The main news from NS Bikes this year was that they’ve heavily revised their Snabb range and have switched to a more straightforward naming scheme of following a model name with a number corresponding to its travel. They previously used names like Snabb E1 and Snabb T1, which stood for enduro and trail, but weren’t that intuitive.
NS have previously launched a lot of components in a sniy, multicoloured finish they call “Oil Slick”, and at Eurobike they were showing off a new finish for some of their components, called “Oil Rub”, which looks like a kind of antique bronze. So if you’ve ever wanted to build a steampunk mountain bike, NS Bikes probably have you covered.
NS’ Oil Rub finish looks like antique bronze.Perfect for enduro racing in a top hat and tails.
(We’ll do some mountain bikes first, but there was something else we saw on their stand that was also absolutely beautiful; more on that below).
All of the new Snabbs have trunnion mount shocks, and for the first time they’re offering Fox as an option on some builds too. First up under their new naming method is the alloy framed 29er Plus 1 Snabb 150, which is a quite a looker:
This 29″ Snabb has 150mm travel.
As well as the wagon wheels, it has a 160mm 29″ fork, and 150mm travel at the back. Beast mode! It’s also available in a black colourscheme with Rockshox suspension+SRAM drivertrain, and each model comes with a Kind Shock dropper and Schwalbe 29×2.35 tyres as standard.
The single piece trunnion on the new Snabb connects to a new style shock, and has also eliminated the chainstay bridge on previous designs.It has Fox suspension throughout, Race Face cranks, and mostly NS’ own finishing kit and wheels.The Plus 1 Snabb 150 comes with a Shimano XT drivetrain.The C1 Snabb 160 is a carbon fibre, 27.5″ version of the Snabb, again with Fox suspension front and back, plus SRAM Eagle 12 speed.The C2 Snabb 160 is similar but compared to the C1 runs Shimano XT M8000, an alloy handlebar, a KS Lev instead of a Reverb, and Fox Performance suspension rather than Fox Factory.The Plus1 Snabb 130 is an all-mountain oriented 29er.All the Snabbs are running NS’ new Holdfast Grips.
The NS Fuzz downhill bike gets a spruce up for 2018 too, with a full Fox suspension build featuring SRAM Code brakes and an GH DH drivetrain, or a slightly cheaper build in red with Marzocchi forks, SRAM X7 drivetrain, and an X-fusion shock.
If you look closely, you’ll also see that the 1Fuzz 2018 pictured below has the stem, hubs and rocker link all in NS’ new oil rub finish.
The NS Fuzz 2018.
They got rid of the chainstay bridge for this year, and of course, have made it longer, slacker, lower and the head tube is 1.5″ plus has a headset that allows adjustable geometry.
Note the Oil Rub finish stem.
We couldn’t leave NS without taking plenty of photos of these two beautiful jump bikes. Every one of us there had our eyes caught by them at some point during the show.
These are the NS Movement 1 (black with yellow tyres) and NS Movement 2.They said some of the people at NS were worried about men perceiving this as “too feminine” by men, but the speed it’s selling at have apparently put those concerns to rest.The paintjobs on these frames are gorgeous.Both come with an Oil Slick stem.Phwoarrr.They seem to have some kind of mountain bike stream of consciousness poetry on the grips.Detailing on the seat matches the frames.Just for looks.
Someone said these silicone wristbands were on the hub to keep it clean by rubbing dirt of as it’s ridden. We asked the guy from NS about it and he said “That doesn’t really work, we just do it for looks”.
The Movement 2 comes with BMX cranks, but…… the top end Movement 1 comes with a mountain bike crankset as standard.It also comes with oil slick finish spokes that shimmer as they move. This alone is almost enough to make most of us want one.
David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly.
Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.
I think I need oil slick spokes. And maybe hubs too. And a black bike to put them on. Mmm…
That Oil paint job is great!!! Loving that a lot!!
Ooooh…. Oil slick spokes! The next big thing me thinks, and I’ll (oil) be at the front of the queue!