If it’s not currently raining, it will be quite soon. This is the reality of winter mountain biking, but get the right kit, including some of the best waterproof mountain…
Mountain Bike Rider
I didn’t gel with SRAM’s old AXS shifters, but the new Pod Controller is totally intuitive
Ever since SRAM first launched its electronic AXS drivetrains for MTB about five years ago, it’s offered a wireless gear shifter. The brand has been through various shapes and designs…
Is this the future of lightweight e-bikes? New motor and battery system could build into 14kg e-mtb
Just when we thought DJI had killed off the mid-power e-bike with its uber powerful, yet compact and lightweight DJI Avinox drive unit, than a new player pops up with…
Endura’s MT500 Polartec jacket is cheaper than my favourite cold-weather top, and more practical too
Endura’s MT500 fleece is a new hooded mountain biking jacket designed to offer ‘incredible temperature regulation’. It uses multiple textures and panels in different zones, along with a swathe of…
Bosch e-bike owners can now lock their batteries through their phone or Kiox displays to deter theft
Bosch’s Smart System equipped e-bikes just got another security upgrade, in the form of a Battery Lock. Essentially, it’s another digital lock for your Bosch powered e-bike, but this one…
Why Mathieu van Der Poel will take over from Tom Pidcock as the ‘roadie’s mountain biker’ in 2025
Tom Pidcock won’t win a mountain bike World Cup or even finish on the podium in 2025, largely because he won’t actually be at any of the 10 rounds making…
12 most exciting new trail, enduro, and DH bikes for 2025
It’s easy to get blinkered by e-bikes these days, but to do that would be to miss out on a pot pourri of exciting, innovative, and downright sexy new mountain…
Unboxing the £5,999 Amflow PL Carbon – what does it really weigh? And does the geometry match the claimed numbers?
What did you get for Christmas? I hope it was what you’d asked Santa for. Me? Well, I got the hottest new e-bike on the market – the Amflow PL…
Merida’s new ‘lightweight’ eOne-Sixty SL is a gorgeous-looking e-bike, but I think it’s powered by the wrong Bosch motor
Merida’s new eOne-Sixty SL is exactly the kind of machine that would have made our massive Superlight E-Bike of the Year shootout had it come out in 2024’s sunny season,…
An ode to the trail crews, the dig teams and the volunteers that keep us riding all year round
Storms, fallen trees and floods. That’s been the reality for many of us over the past month or so. And with that, comes the inevitable damage to our beloved trails…
Meet the team behind BikePark Wales that repaired 32 trails in three days in the aftermath of Storm Darragh
With the weather being the way it has over the past few weeks, it’s hard not to think about how it’s impacting our trail network. From fallen trees in Dalby…
From the highs of the Olympics and a newly-formed trail advocacy group, to the lows of an industry in financial woes and storm-damaged trails, 2024 was a roller-coaster ride
2024 has been a tumultuous year, and not only in terms of culture, politics, technology, sport, and climate, but actual interesting stuff like riding bikes. So to remind us of…
Three products helped my riding more than anything else in 2024, here’s why they get my vote for Gear of the Year
Downhill racing drives mountain bike innovation like nothing else, and my Gear of the Year 2024 comes straight off the gnarliest tracks on the circuit. I’m talking about e*thirteen’s revolutionary…
I love the support on Fox’s new 36 with Grip X damper, but RockShox’ Charger 3.1 eats it for breakfast
Boasting class-leading performance and that highly-desirable Kashima gold finish, the Fox 36 Float Factory fork with Grip 2 damper has been the benchmark suspension fork for many years now. So…
My Gear of the Year: products that helped me progress and improve on the bike in 2024
2024 has been a pretty epic year of riding for me. There has been a whole host of new, cool stuff from suspension to cameras and of course, plenty of…
In a year of endless tech developments and electronic gizmos, my 2024 MTB Gear of the Year goes back-to-basics with not a battery in sight
Considering how many thousands of bikes I’ve ridden since my first bike test in MBR issue #3 in 1997, the fact that a pair of no-frills trail bikes can still…
The most enjoyable bike I rode this year got slammed in our lightweight e-bike test, but I don’t care because I love the way it rides, and it’s my Bike of the Year 2024
My bike of the year is an odd choice, given how badly it scored in our latest review. The Trek Fuel EXe 9.7 managed to get just 6/10 in the…
“Rampage is awesome but it needs to go more ungroomed, big mountain lines” – I chat to Gee Atherton about fainting audiences, Ridgeline and doing the ironing
Gee Atherton sits in his dressing room eating a carrot and listening to Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Rival. In his hand is the script for tonight’s show in Aberdeen,…
Everyone’s in a frenzy about powerful new motors, but my gear of the year proves that it’s the ride and handling of the bike that matters most
2024 has been a weird year for new product. With so many unsold bikes cluttering up the market – a result of over-zealous ordering post-Covid – it’s obvious that many…
The Mondraker Dune RR has brilliant suspension and a light frame, compromised by a saddle that constantly gets in the way
Mondraker bills its Dune e-bike as the natural evolution of enduro. And the Spanish brand has a point. With many enduro race bikes tipping the scales at around 16kg, who…