The Grinder 161: Orbea Alma, Industry 9 Hydra2 wheels, Muc-Off AirMach and more

Ride fast, train hard, stay young. Or just have a lot more fun. The Singletrack Test Team put this parade of products through their paces.

Orbea Alma M-PRO

• Price: £4,823 (inc. upgrades
of OC Mountain Control dropper and carbon Oquo Mountain Performance wheels)
• From: Orbea
• Tested by: Chipps for 2 months

That ‘X-Fader’ frame is as beautiful as it is visually arresting and the carbon structure does a great job of looking streamlined and flowing – and fast – even standing still. The integrated stem (with integrated brake hose and integrated Garmin mount…) is set at a racy negative angle for that ‘attack’ position, but the 760mm bars are wide enough for comfortable trail use. The only components that didn’t really seem to suit the rest of the bike were the Shimano SLX-level M6100 brakes. The 160mm Centrelock rotors were smaller than I’d like on a bike this fast. Good braking makes for faster riding. Despite the riding position being more committed than I’m used to, it felt comfortable, even for long rides and the zippy handling helped me steer around the biggest rocks on the trails. I tend to prefer to ride bikes that I feel I can ride to the limit of, as I’ll never worry the true limits of an enduro-style bike. The shallow treaded tyres and light carbon rims are immediately noticeable by their lack of weight and I really enjoyed setting the bike on long, half-hour fire road ascents and then whipping it through the woodland singletrack at the top. The riding position is moderately aggressive, but it’s the negligible weight of the bike that combines with it to give a real feeling of purpose. If you’re coming to this from other race-orientated, or even gravel bikes, then you’re going to feel right at home.

What I was most surprised about was the Alma’s descending speed. Yes, I still had to manoeuvre around the rocks and pick a better line, but I felt that my weight was well placed over the front tyre. Did the X-Fader frame technology give me millimetres of micro-suspension? To be honest, not that I could feel. The system is designed so that it only really works when you’re sitting down, so it’s a comfort or fatigue benefit. What I would say, though, is that the bike itself is good at fighting fatigue by simply being so much fun to ride. The Alma feels fast and so connected to the rider that you’re more likely to forget how tired you are because you’re chasing all of your friends and your personal best times. It’s not a bike that flatters you by smoothing the trail and letting you get away with shoddy line choice. Get cocky and it’ll punish you, but if you’re having a good day, you can ride the Alma to the limits of your abilities. The Alma is the hardtail equivalent of a stripped-out rally car, with no carpet, radio or heating and you want to keep that tactile connection to the trail, as that’s where the magic lies. Sure the brakes could be better and the integrated stem is limited in adjustment but I like this single-minded, fast, racy hardtail. Great spec for the job in hand too.

Rating: 4

Industry Nine Hydra2
Enduro Alloy wheelset

• Price: £1,515.00
• From: Lyon Equipment
• Tested by: Benji for 4 months

These is a pretty full-on (and full-on pretty) pair of wheels. The £1.5k price tag for an aluminium rim wheelset is partly because it comes with the direct thread hub shells and machined(!) aluminium spokes. Standard J-bend equipped Hydra2 hubs are £675 for the pair, and you can’t get the direct thread version on their own. The spokes really are quite something in the flesh. OTT? Certainly. That is inevitably part of the whole thang of wheels like this. Industry Nine’s Hydra rear hub has always been about points-of-engagement. How quickly the freehub pawls engage. The previous Hydra design had very fast pick-up but had a reputation for having a fair amount of drag (attributed to bearing seals under load). I’m pleased to say that the new Hydra2 rear hub spins along just fine. And the pick-up is insanely quick (a class-leading 0.42° of engagement). If you’re into that sort of thing, you’ll have no complaints here. The wheelset weighs 1,770g (with tape and valves). Which may not sound super light these days but these wheels have been bashed and battered around on properly rough terrain (without any inserts) and they’re still rolling like new. They’ve greatly improved the feel of the test bikes they’ve been on. Zippy and accurate. Not harsh. Not wafty vague feeling. Now the initial test period is over I’m looking forward to running an insert in the rear and smashing them on rocks for a good while yet. Look out for a long term update later in the year.

Rating: 3.5

Muc-Off AirMach
Electric Mini Inflator

• Price: £90.00
• From: Muc-Off
• Tested by: Benji for 3 months

Not a fan of CO2 canisters for ecological reasons (or bad past experiences of frozen fingers and still-flat tyres)? But you still don’t want to be doing with the effort and time it takes to use a mini pump? Well, this pocket compressor is for you. Rechargeable via USB-C. Capable of inflating three to four proper 29in MTB tyres up to pressure from flat. Takes roughly a minute per inflation. It is a bit noisy but hey, that’s convenience for you.

Rating: 3

Sidi Asper Shoes

• Price: £199.00
• From: Saddleback
• Tested by: Hannah for 2 months

These are available with a laced fastening or this Velcro option. With a stiffness rating of 6 (out of 12), they’re intended for gravel riding as well as being comfortable enough to walk around in if necessary. Fit adjustment felt limited. I found the strap towards the toe didn’t offer practical adjustment, the middle strap tended to cause a wrinkle in the fabric if pulled extra tight, and the angle on the top strap fought against the direction of the construction. That said, they were slim enough fitting that this was tolerable. With my cleat position optimised, I found them comfortable enough on the bike, where that sole flex is just noticeable on longer rides – adjust your cleat position if you find you’re getting any aches or hot spots. I’d skip the Velcro option and maybe take the time for laces, especially if you want to adjust the fit for extended walking.

