Ibis rolled out a new version? Well, there are actually
two new versionsone that features the same basic geometry
as its forefather (with improvements to the chassis) and this
longer, slacker and rowdier iteration.
At 24.4 inches on a size large, the toptube on the Ripley LS
is about a half-inch longer than on the original and the head angle is relaxed by more than a degree-and-a-half. That equates to
67 degrees when paired with the 140-millimeter-travel fork that
came on our test bike and 67.5 degrees when running the stock
130-mil fork. There are longer and slacker 29ers out there, but
as with last years re-boot of the Mojo HD3, Ibis isnt trying to
win an award for cranking out the most extreme bikethe company wants its bikes to climb well. Mission accomplished on
that score. The Ripley monkeys up tight, technical climbs. The
dw-link suspension does a ne job of combating suspension bob
while still providing traction in technical spots. You can ick the
lever on the Fox Factory Float DPS EVOL shock, but, frankly, the
bike scoots along even when run wide open.
There is much more at play here, however, than tweaks to
the bikes angles and dimensions. For starters, Ibis chased away
some ex from the frame by adding stiffer eccentric cores. Our
test bike wore a conventional 142x12 rear end, but you can opt
for a Boost 148 swingarm, which will net an even stiffer rear
end. Other tweaks include a cleaner and quieter internal cablerouting system, more rear-tire clearance, a lower seatmast and a
quiet, hassle-free, threaded bottom bracket.
Quick, responsive, playfulour testers ran out of adjectives
to describe the Ripleys nimble feel, but one tester summarized it well: Its a bike that begs to be leaned over and ridden
like a giant BMX bike.
We couldnt nd fault with the components on the XT oneby Werx kit. If the price for those caviar-grade parts is too high,
Ibis offers 10 kits, including the $3,950 Special Blend, which
sports the same frame with budget parts. Vernon Felton

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photos: anthony smith

PIVOT MACH 429 TRAIL (X1) | $4,670

Final Take | A eet-footed brawler, the Mach 429 Trail rides
like it has more travel than whats listed on its spec sheet.

SPECIALIZED CAMBER COMP CARBON 29 | $3,800

Final Take | The smartly redesigned Camber 29 proves that
the Big Red S actually stands for Slayer.

PIVOT HAS BEEN CRANKING OUT VARIATIONS OF ITS MACH

4 29er for years now; this bike is nothing like them. True, its a
29er and, yes, it does boast about 4-and-a-half inches of travelit
has that in common with other members of the Mach 4 clanbut
this new 29er actually borrows more from Pivots Mach 6 enduro
bike than it does from the companys cross-country models.
Testers kept returning from their laps shaking their heads.
We know better than to judge a bike by the numbers listed on
the company website, but the Mach 429 Trail truly punches
above its weight class. Its hard at rst to reconcile the bikes
split personality. The Mach 429 pedals as briskly as a crosscountry race rocket when you are hammering up climbs, but
feels more like an all-mountain bike on the descents. Were
not saying that youll mistake the 4.5 inches of rear suspension for a full 6 inches of squish, but the bikes dw-link rear
suspension truly feels remarkably deep and forgiving.
Pivot also did right by the Mach 429 Trails geometry.
With its long toptube, low bottom bracket and relatively slack
67-degree headtube angle, the Pivot tucks nicely within the
growing niche of aggressive, short-travel 29ers. If youre eyeing the Ibis Ripley LS, Evils The Following or the Yeti SB4.5c,
you should add the Mach 429 to your test-ride shortlist. At 6
pounds, the carbon frame is on the light side of the spectrum,
but its a stout build. Pivot mates beefy carbon triangles to
short, cold-forged alloy links that roll on Enduro Max cartridge
bearings. Flex is not an issue here.
The sticker price on our test bike isnt low, but its equipped
with a SRAM single-ring drivetrain, 130-millimeter Fox Performance 34 and Float DPS rear shock, SRAM Guide R brakes,
Sun Ringl Charger Comp Boost 148 wheelset and KS Lev Integra dropper post. Pivot also sells the frame alone for $2,500.
Testers agreed that a few bikes in this class with shorter
chainstays are easier to whip through extremely tight corners
than the Pivot, but the Mach 429 scored high across the board.
As one rider put it, The Pivot pedals well, climbs well, descends well. Its the bike that ticks off all the boxes if you were
looking at that one-bike-to-ride-everything quiver-killer. V.F.

MOST OF BIKES CORE TESTERS HAVE SPENT AMPLE TIME

on Specializeds proven Camber model, and weve raved about its
strengths in previous reviews. In fact, during our 2014 Bible of
Bike Tests in Sedona, Arizona, I picked the Camber Expert Carbon EVO 29 as my favorite of all 34 bikes in that years test issue.
So why sing all the same praises in this years Bible? For
starters, because the 2016 Camber is an altogether different
bike, with multiple changes from the previous model. And after
kidnapping the new version and spending several days pushing
its limits in a variety of conditions, I can condently claim it to
be even more maneuverable than its covet-worthy predecessor.
How has the Camber changed? To begin with, Specialized
revamped both its venerable Stumpjumper and Camber models this year, giving them an identical front trianglewhich the
company is now calling its trail chassis. Specialized did this
with the goal of designing two new front ends29er and 650b
that could be used to update both the Stumpy and the Camber
with geometries drawn from the popular EVO models. Bottombracket height, head angle and suspension travel for both new
models are achieved through different links and seatstays.
Lovers of the previous non-EVO Camber 29 will notice a slackened head anglefrom 70 to 68.5 degreesproviding a palpably
more aggressive disposition when descending through steep,
chunky terrain. This, coupled with the adoption of the 120 millimeters of rear-wheel travel from the Camber 29s previous EVO
model, instills condence in technical sections of trail.
And by clipping a half-inch off the Camber 29s chainstays,
which now stand at a stubby 17.2 inches, the designers injected an addictive dose of pure playfulness into the bike. Over
and over, I found myself smashing the Camber 29 into corners
and popping off every little kicker in sight.
Our test model costs $3,800a great value for a carbon
front triangle, a Fox Float Performance DPS rear shock (nonBrain) with Autosag and a 125-mil Command Post IRcc dropper. Some testers insisted that the Camber begged for a beeer
fork than the RockShox Revelation RC3 29, but this didnt
stop them from grappling to ride the bike. Brice Minnigh

TRAIL

YETI SB4.5C | $6,900 (X01)

Final Take | With its unique suspension and 29-inch wheels,
the SB4.5c is one of the most capable climbers ever created.

SALSA PONY RUSTLER CARBON (X01) | $5,500

Final Take | The Pony Rustlers blind indifference to trail obstacles makes it a force to be reckoned with on crude terrain.

AS SOON AS YETI CYCLES UNLEASHED THE VANGUARD OF

its all-new Switch Innity bikes, the SB5c and SB6cboth
with 650b wheelsone question echoed around the mountainbike world: When is Yeti going to introduce a 29er with the
new Switch Innity suspension platform?
Though company riders had already been testing prototypes
of the new 29er for almost a year at that point, it wasnt until
late last summer that Yeti introduced the wildly anticipated new
model. Wed previously spent a couple of weeks on the SB4.5c
during an overseas bikepacking mission, but wed had to run
higher pressures in the shock, fork and tires to compensate for
the extra weight of our saddlebags. So we could hardly wait to
test the bike under everyday loads and experiment with its two
different shock options: an XC tune and a trail tune.
All of our testers were blown away by how well the SB4.5c
climbed up steep, technical terrain, its 29-inch wheels decimating trail obstacles regardless of which shock was being employed. The XC tune rode higher in the travel and felt rmer under hard pedaling, but some riders noticed a slight increase in
chatter over our test tracks bony root sections. The trail-tuned
shock was more plush across the board but still pedaled incredibly well, and when pointed downhill it really unharnessed the
Switch Innity platforms suppleness through bigger bumps.
Given my druthers, Id opt for the trail tune, and if I really
needed to kick some XC courses to pieces Id just put a little
more air in the shock, wrote one tester.
For a bike that so clearly excels at climbing, the SB4.5c
felt incredibly balanced, its longish toptube and sensibly slack
67.4-degree head angle instilling condence on challenging
descents. Describing the ideal buyer as Shred Schralperson,
one tester wrote, Its just so damn versatile, so damn fun.
Though the build we tested costs $6,900, the full-carbon
frame comes with some impressive parts, including a SRAM
X01 drivetrain, SRAM Guide RSC brakes, a RockShox Reverb dropper post and lightweight-but-stiff DT Swiss XM401
wheels. Its a big investment, but one that will make life markedly easier for riders with brutal backyard climbs. B.M.

WE WERENT PREDISPOSED TO LIKING THE PONY RUStler. At worst, we didnt want to like it, and at best we were discreetly curious about the plus-size full-suspension rig. Would
it ride with the sluggishness of a fatbike? Would our friends
make fun of us? These were very real concerns, but the Ponys
performance immediately eclipsed our apprehension.
Charging down chunky terrain, the Pony Rustler demonstrated it was capable of wrangling the wildest of horses, rolling over roots of every shape and orientation with impunity. We
found ourselves going faster and looking farther down the trail
than usual, not having to pay any attention to what we were
running over. All the rider was responsible for was setting up
for the next corner, through which the plus-size rubber would
grip and fold controllably with pressures in the mid-teens.
Climbing was a similar experience. The Pony Rustler kept
its composure when scaling technical pitches, striking a balance between rollover, traction and maneuverability. But between the big tires and the 120 millimeters of Split Pivot rear
suspension, open mode wasnt the most efcient climbing
option. Locking out the rear shock and letting the tire do the
work made the bike very efcient, and we were able to stay
seated on technical sections that testers on normal bikes
were having to stand up to negotiate.
The stock 3-inch WTB Bridger tires are on the heavy end
of the nascent plus-size market, but we didnt suffer any ats,
and its possible that the thicker casings made the tires fold in
a more manageable way. As a whole, the parts strapped to this
Pony Rustler represent a solid value, including a RockShox
Pike fork and Reverb dropper post, a SRAM X01 and GX drivetrain as well as a Thomson stem and carbon Salsa handlebar.
This is a big-picture bike. Aboard it, youll nd yourself
watching the brown ribbon in front of you twist and turn
with less attention paid to the trails ne details. A rider who
isnt concerned with playfulness or jumping or smashing into
berms, but lives where the trails are rough and the conditions
often inclement would be well-advised to put a bounty out on
a Pony Rustler of their own. Jon Weber

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Photo Colin Meagher

TRAIL

KONA HEI HEI DL TRAIL | $3,300

Final Take | A nimble trail chassis with spry but capable
suspension and a top-notch spec thats easy to pay for.

