An avalanche of scorching steel and improbable plastic as we run by means of essentially the most thrilling bikes launched not too long ago for mannequin yr 2024.
The We’re approaching the tip of the yr, and by now most producers have launched their mannequin yr ’24 (MY24) bikes. What higher time then, to run by means of among the highlights we are able to anticipate to see on the paths subsequent yr? In no explicit order, right here’s MBR’s number of the most popular XC, path, enduro, and freeride bikes for 2024.
Nicolai Nucleon Supre Drive is a loopy, steam-punk-inspired enduro bike
Nicolai Nucleon 16 €7,499
Need radical? Nicely look no additional than the Nicolai Nucleon 16. It will get the revolutionary Supre Drivetrain with a rear mech tucked behind the dropout to maintain it out of hurt’s means. And if that wasn’t sufficient, it’s additionally a excessive pivot loafer design, which ought to give it 5 star plushness on tough alpine descents.
In comparison with a gearbox (such because the Pinion), the Supre Drive system claims to take pleasure in decreased friction, supply glorious shifting beneath load, and a large 510% gear vary from the 12-speed cassette. It’s actually madcap, because the chain tensioner is definitely sprung and damped by its personal shock hidden inside the down tube, and the ‘derailleur’, in inverted commas, utilises only a single pulley wheel. Different options of be aware are the low standover top, 5 body sizes and MX wheel compatibility.
In a market of more and more homogenous designs, the Nucleon 16 is a whirlwind of contemporary air.
Stunning traces and a classy high-pivot; the Deviate Highlander II is a beautiful prospect
Deviate Highlander II £2,666 (body solely)
There’s no Sean Connery on this sequel, however the up to date high-pivot Highlander is a fair mightier weapon to wield throughout massive mountain insurgencies. Journey has been drawn out to 145mm, which is 5mm greater than the outdated bike and 10mm greater than we measured once we examined the Highlander v1.
Deviate additionally claims it’s lighter than the unique because of a brand new carbon lay-up, with out sacrificing any of that Celtic fortitude alongside the way in which. Up to date sizing and geo features a 2º steeper seat angle, zero level 5 diploma slacker head angle, and longer attain. And for shorter riders there’s now the choice of a small body.
Rocky Mountain’s new Slayer has down tube storage, blended wheel compatibility, and each carbon and alloy body choices
Rocky Mountain Slayer €6,900
Like a grizzled outdated vet’ within the nook of a dingy bar, Rocky Mountain’s Slayer ‘was there from the start, man’. The start of freeride, clearly, when it was the bike that launched a thousand hucks beneath the era-defining Froriders.
This newest iteration is obtainable with both a carbon or alloy body, each of that are licensed for bike park laps and freeride shenanigans. Rocky retains its Trip-4 geometry chip and provides a two-position rear dropout design for final flexibility. The bike is suitable with each MX wheels and full 29in set-ups, with smaller full bikes getting the blended wheel choice and bigger frames rocking the larger hoops. A neat contact is that inside body storage is now commonplace on the carbon frames.
All bikes get coil shocks and 180mm of rear journey, however particular Park editions additionally include 200mm twin crown forks for anybody aiming at that Crimson Bull Rampage wild card spot.
Cannondale’s wallet-friendly Behavior 3 packs in loads of bang for buck
Cannondale Behavior 3 £2,950
Divide and conquer; that’s the technique with the brand new Cannondale Behavior, the place lengthy journey, brief journey, alloy and carbon frames all come collectively beneath the identical broad umbrella. However the perfect bit about this up to date path bike is that costs begin at simply £2,100 for the Behavior 4 alloy, making it aggressive even towards direct-sales manufacturers.
This Behavior 3 calls for an £850 premium, however shares the identical SmartForm C1 alloy body, with 130mm journey, as the remainder of the vary. Need extra oomph? Then the Behavior LT makes use of the identical body however will get a burlier 150mm fork and longer stroke shock to spice up rear journey to 140mm.
Proportional Response Suspension and geometry goals to maintain the journey expertise the identical no matter your top and weight, and Cannondale has tried to make sure the bikes are as user-friendly as attainable within the workshop, by speccing commonplace headsets, threaded backside brackets and UDH mech hangers.
Devinci Chainsaw: Burly and badass
Devinci Chainsaw $3,899
Constructed to pay homage to DH legend Stevie Smith, a portion of Chainsaw gross sales goes to the Canadian racer’s legacy basis. As you’d anticipate, it’s a motorcycle constructed for logging air miles, slicing by means of tree-lined DH runs, and dropping the tallest of options, with a high-pivot loafer configuration and 170mm or 180mm of rear journey being the technical highlights.
