118 mbrM AY 2 019
Whatbetter
endorsement
couldyouget
thana placein
thegarageof
oneofthemost
p r o l i fic b i k e
testersintheUK?
Mickhasbeen
riding,reviewing
andcompeting
(evenwhen
he’snotracing)
onmountain
bikessincethe
mid-Nineties,
givinghiman
unbeatable
overviewofthe
market,both
past and present.
MICK KIRKMAN, BIKE TESTER
3 -B I K E GARAGE
RETRORIG
TRAILRIPPER
THECLASSIC
TheEvilFollowingdoeseverything
I’veeverwanteda mountainbiketo
do,whichis toprovidemaximumfun
onallthefunnestbits.TheFollowing
isn’tperfect;it haslimitedtyre
clearanceandtheseatangleis too
slack,butthealien-lookingcarbon
righasa specialX-factorthat’shard
toexplain.It wouldn’tnormallybe
mycupoftea—reachandhead
anglearemoderate,andtherear
suspensionisn’tasgoodattracking
thegroundunderbrakingas
somebikes.
Noneofthismatters
a bitthoughwhenyou’re
flyingaroundonthis
thing.It’ssofastwhether
up,downoralong,
andthemeagre
120mmof
travelletsyou
keeppace
withmateson
muchlonger-
travelbikes.
Sometimesit’s
prettyhard
to believehowcapableit actuallyis,andit
railscornersandspitsyououtatthe
perfectinstant,justasthereartyre
is brakingtraction,ina waythat’s
perfectlyintuitiveandpuremagic.
It’smyfavouriteofmanyEvilsthat
allsharea suprememanoeuvrability
andflickabilitywithouteverfeeling
sketchyathighspeeds.Whatever’s
inDaveWeagle’sDELTALinksauce,
he’s totally nailed the Following.TURNERBURNER DH
Backinthelate
1990stherewere
onlya handfulof
properDHbikes
youcouldactually
buy,andjusta
coupleyou’drace
onif youwantedto
besuccessful.The
IntenseM1wasone,
andtheTurnerBurnerdownhillbiketheother(whataboutthe
YetiStraight6?—Ed).
Bothwerefour-barsuspensiondesignsandsimilarin
principaltomanysuccessfulbikestoday,albeitwithmuch
worsegeometry.I savedupandboughttheTurner.
Itwasa bikeI wona NationalChampsmedalon(dual
slalom!),andI lovedit tobits.It alljustworkedandtrackedthe
groundbetterthannearlyanythingelseatthetime,andwas
toughenoughnottofalltopieces.TherearFoxVanillacoilwas
drivenbybox-sectionaluminiumstayswitha Horst-Linkpivot
anda bigalloyrockerlink.
I rememberthebushingonthechainstaypivotneeding
replacing,sointhose(pre-Internet)daysI ranga USphone
numberprintedona cardthatcameintheboxwiththeframe
andownerandspoketoDaveTurnerhimself.Davewassuper-
friendlyandchattedatlengthabouttheBurnerandsentmea
setfreeinthepost.
Legalhassleseventuallyforceda switchinthedesigntoa
seatstay‘fauxbar’pivotandwiththatthemystiquewasgone
andthebikewasneverthesame,tomeatleast,but I created
some amazing racing memories on that thing.CANNONDALE
PROPHET
Backintheearly2000sI wasliving
incentralLondonina flatwithno
roomforanything.Asa perkof
beinga friendofthemagazine(and
startingtodoa fewbitsofwriting
andphotography),I usedtogetto
takesometestbikesoutofthembr
cagesattheweekendsheadingtothe
SurreyHillsortripsdowntoWales.
Despitehavingtonsofchoice
andmanyexoticbikesofallprices,I
loveda humble,mid-pricedburgundy
Prophet.I’dgetthetraindownto
Croydon,grabit andputa lotof
milesintothisparticularversion,if
editorDannyhadn’tgrabbedit first.
TheProphetwasa simple,high-ish
single-pivotrig,butwithadjustable
geometry,it wasoneofthefirsttrail
bikesyoucouldhavea genuinely
slackheadangleon.If memory
serves,thatmeant66°inthelow
position,whichwaspretty radical on
a 26in bike back then.Our favourite people pick their ultimate bike stable