BMC SPEEDFOX 02 TRAILCREW | $5,900

Final Take | Gravity riders looking for more out of a trail bike
will appreciate this playful, long-travel machine.

KONA CHANGED THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT FRAME GEOMetry when it released the Process line three years ago. The longcockpit, short-chainstay concept isnt new, but those bikes
pushed it as far as it could go. The Hei Hei had maintained its
more traditional geometry until the introduction of this bike. Its
been given some trail-oriented tweaks, but there are still traces
of XC in its DNA.
The 100 millimeters of rear travel is paired with a 120-millimeter Fox 34 up front. The robust fork, XT brakes, XT 1x11
drivetrain and Stans ZTR Rapid rims are the stuff of much
higher-priced machines. Yes, its aluminum and yes, we know
that there are carbon bikes out there for around this price, but
ask us if we care. At 28.5 pounds, the Hei Hei was as light or
lighter than all but two of this years trail bikes, both of which
were nearly twice its price. We would have liked to have seen a
threaded bottom bracket, though, and we all agreed this bike
deserved a dropper post. But one tester rmly believes that the
choice of length and dropper should be left to the consumer.
Once we found a QR seat clamp in the junk drawer, the party
got started. The Hei Hei was one of the most playful bikes in
the trail category. Its sub-17-inch chainstays, nimble geometry
and light weight made it an absolute blast to carve and manual through the sculpted berms and natural whoops of our test
courses. Riding the Hei Hei challenged the biases of the testers
who normally preferred mid-travel 27.5-inch carbon trail bikes.
We were wary of the fact that the rear linkage relies on
some vertical ex in the stays, but performance doesnt lie.
Eliminating a pivot at the dropout aids in lateral stiffness, and
for having such short travel, there was a complex balance of
small-bump sensitivity and late stroke ramp-up.
Much of what we like about the way this bike descends happens to transfer well uphill. Its modern geometry makes it comfortable up front and grippy in the back. The progressive rear
end sat at a neutral spot in its travel, even on steep climbs.
Cross-country-inspired trail bikes usually pedal this well,
especially with such moderate travel, but they rarely feel so
condent, planted and fun. Travis Engel

THE SPEEDFOX 02 TRAILCREW IS A NEW MODEL FOR BMC.

Past Speedfox models were 29er whippets. This 650b version,
however, crosses into all-mountain territory, with 150 millimeters of suspension and components aimed at aggressive riding.
Solid kit all the way around, wrote one tester, and its
hard to argue with that assessment. BMC paired a SRAM X01
single-ring drivetrain with Shimano XT brakes, a RockShox Reverb dropper post and DT Swiss E 1700 Spline One wheels.
There are also subtle-yet-smart touches mixed in, including a
bash ring on the X01 crankset, meaty 2.4-inch Onza Ibex tires
and a 203/180-millimeter rotor combo that beefs up the braking power on the reliable XT stoppers.
The Speedfox wears a Cane Creek DB Air Inline shocka
shock designed for riders who are into ne-tuning its damping
capabilities. True to form, our testers ddled a fair bit with the
settings before they were satised, but once they nailed it, they
were impressed. BMCs APS suspension uses a good modern
design and the shock is a nice piece of work. The tradeoff, for
me, is that I spent a fair bit of time dialing it in, but if you do
that, you get a lot out of it. When I was hitting things fast, in
G-out terrain, the suspension worked really wellI used every
bit of the travel without bottoming out hard, one tester wrote.
Agile was an adjective that kept popping up in testers
notes. The bikes short 16.7-inch chainstays made easy work
of tight corners. As another tester said: It rode more nimbly
than youd expect from a bike with this much travel.
Testers were split on the steep 74-degree seat tube angle,
with some riders feeling it put their weight too far forward in
relation to the bottom bracket, and others liking how the geometry translated into seated climbing performance. If there was
a quibble with the Speedfoxs performance it was that the rear
end had more of a tendency to hang up on rockier sections of
climbs than on other models in this grouping, even when the
shock was run wide open.
If the price on this half-carbon, half-aluminum version is
beyond reach, BMC also offers the all-aluminum Speedfox 03
Trailcrew, which rolls in at a more attainable $3,900. V.F.

096

B I B L E O F B IK E TE S T S

SAMHILL

The shoe of champions and weapon of choice in Sams arsenal.

F E AT U R I N G :
+ FA S T E R DRY I NG S Y NTHETIC MATERIAL S
+ PU M I DS OLE
+ S T E A LT H S 1 S T I CKY R UBBER OUTSOL E
+ WE LT E D T PU T OE CA P
+ WAT E RPROOF POLY PROP YL ENE INSOL E BOARD

TRAIL

INTENSE SPIDER 29C PRO | $6,700

Final Take | This bike smudges the line between XC performance and trail-cruising comfort.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN ALTITUDE 770 MSL | $5,500

Final Take | Whether this graceful, long-travel, backcountry
explorer is trail or all-mountain is a matter of perspective.

THE SPIDER HAS LONG BEEN INTENSES MONIKER FOR

the sharper, XC-oriented end of its offerings. However, given the
unapologetically SoCal-centric self-denition of the brand and
its history of producing highly regarded gravity bikes, Spiders
have traditionally been pretty rangy in t and more comfortable
railing fast and loose than plucking slow and tight. The new Spider 29c, featuring a carbon frame with a VPP-esque pair of links
between the front and rear triangle with a choice between 115
and 130 millimeters of rear travel, holds true to that pedigree.
The frame itself is admirably stiff, devoid of vagueness
or any waggly tendencies. During our tests, the suspension
excelled when pedaling and climbing, and also offered pliable bump absorption, hovering up everything from small trail
garbage to bigger hits without complaint. There was enough
progression and versatility in the travel to lead some testers
to query the inclusion of the 115-mil-travel option, given how
well everything worked in the 130-mil setting. Handling in
general was more stable than snappy, aided in large part by
the 29-inch wheels and 46-inch wheelbase on our large test
bike. However, the 68.5-degree head angle and that stiff chassis gave the Spider a lively feel.
Componentry was a mix of dependable performers (Fox Performance Elite Float shock and Performance Elite Float 34 fork,
SRAM Guide RS brakes, SRAM X1/X01 shifters, derailleur and
cranks, KS Lev Integra 125-millimeter dropper post) topped
with a few standout touches (Renthal FatBar, Thomson Elite
stem and DT Swiss M1700 wheels shod with Maxxis Ardent
tires). The general consensus was that the price was still on the
high side given the componentry when compared to some of the
others on test. Nitpicks were nevertheless limited to a broadly
voiced desire for a 150-millimeter dropper post.
Intenses website describes the Spider 29c as a light trail
bike built for cross-country and owy singletrack designed
for climbing, cruising and fast trail riding. If that was the
mission brief for the design of this carbon trail weapon, then
(Intense owner) Jeff Steber and the boys can offer each other
a round of high-ves. Mission accomplished. Mike Ferrentino

THE CONCEPT OF WHAT MAKES AN ALL-MOUNTAIN BIKE

varies greatly. At one end, it can mean light bikes with enough
travel to handle extensive backcountry terrain. At the other, the
name implies heavy-duty construction and the toughness to
survive a life of enduro racing or bike-park abuse.
Rockys Altitude 770 has 150 millimeters of travel suspending the rear wheel of its feathery-light 5.25-pound carbon
frame. This, paired with a 160-mil fork, puts it unapologetically at the ride far, rip big trails end of the spectrum. We
initially tested the Altitude in the all-mountain category, riding it back-to-back with the other all-mountain bikesbut then
we reconsidered. Compared to some of the other all-mountain
bikes, it felt downright ethereal. This was refreshing and liberating when it came time to hump uphill, and the Altitude has
the steep seat angle and clean suspension kinematics to hustle upward with an ease that will endear it to XC racers and allday climbers alike. The absence of heft and sense of balance
persisted when pointed downhill too, making for a nimble ride
aided by neutral handling and an effective, supple suspension. The rear end ate up everything thrown at it, but when on
critical sections of the all-mountain course, testers generally
voiced a desire for something more substantial beneath them.
The parts spec was well-thought-out and on par for a bike
at this price. It features a Shimano XT 1x11 drivetrain and XT
brakes, Fox 34 FIT4 fork and Float shock (with a remote compression-damping lever) and Stans ZTR rims shod with Maxxis
Minion/Ardent tires. Gripes were limited to taller riders wishing
for a 150-mil Reverb post instead of the stock 125-mil version.
The bikes Ride-9 system offers the ability to tune head
and seat angle in a nearly 2-degree range and bottom-bracket
height in a 20-millimeter window. You can also tweak shock
rate. Even on the slackest (66.6/73.6-degree head and seat
angle) and lowest conguration, it still climbed like a homesick angel. Given that, and that any further change would only
make the Altitude climb better, we think its best described
as an aggressive trail bike. If you also nd yourself between
categories, this bike might be your match. M.F.

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CANNONDALE HABIT CARBON SE | $4,480

Final Take | The Habit bridges the gap between trail and XC
by pairing progressive suspension with responsive geometry.

SCOTT GENIUS 700 TUNED PLUS | $8,000

Final Take | Scott has produced a genre-chameleon; part
trail, part all-mountain, with a garnish of fatbike.

