Team bikes ridden hard for a year
My Month
HIGHS
Great fit from the get-go –
Decent stock components
LOWS
Pale paint jobs aren’t my thing, but that’s being picky!
KAT’S CANYON SPECTRAL 125 CF 7 £3,405.98 (shipped)
Tester Katherine Moore’s relationship with the Spectral gets off to a good start
With a 140mm fork and 125mm of rear-wheel travel, this contender for our Trail Bike of the Year title bucks the trend for long-travel suspension and gnarlier tracks (there’s always its 150mm-travel Spectral siblings for that), and is designed to be rowdy on the rougher stuff but still a joy to pedal up hills. I loved my first foray into ‘downcountry’ territory last year on the 115mm-travel Juliana Wilder, so I want to see how the concept works with a bit more squish.
The fit is great, the small size proving perfect for my 5ft 5in (165cm) frame. A generous 150mm of seatpost drop means the saddle won’t get in my way, and a bar pre-cut to 760mm feels about right for my build.
One of my first rides was at Cwmcarn Forest in South Wales. After a long fireroad pedal, we rode the Pedalhounds DH track, sessioning our way down and tackling each technical feature in turn, including some of the biggest drops I’ve hit yet and some tricky rooty corners. I was buzzing at the bottom – evidently the Spectral 125 wasn’t holding me back!
However, despite setting the sag correctly for my weight, it was clear that I wasn’t using as much of the fork travel as I could. Besides being relatively light, I’m also not very strong, so when I got home, I removed the single volume spacer from the RockShox Pike Select+ fork, to make it slightly less progressive. Putting this tweak into practice in the Forest of Dean, the difference was noticeable from the very first run, giving a plusher-feeling front end that gobbled up the braking bumps and roots.
The Canyon’s additional travel compared to the Juliana has been giving me confidence to tackle some of the more janky rock sections, helped no doubt by the slacker 64-degree head angle. I haven’t been disappointed with its pedalling ability, either – it feels smooth and efficient, leading to me enjoying a couple more laps than usual!
It’s still early days, but I’m excited to get to grips with the Spectral 125 over the coming months. I’ll be doing my first enduro race (yikes!) and having a play with the geometry, using the flip-chip in the shock mount. If it continues to be as confidence-inspiring as it has been already, then my riding should come on in leaps and bounds. www.canyon.com
My Month
HIGHS
Bike parts seem to be more reliable these days
I still get a thrill and a smile every time I ride the Insurgent
LOWS
I really should have threadlocked my chainring bolts!
Triscombe will be sorely missed
LUKE’S EVIL INSURGENT £3,799 (frame only)
The Insurgent is riding high, in more ways than one
I had my first issues with the bike this month. While pedalling around some trails near Monmouth in South Wales, I heard some creaking from the drivetrain. The extra spacing needed to fit the OChain Active Spider isn’t quite perfected (although I do have the correct spacers for it now), so I assumed the creak was down to that. But when I got home and was cleaning the chain, I realised one chainring bolt was missing and the other three were loose. A few dabs of threadlock and I’m back in business. Well, 75 per cent back –I still have to find another bolt!
Another kick in the teeth this month was when I found out the hard way that the trails at Triscombe, a riding spot in the Quantock Hills, had been flattened by forestry works. This was one of my favourite places to shred so I hope it’s not long until it’s viable again.
Otherwise, the Insurgent is holding up well. I was lucky enough to travel overseas for a couple of bike launches, so, again, it hasn’t had as much use as I’d have liked. After riding these new bikes, one of which had a very low bottom bracket, it was noticeable that the Insurgent MX isn’t designed around its mixed-size wheels. Originally, it was a 650b bike (and is still available as one). The MX version adds a 29in front wheel, which lifts the BB. That, with the firmer mid-stroke support of the coil shock, does mean it sits quite high when riding.
When hitting steeper trails, I’d like to be able to sink a little deeper into the Evil’s travel, to lower its dynamic geometry, reduce fork dive, and help with stability and braking. I think an air shock might help here, as they naturally have less mid-stoke support. Plus, it would also shave a little weight and be easier to set up.
Spec-wise, the bike has remained the same, and the kit is holding up well – even the two-year-old SRAM X01 Eagle mech. The shifting is getting a little sloppy, though, so some fettling is required. After three years, my BikeYoke dropper post needs some attention, too. I reckon that’s pretty good going, though, without any problems so far. From my perspective, at least, bike parts nowadays seem to be more reliable than they were just four or five years ago. www.evil-bikes.com
My Month
HIGHS
It’s great to have things set up properly again –
I feel like I’ve narrowed the search for the creak…
LOWS
… although I still haven’t found it, yet!
WILL P’S GIANT TRANCE X1 £4,199
Our workshop manager finds things a little off-kilter
As I’ve been training for a gravel-bike event – which is now drawing worryingly close – I haven’t spent as much time as I’d like on the Trance. Life has a habit of putting obstacles between us and our preferred pastimes, and I count myself extremely fortunate that, in this instance at least, that obstacle is another bike! The rides I have done on the Trance, however, have been the meeting-new-people, party-laps kind of affair – not much care about speed, just sessioning features and getting some progression in along the way.
I have found myself chasing another creak around the bike, though. I’ve checked the rear axle, and the pivots I serviced previously are still greased and correctly torqued, so the next thing to check will be the headset. If it’s not that, I fear my frustration with the bike industry entertaining press-fit BBs may grow even deeper.
