Got to ride the Thumper today for the first time! Genuinely very, very impressed. It was only around Sherwood Pines which is pretty flat and needs lots of pedal power. Certainly nothing steep or rocky but it is twisty, bumpy and rooty and I do a fair bit of off piste tight singletrack trails through the trees. I’ve also got an Anthem 29er (2nd in MBUK trailbike of the year 2013) which is perfect for the Pines and I certainly didn’t buy the Thumper for this type of riding so I wasn’t expecting to be blown away – I love my Anthem and it’s a tough act to follow for fast pedally riding.
The first thing I noticed was the accuracy of the steering and the lateral stiffness through the whole bike which makes the handling really predictable. Also, although not quite as pedal efficient as my Anthem, it pedalled much, much more efficiently than I expected and I would happily ride this for XC if I only owned the one bike. My mate has a Stumpjumper 29er which is a weapon downhill and on big rocks etc but it bobs a fair bit when hard on the pedals which is pretty much what I was expecting from the Thumper. However, it was great – even out of the seat on short climbs on trail mode the very small amount of bob wasn’t an issue. The back end feels soooooo plush too and I know this bike will rip dowhill! I couldn’t test it for this though as there’s nothing there that even troubles the Anthem so that will have to wait until the weekend. The plushness to the back end and the whole stiff solid feel through the bike makes me think I am going to be extremely impressed with this new beast. Accurate steering and efficient pedalling from a bike I bought as an Enduro machine – big unexpected bonuses! Peak District or Wharncliff Woods this weekend – decision time again.