TESTING BIKES FOR THE BIBLE IS LIKE GOING ON A SEries of internet dates. They tell you about themselves online,
but the facts are often exaggerated. And its best to form your
own opinions before you go asking your friends for their input.
Theres a lot more to the Cannondale Habit than just its
Tinder prole. The Lefty fork, feathery weight and exing rear
linkage members make it seem rather conservative for a trail
bike. But the Habit features high-speed-friendly SRAM Guide
R brakes, 16.9-inch chainstays and 27.5-inch wheels. The
large-volume Rockshox Monarch Debonair rear shock and
150-millimeter dropper post (on large and XL sizes) round out
the evidence that this bike might want to party.
When the testers bellied up to the roundtable, the Habit
proved to be this years most divisive bike. We heard one claim
that the Habit rode a bit like a 29er. Not as nimble as other
27.5-inch bikes in its class, but planted and stable. In response, a slightly taller rider argued that he found the bike
begged to be thrown around at his will, if only because of its
light weight and small wheels. One tester jeered at the suspensions reliance on exing stays, while another countered that
removing a pivot at the dropout offered its own advantages and
noted that, laterally, the rear chassis was plenty stiff. Perhaps
the most divisive was the Lefty fork. Lefties feel much more
torsionally stiff than they appear, but a Fox 34 or RockShox
Pike would feel stiffer. While none of the testers owns a Lefty,
one went to bat for the 14-year-old southpaw. Its unique rollerbearing setup offers better bump sensitivity while under twisting and braking force than do traditional forks. And ultimately,
the importance of extreme torsional stiffness varies widely depending on the trail and on the riders weight and riding style.
Theres no question that the Habit is a capable climber.
The suspension rests in a comfortable spot before its ramp-up,
and the short chainstays and 27.5-inch wheels offer ample
get-up-and-go. We agreed it took a lot of force to use all the
rear travel, a reason the bike felt more XC than trail. Aggressive
pedaling and pumping forces are met with a rm platform, but
the rest of the travel is there when you really need it. T.E.

SCOTTS GENIUS 700 WAS ALREADY A CHALLENGE TO

categorize. A carbon-ber front triangle mated to an aluminum swingarm, it offers 130 millimeters of travel and is paired
with a 140-millimeter-travel Fox 34 FIT4 fork. Lighter than the
crowd of all-mountain contenders, the Genius 700 has more
suspension than most of the lightweight trail and XC set. Its
suspension features a unique TwinLoc handlebar remote that
operates in three modes: openallowing front and rear to operate at full travel; tractionin which the front stays open but
rear travel reduces to 90 millimeters, and compression damping stiffens; and closedfront and rear suspension both lock
out. To further tweak genre purists, Scott has made room for a
pair of fat Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.8-inch tires rolling on wide
Syncros TR 1.5 rims. SRAM X01 cranks, shifter and rear derailleur handle shifting and pedaling duties, a 125-millimeter
RockShox Reverb does the seat dropping and Shimano XTR
brakes slow things down on this high-end bike.
Scott also offers an adjustable head angle, via a pair of eccentric cups in the headtube, as well as bottom-bracket height
adjustment enabled by a ip-chip on the seatstay. We kept
the head angle slack at 67.5 degrees, and, after trying to dig
our way to the center of the earth with severe pedal strikes in
benign terrain, we decided to run the high 13.4-inch setting.
The chief upside of the plus-size tires can be summed up
in one word: traction. Tons of it everywhere, all the time, regardless of ground surface. Running the tires around 10 to 11
PSI, there is a supplemental suspension effect that obliterates
small, high-frequency trail garbage. Having taken the lightweight route to getting fat, the Genius 700 Plus still climbs
and pedals with surprising alacrity. However, the ip side of
those light tires and wheels can be felt when loading hard into
turns and jumps and plowing into rock gardens. More pressure
is needed to prevent the tires from rolling, and with that, the
traction benets start to fade. The tires are also a bit fragile for
pinging hard into rocks. The plus-size crusade is just getting
rolling, though, and as tire and wheel options become broader,
this is a bold new frontier lled with potential. M.F.

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PRIZE FIGHTERS
B R A W L E R S T H AT PA C K A P U N C H

GO TO BIKEMAG.COM FOR EXCLUSIVE ROUNDTABLE REELS VIDEOS OF OUR TESTERS

DEBATES AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES COVERAGE OF THE ALL-MOUNTAIN TESTING.

ryan palmer on the marin attack trail 9 | photo: reuben krabbe

A L L M O U N TA I N

SANTA CRUZ BRONSON CC (X01) | $6,600

Final Take | Slacker, longer and more supple than before,
the new Bronson is playful and rolls with the hits.

EVIL INSURGENT (X01 WITH ENVE UPGRADE) | $8,000

Final Take | Engineering wizardry and daring geometry create a condent machine thats constantly inviting the party.

SANTA CRUZS ALL-MOUNTAIN MODEL, THE BRONSON,

isnt exactly long in the tooththe original model rolled out
just three seasons ago. A lot, however, has happened in the
world of mountain bikes since then, which is why Santa Cruz
recently unveiled this new Bronson. It gains a longer toptube,
shorter chainstays, a Boost 148 rear end and slightly slacker
geometry. Make no mistake: The Bronson is still Santa Cruzs
most-versatile bike, but in addition to being light and efcient
enough to handle all-day slogs, the new Bronson is more capable on both technical climbs and descents.
We reviewed the original Bronson in our 2014 Bible of Bike
Tests and received no shortage of ak when we didnt crown
it the Best Bike Ever. We were impressed with that bikes absolutely bomber feel and the way it surged forward with the
slightest coaxing at the cranks. Our testers, however, felt
the original Bronson didnt offer as much traction on rocky
climbs as the best all-mountain rigs. Well, no more. Santa
Cruz changed the kinematics on this new Bronson, giving it a
more supple rear suspension while under power. The Bronson
still rips up climbs, but the traction is noticeably improved.
Some of our testers admitted to never having felt entirely
comfortable on past Santa Cruz bikes, but even those riders
had nothing but praise for the geometry tweaks made here.
The bike just felt rightright off the bat, said gear editor
Ryan Palmer. Very neutral, very condent just dialed.
Many of the all-mountain models in this years gear guide
are mini-downhill bikesthe Bronson has a lighter, more nimble feel to it, but as another tester put it: Then you start
hitting stupid shit at speed and it just eats that right up too.
Theres not a weak widget in Santa Cruzs XO1 build kit. Testers praised the single-ring drivetrain, RockShox Pike fork, SRAM
Guide RSC brakes and Fox Float X Factory EVOL rear shock.
If you are cursing the asking price, Santa Cruz offers several build options including a base-level Bronson C that sells
for $3,600. That grade of carbon frame is a half-pound heavier
and the components included in its kit are nowhere near as
Gucci as what you see here, but still, hot damn. Vernon Felton

LIKE POLITICS AND RELIGION, ITS BEST TO AVOID CONversations about wheel size when among friends and family.
Theres always that moment when grandpa gets belligerent
about how much he misses 26-inch wheels, and inevitably
the Evil Uprising gets mentioned. Sorry Pops, but some things
have to change. The 27.5-inch-wheeled Evil Insurgent has
overthrown the Uprising, and the world is not going to end
because of it. The models have the same travel, the same two
bottom-bracket-height options and the same chainstay length.
The head angle slackened by 1 degree, but it can still be adjusted independently of bottom-bracket height. Our X01 build
had some nice touches, like a carbon Race Face SixC crank,
wide carbon Race Face SixC 35 bars and wide Enve HV rims.
The premium setup makes for a pricy bike, but the X1 build
offers identical frame and suspension for $5,300.
On the trail, the Insurgent displayed everything we love
about Evil. It weighs less than 29 pounds and feels even lighter under foot. It has one of the stiffest frames in the category
and nearly the meanest geometry. The lowest BB setting had
us scraping pedals, which Evil warns of by labeling the settings
low and extra low. A few of us preferred to climb with the
Monarch Plus in pedal to calm the slack angles, but there
was remarkably little pedal feedback regardless of where we
sat in the travel. While climbing out of the saddle or sprinting,
the unique DELTA linkage offers a reliably rm platform.
The Dave Weagle-designed DELTA combines a supple early
stroke, a moderate ramp-up mid-stroke and a steeper ramp-up
just before bottoming out. The Insurgent charged condently
through large hits, and when they occasionally ate up all of
its 150 millimeters of travel, the bottom-out was so soft that
we rarely felt it. The magic on any Evil is the rm mid-stroke,
which allows its bottomless-feeling rear squish to also feel
playful and responsive. It pumped through berms and rocketed
off jumps like a shorter-travel bike, and had a masterful sweet
spot for slides and manuals, thanks to sub-17-inch chainstays.
So hammer another nail in the 26-inch wheels cofn, and
maybe well nally stop talking about it. Travis Engel

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PHOTOS: ANTHONY SMITH

www.industrynine.net

A L L M O U N TA I N

DEVINCI TROY CARBON RR | $6,600

Final Take | An all-around brawler perfect for playful riders,
as long as they prefer to play rough.

TRANSITION PATROL 2 | $5,000

Final Take | This is a hell of a fun bike that will make any
climb-happy, trail-seeking gravity freak weep with joy.

QUEBEC-BASED DEVINCI IS HEADQUARTERED ACROSS THE

border from our northern-Vermont testing grounds, so the Troy had
home-eld advantage in the twisty, rooty trails of the Northeast.
We picked a good year to throw it in the mix, after geometry updates added an inch to the Troys once-snug toptube. Combine
that with the shortest chainstays in the category, and youve got
the modern numbers liable to give testers a nerdgasm.
There were no complaints about the component spec, and
at this price there shouldnt be. We liked the subtle touches
like the Chromag bar and stem, and the not-so-subtle ones like
the RockShox Pike RCT3 Dual Air. Travel-adjust forks arent
often specd on complete bikes, so weve learned to live without them. But they arguably benet climbers even more than a
rear lockout. The rear shock lacked the piggyback reservoir of
the Monarch Plus, but none of us missed it on the trail. And
our jaws dropped when we noticed that Devinci also offers this
same frame and rear shock with a Pike RC, SRAM GX 1x11
drivetrain and a more basic parts package for $3,500.
The revamped geometry was a welcomed change. It felt
remarkably planted on the climbs, and its moderate 67-degree head angle didnt feel like it was ghting us. Most of our
testers left the fork travel where it was on all but the steepest
of uphills.
On the downhills, the Troy was a unique little beast. Many
of todays all-mountain bikes ride like autopilot buttons with
wheels. This one demands a little more participation from
the cockpit. The 140/150-millimeter platform had a tad less
travel than the rest of the category, and its stiff, balanced and
playful. This is thanks to the steady ramp-up starting around
the middle of the stroke that made it difcult for us to use all
the travel. A few of us dropped the sag a hair, but that left the
suspension feeling dead and climbing ability was sacriced.
The more reckless testers found a better solution: Go faster
and hit harder. The more heavy-handed we were, the better the
Troy felt. It loved to be driven hard into the berms and would
swallow up the chunky bits provided you didnt try to tiptoe
through them. Its a ne instrument for brutal riding. T.E.

