Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Rapha Trail Pants
£140 SPECIFICATION Weight: 395g • Sizes: XS-XXL • Women’s version: Yes • Contact: rapha.cc Rapha’s Trail Pants use a fairly thick fabric that mixes nylon and elastane to give a dextrous four-way stretch. To ward off splashes, it’s been treated with a
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Yt Trail Cordura Pants
£ 99.90 SPECIFICATION Weight: 319g • Sizes: 28-38in • Women’s version: Yes • Contact: yt-industries.com These are the lighter of two pants in YT’s new Performance clothing line-up, and are aimed at all-day comfort in the saddle. They’re respectably l
Mountain Bike Rider5 min read
5 Best New Places To Ride
To paraphrase Henry Ford: you can have any colour you want at Laggan, as long as it’s black. While the famed industrialist was talking about his latest model Ts more than a century ago, he could just as easily have been referencing Laggan Wolftrax an
Mountain Bike Rider1 min read
Get 6 Issues For £6*
WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE TO Pay just £6 for your FIRST 6 ISSUES! Pay just £22.50 every 6 months SAVE money on the shop price FREE delivery direct to your door NEVER miss another issue YOU'RE IN CONTROL manage your subscription online via our dedicated self
Mountain Bike Rider1 min read
Mbr Ratings Explained
Something’s wrong. It’s rare, but sometimes 1-4 a product will have a design flaw or some other weakness that means we can’t recommend it. Steer clear. 5-6 OK – one or two faults but it has potential. 7 Good – worth considering. 8 Very good – for the
Mountain Bike Rider7 min read
Sram Eagle Powertrain
sram.com It’s no secret that SRAM’s had a motor cooking for quite some time. Last year, Nukeproof racer Elliot Heap was spotted racing with a prototype at the EWS-E for one thing. Then SRAM acquired Amprio, a German motor brand. So while the product
Mountain Bike Rider5 min read
Atherton Am170 M1
£8,200 • 29/27.5 in • athertonbikes.com It’s stating the obvious that Atherton bikes have come a long way in a relatively short space of time. But when a manufacturer of a niche design, using inherited technology from a failing brand, turns it around
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
Ben’s Scott Genius St 900 Tuned
£10,999 • 29in • scott-sports.com After six months and several hundred miles on the Genius ST 900 Tuned, I thought it would be good to step back and reflect on my experience so far with the most expensive bike we’ve ever had on the mbr longtermer fle
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
Conclusion
It’s a common theme with bike testing that you spend much longer riding the bikes you struggle to sync with, and that’s definitely the case here. We literally spent months setting and re-setting sag levels, tweaking the compression and rebound dampin
Mountain Bike Rider4 min read
James’s Pivot Firebird Pro
£8,200 • 29in • saddleback.co.uk What attracted you to the Pivot Firebird? I’ve long been a fan of the brand, ever since owning and racing a Pivot Les (hardtail) way back in 2011. Despite going through a phase where their frames were a shade on the u
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Rapha Lightweight Trail T-shirt
£65 SPECIFICATION Weight: 108g • Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL • Contact: rapha.cc Rapha’s lightweight trail T-Shirt is a breathable and rapidly wicking riding jersey for when the mercury rises. It would have been included in the summer riding kit grou
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Specialized Gambit Helmet
£225 SPECIFICATION Weight: 631g (medium) • Sizes: S, M, L • Colours: Black, green, white, purple, red/black • Contact: specialized.com If the extra weight, bulk, and feeling of confinement puts you off wearing a full-face helmet, then let me introduc
Mountain Bike Rider4 min read
Mbr Is Dead, Long Live Mbr
“Back in 1997 my mum’s dog Toby Wentworth sent some words down to London on a floppy disk, destined to be printed in the first ever issue of mbr. Everything was very different then. Suspension and disc brakes were still rare away from DH racing, ever
Mountain Bike Rider4 min read
Gearing Revolution
Geometron is one of the most influential brands in mountain biking. Alongside Mondraker, much of the credit for today’s modern sizing and geometry must surely go to the Forest of Dean-based firm, which for a decade or more told all of us we were ridi
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Thank You For The Ride
It feels weird writing this, but after 26 years and 334 issues, this copy of mbr you’re holding in your hands will be the last. Although there are many of you loyal readers out there, the dramatic rise in print, paper, and distribution costs in the l
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Canyon Mtb Performance Flat Pedals
