Benji and the team set out to stick to the trail, without veering off into the enduro or cross-country.

…

By ben_haworth

Get the full story on our front page at:

Issue 144 Bike Test: WTF is a Trail Bike?

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Stumpy Evo Alloy was the best bike (for me) that I’ve ever ridden.
I just gelled with it and never had a bad ride on it. (3 sadly as it wasn’t mine).

@Benji – which 130mm forks do you regard as very good?

I think you may have the wrong Benji, @mwab65.

But there was a first-look at the Ohlins 130mm fork a while back which sounded fairly glowing:

Öhlins RXF 34 M.2 130mm fork: first ride review

(Sadly the price of it might make your bank account glow too from the friction as all those pounds and pennies fly out of it)

Thanks for the link.

What bikes are on test?

So, after reading this article again. What is the point of a trail bike?

They’re not the best at:
– Easy cc (best bike would be a short travel xc bike)
– Long distance off-road gravel routes (gravel bike would be king here)
– Long distance MTB routes like marathon racing (xc or down country bike would be ideal for this)
– Steep and or technical trails (enduro or downhill bike would be better here. Or even a LLS hardtail)
– Winter muddy rides (can’t see past a rigid bike or even a singlespeed for proper winter filth)

So what’s left.
– Trail centres

Unless of course you only have enough room for one bike.

When riding a trail bike you’ll never be on the right bike really as someone else will be riding a slightly lighter or more capable bike than you.

I sold my Orange 5 because of the above and spent the last 5 years buying bikes that do rather well at their specific discipline.

Trail bikes, jack of all trades but master of none.