2019-05-01_Mountain_Bike_Rider

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

FEATURES