Some new just in about a few new mountain bike models from a couple of road-centric bike brands. The Cervelo ZHT-5 and the Raft and Probe RS bikes from Ridley.
Cervelo ZHT-5 Press Release:
For Days Between The Tape
Our journey into dirt started with Áspero, where we brought our speed-minded approach to a category full of master-of-none bikes, and promptly won accolades. We’ve taken what we learned from Áspero, partnered with Team Jumbo-Visma to field an XCO race team, and designed a bike that’ll be immediately competitive when the season kicks off in Valkenburg next year.
We have decades of experience designing bikes that fly up hors categorie climbs at the Tour, and then descend confidently and aggressively down the other side. We sought to bring this same balance to a purpose-built XCO race bike. ZHT-5 is prized by those who value efficiency over all else—and who have the skills to tame today’s technical courses without the benefit of a shock.
ZHT-5 is fast, efficient, and even a bit fun. It’s not on the lunatic fringe of longer and slacker, but the 68.5-degree head tube angle and rationally progressive geometry combine to keep the rider’s weight centered and stable. It’s comfortable, fast downhill, nimble enough for pack racing, and stable at speed.
Pricing: Cervelo ZHT-5 GX Eagle AXS £5,000, Cervelo ZHT-5 XX1 AXS £8,500.
Ridley Probe RS Press Release:
Ridley releases super lightweight mountain bike for hardtail purists
Nimble, but surefooted. Super lightweight, yet very efficient power transfer and razor sharp handling. That’s the Probe RS, Ridley’s brand new XC hardtail mountain bike, in a nutshell. It’s the absolute perfect partner in crime for every hardtail purist who loves going all out and pushing boundaries.
With the Probe RS Ridley is launching a XC hardtail for the performance oriented rider. In the design of this mountain bike they have focused on low weight, responsive handling and snappy power transfer.The Probe RS is a lightweight mountain bike, great for flowy single tracks, steep climbs and technical descents.
Ridley developed a super lightweight hardtail with efficient power transfer. The Probe RS is nimble, but surefooted. The geometry is adapted to efficient climbing and makes the bike perform great under high speeds. It also allows agile handling, while still providing good traction on trails.
The Probe RS adds a modern performance focussed hardtail mountain bike to Ridley’s extensive range of bikes. While designing this mountain bike, Ridley’s focus was on pure performance. As a performance brand, Ridley uses the same focus as on their drop bar bikes (from road racing to cyclocross to gravel). This hardtail mountain bike is the first of a series of carbon fiber frames that’s EU produced.
The Probe RS features our Advanced Position Geometry (AGP). This means that the geometry is fully adapted to the intended use of the bicycle and the terrain. In this case, Ridley carefully designed the Probe RS’s geometry for tackling steep, technical climbs and for surefooted handling at high speeds.
This geometry consists of a steep seat angle combined with a longer top tube and a slacker head angle, which results in an agile, but confident bike. The steep seat angle puts the rider above the low bottom bracket. This turns the Probe RS into a highly effective climber, even on the steepest and most technical climbs. The combination of the longer top tube and slacker head angle, results in a long front center. Combined with the low BB this makes the bike track very well at high speeds, making it more capable than you would expect of a XC hardtail.
The Probe RS comes equipped with a 100mm travel fork, but is designed around both 100mm and 120mm travel forks. Riders that enjoy the purity of a performance hardtail but like riding steep, more technical terrain can size up a frame size while using a shorter stem.
Weight
The class leading lightweight frame is designed, developed and manufactured in Europe. The Ridley team worked with CarbonTeam in Portugal to design the Probe RS frame in order to get the frame as light as possible. The weight of an unpainted Probe RS frame is 760 grams in size medium.
Dropper post ready
To match the surefooted and responsive handling, the frame is dropper post ready. By adding a dropper post, the full potential of the APG can be enjoyed at speeds that really make the Probe RS come to life.
Bottle Cage Positions
The Probe RS is equipped with a total of 3 bottle cage positions: two inside the front triangle and one under the down tube. This makes the Probe RS very suitable for longer rides.
Pricing: Ridley Probe RS SRAM GX £3,999, Ridley Probe RS SRAM X01 £4,399.