TRANSITION BIKES USUALLY MOCK ME. LOOKING AT THE

Patrol 2 as it poked out from the rest of this years test bikes
with its massive wheelbase, I was convinced it was sneering at
me, and I prepared to once again fall short of tapping a bikes
potential, only to be reminded just how much I suck. Instead, I
had a couple rides that redened what I thought I was capable
of as a rider, and that changed what I considered to be dening
buy/dont buy aspects of bike design.
Heres what I mean: The Patrol 2 is aluminum. Anecdotal
bias implies that aluminum is heavier and more dead-feeling
than carbon ber. This is not the case here. The Patrol is lively
and remarkably playful, in spite of the beef implicit in the
7.8-pound frame weight. It is also stout, solid, plush and impeccable at sucking up all kinds of terrain, while still being a
capable pedaling machine. Its 155 millimeters of rear travel
is plush where it needs to be, but progressive enough to swallow big hits with ease. The Patrol 2 is long. As in, a 47.6-inch
wheelbase for our large test bike. As in, it should take an act of
Congress for it to change direction. Wrong. The Patrol is superfun to rip turns on. I quit worrying about numbers because I
was too busy laughing. The Patrol 2 is slack65-degree head
angle meets 75-degree seat angle and 24-inch toptube. Thats
why it is so long. Normally I wrestle with slack bikes because I
ride too far off the back like an aging refugee from mid-1990s
XC races. For whatever reason, I felt like I could do no wrong
cornering on this bike. It denitely lets you know just how long
and slack it is when trying to muscle around uphill switchbacks, but is still pretty damn well-behaved.
Bottom line? In a few short rides, this bike had me hitting lines I had been afraid of all week and tearing up my old
playbook that dictated Id never own anything slacker than 67
degrees or longer than 45 inches, or that wasnt carbon ber.
Admittedly, the price on our test bike wouldve put us close to
carbon ber with similar spec in other brands (RockShox Pike
fork and Monarch shock, SRAM X01/X1 drivetrain and SRAM
Guide RSC brakes), but I really couldnt care less. This bike
will make anyone a better rider. Mike Ferrentino

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B I B L E O F B IK E TE S T S

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A L L M O U N TA I N

TURNER RFX (X01 WITH ENVE UPGRADE) | $7,920

Final Take | This carbon beauty is surprisingly efcient given
how fun it is to point downhill.

MARIN ATTACK TRAIL 9 | $6,600

Final Take | This bump-eating bruiser impressed the crew
with its maneuverability, stable handling and brilliant spec.

TURNER HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD WITH ITS FOURTH

version of the RFX. Two aluminum links mate the carbon
front and rear ends and provide the bikes 160 millimeters
of carefully-tuned dw-link travel. It sure does pedal well for a
bike made for going downhill at blazing speeds, and it does so
without needing to ip the RockShox Monarch Plus pedaling
platform on. This is an ideal characteristic for enduro racers
and those whod rather ride than fumble around with switches.
But the bikes pedaling efciency wont hinder you when
its time to let gravity do its thing. One tester remarked, It
felt like a plush version of the Santa Cruz Bronson. The RFX
settles into its sagwe ran it at 30 percentand feels completely neutral, equally ready to get on the gas or smooth stutters.
And few bikes were better on root-littered at sections, since
the RFX remains active, yet supportive, while pedaling. Bringing added stability and condence to the mix is the 47-inch
wheelbase (for a size large), and 66-degree head angle. Thats
with a 160-mil forkTurner is cool with up to 180 millimeters
of travel on the front of the RFX.
RFX makes use of a new 49/62 tapered headtube, giving riders the ability to use offset cups to change the head angle by up
to a degree-and-a-half in either direction. Want to run a 170-mil
fork while maintaining the head angle? You can. 66 degrees is
too slack for your liking? Go ahead and steepen that thing up.
Many companies use internal cable routing now, but Turner
is sticking with external. Because were complete nerds and
there wasnt much else to debate with the RFX, this caused
a heated argument among testers. Some appreciate the simplicity and serviceability of external, while others prefer welldesigned internal routing. What we did agree on was that Turners ziptie-free aluminum housing clips make for extremely tidy
routing. And that the bike rips.
Turner offers the RFX frame-only for three grand, or you can
choose one of four build kits starting with a SRAM GX group at
just under $4,600. Thats a really good price, especially considering this (and every) build includes a 160 RockShox Pike
RCT3 fork and Monarch Plus Debonair. Ryan Palmer

MARINS PRODUCT MANAGERS MADE A UNIQUE AND INtriguing component choice for the 2016 Attack Trailthey opted
to control the bikes 150 millimeters of rear and 160 millimeters
of front-wheel travel with Bos dampers. The French suspension
maker has gained a strong following across the Atlantic by offering top-shelf performance in a reliable, easily serviced package,
but theyre not widely specd on bikes in North America.
The Deville AM fork features rebound and high- and lowspeed compression damping, while the Kirk shock is tted with
a rebound knob and three-position compression lever for pedaling support. Both received high marks, though no tester reported a completely blown mind. One tester did feel that the Attack
Trail had the supplest suspension in the all-mountain category
a combination of the shock tune and the initial small-bump
compliance of the frames linkage design. Its fair to say, however, that this pair of dampers felt at least as good as the best
RockShox and Fox offerings. Bos claims its forks require much
less scheduled maintenance than the competition, a claim that
cant be vetted in the short timeframe of this test.
Back to our Attack Trail 9, a closer look reveals some other
particularly awesome component choices. All the testers liked the
787-mil-wide Deity Blacklabel bar, which is normally reserved
as an aftermarket hop-up, and Marin smartly opted to use KS
Southpaw lever to actuate the Lev Integra instead of going with
the stock remote. SRAM Guide RS brakes and XO1 drivetrain, DT
Swiss E1700 wheels and WTB Vigilante (front) and Breakout tires
round out one of the smartest builds at this years Bible.
Testers liked that the stubby 17-inch chainstays made the
bike feel playful, one person noting that this allowed him to place
the rear wheel precisely where he wanted. If pushing into and
manualing out of corners sounds fun to you, the Attack Trail wont
disappoint. Another tester appreciated the stability afforded by
the bikes 46-inch wheelbase, but also remarked that the sub 24inch toptube on our size large test bike felt a bit cramped. The
66.5-degree head angle provides descending condence without
feeling too sled-like. While the bike climbs with dignity, gravitys
help allows it to really attack the trail. R.P.

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A L L M O U N TA I N

GT SANCTION PRO | $4,340

Final Take | Designed for world-class enduro courses, what
the Sanction lacks in versatility, it makes up for in strength.

JAMIS DEFCON 1 | $4,900

Final Take | Jamis new model has a no-nonsense parts
spec, but hard chargers will want a stiffer chassis.

THE GT SANCTION COULD NOT BE CLASSIFIED AS ANYthing but an all-mountain bike. It was never intended to be a
neutral jack-of-all-trades, offering equal measures of long travel and light weight like most of its classmates. The bike you
see here is narrowly focused on the most aggressive courses of
the enduro racing scene. So narrowly that when it was released
last year, it was only available in the U.S. as a frameset. But
now its gotten all dressed up for the downhill.
The Sanction Pro oats on 160 millimeters of rear travel
and 170 up front. It was one of just two bikes we tested that
ran a Fox Float 36 fork, and the only one with a full chainguide. The SLX / Stans wheels and Maxxis High Roller tires
come tubeless-ready, though the 25-millimeter-wide rims
dont inspire as much condence as the rest of the build, especially given the bikes 33-pound weight.
The Sanction pedaled calmly, considering that it was scaled
down from GTs downhill bike. We did have to rely on the rm
settings of the Float X shock, but mostly to increase ride height,
not necessarily to limit pedal feedback. Overall, it climbed comfortably, just not quickly. Fortunately, as with enduro racing, the
uphills on our test loops were not timed.
The iteration of GTs I-Drive linkage used on the Sanction
is vastly different from that of its moderate-travel bikes. It is
more supple over high-speed medium and large hits. Descending through the root gardens and mud pits of our test course,
the Sanction felt remarkably like a downhill bike. It offered up
all of its ample travel when you needed it, and was laterally stiff
enough to be forced through anything you had the muscle for.
When the speed dropped and the corners tightened, it still
felt like a downhill bike. Its long travel and longer wheelbase
were a lot to wrangle without momentum on your side. This
bears considering if this is to be your new enduro-winning machine; some enduro courses may be too mellow for this beast.
But the Sanction has applications beyond its intended use. A
pedal-able bike with above-category travel and durability is the
perfect choice for any hucker or shredder with an unhealthy
appetite for abuse and trails rugged enough to satisfy it. T.E.

JAMIS DID AN EXCELLENT JOB OUTFITTING THE DEFCON

1. We loved the Shimano XT 1x11 drivetrain. The stock
32-tooth ring and 11-42-tooth cassette provided enough gear
range for stronger riders, while others wished for a 30-tooth.
We applaud Jamis for almost completing one of historys mostreliable bicycle drivetrains. Shimanos chains are engineered
to mate perfectly with its chainring teeth, so if youre building
a Shimano drivetrain, dont forget the chain.
Its tough to beat the Fox Factory 36 FIT4 fork, with 160
millimeters of buttery-smooth travel to devour the trail with. An
evenly matched Factory Float X shock controls the Defcons 160
millimeters of rear-wheel travel. Riders benet from Open Mode
Adjust front and rear for ne-tuning low-speed compression.
We also welcomed the Shimano Saint brakes. Loaded Precision
Components provides the wheels, stem and fork, all in a bright
anodized blue. Rounding out the build is a KS Lev dropper.
The Defcons aluminum frame has clean lines uncluttered
by external cables. Weve mostly seen non-stealth dropper
routing disappear, but running the housing inside the toptube
allows for a much shorter housing length and simpler routing.
The Defcons geometry numbers look good, too. The 24.4-inch
(size large) toptube, 66.5-degree head angle and 73.5-degree
seat angle are right in the ball park with the other bikes in the
test, and the 17-inch chainstays are enticingly short.
On paper, this bike should shred, but despite some testers
scoring 3 out of 5 for in-class pedaling efciency, descending
and maneuverability, nobody checked the Id buy it in a heartbeat box at the end of their test form. Why? Testers wanted
more support in the mid-stroke than the Defcons mostly linear leverage ratio provided. Luckily, the spring curve can be
tweaked at the shock via volume spacers in the EVOL air can.
The bigger issue was riders reporting difculty holding a line,
which they attributed to unwanted frame ex after noticing
rear-tire buzz while cornering. Even a hard pedal stroke in the
parking lot could buzz the tire on the chainstay. The Defcon 1
has an amazing parts spec for the price, but wed like to see a
stiffer chassis and more rened stock shock tune. R.P.

