A_M _B_2015_02_03_

http://www.ambmag.com.au - 77

day. At a substantial weight of 13.9kg with pedals,
yet fitting of the price tag, it was never going to
make whippet status on the trail. But as expected
it has more than made up for it in many other
areas. I found the pedalling efficiencies of the VPP
based OST+ suspension to work wonders on the
climbs. With masses of traction thanks to the big
wheels and it was also amazing on the descents
with the even bigger tyres of the new Schwalbe
Nobby Nic 2.25” which are definitely on the larger
side. The 529 really came across as being super
versatile with just swapping the rubber out to suit
your riding style the bike can be just as you like
and setup for your next big cross country day out
in minutes.

The 2x10 drivetrain worked just as expected, a
few chains were dropped and my preference for
a 1x setup was confirmed. This doesn’t however
mean that you wont ever drop a chain with 1x nor

TIM BARDSLEY - SMITH

RIDER BIO

Riding Experience: 16 years of riding and

racing including over 11 years of working

in the Industry as a photographer. With a

gravity based background, I now enjoy all

aspects of the sport.

Generally Rides: Rocky Mountain

Thunderbolt, Specialized Epic 27.5

Mashup

Height: 174cm

Weight: 88kg

Bike Test Track: Bungarra, Mill Hill

trails, TVT and Thredbo Flow Trail.

do I see no use in the 2x10 setup, it definitely has

its place. For those that don’t like bombing the

descents as much, and will do long days on this

bike, the range that a 2x10 group set offers makes

sense. That granny ring will be welcome as you’re

climbing up the last climb of a 50km plus day.

The wide rear end saw its fair share of scrapes

in some of the tighter rocky sections that we

were riding around Jindabyne and other brilliant

trails in the Snowy Mountains region. The Zesty

swing-arm now bares the scars of a rider with

less finesse than some, but that extra inch or so

of alloy swing arm is definitely noticeable in frame

stiffness and suspension performance.

The KS LEV Integra dropper post would have to be

the stand out on this build and easily equals the

functionality of some of the higher end droppers

available. The setup was simple and I saw no

TESTED