While noodling about, I found that all my controls were slightly out of position. It may have been that, during my tinkering, I left a lever-clamp loose and the simple pressure of my fingers in the general chucking-around of the bike moved one of them a little. It’s also possible that one of the ‘sit-downs’ that happens once in a while over the course of pushing oneself knocked things out of kilter. I suspect that’s why the bar was pointing an irritatingly small angle off to starboard. However, the stem is now pointing back where it should, the levers are level and the hand-guards can say the same.
Balance has been restored. www.giant-bicycles.com
TOM’S REVEL RANGER £3,699 (frame only)
When I originally reviewed the Ranger back in 2021, I noted that the rear suspension had a fairly narrow sweet spot. I thought I’d found it, but during my last ride, it just felt like the rear suspension was a little too bobby on smoother climbs. While the RockShox SIDLuxe rear shock does have a compression lever, it only toggles from ‘open’ to ‘firm’, with no intermediate adjustments. As such, it’s only really the rebound settings that I can play with to get the bike feeling good when the shock-damping is left open. Thankfully, adding just a couple of clicks of rebound damping does appear to have stopped that pogoing and made the Revel feel calmer on the climbs. https://cyclorise.com
ROB’S TREK SLASH £4,050 (frame only)
Part of the Slash’s appeal for me is how easy I’ve always found it to just jump on and ride – both this custom build and the Slash 8I had for the 2021 Bike of the Year test. Some of that is down to the balanced suspension feel, but the geometry plays a big part, too. The 450mm reach on the medium suits my 5ft 8in frame well, and I’m more than at home with the 64-degree head angle. While the effective seat tube angle isn’t the steepest (especially compared to some of this year’s BotY contenders), the Flight Attendant suspension system keeps the back end propped up enough when climbing that it isn’t an issue. With BotY 2022 complete, I’m gagging to get back out it! www.trekbikes.com
HIGHS
An easy bike to just jump on and ride
Parts upgrades are exactly what i’d have gone for
LOWS
I wish the power button were further up – a minor niggle
UPGRADES
Topeak Ninja
Master+
SK+ bottle cage
£9.99
Free Strappack
£12.99
www.extrauk.co.uk
Topeak Alt-Position
cage mounts £13.99
www.extrauk.co.uk
JCW’S ORBEA RISE H10 £6,623 (w/ upgrades)
Delayed by his obsession with neatness, our editor finally hits the trails
Before hitting the trails on the H10, I did a fair bit of faffing with different tube-carrying solutions. What can I say, I’m a perfectionist. The obvious place to store spares is at the junction of the seat tube and down tube, but that’s also the location of the power button for the motor and some exposed cable outer. Strapping a tube to the top tube with a regular ‘enduro’ strap didn’t do it for me, so I looked for other options.
First, I tried a 76 Projects Piggy (https://76projects.com). This clever gadget attaches to your bottle bosses and lets you shunt the cage up several centimetres, making room for you to attach a tube to the integrated, strapequipped carrier. A neat solution (look out for a review soon) – but I failed to use the UK brand’s clever print-out fit guide before calling it in, and the curve at the base of the Orbea’s down tube meant I had to position it so far up that a full-size bottle fouled the shock dials.
Falling back on the frame-strap approach, I tried a BOA-equipped Occam Apex (www.silverfish-uk.com), which looked smarter than a standard strap and was quick and easy to fit, but that unused space down at the bottom of the frame still niggled. Finally, I spotted that Topeak offered a less bulky way to attach a tube to a cage than the Piggy, along with rails allowing 32mm of adjustment. Success!
My anal side finally satisfied, I hit the woods. The reduced torque compared to my 2021 Whyte E-160 was immediately noticeable, but that’s no bad thing – it’s a cliche, but the Rise H does feel a lot ‘more like a regular bike’. Instead of rocketing you up the hills in a way that makes e-mountain biking feel like a whole different sport, the custom-tuned Shimano EP8 motor gives gentler, but welcome, assistance. The reduced weight was immediately noticeable, too, giving a nimbler, more chuckable feel on flatter trails, but when I lofted the bike off a rooty drop, it felt just as capable as the longer-travel, slacker, burlier Whyte. I’m looking forward to taking this thing to its limits. www.orbea.com
JIMMER’S SANTA CRUZ TALLBOY SC £5,599
A small tear in the rear Maxxis Rekon tyre put the stoppers on what was looking to be a great local ride. It did highlight the importance of correct tyre pressure when running tubeless, though – it was a little low, and a bad line choice through the roots resulted in a rip. On the plus side, a creak that had developed at BikePark Wales magically disappeared, so I put it down to a bit of grit being caught somewhere. Apart from that, the Tallboy has been a blast to ride, especially now the trails are drying out and getting faster. I’m looking forward to some adventurous rides and seeing how far I can push it. It has such a sorted spec that I haven’t needed or wanted to change a thing apart from the grips so far – which is good, considering the price! www.santacruzbicycles.com
MAX’S WHYTE T-160 RS V2 £4,199
As the trails dry up, I’m getting to appreciate – or not, as it were – the weight of the T-160’s Race Face AR 30 wheels. They’re tough but quite heavy, so do dull the bike’s acceleration. As I look to shave weight to gain speed, it’d be good to investigate changes here. The seatstay bridge and wide main-pivot keep the bike’s back end taut and efficient under force. I’d been expecting to get airborne more, but actually, the long, low and slack geometry keeps the bike planted to the ground, however rough it gets. It doesn’t feel adverse to being launched into the air and handles that with aplomb, but I’ve been spending more time on the ground, where it gives a stable and confidence-inspiring ride. https://whyte.bike