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WOMENS

GO TO BIKEMAG.COM FOR EXCLUSIVE ROUNDTABLE REELS VIDEOS OF OUR TESTERS

DEBATES AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES COVERAGE OF THE WOMENS TESTING.

kristin butcher on the juliana furtado cc | photo: reuben krabbe

WOMENS

LIV INTRIGUE SX | $4,475

Final Take | If your dream day is spent dominating descents,
you will fall in love with the Liv Intrigue SX.

YETI SB5C BETI | $6,900

Final Take | A beautiful paint job masks this bikes
inner badass.

GRAVITY ADDICTS UNITE. THE LIV INTRIGUE SX HAS ARrived and it is everything you could want in a trusty steed. Liv
is one of the few brands making womens bikes with geometry and componentry designed and packaged specically to
t smaller body proportions. The Giant Bicycles spinoff has
gained a reputation as a leader in recent years for its womensspecic bikes like the new SX, which is essentially a soupedup version of the Intrigue 1.
For this third iteration of the Intrigue, Liv has made some
seriously smart spec decisions. It beefed up the front travel
from 140 millimeters on the Intrigue 1 to 160 millimeters via
a RockShox Pike RCT3, and swapped the Fox Float CTD shock
for the RockShox Monarch Plus Debonair RT. The longer-travel fork slackens the headtube angle from 68 to 67 degrees,
meaning this machine wants to go downhill. Fast.
Although Liv doesnt offer a carbon-ber frame option, none
of our testers minded the aluminum frame, and in fact reported
that it felt lightweight and capable in spite of the bikes longer
travel. Liv has also given the Intrigue SX a SRAM X1 single-ring
drivetrain with a 30-tooth chainring. This gearing can make uphills a bit of a slog, but Giants Maestro suspension platform does
a decent job of reducing pedal bob. Regardless, we still preferred
to climb with the suspension locked out when we were on smooth
trails or re-road climbs.
Another bonus to the Intrigue SX is its overall simplicity.
With few distractions in the cockpit, clean lines and internal
cable routing to keep everything tidy, the bike has a minimalistic aesthetic. For $4,475, the components are stacked with
SRAM Guide RS brakes, Schwalbe Hans Dampf and Rock Razor 2.35 tires and Giants smooth Contact SL dropper post.
Liv offers the Intrigue SX in three sizes: extra small, small
and medium. The benet of an extra-small frame is perhaps
most apparent in its low, 27.4-inch standover height. Liv has a
history of making bikes that t smaller riders without compromising performance, and the Intrigue SX is no exception. For
anyone willing to work for those dream descents, the Intrigue
SX is an excellent choice for the price. Lacy Kemp

Yeti couldnt really go wrong with its rst womens-specic

bike, one of two models in the newly branded Beti line. It
uses the same frame as the popular SB5c, which is based
around the highly efcient Switch Innity suspension platform. Yeti tweaked some components to better suit smaller
riders, choosing a narrower handlebar, a womens saddle and
lighter wheels, and dressed the frame in shiny coral paint inspired by its best-selling Norrie womens short.
Testers hailed the Betis climbing abilities, noting snappiness and speed more akin to a lightning-fast cross-country
bike than a 5-inch trail bike. Climbing with the shock open
didnt hold it back, either, and the Betis 27.5-inch wheels
charged up root sections. Partially because it is so lightthe
Beti tipped the scales at just over 26 poundstesters felt it
wasnt as sure-footed on the descents as expected, and one reported that the rear suspension felt harsh in technical terrain.
But its seemingly stiff personality quickly grew on us. It is
not the easiest descender, but once used to it, it totally rips,
read one test sheet. With 17.4-inch chainstays, its not the
poppiest of the bunch, but it feels planted and stable, and the
66.8-degree headtube angle enables both wander-free climbing and steep descending.
The Beti SB5c comes in one premium build, which includes
SRAM Guide RSC brakes, a SRAM X01 1x11 drivetrain, the
revamped Fox 34 Factory fork, a Float DPS shock and a 720mil Easton EC90 carbon bar paired with a 55-mil Haven stem.
Testers universally questioned Yetis tire and wheel choice,
which are both decidedly XC. While the lightweight acceleration
of the DT Swiss 350 XR 331 wheel was appreciated, testers
preferred a wider wheel to keep up with Betis trail tendencies.
The Maxxis 2.4 Ardent up front matched the bikes personality,
but the rear 2.2 Ikon felt undergunned. For testing, we swapped
in Bontrager XR4s to better suit the bikes propensity to party.
For those who want to push this bike to its limit, the unisex
version comes with a longer-travel 150-mil fork. You can also
get a Shimano XTR build in a non-Beti version (for $10,500)
or the frame and shock for $3,400. Nicole Formosa

114/115

BIB LE O F B IK E TE S T S

PHOTOS: ANTHONY SMITH

JULIANA FURTADO CC XX1 | $8,100

Final Take | The Furtado is like an awesome night outyoull
take a stiff punch to the wallet, but the party is worth it.

CANNONDALE HABIT WOMENS 1 | $3,730

Final Take | If fast, smooth and owy trails are your game,
the Habit could be your new ame.

THE EXPRESSION LESS IS MORE ISNT OFTEN USED IN

the mountain bike world, but in the case of the Juliana Furtado, it seems perfectly on point. The Furtado CC we tested came
with a 130-millimeter RockShox Pike RCT3 fork, but rode like
a bike with 150 millimeters of travel. With clean lines and a
minimalistic cockpit, shes a simple machine, but a burly one.
Boasting the same geometry and similar componentry as her
Santa Cruz counterpart, the 5010, the Furtado is a true trail
bike capable of handling a wide range of terrain.
We expected great things from this bike and were mostly
pleased by its performance. We loved that it felt like a minidownhill rig through rougher sections of trail; it was easy to get
in the air and ate up everything in its path, making its $8,100
price slightly less traumatizing. While that is not an affordable
bike, it is representative of the build. Shifting was smooth and
effortless with SRAMs XX1 drivetrain, and SRAMs top-of-theline Guide Ultimate brakes offered amazing modulation and
stopping power. The RockShox Reverb Stealth dropper post
with 150 millimeters of travela rare nd on a womens bike
was awless. Perhaps the most intriguing feature on the 2016
bike is the addition of Industry Nine Torch hubs featuring 148
spacing in the rear and 110 in the front, making the ride on
the Easton ARC 24 rims feel stiff and stable.
While the Furtado was an absolute riot on the descents,
climbing steep, punchy ascents could have been easier
had the bike come specd with a smaller chainring than the
32-tooth ring ours had, but thats an easy swap. Plus, Juliana
offers three other build kits in the CC range, two of which are
equipped with granny-gear drivetrains. Testers also had an issue with clipping pedals, a tradeoff for the 13.1-inch bottombracket height. The testers who teeter between small and medium frames felt like the Furtado was long for a medium, due
to a 23.5-inch toptube and perhaps the wide, 760-mil bars.
Riders with a penchant for aggressive descents will love
this bike. With four sizes (the extra small will be available in
April), and several kit and frame options ranging from $3,600
to $8,700, there is a Furtado to suit a variety of budgets. L.K.

CANNONDALE DOESNT USUALLY MARKET ITS FULL-SUSpension trail bikes toward women, sticking instead to inexpensive hardtails or ashy XC race rigs. The new 120-millimetertravel Habit trail/XC platform, however, brings two mid-range
models for the ladiesone carbon with an alloy rear triangle and
one built around a full aluminum frame. Cannondale gave these
a different paint job, narrower, 740-millimeter bars and, in the
case of the Habit 1, a crankset with climbing-friendly 22/36
chainrings instead of the 26/36 on the unisex equivalent. The
womens Habits also come in an extra small frame with a revised
shock position to get standover to an ultra-low 27.2 inches.
On the trail, testers found that the Habit displayed the
quickness, stiffness and climbing capability of an XC bike, but
also wanted to tussle with the more aggressive bikes, thanks
to its wider bars and short 60-mil stem, 68-degree headtube
angle and 2.25-inch Schwalbe Nobby Nic (front) and Rocket
Ron tires. The bike felt truly in its element on the fast, swooping dirt ribbons of the Kingdom Trails16.9-inch chainstays, a
low 13.1-inch bottom bracket and 27.5-inch hoops made the
Habit at home whipping through the woods. The trails arent
super-steep so the lack of a stock dropper postthough an oversight for any bike in the trail categorywasnt a deal-breaker.
The Lefty evoked mixed emotionsone tester reported feeling some deection on techy descents as if the fork was too
stiff. Its asymmetry preoccupied testers initially, but getting
past the polarizing look is essential to realizing the benets
of one of the lightest, stiffest forks on the market. The exing
seatstays, which eliminate the need for rear pivotscreating
a lighter, easier-to-maintain systemalso contributed to the
Habits slim 28.3-pound weight.
Ultimately the Habit boils down to a stellar value for XC
rippers who want to dabble in rougher terrain. The build is
rounded out with a Monarch RL shock, Stans Rapid 28 rims,
Shimano Deore brakes (SLX would be a worthy upgrade) and
an XT rear derailleur and Deore front derailleur. Cannondale
also offers an astonishing eight unisex models, so if you fall for
the Habit, give the entire range a look. N.F.

WOMENS

SPECIALIZED RHYME FSR COMP CARBON 6FATTIE | $4,500

Final Take | A condence-inspiring steed that celebrates
fun. May not pair well with Strava-royalty seekers.

SCOTT CONTESSA GENIUS 710 | $3,600

Final Take | A feature-packed bike that provides a lively ride
and great bang for the buck.

CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, THE SPECIALIZED RHYME

FSR Comp Carbon 6Fattie isnt actually a bike. Its salt-and
-vinegar potato chips. The rst bite is curious and perplexing,
maybe even slightly offensive. So you grab another. And another. Until you wonder where the whole bag went.
With the Rhyme, Specialized moved away from designs
built around debated ideas of womens proportions, choosing
to re-appropriate the long-heralded Stumpjumper FSR frame
specd with components geared toward smaller ridersnamely a narrower 720-mil handlebar and a Fox Float DPS shock
tuned for lighter riders. The frame also comes in an extrasmall option. The result is a solid design accessible to riders
in the fun-size category. Boost 148 spacing in the rear helps
the 6Fattie run girthtastic 27.5 x 3 tires that beg to be taken
deep into corners while gobbling up chunder on climbs and
descents with equal prowess.
The 6Fatties carbon front triangle keeps the weight manageable and incorporates a downtube storage compartment big
enough to carry tools, food, kittens or whatever your heart desires. We weighed ours at just over 30 pounds, making it the
heaviest womens bike we tested, but it was the only 27+ bike
in our womens eet. Short 17.2-inch chainstays kept this bike
lively, while the SRAM GX drivetrain equipped with a 28-tooth
ring made pedaling surprisingly easy considering the doubledup otation of 3-inch tires and 135 millimeters of rear travel.
Between the endless traction, smooth FSR suspension
platform and the precise IRcc dropper post, the 6Fattie was
crafted to inspire condence. If theres a complaint independent of the 27+ genre as a whole, its that the low, 13.1inch bottom-bracket height that helps keep this bike planted
occasionally results in unexpected pedal bashing. For those
not into 27+, the Rhyme FSR is also available in a standard
650b. But its nice to know that fellow short-statured riders
who value the fun of choosing stupid lines have a choice in
the Rhyme 6Fattie, because some of us like putting salt-and
-vinegar chips on a sandwich served with fried pickles and
Tabasco Ranch. Kristin Butcher

THE SCOTT CONTESSA GENIUS 710 PACKS A TON OF BIKE

into a reasonably priced package, but riders will need to
choose their priorities: a carbon frame or great spec. This is
because at $3,600 its difcult to have both. After riding the
Contessa on varying terrain, though, testers described its aluminum frame as feeling every bit as strong, stiff and light as
riders have come to expect from carbon.
The Contessa has a shock-mount chip that slightly lowers
the bottom-bracket height and slackens the headtube angle
(from 68.4 degrees in the high setting to 67.9 in low), increasing the bikes versatility. We kept it in the low setting for
testing and found that position to be well-suited to descending. The bikes weightan impressive 29.6 pounds for an aluminum framemade it a surprisingly lively climber, too.
Our test model came with a Shimano XT drivetrain and SLX
brakes, which is pretty remarkable for the price. We were also
treated to front and rear Fox suspension: a 34 Performance Air
up fronta smart upgrade from the Fox 32 offered on previous
modelsand Scotts proprietary Fox Nude shock out back, giving the bike a bountiful 150 millimeters of travel.
Scotts TwinLoc remote suspension lockout removes one
reason to take your hands off the bars while riding, and adjusting rear travel to 100 millimeters with the ip of a switch is a
useful feature. But, testers would have preferred to decouple
the fork from the system so that the front lockout isnt connected to the shock adjustment.
The Genius has more features than some bikes at a higher
price point, but the package does come with some small sacrices. For one, the handlebar feels cramped because the front
and rear shifters, dropper-post lever and remote suspension
lockout lever are all vying for space. Ninjas with great hand-eye
coordination may not have an issue, but for us it felt overwhelming at rst. Also, the X-Fusion Strate dropper suffered from
slow lever engagement and actuation. The investment to upgrade the dropper would be money well-spent. This bike may
offer the best value of the test, and with a few minor modications it could be the perfect ride.L.K.

116

B I B L E O F B IK E TE S T S

Run Wild
Ride Free
Precision Cycling Solutions
Elliptical and round Drop-Stop chainrings with
best in class wear performance and mud clearing
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Innovative cycling accessories for the way you ride:
tools, pogies and other so goods
All products made in the USA, in small batches

woloothcomponents.com

ENVE.COM

36mm

26mm

30mm

28mm

30mm

31mm

M60 HV

M70 HV

HIGH VOLUME

FORKS

ON THE REBOUND
S U S P E N S I O N T H AT D A M P E N S T H E B L O W

PHOTOS/ARTWORK: VAN SWAE

FORKS

FOX FACTORY FLOAT 34 | $875

FORGET EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW ABOUT THE
34. A new FIT4 damper, improved air spring and slimmed-down
chassis all work together to inject unmatched performance into the
34 platform, which is available in congurations between 120 and
150 millimeters of travel. The damper still has three positions (open,
medium and rm), but now you can adjust low-speed compression in open mode instead of medium (previously called trail) a
huge improvement. Thanks to both the air spring and damper, the
new 34 has excellent bump sensitivity off the top, while staying nice
and high in its travel when things get rowdy. Volume spacers can
be used in the air spring to adjust the curve, so aggressive riders
can get the off-the-top feel they want with the support they need
in the middle and end of the stroke. Riders can ne-tune the forks
sensitivity by adjusting the open mode adjust knob while reserving
the middle and rm modes for climbing. Meanwhile, a dual-circuit
rebound can be set to be quick enough for the fork to recover between consecutive impacts, while providing control on larger blows.
All this adds up to a fork that is well worth the money. The 34 tracks
incredibly well and is unbelievably good with small bumps, requiring
very little force to initiate travel. This fork crams relatively identical
performance as the 36 FIT4 or RockShox Pike RCT3 in a svelte trail
package, featuring plenty of stiffness and outstanding spring and
damping control at just under 4 pounds. Ryan Palmer
120/121

BIB LE O F B IK E TE S T S

ROCKSHOX LYRIK RCT3 | $1,030

THE LYRIK IS BACK FOR THE 2016 SEASON WITH A NEW LOOK
and feel. Stiffer and lighter than its old namesake, the new Lyrik
features the performance of the charger damper that weve all fallen in love with on the Pike and Boxxer, resulting in superb smallbump sensitivity. Another great feature on the Lyrik is the userfriendly bottomless token system. Customizing the ramp-up on an
air spring has never been easier, and you wont have to sacrice
that stellar small-bump compliance no matter how stiff you like
your fork to feel near the end of its travel. The 35-millimeter legs
are tapered to balance stiffness and weight, and the Fast Black
stanchions reduce seal friction. Combine that with increased stiffness in the lowers and youre left with a fork that bridges the gap
between all-mountain and downhill.
My rst week riding the Lyrik was a whirlwind tour of lift-accessed East Coast bike parks. On the menu was everything from
unforgiving, rock-infested downhill tracks to classic bike-park
jumps and ow. My initial reservations about being the only person
on the trip riding an all-mountain bike with a single-crown fork
were quickly forgotten, as the Lyrik held its own on the gnarliest
terrain we could nd. It was particularly impressive when I made
mistakes, which happened often. It tracked incredibly well and
kept the wheel on target when the trailor my lack of skillwas
about to send me off-course. Anthony Smith

BOS DEVILLE 160 | $1,070

FRANCE-BASED BOS SUSPENSION HAS ALWAYS HELD A MYSterious allure for me. But it wasnt until this season that I had the
opportunity to spend an extended amount of time putting its enduro
offering, the Deville, through its paces.
Setting up the Deville requires an extra step thats not needed
on a lot of other 160-millimeter-travel forks. Bos emphasizes the
importance of taking your time to equalize the positive and negative air chambers after every air-pressure adjustment. Running a
few cycles through the rst inch of travel before compressing the
suspension will ensure youre achieving the optimal feeling when
youre setting up your sag. Following that step, then starting with
Bos recommended settings for rebound and high- and low-speed
compression had the Deville feeling really close to where I wanted
it. As the fork broke in and I honed my settings, the Deville became
a buttery-smooth delight.
The supple feel on the Deville is thanks to the open-bath damping cartridge. It achieves what weve come to expect from a highperformance suspension forkeffortless initial stroke with a predictable ramp-up that will appeal to even the most aggressive riders.
Its on burly terrain where the Bos really shines. With its bottomless feel and mid-stroke stability it seemed nearly impossible to do
wrong on the Deville. It invites the rider to lay off the brakes and
see what is possible. A.S.

SUNTOUR DUROLUX R2C2 | $800

THE DUROLUX R2C2 IS SMART AND UNDER-RECOGNIZED: ITS
the Will Hunting of suspension forks. SR Suntour is known for
manufacturing a massive quantity of blue-collar boingers, but this
36-millimeter-stanchion bruiser can keep up with the Ivy League
kids. It actually has more adjustability than its biggest competitors,
though its only available in one wheel size (27.5-inch), with 160180 millimeters of travel. The cartridge-style damper features highand low-speed knobs for compression and rebound. High-speed rebound provides control at the end strokesimilar to the dual-circuit
rebound valves found on other popular fork dampers, albeit with ve
clicks of adjustability. In addition, the air spring ts up to three volume spacers for quick spring-curve changes. The only measurable
downside to the Durolux is its 5-pound weight, if you care about that
kind of thing. On the trail, the Durolux was awless. With two airvolume spacers, the fork rode high in its travel and absorbed small
and large impacts with excellent control, with perhaps just a touch
more perceptible friction than, say, the Fox Float 36. Three volume
spacers made it nearly impossible for me to use the full travel, and
showed the exibility of the fork. In fact, all adjustments had enough
range to make the fork feel just right for most riders and abilities.
The Durolux performs nearly the same as other, more-popular forks,
and its 20-mil through-axle is the fastest to operate on the market, to
boot. All for 800 bucks. How do you like them apples? R.P.

