M AY 2 019mbr 7
Contents
MAY 2019
ONTHECOVER
Dannystraddles
theMegatower
inSouthAfrica.
Photographer:
Gary Perkin
ONTHECOVER
80 NEWSERIES!
BESTOFBRITISH
Mountainbikesmayhavebeen
‘invented’inCalifornia,butit could
bearguedtheywerehonedand
refinedhereintheUK.Yes,this
smallcorneroftheglobeaccounts
forsomeofthebestbikesinthe
world,pushingforwarddesign,
materialscienceandsuspension
performance.Soweheadtothe
PeakDistrictandCoticCyclesto
startournewseriesinattemptto
findoutwhat makes British bikes
so good
BIKES & GEAR
BIKESIN
THIS ISSUE
CalibreSentry 40
CanyonSpectralAl6.0 64
CommencalMetaTrail 29
BritishEdition 72
EvilBerserker 18
FanticXF1IntegraEnduro 98
ForbiddenBikesDruid 16
GTSensorCarbonElite 99
KonaHeiHeiTrail 58
MarinMountVision 844
NukeproofMega 290 Pro 95
OrangeFiveRS 36
RockyMountain
Altitude 5096
SantaCruzMegaTower CC
X01Reserve 32
ScottGenius 94066
SonderEvolGX Eagle Helm
DB-IL 59
SpecializedStumpjumper
EvoCompAlloy 2968
TrekRemedy 860
VitusEscarpe 29 VRX 70
VitusSentier 27 VRS 94
WhyteT-130S 62
YTCapra 29 CFProRace 99
YT Jeff sy 29 CF Comp 74
ONTHECOVER
32 FIRSTRIDES
TheMegatoweris SantaCruz’s
latestsuper-bike,andonewe’ve
allbeenwaitingyearsfor—a
long-travel29erwithmodern
geometryanda trail-crushing
attitude.Wealsoridethemost
uptodateversionoftheiconic
OrangeFive,tryCalibre’snew
budget-busting£2kendurobike
with29erwheelsandtheMarin
MountVisionwithprobablythe
funkiestsuspensionoutthere
ONTHECOVER
54 TRAILBIKEOFTHEYEAR
Hands down the most important
biketestoftheyear,ourguideto
whichbiketobuyif you’reinto
trailriding...whichis prettymuch
allofus.We’vetestedthe 10 best
full-suspensionbikesacrossboth
wheelsizesandtwopricepoints
tofindourfavouritebikeof2019.
Don’tbuya newoneuntil you’ve
perusedthesepages
94 LONGTERMERS
BenjitriestheVitusSentier 27 VRS
hardtailwith2.8inwheelswith
mixedresults,Bentriestocompete
onhisNukeproofMegainanXC
racewithverymixedresultsand
PBtriestoridehisFantice-bike
and funky battery with no results.
PlusupdatesontheGTSensor,
RockyMountain Altitude, and
YTCapra
100 PRODUCT
Wetestthestonkinglygoodvalue
SRAMNXEagledrivetrain,Drift
Ghost-XPOVcamera,ScottTrail
jacket,LookX-Track carbon pedals
andloadsmore
ONTHECOVER
106 TRAILSHOES
We’vesplitthistest,reviewing
bothcliplessandflatpedalshoes
fromthelikesofFiveTen,Adidas,
PearlIzumi,SpecializedIon, Giro,
Shimano, and O’Neal