£93.95 SPECIFICATION Weight: 434g • Platform: 110x110mm • Black or silver • Contact: canyon.com Like most bike manufacturers, Canyon offers a range of in-house components, including bars, stems, saddles, and this new addition, the Performance Flat Pe
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Know Your Riding Pants
This is either a full regulation zip or it can be a simple flap – the advantage with the latter is it can’t break. A waterproof zip, extra press studs (if one fails you’ve got a back-up) and Velcro tabs are a bonus. They add bulk and complexity, but
Mountain Bike Rider8 min read
The Generation Game
Ride with your kids and the moment will inevitably come when you’re no longer glancing over your shoulder to check they’re OK, and instead you’re struggling to hold onto their wheel. That changing of the guard may happen on a family ride. Or it may c
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Riding Pants
If you want to ride throughout the whole year, then there’s one item of clothing that’s well worth investing in – a pair of mountain bike trousers. There are plenty of options on the market from all the major brands. You can choose from lightweight m
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Fox Flexair Race Pants
£159.99 SPECIFICATION Weight: 311g • Sizes: 28-38in • Women’s version: Yes • Contact: foxracing.com Fox has a bewildering array of riding pants in its line-up, but these Flexair Race pants are the ones worn by all of the World Cup shredders, which pr
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
Sean’s Norco Fluid Fs A1
£4,399 • 29in • zyrofisher.co.uk Pulling the Fluid FS from the box revealed a trail bike with some spec choices that were new to me. At this price point, Norco has bucked the ‘carbon frame with low-rent suspension’ trend and treated this aluminium A1
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
Oneup Carbon E-bar
£149.50 SPECIFICATION Weight: 249g (780mm) • Width: 800mm • Rise: 35mm • Sweep: 8° back, 5° up • Contact: oneupcomponents.com OneUp components likes to do things differently and add value to everything it makes. The Squamish-based brand is not a fan
Mountain Bike Rider4 min read
Trail Hunting
Riding a new trail is possibly the most exciting part of mountain biking. Throw in the idea you could be riding something secret or relatively unknown and you’ve got a recipe for a brilliant ride. Actually finding the new stuff has always been tricky
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Troy Lee Designs Skyline Trousers
£130 SPECIFICATION Weight: 394g • Sizes: 28-38in • Women’s version: No • Contact: saddleback.co.uk Most of us put on weight as we get older, and Troy Lee Designs’ updated Skyline pant is no exception. This latest version is 60g heavier than the old m
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
7mesh Flightpath Pant
£200 SPECIFICATION Weight: 275g • Sizes: XS-XXL • Women’s version: Yes • Contact: 7mesh.com With a price tag straight out of an Armani store, the 7Mesh Flightpath Pant is not for the thrifty. But, from experience its garments are built to last and th
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
Cane Creek Db Coil Il (next Generation) Shock
£574.95 SPECIFICATION Weight: 305g (As sold without spring – Valt progressive spring is extra 350-475g dependent on spring rate) • Sizes: Standard mount from 190x40mm to 210x55mm, Trunnion Mount from 165x40mm to 185x55mm • Contact: extrauk.co.uk Asse
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Classic Advice No5: “Inside Is Faster”
As soon as the conversation of line choice comes up you’ll hear people boasting about how much faster the inside line is. The misconception is that because it’s a shorter line it must take less time to execute. While this might actually be the case i
Mountain Bike Rider1 min read
Meet The Team
Been hooked on mtbs since the late ’80s, and testing them for three decades. Dream ride? Lush Oregon singletrack. JD’s been with mbr since 2008. Gave up a career as a financial journalist to muck about on bikes. Now penniless but happy. Started at mb
Mountain Bike Rider5 min read
Trek Supercaliber Slr 9.9 Xx Axs Gen 2
£10,800 Trek’s new Supercaliber is very much an evolution of the original ‘revolutionary’ design. As a result, it feels like a very sorted, balanced, and predictable XC bike, its eagerness for speed clear from the first pedal stroke. And it’s by desi
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Pirelli Scorpion Enduro M Race Tyre
£81.99 SPECIFICATION Weight: 1,323g • Sizes: 27.5x2.5in, 29x2.5in (tested) • Options: DualWall casing, SmartEVO DH compound • Contact: extrauk.co.uk It’s been a rocky road for Pirelli in the mountain bike category, but after several false starts, the
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