mbr october 2019

Want the latest MBR delivered to your door every month? Check out our latest subscription offer, or try MBR’s digital editions on iPad, Android, Kindle and more…

The latest issue of MBR is out now, packed full of inspiring ideas and routes to help you find new places to get out and ride.

What about the magazine itself? Here’s a taste of what you’ll find inside…

On the cover

Danny fires up the new Nukeproof Reactor trail bike, photo by Roo Fowler

Best of British: Calibre bikes

Calibre blew away the competition when it launched the Bossnut, setting a new benchmark for entry level full suspension bikes. Can the new enduro-ready Sentry repeat the past glories of the Bossnut? We head to the Peak District and put the question to designer in chief Mike Sanderson.

Caucasus Mountains, Georgia

The Tusheti National Park in Georgia is about a remote a place to ride as you’ll find anywhere, it lies on the border with Russia and covers 83,000 hectares of the vast Caucasus Mountain range — it also features endless trails and more sheep than people. It’s one wild ride.

First rides

At long last Giant releases a 29er version of the Reign, called the Reign Advanced Pro 0, and we’ve ridden it. Plus we swing a leg over the all-new short travel Nukeproof Reactor 290 RS and Intense Primer S Pro mullet bike that features your choice of wheel sizes.

Longtermers

It’s final verdict and rating time on the Vitus Sentier 27 VRS hardail, is it worth upspeccing from the cheaper Sentier VR? Benji reveals all. And we’ve got updates on living with Marin’s Mount Vision 8 and its sophisticated and complicated suspension design. Plus Ben Day counts the cost in bike damage to his Nukeproof Mega after racing the real Megavalanche, while Laura’s taken her Rocky Mountain Altitude back to its home country, racing the EWS at Whistler… no greater test.

Product

OneUp Components has a new EDC stem and tool system to let you use your steerer tube like a veritable glove box, we pit the Ergon BE2 enduro pack against Shimano’s Unzen to see which is best for gear portage, plus reviews of the Rev Pro Series Grips, Pro Bike Gear Bottom Bracket Workstand and loads more.

Flat pedal grouptest

From pin placement to body shape and size, to the scoop of the platform, the material it’s made from and on to the bearings it runs on, there’s a lot to get right (or wrong) when making a brilliant flat pedal. We sort the best buys from the better nots.

British trail hardtails

Hardtails are something British brands excel at, dominating our Hardtail of the Year test this summer again. So this month we’ve upped the pricepoint by looking at bikes costing around £1,700: with progressive geometry, alloy frames and a mix of wheelsizes we test the Nukeproof Scout 275 Comp, Orange Clockwork Evo 29 S, Saracen Mantra Elite LSL and reigning champ Whyte 905 V2.

Bikes in this issue

Giant Reign Advanced Pro 0
Intense Primer S Pro
Marin Mount Vision 8
Norco Sight C NX12 VLT
Nukeproof Mega 290 Pro
Nukeproof Reactor 290 RS
Nukeproof Scout 275 Comp
Orange Clockwork Evo 29 S
Ribble HT Ti
Rocky Mountain Altitude Alloy 50
Rocky Mountain Slayer C90
Saracen Mantra Elite LSL
Vitus Sentier 27 VRS
Whyte 905 V2

How to clean your e-bike

Sounds simple, but mix electricity and water and you could well mess up the electrics of your expensive e-bike. Worse, there’s no consensus from manufacturers on how to do it right. We investigate the dos and don’ts of washing yours.

Learn to jump

Learning to jump is so much more than clearing big gaps and looking cool, the basic skills teach you how to corner, how to stay in control and how to flow down the trail like never before. Andy Barlow from Dirt School has more experience teaching this stuff than most, he shows us how to jump with confidence.

Buzz

Local riders take control of their riding network, at the Golfie near Innerleithen — we check out their trail maintenance progress, discover how they negotiated control with the landowner and the implications for unauthorised trail networks across the UK.

Three bike garage

Photographer Victor Lucas takes us through his back catalogue of bikes.

mbr october 2019

Want the latest MBR delivered to your door every month? Check out our latest subscription offer, or try MBR’s digital editions on iPad, Android, Kindle and more…

The latest issue of MBR is out now, packed full of inspiring ideas and routes to help you find new places to get out and ride.