Ridley Raft Press Release:
Shred the trails with Ridley’s new full suspension MTB
Are you ready to shred? Ridley is! Meet the Raft, Ridley’s new full suspension mountain bike. The Raft climbs confidently, descends aggressively, flies through flowy singletracks and absolutely shreds on rough and rowdy trails. The Raft is the perfect trail shredder and is ready to accompany you on all your off- road escapades.
With the Raft it’s time to start shredding trails and pushing your limits. This all-round full suspension mountain bike is carefully designed for a mix between cross country and down country. It is made for performance and designed to conquer rough terrain: it’s fast, agile and reactive, yet it’s well balanced and stable.
The Raft is a very versatile mountain bike that combines cross country with trail riding. Due to its advanced geometry it rides fast with well-balanced handling. It’s ready to race, but can also be used on long rides and is even suitable for off-road bikepacking. With the large number of mounting points and a second bottle cage mount on the seat tube, the Raft can be adapted to suit your next ride. This bike is engineered to be the Swiss army knife of modern day cross country mountain biking.
History
The mountain bike market is ever changing. Today a cross country full suspension mountain bike can tackle much rougher terrain than the bikes that came on the market a couple of years ago. The reason for this is mainly the modified geometry of these bikes and technological advances in components (like a dropper post, better dampers and suspension forks).
The Raft is Ridley’s answer to those changes. It’s got all features of modern full suspension cross country mountain bikes: it’s aggressive yet outstandingly capable and controlled in a lightweight and efficient package.
Ridley is releasing two versions of the Raft, leaving no trail unridden. The Raft XC is equipped with 100mm travel suspension, which makes it a performance focused mountain bike. It’s light and agile and therefore very suitable for flowy single tracks. It also covers ground extremely fast and is great for climbing, but still lets you charge down descents. For riders that love to send it on more technical trails, the Raft TR is a match made in heaven. With 120mm travel suspension this bike is the perfect companion for more rocky and rougher terrain.
Geometry
The geometry is incredibly versatile and it makes the Raft the perfect partner in crime for all your races and offroad escapades. The Raft features our Advanced Position Geometry (APG), which means that the geometry is fully adapted to the intended use of the bicycle and the terrain. The geometry of the Raft is specifically developed for steep and rugged terrain. You can race, tour or go bikepacking with it.
With a head tube angle of 66.6 for the Raft TR (120mm spec), you’re sure to have full control over the bike while riding fast, steep, technical trails. While the 67.5 degree head tube angle on the Raft XC (100mm spec) sharpens up the handling for fast paced aggressive cross country riding. The Raft XC has got a seat tube angle of 76 degrees on the Raft TR the seat angle is 75 degrees. This steeper seat angle allows you to keep your body position further forward for tackling steep climbs.
Wheel travel options
The rear wheel travel can be modified by varying the rear shock stroke length. A 40mm stroke RockShox SIDluxe damper will result in 100mm of rear wheel travel, while a 45mm stroke RockShox Deluxe damper is used for 120mm of travel.
Out front the rear wheel travel is matched with either a 100mm travel SID SL fork or a 120mm SID fork with 35mm stanchions.
Weight
Ridley’s Research and Development department has developed the frame with a low frame weight in mind. The weight of an unpainted frame is 1750 grams in size medium. The weight of a Raft TR with an XX1 build kit is 11,5 kg in size L.
Mounting points
The Raft is specifically designed for racing and long rides. Therefore the frame features several mounting points to accommodate bottle and accessories placements. This allows you to ride pack free or carry more items on longer rides. The Raft has a total of nine mounting points (for sizes M,L,XL). There are five on the down tube (three in size small). The seat tube is equipped with two mounting points as well. This ensures that you can fit two bottle cages and a tool pack/spare tube inside the front triangle (sizes M, L, XL).
On top of the top tube there are two more mounting points. These can be used for a top tube bag, a toolkit or for mounting other accessories, like a battery pack.
Pricing: Ridley Raft XC SRAM GX £3,899, Ridley Raft XC SRAM X01 £4,599, Ridley Raft TR SRAM GX £3,899, Ridley Raft TR SRAM X01 £4,599.
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