There isn’t a single duff component on the Early Rider Seeker 20. Actually, I tell a lie. The chainstay protector isn’t the right size.
Bikes
Frog MTB 62 review
The Frog MTB 62 is not perfect, but I can sense that perfection may well be impossible to achieve on an off-the-peg, mass-market 24 incher.
Islabikes Creig 26 review
The Islabikes Creig 26 has been in Islabikes’ range for approximately yonks. It’s one of its iconic, mainstay offerings in fact.
Marin Rift Zone XR review: coil for the trail
The Marin Rift Zone XR - XR stands for eXtra Rad - bumps the front travel up to 140mm, adds a coil shock and beefs up the build.
Vitus Escarpe 29 CRS review
Around 7 or 8 years ago the Vitus Escarpe 29 was a way better 29er trail bike than Big Brand offerings. How is the Escarpe holding up now?
Merida One-Sixty First Ride Review: Long & Purple
The evolution of the Merida One-Sixty enduro bike sees it packed with new features. Here's our first impressions.
Hope HB.916 first ride review: The Perfect Bike?
The Hope HB.916 is one of the nicest looking bikes we've seen. But does the 160/170mm enduro bike live up to its aesthetic promise?
New Santa Cruz 5010: first ride review of mid-travel mullet
The latest Santa Cruz 5010 sees a move to mullet but the travel resolutely remains the same: 130mm at the rear, 140mm fork up front.
Trek Roscoe 24 review: great little trail bike
The Trek Roscoe 24 sports fat tyres, 1x drivetrain, wide-range cassette, sloping top tube and rear brake calliper is tucked into the frame.
Issue 144 Bike Test: WTF is a Trail Bike?
Benji and the team set out to stick to the trail, without veering off into the enduro or cross-country.
Pace RC295 AXS Ultimate review
The Pace RC295 then. Full carbon. 135mm rear travel dual linkage. 140-150mm fork. Full 29in or mullet thang with an offset shock bushing.
Specialized Stumpjumper Evo Alloy Comp review
The Specialized Stumpjumper Evo Alloy gets all the cool things that the carbon Stumpjumper has had for a few seasons now.
Whyte T-140 RS: First Ride Review
The Whyte T-140 is very much the classic trail bike of the Whyte range. Enough travel to cope with most things but responsive and efficient.
Canyon Spectral 125 CF 8 review
The new-for-2022 Canyon Spectral 125 has pretty much the exact same geometry as the regular 150mm rear-travel Spectral. Why?
Kona Process 153 DL 29 Review: Mellow Yellow
The latest Kona Process 153 rolls on 29in wheels and sits in the middle of the Process range; Process X on one side, Process 134 on the other.
Carbon Wasp Truffle Review: All the Speed
The Truffle is Carbon Wasp’s first foray in to a full production MTB frame. Designed, made and tested entirely in and around Leeds.
Canyon Torque 29 CF 9 review: big travel agility, big grins
The Canyon Torque 29 CF 9 is a big travel bike that won't sterilise the trails. Heaps of fun from the trail to the race tape, in one package.
Singletrack Issue 143 Bike Test: Party At The Back
Have we swallowed the marketing hook, line and sinker, or is there something to the mullet trend?
Review: Geometron G1
GeoMetron is essentially Chris Porter. If you don’t know who Chris Porter is, do a Google. Just make sure you have a brew ready before you dive in.
Review: Santa Cruz Bronson
Maybe the Santa Cruz Bronson does need an introduction. The latest Bronson is a massively different beast to the Bronson Mk1.
Review: Starling Twist Trail
Starling Cycles is Joe McEwan. Joe used to work as an aerospace engineer and build bike frames in his shed as a sideline.
How to pick the best mountain bike for you
While there may not be such a thing as The Best Mountain Bike, there are certainly bikes that will suit you more than others.
Santa Cruz Chameleon R MX review: venerable yet versatile
For the past 25 years the Santa Cruz Chameleon been a tough hardtail that can still be comfortable and light enough for longer rides.
2022 Nukeproof Scout 290 Review: Trail Toy!
2022 Nukeproof Scout offers four build specs, all as 275 or 290. Nukeproof have brought the signature yellow paint back, too...
Atherton AM.150.1 first ride review
Does the 150mm travel Atherton AM.150 mountain bike offer something that's unachievable via more traditional construction methods?
YT Capra Core 2 review: doing it for the lolz
After the carbon launch models, then the aluminium Uncaged versions, here is the more affordable alloy YT Capra Core 2.
142 Bike Test – The Big Short
Benji ponders the meaning of ‘short’ as he rags these three not-long travel bikes round his local trails. What is short travel? Too short? Short enough? Shorter than what? What is the average travel of A Mountain Bike in 2022 anyway? It’s hard to say.…
Review: Cotic FlareMAX Gen4
The Cotic FlareMAX Gen4 is reviewed in Issue 142 Bike Test – The Big Short. Gen4 means fourth generation. This is the fourth iteration of Cotic’s shorter travel (125mm) full suspension bike. As with most Cotic bikes, although there are preset complete builds available, a…
Review: Giant Trance Advanced Pro 29 1
The Giant Trance Advanced Pro 29 1 is reviewed in Issue 142 Bike Test – The Big Short. The Trance has been in the Giant line-up for a long time now and the Trance Advanced Pro 29er is the most recent incarnation. Designed as a…
Pivot Shadowcat first ride review: lightly outrageous
Pivot’s replaced the 5.5 Mach with a smaller, lighter, upright suspension trail killer. It it enough fun to justify the price?
