Mountain Bike Reviews
Steel full-suspension bikes are popping up with increasing frequency, but Cotic has been on that trend longer than most, and their latest Gen4 RocketMAX is a big Enduro bike with some seriously impressive ride characteristics.
Propain Ekano 2 AL
Propain’s Ekano eMTB stood out from the rest of their line, with a different suspension layout and geometry that was starting to look a bit dated. That all changes today, with the new Ekano 2 getting a major overhaul. Propain is talking a big game about the Ekano 2 being an especially nimble, “fun” bike, despite its big travel numbers and modern geometry.
Pivot Shuttle AM
The new middle child in Pivot's electrified mountain bike lineup slots in between the lightweight Shuttle SL and beefy Shuttle LT, but in doing so is poised to charge the great eMTB travel debate: “If I’ve got a motor, why shouldn’t I have ALL the travel?” Check out our First Look for all the details, and our Flash Review for our initial on-trail impressions.
2024 Santa Cruz Stigmata
Longer, lower, and slacker tend to be the standard buzzwords for an updated mountain bike, but Santa Cruz has applied them to their new Stigmata Gravel bike in a big way.
Flash Review — Trek Fuel EXe Aluminum
We've started spending time on Trek's new aluminum Fuel EXe, testing its claims of a quieter motor and more "natural" feel on the trail — check out our initial impressions.
Esker Rowl
Esker might be flying under the radar for some mountain bikers, but their 140mm-travel Rowl makes a very strong case for why more folks should be paying close attention to what they’re up to.
Starling Mega Murmur
Starling has just launched a longer-travel version of their Murmur, now with a fully-UK-made frame, appropriately dubbed the “Mega Murmur.”
2024 Norco Fluid FS Carbon
Norco released their updated all-rounder Trail bike, the Fluid FS Aluminum, last season, which was an immediate success due to its combination of performance and value for riders of all kinds. They’ve now introduced a carbon version with a few new build kits, too — check out all the details.
Trek Fuel EXe Aluminum
Trek’s Fuel EXe gets a new aluminum version today with a more affordable frame, new build kits, and — perhaps surprisingly — some further geometry adjustability that the carbon version doesn’t offer.
Five Ten Kestrel Boa
Five Ten cut its teeth in the bike world by making gravity-oriented shoes, and they’re still best known for those offerings. But the new Kestrel Boa is a much more XC-oriented shoe than we’ve seen from Five Ten before, and it’s meant to add a little bit of their gravity shoe know-how to an XC shoe form factor.
SRAM GX Transmission & Bronze Stealth Brakes
SRAM’s new T-Type groupsets launched just a few months ago with high-end XX SL, XX, and X0 tiers, and now there’s a new, more affordable GX version. While the high-level details closely mirror those of the higher-end variants, SRAM has done a lot more than just make a less-expensive, heavier version of the Transmission. Check out our First Look for all the details.
Flash Review – Liv Intrigue LT Advanced Pro 0
The Liv Intrigue LT Advanced Pro 0 is an ultra high-end women-specific Enduro bike that we've been spending time on — Blister Members can now read our initial on-trail impressions.
Yeti SB160
The Yeti SB150’s geometry was notably radical when it launched back in 2018. Since then, the mountain bike landscape has changed a lot, and the SB150’s successor, the SB160, no longer stands out as much on paper. On trail, though, it’s still an especially game-on Enduro race bike — and a damn good one for folks with the right approach and preferences.
EXT Aria
We’ve been very impressed by a number of EXT’s coil shocks over the years, and having now spent a lot of time on the Aria — their first air-sprung MTB rear shock — we’re ready to weigh in on how it stacks up to EXT’s own Storia, as well as the modern crop of high-volume, beefy air shocks.
2023 Devinci E-Troy
Devinci’s new E-Troy gets a big update with a revised suspension layout, massively overhauled geometry, and move to Canadian manufacturing to boot.
Ibis HD6
Ibis’ Ripmo has long served as their longest-travel Enduro(ish) bike but now there’s a new, burlier offering in their lineup, the HD6. And along with dropping the “Mojo” from the name of the prior-generation Mojo HD5, the HD6 has grown a mullet, gained some suspension travel, and a whole lot more.
Reserve 30|SL & 30|HD AL Wheels
Reserve deserves a good chunk of the credit for making lifetime warranties the industry standard for carbon wheels, and now Reserve is offering the same on their first aluminum ones. But how do the new 30|HD AL wheels ride, and just how crucial is that warranty? We’ve put a lot of miles and abuse into a pair — time to weigh in.
Commencal Meta V5
Commencal’s new Meta V5 gets a new suspension platform and drops the model split between the Meta TR and Meta AM from the V4 iteration. So how does the Meta V5 slot into the current market, and what sets it apart from the prior-generation? Check out our First Look for all the info.
Öhlins TTX1 and TTX2 Air
We’ve had two different reviewers spending time on three different versions of Öhlins’ latest air-sprung rear shocks, the TTX1 Air and TTX2 Air, and are ready to weigh in on how they perform on trail, how they differ from each other, and who they’re going to work best for. Check out our full review for all the info.
2023 Revel Ranger
Blurring the line between World Cup Cross-Country race rigs and short-travel Trail bikes, the Ranger brings a mix of efficiency and capability to the table that we think could work for a lot of riders.