Run it as a full 29er or with blended wheels. Twin-crown forks for DH or single-crown for enduro. Coil for final grip or air for straightforward tuning and weight saving.
Norco Fluid FS C3 now with carbon entrance triangle
Norco Fluid FS C3 £4,199
Cop a load of the brand new Norco Fluid FS. Now obtainable with a carbon entrance triangle, the light-weight entrance finish is claimed to avoid wasting 600g over its alloy counterpart. Seems relatively gorgeous, all chiselled and bronzed, doesn’t it?
Sure, the stays are nonetheless alloy, and the journey hasn’t been touched at 130mm rear and 140mm entrance, however the Fluid is already an achieved path bike, making this weight saving the icing on the cake. Different issues we like in regards to the Fluid are that the shock specs are stored high-end all through the vary, so that you don’t have to stint on suspension efficiency. And Norco’s Trip-Aligned program signifies that rear centre lengths and seat tube angles fluctuate with body sizes, which helps riders of various heights obtain a extra optimum weight stability and using place.
Pole hopes to have given its Vikkela the Midas contact
Pole Vikkelä €4,490
It’s been ten years since Pole cruised onto the strip with its stretched limo Evolink. To rejoice this milestone it has refined its vary to encompass six customisable fashions, all about as hanging as you’d anticipate from the Finnish model.
Alongside motor-assisted choices, the Vikkelä mixes the journey and angle of a downhill bike with the climbing place and go-anywhere versatility of an enduro bike – Pole calls it ‘downduro’, ‘cos MTB actually wants one other sub-category.
Like a kind of stir-fry eating places the place you select your substances, the Vikkelä might be something you need it to be. Choose 29in wheels entrance and rear, or go MX. Run a dual-crown fork up entrance for final swagger, and match it with 190mm of rear journey. Or go for a single-crown and 168mm of rear journey. The selection is yours.
What doesn’t change is the head-turning CNC aluminium body, radical elevated chainstays, and blinging annodised end.
Probably the most profitable path bikes ever reaches its fifth iteration: the Commencal Meta SX V5
Commencal Meta SX V5 T-Sort £5,899.02
Persevering with Commencal’s lengthy lineage of fascinating path bikes is that this, the fifth iteration of the Meta. It’s nonetheless made out of alloy, similar to the unique (even when Commencal did briefly flirt with carbon within the late-two hundreds), however the brand new bike makes use of the Digital Contact System. This employs brief, counter-rotating hyperlinks, relatively than the outdated single-pivot design, and delivers a beneficiant 165mm of journey.
With a low standover top, brief, steep seat tubes, two chainstay lengths relying on the body dimension, and blended wheels, the brand new Meta SX appears to be like severely shredable – if that’s a phrase.
Eyes on the prize: The brand new Trek Supercaliber
With over 30 gold medals beneath its belt, one would assume Trek’s Supercaliber had discovered the last word recipe for XC success. However with the intention to keep forward in a sport with an insatiable want for pace, Trek has teased out adequate enhancements within the unique design to provide you with a fair higher Supercaliber. And one way or the other Trek has resisted renaming it the Ultracaliber, or the Hypercaliber.
However whereas the title stays, the body beneficial properties, now boasting an additional 20mm of journey on the rear for these gnarlier World Cup programs. There’s a brand new IsoStrut shock, too, from RockShox this time, giving Trek racers the flexibility to run the brand new digital Flight Attendant system.
To make it a extra succesful dealing with rig, the attain has been lengthened, journey has been elevated, and the top angle slackened. And the load for the prime quality SL R 9.9 XX AXS? Simply 9.3kg in line with Trek.
Learn our full evaluate of the Trek Supercaliber Gen 2
Cut price bike park bruiser: The Rose Scrub
Rose Scrub DC 1 €3,299
Within the custom of all good gameshows, right here’s what we may have gained if we’d stayed within the EU. Sure, Rose is without doubt one of the manufacturers that has ceased to ship bikes to the UK post-Brexit, which implies us Brits should journey to Europe to get our mitts on one in all these rad new Scrub freeride bikes. Luckily Rose has shops throughout Germany, and some in Switzerland, so you possibly can click on and gather, then head to one in all a litany of close by bike parks to get it bedded in.
