Mountain Bike Rider — March 2018

MARCH 2018mbr 5

Contents

ON THE COVER

Steffi Marth goes

border hopping

in the Alps.

Photographer:

Ale di Lullo

MARCH 2018

ONTHE COVER

40 TRAILS BY TRAIN

Exploring Exmoor and the

Quantocks by modern mountain

bike and vintage steam train

proves the perfect mix of sublime

singletrack and old world escapism

50 GRAUBUNDEN,

SWITZERLAND

Freeride pioneer Richie Schley and

DHand4XproSteffiMarthtackle

threeofthetoughestridesin

Switzerland, complete with Alpine

passes, unforgettable descents

andapublictransportsystemyou

can set your (preferably Swiss)

watch by

FEATURES

BIKES & GEAR

BIKES IN

THIS ISSUE

Calibre Bossnut V2 71

Cannondale Scalpel-Si

Carbon 3 94

GiantAnthemAdvanced 29er1 96

Jamis Dakar A2 16

KTM Scarp Master 12 LTD 98

Merida One Forty 800 34

Rocky Mountain Pipeline

Carbon 50 30

ScottGenius900Tuned 71

ScottSparkRC900Team 100

Saracen Kili Flyer 70

Specialized Chisel Expert 36

SpecializedEpicCompCarbon 102

Trek Remedy 8 27.5 Women’s 66

Whyte 905 68

ON THE COVER

16 JAMIS DAKAR A

The greatest £1k full-suspension

bikesincetheCalibreBossnut?

The new Jamis Dakar certainly

looksthepart,withRockShox

suspension, a single-ring drivetrain

and confidence-inspiring geometry

ON THE COVER

30 FIRST RIDES

Newfor2018:RockyMountain’s

Pipeline Carbon 50 with an

incredible nine different geometry

andsuspensionset-ups,Merida’s

One-Forty 800 trail bike with 2.6in

tyres, and the Specialized Chisel

Expert XC hardtail

66 LONGTERMERS

We’re introducing a rider called

LauraandabikecalledTraceyto

thelongtermerfleetthismonth—

she’s a super-keen new rider and

Tracey is her new Trek Remedy

trailbike.Plusupdatesfromthe

SaracenKiliFlyer,ScottGenius,

Calibre Bossnut and Whyte 905

72 PRODUCT

The revamped RockShox

Revelation fork, Funn Kingpin bar

andStrippaEvostem,AlturaOne

80 G2 gloves, Topeak’s Ratchet

Rocket Lite tool, and loads more

reviewed. Plus head-to-head

testing: Shimano’s GR9 versus

the Specialized 2FO; and the

Altura Mayhem 2 versus Vaude’s

Tremalzo Rain Jacket II

ON THE COVER

78 TESTED:

TRAIL HELMETS

Modern open-face helmets offer

more protection than ever before

thanks to advances in padding, slip

plane technology and in-mould

construction techniques. We test

10 of the latest and reveal which

hasthebestmixofcomfort,

retention and ventilation

ON THE COVER

90 BIKE TEST:

XCRACE BIKES

The latest batch of speed machines

are light enough to whisk you up

the climbs, yet composed enough

with good geometry and active

flex-stay suspension to rail the

descents too. On test are five

flyers, from Cannondale, KTM,

Giant, Scott and Specialized

Crossing that bridge:

weput five XC rigs

through their paces, p