Juliana Wilder & Santa Cruz Blur review: XC race bikes fit for trails too
Santa Cruz Blur and Juliana Wilder: two XC race bikes, two different builds, two huge fans. Find out why we didn't want to return these.
Canyon Spectral 125 CF 8: first ride review
Canyon has hacked some travel from the Spectral 125 but kept all of the other numbers the same. Is the Canyon Spectral 125 a trail bike?
2022 Focus Jam Carbon 8.9 filthy first ride review
It may look like a diet e-bike from certain angles but rest assured the new Focus Jam Carbon 8.9 is very much a pilot powered pedal-bike.
Singletrack Issue 141 bike test: Going to unextremes
The Singletrack team tests out three hardtails that sit somewhere in the midst of the ride style continuum.
Pipedream Sirius S5 review
The Pipedream Sirius is no match for carbon in terms of power transfer or weight, but the angles on it make it a pleasure to pedal.
Sonder Dial GX Eagle review
The Sonder Dial is marketed at riders wanting more confidence than a gravel bike and a more direct feel than a trail bike.
Trek Roscoe 9 review
As a gnarly trail shredding bike, it won’t surprise anyone that the Trek Roscoe is biased in favour of the rowdier type of riding.
Review: Salsa Timberjack SLX 29 – how will you ride yours?
This review is part of the Bike Test feature ‘Hard Tails for Trails’ from Issue 137 of Singletrack Magazine. Price: £1,870.00 From: Lyon Equipment lyon.co.uk Salsa has been around since the early 1980s, and in recent years the brand has become synonymous with the carrying…
Reviewed: Ragley Big Wig – a steel hardtail classic
This review is part of the Bike Test feature ‘Hard Tails for Trails’ from Issue 137 of Singletrack Magazine. Price: £1,999.99 From: Ragley We suspect that Ragley strongly believes in the idea that if something isn’t broken then it doesn’t need to be fixed. The…
Nukeproof Scout 290 Pro review: for a fun filled ride
This review is part of the Bike Test feature ‘Hard Tails for Trails’ from Issue 137 of Singletrack Magazine. Price: £2,449.99 From: Nukeproof Editors’ Choice 2021 This product features in our Singletrackworld Editors’ Choice 2021 round-up. Hannah: “Why has an alloy hardtail turned my head…
Review: Canyon Lux Trail CF 8 – the best value bike of its type?
Daz reviews the Canyon Lux Trail – another XC/trail bike in a long line of this ilk that he’s tested. Images by Rob Lockhart. I’m sure it was just an unfortunate coincidence, but I can’t be the only mountain biker wondering why the bike industry…
Commencal Meta AM 29 Team Review
Commencal went ultra-long and slack for the newest Meta AM 29, so does that make it too enduro for everyday riding? The Commencal Meta AM 29 has evolved from being an ‘All Mountain’ trail bike to a full-on enduro slayer. Compared to the previous generation…
Boardman MTR 9.0 review
// intro // Pros Cons blah Overall blah Boardman MTR 9.0 specification Geometry of our L size Boardman’s MTR 9.0 is the company’s flagship mountain bike. No high-falutin’ DH or Enduro monster, this – the aim of the company is to produce perfect machines for…
2022 YT Capra Core 4 29 Review – The GOAT returns but does it live up to the hype?
Forget the big-budget movie launches featuring Hollywood stars! What we want to know is does the 2022 YT Capra Core 4 29 live up to the hype? Think of YT, and most people will automatically think of the Capra – YT’s flagship long-travel enduro bike.…
Patrol 691 Evo Review | This Indonesian enduro puts the SUPER in Superboost!
Patrol Mountain has taken input from riders and testers from around the world and brought the geometry of their 691 right up to date. I do bring this up as often as I possibly can, but a few years ago, when pandemics were something only…
Cotic BFe Max Review – Another Cotic Classic!
Cotic BFe Max review! Cotic takes the BFe name made famous 16 years ago and gives it a 2021 29er spin. There are a few bike models that have really shaped the modern mountain bike industry and I feel that the Cotic BFe is one…
Exclusive | Orange Alpine Evo Review a big travel bike with trail bike manners
The Orange Alpine Evo is the latest development in the Alpine range, offering big travel capabilities in a lively and efficient trail-friendly package. The Orange Alpine Evo isn’t designed to be an all-out enduro race bike, though it is surely capable enough. Instead, this new…
Review: Patrol C091 a carbon hardtail with all the gear for just $2199
Low-cost, huge value mountain bike options are drying up fast, so perhaps the Patrol C091 is just what the mountain bike market needs. It seems like just a couple of years ago when the we filled headlines with news of budget bikes, and shops had…
Review: The Pole Taival Frameset is long but not unwieldy
Earlier in the year, Andi took delivery of a Pole Taival frameset, a bike that has helped rekindle his love of steel hardtails once again. I’ve had a lot of history when it comes to hardtails, and it’s only been the past 5 or so…
Review: Merida Ninety Six 8000 don’t call it “down country”
When is a cross-country bike not a cross-country bike? When it has bigger tyres on it? Whilst that’s clearly a silly question given the years of work and squillions spent on research, but after the best part of a month riding the Merida Ninety Six…
Propain Hugene Performance Review | One bike to rule them all?
In recent months, you might be more familiar with Propain’s Spindrift being hucked off all manner of ridiculous gaps by crazy Frenchman Remy Metailler. If such gnarly sends aren’t on your agenda, then fear not, for the German brand has the trail focussed Propain Hugene…