The alloy body is constructed robust sufficient to take both twin crown or single-crown forks, and it runs a blended wheel set-up. Select between coil or air shocks to ship the 200mm of rear wheel journey, and there’s a progressive spring curve appropriate for sending big moto soar traces. Whereas the Scrub’s 7-speed drivetrain and glued seatpost makes it a shuttle-only choice, at simply €3,299 for the entry-level mannequin, you need to have money left over for a number of carry passes.
Basic model heritage and a totally fashionable body: The Ibis HD6
Ibis HD6 GX £5,699
On the lookout for one thing boutique that’s not a Yeti, a Santa Cruz, or a Pivot? Nicely how in regards to the new Ibis HD6, an enduro bike from a model with over 40 years of historical past within the sport.
The blended wheel HD6 will get 165mm of rear wheel journey utilizing a DW-Hyperlink suspension design. It’s suitable with coil and air shocks and is available in a beneficiant 5 body sizes. And in a nod to the unique metal Ibis frames, you possibly can select your HD6 in one in all three vibrant paint choices.
Merida’s Large.9 TR 600 appears to be like like choice for hardtail followers
Merida Large.9 TR 600 £1,400
The finances hardtail market has taken a battering not too long ago because of inflation, so it’s all the time thrilling when a brand new inexpensive choice drops. This one is from Merida and it’s an aluminium 29er with a 120mm fork. The complete Large.9 vary consists of racy, XC choices, with 100mm forks and carbon frames stretching worth factors to a heady £10k, nevertheless it’s the down-to-earth TR fashions that actually float our boat.
Longer forks matched with slacker head angles convey sure-footed dealing with, whereas all fashions come commonplace with a dropper put up. The body features a instrument mount and two units of bottle cage bosses, a SRAM UDH mech hanger and a pleasant, low standover top for max confidence.
The Merida One-Sixty FR 600 is one other bike that guarantees big functionality with out the massive value.
On the different finish of the journey spectrum, Merida has additionally launched a brand new model of the One-Sixty. It’s known as the One-Sixty FR, and because the title suggests it’s primarily designed for bike park laps.
As such it will get 180mm journey up entrance and 160mm of coil-sprung plushness out again, giving the FR extra of a bias to sturdiness and heavy-hitting suspension efficiency over pedal effectivity and weight saving. Reinforcing that theme is the all-alloy body, even all the way down to the unconventional alloy flexstays. That retains the value eager, with the prime quality mannequin coming in at a sensible £3.5k.
However at 17.2kg, you’re going to develop some critical weapons getting it on and off the uplift trailer.
Learn our first journey evaluate of the Merida One-Sixty FR right here
Trek carries over the mid-high pivot design from the Session downhill bike to the brand new Slash Gen 6
Trek Slash from £4,250
No self-respecting hottest bikes rundown could be full with out concerning the brand new Trek Slash. A high-pivot loafer design and mullet wheels have reworked this seminal enduro bike for 2024.
To assist enhance pedal effectivity and cut back drag, the brand new Slash comes with a bigger loafer wheel, and in a nod to practicality, Trek has included inside down tube storage for all of your path necessities. With 170mm journey, 5 body sizes, and 7 fashions with frames in each alloy and carbon, the brand new Slash is extra than simply making up the numbers.
Uneven and adjustable: The Orbea Occam SL
Orbea Occam LT and SL from £2,999
Orbea has shunned symmetry as soon as once more with the design of the brand new Occam. The Spanish model’s path bike providing nonetheless will get an offset body reinforcement that offers left handed folks a definite benefit in the case of staying hydrated.
To maximise the bike’s attraction, you possibly can select between LT and SL choices. The SL will get 140mm journey entrance and rear, whereas the Lengthy Journey mannequin beneficial properties 20mm up entrance and 10mm on the again together with slacker angles. Adjusting the geometry is fast and easy because of an eccentric flip chip, and there are intelligent built-in instruments and down tube storage that will help you journey pack-free.
It’s a good-looking trying steed, and one which you can actually make your individual utilizing Orbea’s MYO customisation program.
Mondraker F-Podium RR SL has its sights set on Olympic Gold
Mondraker F-Podium from £6,299
With regards to Spanish manufacturers, we additionally have to shine a highlight on the brand new Mondraker F-Podium. The outdated was one of many first race bikes that actually punched above its weight on rowdy trails. However the brand new model appears to be like even spicier, with a revised body format, up to date Zero suspension system, wafer-thin prime tube, slacker head angle and 10mm additional journey out again.
The post Hottest new XC, path, and enduro bikes for 2024 appeared first on lickscycles.com.
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