2019-05-01_Mountain_Bike_Rider

8 mbrM AY 2 019

EDITOR’SLETTER

Trail Bike of the

Year 2019

I

f you’rethinkingofbuyinga newfull-

suspensionbikethisyear,you’vecometo

therightplace.Thismonthwerevealthe

resultsofourTrailBikeoftheYear2019,

andthisyearchoosing the two winners

washarderthan

everbefore.Our

testencompasses

bothpopular

wheelssizes—

27.5inand29in

—anda price

rangethatspans

from£2,200to

£3,400.There

arethedirect-

to-consumer

brandsthatcan

onlybeordered

onlineandshippedtoyourdooralongside

traditionalmarquesyoucanwalkintoa shop

andrideawayon.Andwhiletheyshowjust

howbroadlythehumbletrailbikecanbe

interpreted,allofthem,withoutexception,can

beriddenincrediblyhardandnoneofthem

failedtoputmassivesmilesonourfaces.It’s

noexaggerationtosaythatthisyear’scrop

werethetightesttocallsincewestartedour

annualTBOTYtest,whichis greatnewsforyou,

theconsumer.That’senoughofthepre-amble

though—headtop54togetstuckin, and don’t

forgettowatchourvideosonthe

winningbikesatyoutube.c

user/mbrmagazine.

NowavailableontheiPad,

Kindle&allAndroiddevices

mbr.co.uk/digital-edition

HOW TO

mbr.co.uk facebook.com/MBRmagazine twitter.com/mbrmagazine youtube.com/user/MBRmagazine strava.com/clubs/mountain-bike-rider-

Looknofurtherif you’rein

the market for a new machine

ONTHECOVER

24 BUZZFITANDFAST

If you’rehelpinga friendtogetinto
ridingyou’llwanttoteachthemhowto
ridetheirbikeproperly—AndyBarlow
fromDirtSchoolshowsushowtoget
theskillstoteachby.Pluskeepyour
mindandbodysupple with yoga for
mountainbikers

ONTHECOVER

88 SKILLS:FINDYOURFLOW
Makingtechnicalsectionslookeasy
andkeepingyourspeedrounda series
ofcornersandobstaclesis allabout
findingyourflow,saysAndyfromDirt
School—heshowsnewbieriderLaura
Baileyhowto get confi dent and let the
b i k e fl o w

REGULARS

10 BIGPICTURES

16 BUZZ

NewbikesfromEvilandForbidden,new

gearfromBikeStow,Louri,TFTunedand

more,plusinspirationonwheretoride,

whattowear,howtoget started and

improvingyourskills

50 MAILBOX

It’stimetotakeoutthetrash,saysone

reader,whocalls for an end to littering

onourtrails

118 THREE-BIKEGARAGE

Longtimembrbiketester,bikecrusher,

photoguru,marketingdilettanteand

all-roundnicenorthernerMickKirkman

revealshisultimatethree-bikegarage,

starring the Cannondale Prophet

Honeyourflowand

the rest will follow, p

Evilexpandsits

empire, p

Spring’shere!It’shightimeto

make for the mountains, p

SUBSCRIBETO

TODAY

ANDPAY

JUST£23.99!

Turn to page 42 for details

SAVE

30%!

CONTENTS

Editor,mbr

TrailBikeoftheYear:

the ultimate mtb shootout