What are your thoughts on these for general trail shenanigans..i prefer blatting down as opposed to up

I had a 2013 Ariel 142 for a few months. Ended up selling as I just never felt quite at home on it. Can’t comment on the 161 other than it used the same frame. I know they have gone 650b this year so I wonder if this is still the case. Not sure which year you are looking at so I can only comment on the 2013.

The frames come up small,I bought the largest one they had large 19 inch. I used to have an 18 inch Five (medium) and now a large Zesty (48cm) to give you some idea of sizing. I found it quite short in the top tube but maybe I have a long torso.

Overall the 142 was a nice bike to ride. Not light for a bike in that category/travel but I never felt like I was peddling a lump of granite around. I found it quite a playful bike, good for trail centres. I thought about the 162 for more travel, I too like blatting it down but the 142 was enough, not quite as stable as the Five I had before it but not far off. The forks let it down though.

In the few months I had it I noticed the paint chipped quite easily, it was taped up too.

One thing I found out was that on the 2013 ones at least you can’t run a coil shock oh and some people questioned the longevity of their Norglide linkage bushings.

I do like the look of the new ones but not at the RRP. I got the 142 for £1300 from Plush Hill Cycles. Not sure if they will do such a big price drop this year but worth keeping an eye out. Try one first though.

I have a 2011 Ariel (this one) found cheap on the classifieds here. I only bought it as a stop-gap until something better, but I really like it. I’m a smidgeon under 5-11 with average reach and put a 60mm stem on. I also changed the 140mm Pike to a Lyrik and while this made it a little less playful at lower speeds, it is was worth it. Bushings all good so far, but the lack of capacity for a coil is a shame.

I was looking in the PB classifieds at a 142 and did a search for a review and came across Summit to sea selling the Ariel 142 @ £1324 and the 161 for £1299. seemed like a bargain to me..

I built up an Ariel 14x, although this is my 1st full suss so I can’t compare it to anything. It is brilliant, smooth and fun for trail centers and anything in the down hill direction but is hard work and heavy on the ups. It has developed a noisy linkage system after a year which I need to get sorted!

142 new for under £1500 here.

Save yourself the stress/hassle of the bruntsfield shop and visit the canonmills one, its much quieter, and definitely easier to be served sale wise at the minute… 🙂