TIRES

RUBBER SOUL
T R E A D S T H AT R O C K N R O L L

PHOTOS/ARTWORK: VAN SWAE

TIRES

SPECIALIZED BUTCHER
GRID | $60

BONTRAGER SE5 TEAM

ISSUE | $75

CONTINENTAL DER KAISER

2.4 PROJEKT | $70

MAXXIS MINION SS |
$62-$65

THE 2.3-INCH BUTCHER HAS

proved to be a capable and predictable all-condition tire. The
center tread is evenly spaced
with alternating pairs of ramped
and non-ramped knobs for
good rolling efciency and traction. It is commonly run in the
front, but it also makes a great
rear tire. And the blocky, wellbuttressed side knobs will have
you cornering like Matt Hunter
he ran this tire in the muchhyped bar-drag photo. The tires
compound, knob spacing and
siping make it excel on most
surfaces, including wet rocks
and roots. It even clears mud
pretty well, but its happiest in
loam and medium hardpack.
Sharp rocks have traditionally
challenged the Butcher, but
the optional Grid casing adds
stability and protection. There
is noticeably less casing ex in
hard corners than with the Control casing, and puncture and
tear resistance is measurably
improved. The Grid still isnt
completely safe from tire-eating
places like Downieville, but its
only 930 grams for the 650b
version or 1,000 grams for the
29-inch tire. Ryan Palmer

WITH THE SAME TREAD PATtern as Bontragers G5 downhill

tire, the 2.3-inch SE5 Team
Issue brings big, dirt-spraying
knobs to single crowns. Our test
set has survived some massive
impacts, including one hard
enough to break a rimpretty
impressive considering the tires
sub-1,000-gram weight (we
tested the 29er set; the 650b
tire is 940 grams). This is due to
tough, yet light, reinforcement
in the sidewall and under the
tread. Tall, square and widely
spaced knobs make the SE5 feel
at home in loam, and front and
rear also shine in wet conditions.
Weve even had great luck on
the sandy, marbles-over-hardpack trails in Southern California.
Grip is prioritized over efciency
on the SE5, but a harder 61adurometer rubber and ramping
on the center knobs keep it rolling surprisingly well. Meanwhile,
the squared-off backs of the
center tread help the tire catch
during braking. Leaned over,
the 50a-durometer side knobs
stick to corners like shoes to a
movie-theater oorand the soft
lugs are buttressed so they dig in
instead of folding over. R.P.

THE DER KAISER PROJEKT IS

Continentals race tire for gravity-oriented riders. At 980 grams
for 650b wheels and 1,040
grams for 29ers, it may scare
off weight weenies, but downhill
addicts will be frothing over
the Kaisers aggressive tread
pattern. The tightly spaced tall
knobs thrived on the moisturestarved trails in Southern California. Continental claims that
its Black Chili compound improves rolling resistance by 26
percent and offers 30 percent
more grip than activated silica
compounds. These are huge
benets to all-mountain riders
who demand the performance
of a downhill tread but are putting in long days on the bike.
Another notable characteristic
is the Kaisers beefy sidewalls.
The Apex reinforcement that
Continental uses on its gravity
tires adds a layer to the sidewall
for a more supportive ride with
robust puncture resistance. In
two months of riding, I didnt
have a single puncture, leak
or air burp, and was pleasantly
surprised with the lasting quality of this high-performance
descender. Anthony Smith

THE MAXXIS MINION SS IS

the latest tire helping to resurrect
the semi-slick. The new breed
of business-up-top, party-onthe-sides tires uses slightly taller
center knobs than the race-only
offerings of old. The 2.3-inch
Minion SSavailable in 650b
or 29-inch options, weighing
from 740 to 810 gramssplits
the difference by ramping its
centermost knobs. It takes the
size and shape of its side knobs
from the traditional Minion,
which can be leaned on with
the same condence we know
and love. Not surprisingly, while
climbing in wet conditions, the
small, tight center knobs had
a hard time nding grip under
power, and tended to pack
with mud. In ne gravel or dry
dirt, the tire hits its stride. The
boost in efciency was more
dramatic than the marginal drop
in climbing or braking traction.
Dual-compound rubber and the
stout EXO casing (available with
Maxxis SilkWorm protection)
have done wonders for the semislick. The Minion SS is meant for
a particular avor of dirt, and its
worth a try if theres any in your
backyard. Travis Engel

124

B I B L E O F B IK E TE S T S

DROPPERS

BUTTON DOWN
P O STS D R ES S E D TO I M P R ES S

PHOTOS/ARTWORK: VAN SWAE

DROPPERS

EASTON HAVEN | $470

ITS TIME TO GET ALL MATCHY-MATCHY WITH YOUR EASTON
or Race Facecockpit. Fox Factory owns both companies now, and
its branding this same post with either logo. But does it work? Licensing technology called DropLoc from the reliable 9point8 Fall Line is a
great head start, but Easton still has to manufacture it reliably. Due
to timing constraints, we started our test on a pre-production post,
which had some kinks, but a production version that arrived later
had zero issues. DropLoc relies on a brake mechanism on the inside
diameter of the upper stanchion to provide the posts innite adjustability. Its a mechanical lock instead of a hydraulic one, so its not
susceptible to the seal failure that causes other innitely adjustable
posts to slip. We experienced no slippage, and 9point8 claims the
stopping power of the brake increases as the post wears in. Because
theres no oil to dampen it, the Havens return stroke isnt supercontrolled, but an air damper does help prevent a harsh top-out. If
the Haven proves as tough as the 9point8 Fall Line, its sure to nd
itself under lots of butts. Ryan Palmer
128/129

BIB LE O F B IK E TE S T S

SPECIALIZED COMMAND POST IRCC | $350

SPECIALIZED IS ON AN ADMIRABLE MISSION TO OFFER A
dropper without the frequent failures weve learned to live with from
hydraulic locking mechanisms. Until now, its solution was a mechanical three-position system that is reliable, but if youre not precise when nding its middle position, you end up with your saddle
at full mast in critical situations. The new Command Post stays true
to the reliable mechanical design, but adds 10 incremental steps
at the top of its travel. This offers more usable positions just where
you need them, and more notches to catch the seat in hasty midtravel drops. There is barely any wobble out of the box, and in the
box there are both above-bar and under-bar remote levers. The SRL
lever that ships with the post (it also is sold separately for $60) is
the best ergonomically designed lever on the market, with smooth
activation via a sealed cartridge bearing and an adjustable position
for optimal setup. The Command Post is only available with internal
routing, comes in both 31.6 and 30.9 diameters, and in 75-, 100and 125-millimeter-travel versions. Travis Engel

THOMSON ELITE COVERT | $475

THE BUILD QUALITY OF THE THOMSON POST IS AS HIGH AS
weve come to expect from the company known for its elegant and
ultra-reliable designs. The droppers action is nearly frictionless,
and stays that way thanks to the highest-quality seals and O-rings.
Theres not much to monkey around with on the Thomsonreturn
speed and air pressure are xed from the factorybut were okay
with that because its the perfect speed (.3 meters per second, to
be exact). The Elite is no doubt one of the best-feeling, most-reliable
droppers out there. Its available in 30.9- and 31.6-mil diameters,
with 100 or 125 millimeters of travel. Wed love to see a 150-mil option added to the mix. While the post itself is great, the lever has a
decidedly non-Thomsonesque imperfection. The braided cable that
comes with the post is required for it to function properly, because
it runs over a round pin that will kink an ordinary shift cable. That
would be ne if braided cables werent so uncommon and difcult
to nd. With an improvement to the lever, a conventional cable could
be used, perfecting an already-stellar post. R.P.

KS LEV INTEGRA | $380-$430

A FEW YEARS AGO, I BOUGHT MY FIRST DROPPER POSTA KS
Lev. It was the externally routed version, and it was at the top of its
class because the cable routed to the collar below the stanchion,
rather than to the head of the seatpost, which meant that the housing wasnt changing position as the post moved through its travel.
Several years on, despite everything going internally routed, the Lev
is still the way to go when it comes to cable-actuated droppers. The
Integra is KS internally routed option, and unless your frame makes
things difcult, installation and setup are simple. It even comes with
a handy gauge to help cut the cable to the correct length. Once you
get riding, the Lev Integra will supply smooth action, and, in our
experience, will do so reliablyjust make sure to feed the housing
through the frame as you adjust seat height, or the cable will pull.
The world is your oyster when it comes to levers: Choose from KS
options or mix and match with whatever cable-puller your thumb
fancies. If youve got the room in your seat tube, snag the 150-millimeter-drop version. You wont regret it. Jon Weber

For more info check out www.evil-bikes.com

Photo: Tim Zimmerman

Rider: Luke Strobel | Photo: Colin Meagher

DRIVETRAINS

SINGLED OUT
E L E V E N S P E E D S F O R T H E D A I LY G R I N D

PHOTOS/ARTWORK: VAN SWAE

DRIVETRAINS

SHIMANO XT M8000 111 | $675

EVER SINCE THE RAPID PROLIFERATION OF SINGLE-RING
drivetrains three years ago, many Shimano loyalists have been
waiting to see what their brand of choice would bring to the table.
Until a few months ago, however, if you wanted to ditch your front
derailleur without blowing out your knees or cobbling together a
single-ring Franken-group with semi-dodgy shifting, you still had
only one choice: SRAM.
Shimano has a single-ring version of XTR, but that group is
limited by a 40-tooth granny ring that simply doesnt provide a low
enough gear for many riders.
All thats changed now with the debut of XT M8000, which
features an 11-42, 11-speed cassette. Shimano is nally in the
mix, but does the new XT single-ring option actually give SRAM a
run for its money?
Yes. Impressively so.
Shimano has made light-action shifting its battle cry for years. It
makes senseyou dont want to throw out a thumb trying to horse
your chain up the cassette. The less-awesome side of the lightaction coin, however, is that upshifts on some Shimano groups
could feel a bit indistinct when compared to the solid ka-chunk
of a SRAM shifter-rear derailleur combo. Well, this time around
Shimano has struck a truly impressive balance: Shifting to a bigger
cog still requires very little effort on the big shifter paddle, but the
click itself is very denite and positive. XTs upshifts are now on a
level, really, with SRAMs top-tier XX1.
132/133

