Innehållsförteckning för August 2023 från Mountain Biking UK

FREEZE FRAME THE MUMMY RETURNS! The queen of downhill racing is back! After a four-year hiatus* due to an Achilles tendon injury and the birth of her daughter Arna, Rachel Atherton lined up for this year’s first World Cup an unknown quantity, no one – not even herself – sure what she was capable of among such a fast and talented field. After finishing second in both qualifying and the new semi-finals, it was clear Rach wasn’t just there to make up the numbers, and as she dropped in for her finals run, she looked as smooth and fast as when she was dominating the sport. She went on to take the win by 0.534 seconds, equalling Anne-Caro Chausson’s record of 40 DH World Cup victories – despite parenting duties,…

Myles Rockwell’s Yeti ARC-AS LT is a bike steeped in downhill racing history. Not only because of the American’s victory on it in the 1993 Reebok Eliminator – a legendary two-up DH race down California’s Mammoth Mountain – but also for whom he beat. Losing out in the final by just three-tenths of a second, Jason McRoy showed that British riders were now a force to be reckoned with on the world stage, in the process earning a factory deal with Specialized and paving the way for a whole generation of UK downhill racers. This bike was painstakingly rebuilt over four years by Andrew Palmer from www.yetifan.com, after he was given the frame and some parts by Yeti Cycles founder John Parker in the early 2000s. It’s now owned by…

FIRST RIDES Specialized’s latest cross-country race bike has a different frame to the standard Epic (which remains in the brand’s line-up), featuring updated geometry and an integrated shock. With just 75mm of rear-wheel travel, can the Epic World Cup compete in a growing field of 120mm race bikes and provide all the advantages of an XC hardtail on smoother tracks without holding you back on rougher terrain? THE FRAME The new Epic World Cup uses a similar flexstay single-pivot suspension set-up to the regular Epic, but Specialized have replaced that bike’s yoke-style shock attachment with a smaller ‘dog bone’ link to increase stiffness, by improving tolerances in the linkage. While rear-wheel travel is limited to 75mm, a 110mm fork is fitted up front. This top-end S-Works frame is made from…

Cross-country racing is hot right now, thanks to a winning combination of superstar riders, gnarlier tracks, better online coverage and – thanks to events such as the Olympics and this year’s World Championships in Scotland – even some mainstream TV exposure. Just as thrilling as the action on the track is the tech used to give racers every possible advantage. While full-suspension bikes often steal the limelight, on smoother courses it’s hard to beat the pin-sharp connection between pedals and rear wheel of a hardtail, as well as the not-to-be-sniffed-at weight savings. As such, we’ve pulled in three of the latest lightweight carbon fibre options to see if they really can compete between the tape, while offering good enough handling and comfort to take on all-day rides, too. Our test…

The Prorace CF 9.9 is Lapierre’s top-end race hardtail, boasting a lightweight frame with built-in ‘compliance’ (engineered flex). Effective shock absorption is one of the best ways to add speed, so how fast does this bike feel? THE FRAME Made from carbon fibre, the frame is designed to be comfortable yet stiff. By uncoupling the junction of the seatstays, top tube and seat tube, Lapierre aim to ensure that impacts and vibrations are dissipated into the top tube – rather than, potentially, up the seatpost towards the rider – and that the seat tube is more isolated from the rear wheel, further improving comfort. This ‘3D Tubular’ design, which looks a bit like GT’s ‘Triple Triangle’ set-up, is seen on their road bikes, too. Frame features include internal cable routing,…

When we talk about Woburn as a riding destination, what we’re really referring to is the collection of trails and jumps in and around Aspley Woods, just south-east of Milton Keynes, on the Bedfordshire/Buckinghamshire border. Mountain bikes have been ridden here pretty much since the sport was conceived. And when dirt jumping grew in popularity in the mid-to-late ’90s, Woburn became a top venue for airtime, too. Over the years, it’s sometimes been a contentious place to ride, with locals having to work hard to secure its future. Pro riders including Matt Jones grew up riding here, with many others following a similar path. So, it’s good to see that the XC trails and jumps have both been developed, waymarked and, hopefully secured, to give current riders a great venue…

Set up by an avid mountain biker who was spurred into action by all the litter he saw, Trash Free Trails are on a mission to (re)connect people with nature through the simple yet meaningful act of removing single-use pollution (ie. discarded plastic) from wild places. At the heart of the not-for-profit group’s work are their A-TEAM – a crew of volunteer ambassadors who’ve been inspired to spread the outfit’s values, ethos and approach among their own riding communities. Here, we meet some of these riders to find out more… JANE CHISHOL @janepottie Where are you from? Inverness, Scotland. What bikes do you ride? ‘Flossie’ the Trek Remedy 9, ‘Allan’ the Trek Superfly 9.8 and ‘Greta’ the Kona Rove NRB. What types of trails do you like? Sweeping, loamy, rooty…

The under-the-radar Neuron is Canyon’s best-selling full-sus. To do justice to this versatile all-rounder, they’ve modernised it, with the aim of giving people a better ride. THE FRAME This 29in-wheeled trail bike gets a full-carbon frame. Canyon’s proven ‘Triple Phase’ suspension platform (a four-bar Horst-link set-up) dishes out 130mm of rear-wheel travel. The German brand have widened the main pivot to increase rear-end stiffness and improve suspension performance. They’ve also straightened the seat tube, to allow use of longer-drop posts. Cables are routed through the headset and run through fully-enclosed sleeves inside the frame. There’s a bottle cage mount inside the front triangle, plus Canyon’s ‘Load Bag’, for stashing tools or spares, as well as bolt-on, replaceable down tube and chainstay protection. The frame uses a threaded bottom bracket, Boost…