Rating: 2.5

Magic Mary Radial
Ultra Soft tyre

• Price: £80.00
• From: Schwalbe
• Tested by: Benji for 2 months

The tread hasn’t changed. The rubber compound hasn’t changed. What has changed is the carcass. It’s now radial ply. What on-trail difference does having the casing fibres cross over each other at much shallower angles than non-radial tyres? In a nutshell, you can run the tyre harder (i.e. at higher pressures) and have a faster rolling, sharper handling tyre but still have the damped suppleness (of lower pressure, thicker casing tyres). The levels of sturdiness aren’t quite like that of regular DH-casing tyres and if you want to hit DH rough stuff at DH high speeds, you’re still better off with a DH-casing tyre. One trait of this radial Magic Mary that I appreciated (presumably due to its higher pressure) is that it passes more ‘trail forces’ into the bike’s suspension damping to deal with, as opposed to being absorbed and rebounded by the tyre itself. This made the bike handle more predictably and consistently at all riding speeds. As for the tread and rubber compound of the Magic Mary Radial, these remain the same as ever. Which I think is a good thing. The purple Addix Ultra Soft compound may not be as gluey as Maxxis or Michelin’s softest offerings but I think it’s a good balance of grip and durability (these are £80 tyres after all). The Magic Mary tread is still brilliant. It’s a great all-rounder. Particularly if you often frequent loose and damp terrain.

Rating: 4.5

Formula Nebbia Air Shock

• Price: £550.00
• From: Elro Distribution
• Tested by: Benji for 9 months

As a massive fan of Formula’s coil suspension products (Selva C fork, MOD shock), I have to admit to being initially underwhelmed by its air-sprung Nebbia offering. Essentially I found it impossible to achieve full travel out of it. After opening it up I found a travel reducer spacer in there that shouldn’t have been there. But after riding again, it was still not willing to offer up all its stroke (and this was on a low progressive frame Orange Switch 6). I opened the shock up again and took drastic measures: I took a craft knife to the bottom out bumper and reduced its height by about 50%. From then on I’ve had happy times with the Nebbia. I would still say that the air spring design of the Nebbia suits less progressive full suspension frames. As with other Formula suspension units, there are interchangeable compression damping circuits provided (called CTS valves). There are three with the Nebbia: light, mid and firm. Somewhat unexpectedly, I had the best results with running significantly more damping than with other brands’ shocks (firm CTS and with more rebound dialled on than typical). Essentially, I think the Nebbia works best as a definite counterpoint to Formula’s coil offerings. The Nebbia felt best when run firm. Embrace the pop and punch and the Nebbia rewards you with speed. It’s very racy. It likes the terrain to be firm and fast also. If you want a shock for loose, manic, sketchy loamers on your super progressive enduro sled, this is not the shock for you. If you want something that requires and rewards accuracy and all-out speed in your trail riding, that’s where the Nebbia shines. One thing that is worth highlighting is that the Nebbia is a pleasure to work on. Nothing overly fiddly. No odd tools. Nothing scary. Nothing single-use. It’s very much something that’s been designed to maintain, service and generally tinker with at home. And since its recent price drop (it was nearly £700 at launch) the Nebbia doesn’t look bad value either.

Rating: 4

WTB Solano Saddle

• Price: £50.00 (cromo rails)
• From: Saddleback
• Tested by: Benji for 6 months

Behold! My new favourite saddle. If you like flatter profile saddles, read on. This is the most comfortable flat-top saddle I’ve used. After decades sitting on WTB’s Volt variants, it was with trepidation that I tried the Solano. Actually, this is not true. I ‘accidentally’ tested the new WTB Solano without even realising it; it came on a Boardman MTR test bike. It was actually one of the first and principal things that I noticed about the bike. “The bike? Er, yeah. It’s fine. The saddle though is brilliant. I wonder if Boardman sells it separately? What is it?” I had assumed it was going to a Boardman-branded OEM-only jobber. But no, it was a Solano made by WTB. That didn’t exist. Yet. Anyway, here we are. The WTB Solano is officially out and it’s so lovely that I’m not bothered if WTB stop making the Volt. The Solano is better. Even though it has a bit less padding (this actually makes it more comfortable on long rides). As you already know, saddles are a personal thing. I can’t promise that you will ‘fit’ the Solano. But if you’ve had positive experiences with other flat WTB saddles, SDG saddles, or some Giant saddles, then chances are you’ll get on well with the Solano. And for fifty quid, I can’t find fault with it.

Rating: 5

Race Face Chester Pedals

• Price: £49.95
• From: Silverfish UK
• Tested by: Benji for 3 months

Flat pedals are flat pedals, right? Wrong. It doesn’t take much physical difference between pedals for there to be marked differences in how they perform. Thin, thick, concave, flat, tall pins, short pins, metal pins, plastic pins, square body, hexagonal body, narrow Q-factor, wide Q-factor, etc. These new Chester Mk2 plastic pedals from Race Face are: on the thinner side of mid (16mm), hexagonal body, not very concave, mostly metal pinned, and have narrow Q-factor (they sit pretty close to the crank arms. If this sounds like your sort of pedal, the Chesters are a decent option. I personally prefer pedals with more concavity to them and a wider fore section. I found the Chesters to lack the feel and grip of concave pedals. I also would like to see some longer spare pins in the box to experiment with. I didn’t mind the narrow Q close-to-cranks aspect but I did find that the ball of my feet would occasionally be hanging off the leading-outside corner of the pedal during terrain that prompted a lot of body English. If you’re not a fan of super-grippy pedals and you’re more precise with your foot placement than I am, you should consider the new Race Face Chester flats.

Rating: 3.5