BIB LE O F B IK E TE S T S

XT impresses on the downshifts as well. Its not that XT offers a

crisper downshift than SRAMs comparable GX drivetrainthe two
are on parbut with XT, you can drop two cogs with a single push.
That feature is a big benet when you crest a climb, are faced
with a sudden descent and you need to get that chain sailing off
the 42-tooth cog and back toward the other end of the cassette as
quickly as possible. When it comes to downshifts, you can plow
through gears more quickly with XT than with GX.
Interestingly, Shimano hasnt gone the narrow-wide route with
its chainring teeth. Instead, the company opted to give its singlering an army of equally tall and broad teeth. I havent dropped a
chain yet when using the Shimano ring. I have had less success
when introducing non-Shimano chainrings into the mix. SRAMs
one-by systems seem more forgiving when it comes to mixing and
matching components. If you are thinking about going XT one-by,
its best to keep it an all-Shimano dance party.
On the other end of the shifter cable, you can now adjust the
clutch tension on the XT rear derailleur using a 2-millimeter hex key.
Other cool features? You can slap that 11-42 cassette on any old
9- or 10-speed freehub. No special XD-style driver body is required.
That, right there, is going to make XT attractive to a lot of riders.
Then again, this is only possible because Shimano didnt give
its cluster a 10-tooth cog. In other words, Shimano doesnt offer as
wide a gear range as SRAM, though Im guessing plenty of riders
will be willing to accept that tradeoff. Frankly, its about the only
real shortcoming you have to accept with Shimanos latest offering.
Vernon Felton

SRAM GX | $564
WHEN SRAM DEBUTED XX1 NEARLY FOUR YEARS AGO, IT
dropped a bomb on the drivetrain market. Simple, light, rugged, reliable, preciseit was the geared version of a unicorn, the rare bundle
of widgets that made sense for everyone from beginners to pros,
cross-country racers to gravity ends. There was only one downside:
That stuff wasnt cheap.
XX1 is top-tier product and is priced accordingly. SRAM subsequently unveiled two less-expensive versions, XO1 and X1, but
neither truly qualied as affordable by most standards. This year
SRAM debuted GX and, at just one-third of the cost of XX1, it
looked like a steal. The good news? It actually is.
You might expect GX to be a massively neutered version of
SRAMs pricier drivetrains, but GX bangs off shifts nearly as solidly
as its siblings. As with the new Shimano XT, you can horse your
way up the larger cogs with ease, making as many as four jumps
up the cassette with a single thumb stroke. Unlike XT, you cant
drop the chain down more than one cog at a time. Consequently,
there are times when your index nger is working overtime to drive
the chain to a higher gear. GXs upshifts to larger cogs, while not
as solid-feeling at the trigger as XT, are not far off the mark and are
still dead accurate. If GX isnt quite as quick at moving the chain
as XX1 or XO1, its damn close. GX represents SRAMs best version
of a budget-friendly group to dateits insane bang for your buck.
So why is GX so much more affordable than XX1, XO1 and X1?
Much of the savings boils down to the heavier, less-expensive GX

cassette. Like all SRAM one-by cassettes, its a 10-42, 11-speed

affair, but this one is built from 11 individual cogs riveted together
with 123 steel pins. The X-Dome cassettes in SRAMs two top
groups, by contrast, are machined almost entirely out of a single
hunk of billet steel and weigh one-third of a pound less. This isnt
to suggest that GX is just so much pig iron. SRAMs budget system actually weighs 96 grams less than its pricier XT rival. True,
a quarter-pound weight savings isnt going to make or break your
next ride, but its worth noting.
GX also shines when it comes to gearing options. SRAM offers a higher 11th speed thanks to the 10-tooth small cog, as well
as more chainring choices. While Shimano offers 30-, 32- and
34-tooth rings, SRAM boasts GX X-SYNC rings in 30-, 32-, 34-,
36-, 38- and 40-tooth congurations. Also, you can unbolt the GX
1400 crank spider and slap on a direct-mount ring in any of these
sizes, plus 26- and 28-tooth options. If you were worried that you
couldnt get a low-enough gear, GX has you covered. Likewise, GX
supports big rings to help ber-t racers unleash their inner Thor.
Shimano or SRAM? SRAM or Shimano? Man, thats tough. The
SRAM group sells for less, weighs less and offers more gear range
and gearing options. Then again, the XT cassette ts on any old
9- or 10-speed hub, XTs upshifts are impressively solid and you
can drop down the cassette more quickly with XT.
I keep riding these two groups back to back and still cant see
an outright winner, but I have come to this conclusion: XT and GX
function so well there arent a whole lot of reasons to buy anything
more expensive. V.F.

134 F R E S H P R O DU C E

photo: van swae

THE GREASE THAT MAKES OUR WHEELS TURN

7MESH Recon | $200
The forthcoming shorts from 7mesh
build on the brands line of Windstopper
gear. Gores soft-shell material provides
ample warmth on chilly days and still
breathes well. With an inseam that borders on knicker-length, the Recon also
covers your knees. | 7meshinc.com
RACE FACE Indy | $80
These classic trail shorts are made
with a stretch-woven material treated
with DuPont repellent that beads water for up to 60 washes. The 15-inch
inseam means pad coverage isnt an
issue and a raised back panel guards
against tire spray. | raceface.com
IBEX Enduro Half-Zip | $130
Ibex will expand its commitment to
cycling in March with the Enduro
Half-Zip jersey. The three-quarter-

sleeve top is made with 100 percent

Merino wool imported from New
Zealand and sewed in the U.S. and
comes in four colors. | ibex.com
MOUNTAIN HARDWEAR Ghost Lite | $100
This water- and wind-resistant shell
offers protection from the elements in
a package that weighs less than an
energy bar and packs into the size of
a st. The hood cinches via an elastic
binding to seal off cold and moisture,
and it can be stowed on dry days. |
mountainhardwear.com
SOMBRIO Lily | $30
Sombrios minimalist, cuff-less
womens glove is made with Kevlar
thread and has a suede palm, silicone
braking ngers for better modulation
and a terry thumb panel. The material
is not touchscreen-compatible, which

may be a deal-breaker for tech addicts. | sombriocartel.com

SPECIALIZED Womens 2FO Flat | $130
A good at shoe is all about tread and
Specialized uses its SlipNot rubber
compound and directional tread pattern to make sure the 2FOs sole grips
the pedal like cheese melts to bread.
The sole and footbed are ergonomically designed to boost power and
optimize hip, knee and foot alignment,
and a thermabonded upper creates
a durable, but lightweight prole. |
specialized.com
SMITH OPTICS Colson | $209
Despite being the most expensive item
on this page, these sunglasses feel
worth the investment. The arms rest
lightly above the ears, while nose and
temple pads keep the glasses in place

without irritating those touchpoints.

The Italian-made, polarized glass lens
is scratch-resistant and ultra-light
with optimal clarity. | smithoptics.com
DAKINE Slayer | $65
Dakines latest kneepad is meant for
riders who favor all-day rides over
park laps. Its low-prole, ergonomic
shape cuts down on bulk, while the
silicone-gripper elastic cuff keeps the
pads in place as you pedal. They will
be available in March. | dakine.com
GIRO Montara | $150
Giros all-mountain helmet features
16 vents, visor adjustment for goggle
compatibility, camera-mount integration and anti-microbial padding. It also
incorporates MIPS, a lining designed
to reduce injury from rotational forces
upon impact in a crash. | giro.com

Trans-Utah MTB Tour

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Tra n s U t a h M TB

Tour includes use of Scott

Tours Depart

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guide support.

Utahs otherworldly backof-beyond terrain.

lizardheadcyclingguides.com

136 B I K E S H O P

Stay trailside
at Sedona Rel.
We are Sedonas mountain-biking
friendly hotel.
Call us at 800-353-1239 or visit
sedonareal.com to start your
next adventure.

gon
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in East Burke, Vermont
www.BurkePropertyRentals.com

802 473-6490

KINGDOM
COME

SUPERIOR SUSPENSION AND DRIVETRAIN

UPGRADES FOR JEEP VEHICLES.

continued from page 079

and recreation-driven conservation was

shared as a model across the country.

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

In downtown East Burke, a dirt playground is constantly lled with kids. In lieu
of swings and slides, this playground has
a pumptrack, balance-bike course and
Chutes & Laddersa real-life version of the
childs board game lled with progressive
rocky lines and ladder bridges.
Local Lilias Idewhose brother, Knight
Ide, is proled on page 50 of this issue
and her son, Lyric, are trying to start a
kids ride at the elementary school. While
out on the groups third ride, we ran into
a dozen high-school girls on bikes asking
if any of us spoke French. Were on a
mountain-bike scavenger hunt, they
explain, taking off as quickly as they
appeared. Eleven-year-old Barrett Hibshman rode to and from school before
joining our ride. Afterward, he spent
hours hitting the jumps in the popular
backyard of Knights house. When we left
long past dark, and well after the bonre
was reduced to embers, Barrett was still
in the street practicing wheelies.
The next generation of stewards is
well on their way.

THE ONLY CONSTANT

Theres a joke around these parts:
How many Vermonters does it take to
change a light bulb?
Four. One to change it and three to
talk about how good the last bulb was.
Vermonts rippling hills, devoid of the
buildings and billboard clutter thats become so commonplace, show that being resistant to change isnt such a bad
thing. By combining ideals of preservation with a new industry built on dirt and
trust, the area is drawing people from
busy cities to enjoy the quiet respite of
a place where time moves a little slower
and folks are a little more personable.
As more people come to East Burke,
theres always the chance that newcomers could build fences in misguided attempts to safeguard the nature that drew
them here in the rst place. But so far
that isnt happening. Instead, they slow
down. They say, Hi. And if they move
here, they share their land because thats
what you do in Vermonta state with a
knack for changing you more than you
change it.
137

K I N GD O M C O ME

Leaving
No Path
Undiscovered.
Call us today 517-278-1226
or visit www.jksmfg.com

D138

Scan for more information

138 O F F L I N E

photo: reuben krabbe

Rush hour in East Burke.

Bike (ISSN 1072-4869) January/February 2016, Volume 23, Issue 1. Published nine times per year (January/February, March, May, June, July, August, September/October, November and December) by TEN:
The Enthusiast Network, LLC, 261 Madison Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Copyright 2016 by TEN: The Enthusiast Network Magazines, LLC. All rights reserved. Periodicals Postage Paid at New York,
NY and additional mailing ofces. Subscription rates for one year (nine issues): U.S., APO, FPO and U.S. Possessions $19.97. Canadian orders add $9.00 per year and international orders add $18.00 per year
(for surface mail postage). Payment in advance, U.S . funds only. For a change of address, six weeks notice is required. Send old as well as new address to Bike, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235.
POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 707.4.12.5); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: Send address changes to Bike, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235.

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