GOING DEEP GENERATION GAMES Riding through a couple of berms with barely a bike length between them and then taking off on a huge, hipped step-down at virtually the same time, two of the world’s best mountain bike racers land pretty much on top of one another – much to their own amusement, and a sharp intake of breath from me, behind the camera. One hailing from Sheffield in the north of England and the other from Bristol in the south, the pair are separated by geography. Not to mention age – one will celebrate his 50th birthday next year, the other his 27th. And background – one famously worked as a plumber before catching his big break, the other went pro aged 16. But none of that matters on…

The Scalpel HT Hi-MOD 1 is an out-and-out XC race bike with a stiff carbon fibre chassis, designed to get your power to the rear wheel as efficiently as possible, and some interesting and relatively innovative features. Most obviously, it uses Cannondale’s signature Lefty fork, with 110mm of travel, plugged into a slack front end. However, there are also some neat frame touches, designed to keep the bike running smoothly and as light as possible. These result in an impressive sub-10kg weight for our size-large test bike. THE FRAME Cannondale’s high-spec, high-modulus ‘Hi-MOD’ carbon is used on this model, which helps keep (claimed) frame weight below 900g on the smaller sizes. The dropped seatstays are designed to work with flattened zones on the chainstays to reduce the amount of trail…

On a track suited to hardtails, none of these bikes will hold you back. All are pin-sharp, race-focused machines that are designed to go as fast as your legs can propel you. The Cannondale Scalpel HT Hi-MOD 1 feels like the most traditional XC bike here, even with its slack front end. It’s a stiff, uncompromised machine that begs you to dole out every bit of energy you have. On the twistiest of courses, its ability to accelerate will see you reeling in your rivals. However, its unique fork is outshone by the dual-legged competition and its shorter front end reduces high-speed stability. The Pivot LES SL 29 Pro XT/XTR really shone during testing. It’s a fast bike that thrives on a wide range of terrain. Fox’s 32 SC is…

PIVOT STICK WITH... ERM, PIVOTS FOR XC RACING Five things you need to know about the new Mach 4 SL 1 Pivot claim to have shaved 400g off the previous-generation Mach 4 SL frame, thanks to refined tube profiles and carbon fibre lay-up, plus a new rear triangle with repositioned brake mount. The US brand say full builds of this top-flight cross-country race bike can go as low as 10.4kg. 2 That’s despite the fact they’ve stuck with their dw-link suspension linkage, rather than opting for a weight-saving flex-stay single-pivot design, as many brands have erred towards for their XC bikes. Pivot say they feel this gives the best pedalling characteristics and suspension feel. 3 There are four travel options on offer. World Cup models come with a 100mm fork…

MILESTONE 2007: World Cup glory We’ve backed some top riders over the years – from Jason McRoy, Steve Peat, Rob Warner and Danny Hart to the youngsters on the 2023 GT Viris squad – but only Marc Beaumont has won a World Cup for us, topping the podium at Vigo in Spain with Team MBUK/Santa Cruz. s Vitus have set out to raise the bar at this price point, aiming to give riders a bike that can perform on any trail and make you smile doing it. With 140mm of travel front and rear, 29in wheels, good rubber and an aggressive cockpit, the Mythique 29 AMP is designed to turn affordable trail bike performance up to 11. THE FRAME The frame is made from 6061-T6 aluminium tubing and delivers 140mm…

GOING DEEP BUDGET CHALLENGE IN ASSOCIATION WITH You can ride anywhere on anything if you’ve got decent tyres and solid brakes!” It was nothing really, just one of those passing comments I didn’t expect anyone to pick up on, let alone take particularly seriously. But someone at GO Outdoors got wind of my bravado and decided to put it to the test, which is how I find myself at the foot of Ben Lomond, in the Scottish Highlands, sitting atop a Calibre Rake 27 hardtail costing just £500*. A drop in the ocean compared to the cost of even a mid-range full-suspension bike – heck, the wheels alone on my main bike cost more than this. Contenders ready It’d be rude of me to keep this cost-conscious fun all to…

There’s a pun in the name, but the LES SL 29 is no joke when the going gets tough. This carbon race bike features clean lines, a sub-800g frame weight (small, claimed) and a fun ride feel. THE FRAME Pivot say the way their carbon fibre frames are laid up takes into account the projected rider weight – so a lighter rider on a small frame should get the same ride feel as a heavier rider on an extra-large bike. They’re also built to have smooth internal ‘tube’ walls, to reduce stress risers and improve durability. The LES SL frame features all the usual XC hardtail accoutrements – an integrated headset, internal cable routing, a UDH rear-mech mount and multiple bottle bosses. There’s a mount under the top tube for…

MILESTONE 2014: Bristol bound After 26 years amid the Georgian splendour of Bath, we’re sold to new owners and move up the road to an unprepossessing part of Bristol. Jimmer still hasn’t recovered! The rest of us are stoked when we soon relocate to fancy offices in the city centre, 10 minutes from the trails. In our quest for a lovely coastal route to celebrate the arrival of summer, we’ve decided to head a little further west along the famous Jurassic Coast than our regular Isle of Purbeck haunt. We hit the busy town of Bridport on market day, before edging our way slowly out of the western side and following the signs that guide us along the roads of Symondsbury Estate to the busy car park. Symondsbury is home…