The best performing mountain bikes are subject of many an arbitrary debate but beautiful bikes aren’t up for discussion. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; if you think something is beautiful, it is. End of.
These are the best looking bikes the Singletrack team has seen in 2021. Some we’ve never even seen in the flesh (or metal, or carbon) let alone actually ridden. You can but dream…
Benji’s choice: Fleur TK’s Starling Murmur Swoop
Benji: “To me, this bike is form and function in perfect harmony. This is not some skinny steel showpiece. It’s meant to ridden and ridden hard and often. The whole thing works perfectly in an aesthetic sense: the big black fork leading the way, followed by that pink, gusseted frame, a splash of coily yellow in the middle and then skinny pink stays tapering off to the end. Kudos for opting for Michelin tyres as well, so there’s no sidewall hot-patch hotchpotch to spoil the look. Love, love, love it!”
It’s even nicer than the Starling Murmur Stainless edition.
Chipps’ choice: Scott Spark
Clean lines and full suspension don’t often play nicely together. The ugliest bikes out there are almost always full suspension mountain bikes. It was an incredibly Bold move of Scott to make the decision to hide as much of the suspension gubbins as possible by placing the rear shock inside the seat tube/down tube junction. Perhaps more than any other bike in 2021, the Scott Spark shows where we are with mountain bike aesthetic desires.
Hannah’s choice: Transition Spur
Okay, okay, technically this is not a 2021 bike. But as far as Hannah is concerned, there has been no better looking bike released since the Transition Spur came out. It’s a point of view that is hard to argue with when looking at the side-profile of this bike. If we owned this bike, we’d just spend every spare moment just looking at it. Perhaps the best thing? The Spur has the ability to cash the cheques that its aesthetic writes. By far the best example of a Downcountry mountain bike produced so far.
Read our first ride review of the Transition Spur.
Mark’s choice: Orbea Rise
Mark: “Just ‘cos it looks like a real bike.”
Read our full review in Singletrack issue 139.
Ross’ choice: Raaw Madonna V2.2
Something of the connoisseur’s choice, the Madonna V2.2 is the latest iteration of Raaw’s flagship do-it-all 160mm mountain bike. And when we say do-it-all we really mean do all of the roughest and steepest terrain you can hunt down.
Amanda’s choice: Stanton Ti Switch9er FS
Amanda: “I’m a huge fan of steel bikes. I like how balanced they look, with the tubes (near enough) the same width as the forks. I like the clean simple lines, a slight industrial look, and subtle branding due to a lack of space to over do it. So when I spotted this titanium Stanton at ‘Ard Rock this year, it ticked all the boxes and more. It’s bright without being a lairy colour that you could go off one day, industrial yet sleek, and the build is a spec I can only dream of owning. The upgraded carbon rear triangle finishes this off as a total dream bike for me. That’s how I feel about the Ti Switch9er FS.”
Charlie’s choice: Stooge Dirtbomb 29+
Charlie says: “Modern bikes are kinda ugly. But the Stooge is much nicer. But availability this year… I don’t know if you can actually get one!”
Over to you
What was your best looking bike of the year? As ever, spout forth in the comments below.
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