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…
£250.00
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Reviews
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…
£160.00
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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…
£149.99
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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,…
£8,000.00
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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…
£1,259.00
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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…
£8,499.00
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YT has nailed the sizing, geometry, and handling of the Decoy SN, but the suspension could be better and the motor reliability is questionable
The new Decoy SN is YT’s first foray into the diet e-bike segment. It’s also only the brand’s second e-bike, because although YT is extremely trendy when it comes to…
£8,499.00
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Propain’s new Spindrift is a shapeshifter: fun and fast on the descents with 180mm travel, but efficient enough to work on mellower singletrack too
In a world where excess is increasingly frowned upon, it’s easy to find reasons to be more conservative and play things safe. Propain’s Spindrift takes that ethos and throws it…
£7,849.00
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Near DH protection, without the stuffiness: the Bluegrass Jetro helmet is my favourite 3/4 helmet
Three-quarter helmets like this new Bluegrass Jetro have forged a bit of a category of their own, sitting between regular half shell lids and the best lightweight full-face enduro helmets. The…
£225.00
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Boardman’s new MTR 8.9 is a fast and light hustler of a down-country bike, for less than £2,000
Boardman’s MTR range has been one of our top bargain trail bike recommendations for years. The older model had 150/140mm travel but this latest version drops that to 130mm both…
£1,900.00
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“Like riding chainless” – e*thirteen’s Sidekick decoupling hub irons out the trails, but XC riders will probably hate it
e*thirteen has something special inside the rear hub on these Sidekick wheels. Seven years in the making, the brand’s innovative new design claims to end pedal kickback on a full…
£1,519.95
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The addictive Santa Cruz Heckler SL came within a whisker of winning my SL E-Bike of the Year award, but one serious concern held it back
Everyone says that SL e-bikes are supposed to offer a more analogue-like ride experience. So what better way to make a great SL e-bike than taking a great analogue bike…
£7,599.00
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The Atherton S170 is like nothing else when it comes to how it looks, the way it’s made, and the range of sizes, but at 17.5kg it’s one of the heaviest enduro bikes I’ve ridden
Atherton Bikes moves so fast that loads has happened since the brand’s first aluminium bike – the S170 – first appeared in the spring. One of the biggest changes being…
£2,799.00
The Gen 2 Specialized Levo SL is adaptable, capable, and genuinely lightweight for an e-bike, but it’s lacking two key ingredients…
I think we can all agree that while Specialized’s Turbo Levo SL wasn’t the first lightweight e-mountain bike, it’s definitely the one that kickstarted the whole SL e-bike trend. And…
£8,999.00
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My last SDG Tellis dropper post did 5,000km without a service, and this V2 version is even better
The original SDG Tellis dropper came out in 2018 and made a bit of a name for itself as one of the cheaper options on the market that was still…
£199.99
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Norco’s Fluid VLT C2 140 is lumberjack-solid, but this Bosch SX-equipped Canadian shredder needs some urgent upgrades to log a top rating
Most mountain bike brands like to have one suspension design to hang their hat on. Not Norco. Instead, it prefers to switch between different layouts depending on the application and…
£7,999.00
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Silent, smooth, and streamlined – The Trek Fuel EXe 9.7 with TQ motor looks, sounds, and sadly feels, a lot like an analogue bike
Back in 2022, Trek was the launch partner for the ultra-compact TQ-HPR50 motor. The bike in question was the brand new Fuel EXe, and in many ways the TQ eco-system…
£7,599.00
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Hope’s new brake mash-up is an inspired down-country dream, pairing its lightest XCR brake lever with the enduro-ready E4 caliper
Hope’s minimalist XCR carbon lever started out mated to an X2 twin pot brake caliper, making it ideal for proper XC applications. Roll on a few years and that XCR…
£225.00
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After four kids I know what makes a great balance bike, and there’s nothing out there to match the Kids Ride Shotgun Dirt Hero for off-road riding
Kids Ride Shotgun started out with a great idea, take the traditional toddler bike seat and fit it up front and onto the top tube. And just like that you…
£300.00
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The heavy metal Orange Phase Evo LE totally rocked on enduro trails thanks to its great suspension and dialled geometry
At this price point, most SL e-bikes use carbon fibre frames to save weight, or at least that’s what the marketing gurus tell us. Not at Orange, though. In fact,…
£7,999.00
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