Mountain Bike Rider

Mountain Bike Rider is the UK's leading magazine for trail riding, mountain bike enthusiasts. Published since 1997, mbr aims to inspire readers to just get out and ride!

Mountain Bike Rider1 min read
Meet The Team
Been hooked on mtbs since the late ’80s, and testing them for three decades. Dream ride? Lush Oregon singletrack. JD’s been with mbr since 2008. Gave up a career as a financial journalist to muck about on bikes. Now penniless but happy. Started at mb
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Rude Health
Hands up who watched the World Championships in Scotland last month. I only followed the racing via the livestream, rather than pushing against the tape among the midges and drizzle. But even on screen the atmosphere and drama seemed to leap out of t
Mountain Bike Rider5 min read
Mine Over Matter
“The right line is death,” Will Warren calmly tells us. “The left line is just… horrible,” he adds. “Take your pick.” Not the words you’d usually expect from a guide halfway up a mountain, but he’s not wrong. As the riders in front of me creep into a
Mountain Bike Rider1 min read
Big Picture
La Grave isn’t your average Alpine bike park, with a ride to the top of the gondola dropping you off next to the Girose Glacier at a not inconsiderable height of 3,200m. There are just two runs from the top station, and they descend over wild terrain
Mountain Bike Rider4 min read
Hype Pivot
Trek has been on-it these last few years, turning over old bikes and releasing updated models faster than you can say “enduro race-ready”. The previous generation Slash only came out in 2021, while the space in-between has been filled by a reworked F
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Killer Descents
The Hawcombe Head bridleway is a masterclass in flowy singletrack, and although there are some other cracking descents on this big loop, it’s definitely the head chef. You’ll start on open heathland, but the skinny singletrack, occasional tree, and r
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
Hot Stuff
The name might be familiar but the Kestrel BOA is all new from Five Ten. It’s aimed squarely at the down-country set, meaning it’s firmly tilted towards XC in terms of stiffness but also shields your feet inside a reinforced toebox for downhill prote
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
Hottest New Bikes For 2024
Divide and conquer – that’s the strategy with the new Cannondale Habit, where long travel, short travel, alloy and carbon frames all come together under the same broad umbrella. But the best bit about this updated trail bike is that prices start at j
Mountain Bike Rider4 min read
Charlie Hatton: “I Never Thought It Would Be A World Champs-winning Run”
mbr Congratulations Charlie! It’s nearly a week after winning the Worlds at Fort William, has it sunk in yet? Charlie Hatton Yes, it’s definitely changed things a lot for me. It’s been a crazy, crazy few days. I finally got back yesterday, but it’s b
Mountain Bike Rider5 min read
Vitus E-mythique Lt Vrx
£4,399.99 • 29/27.5in • vitusbikes.com ● Affordable full power e-bike with 170/160mm travel ● Alloy frame designed around custom Bafang M510 motor ● Removable 630Wh Bafang battery and colour display ● MX wheels, so 29in front, 27.5in rear, both with
Mountain Bike Rider6 min read
Pivot Shuttle Am Pro (sram Xo)
£12,700 • 29in • saddleback.co.uk ● Full carbon 29er e-bike with Bosch Performance CX motor ● 148mm rear travel, 160mm (optimised) fork travel ● 750Wh integrated batteries on Pro and Team models ● Optional frame-mounted 250Wh range extender ● Claimed
Mountain Bike Rider7 min read
Mondraker Neat Rr
£8,499 • 29in • mondraker.com ● Full-carbon frame and TQ system adds up to a sub-18kg e-bike ● New Zero suspension layout with 150mm rear travel ● Removable 360Wh battery and optional 160Wh range extender ● Four frame sizes and three models starting
Mountain Bike Rider6 min read
Giant Stance E+ 1
£3,999 • 29in • giant-bicycles.com ● Entry-level e-bike platform with 125mm travel and 29in wheels ● SyncDrive Sport motor has 75Nm torque and is paired with a 625Wh battery ● RockShox 35 Silver fork pumps out 140mm travel ● FlexPoint suspension desi
Mountain Bike Rider7 min read
Canyon Stoic 2
£899 • 29in • canyon.com ● Aggro alloy hardtail with size specific wheels: XXS, XS, S (27.5in)/M, L, XL (29in) ● Entry-level bike of three, all with 140mm travel forks ● New Shimano CUES U6000 drivetrain on latest model ● Soft compound Schwalbe tyres
Mountain Bike Rider7 min read
Canyon Neuron:on Cf 8
£5,349 • 29in • canyon.com ● Trail-orientated e-bike with 140mm travel ● Aimed at covering distance over varied terrain ● Carbon frame options starting at the CF 7 for £4,599 (alloy bikes use old frame and Shimano motor) How many of you have fired up
Mountain Bike Rider5 min read
Specialized Epic Hardtail Comp
£4,100 • 29in • specialized.com ● Lightweight 29er XC race hardtail designed for speed ● Fact 11m carbon frame with threaded BB and 148mm dropout spacing ● RockShox Reba RL fork delivers 100mm travel ● SRAM GX Eagle drivetrain with full-range 10-52t
Mountain Bike Rider7 min read
Haibike Lyke Cf 11
£6,799 • 29in • haibike.com ● Haibike’s lightest e-bike yet ● Full carbon frame gets 140mm travel ● Fazua Ride 60 motor with removable 430Wh battery ● Optional 210Wh range extender ● Four frame sizes and three models starting at £5,899 for the Lyke C
Mountain Bike Rider4 min read
Canyon Torque:on Cf 9
£7,149 • 29/27.5in • canyon.com ● Built for blasting self-shuttled bike park runs ● Has 175mm of travel paired with a 180mm fork ● Mullet wheels and four frame sizes across a three-model range ● Shimano EP8 motor with 85Nm and 520W peak power ● Choos
Mountain Bike Rider6 min read
Bosch Performance Sx
bosch-ebike.com ● Compact, lightweight motor option from Bosch ● System weight of 4kg made up of 2kg motor and 2kg battery with 400Wh capacity ● Claimed 55Nm max torque and 600W max power ● Customisable modes and extended boost ● 250Wh range extender
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
New Bikes For 2024
In the tradition of all good gameshows, here’s what we could have won (if we’d stayed in the EU). Yes, Rose is one of the brands that has ceased to ship bikes to the UK post-Brexit, which means you’ll have to travel to Europe to get your mitts on one
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Guidance Counselling
There is tons of advice out there for getting through technical sections better. Ask any mountain biker what they’re doing in order to survive any rough or steep trail, and they’ll likely list off all the same things. Why is it then, that the riders
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
Classic Advice No4:“drop Your Outside Foot (in Corners)”
Dropping your outside foot, or pedal, in turns is something that we’ve all thought about. If you watch the world’s best riders they all seem to do it when they are hauling, and it makes so much sense for a number of reasons. It allows you to lean the
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Classic Advice No3:“push In The Turns (or Into Jumps)”
If you talk to any decent rider about cornering or jumping, or watch videos on YouTube explaining the same, they all talk about pushing in the turn or jump. This is often accompanied with the person doing the pushing motion with their arms as they fa
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
Guy’s Forbidden Druid Gx Axs FX
£7,299 • MX or 29in • forbiddenbike.com GUY KESTEVEN Position Bounty hunter Mostly Rides Yorkshire Height 5ft 11in Weight 70kg ■ High-pivot idler trail bike with mixed 150/130mm travel ■ Full 29in or MX build options ■ Evolved ‘Inverted four-bar’ sus
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
Sean’s Norco Fluid Fs A1
£4,399 • 29in • zyrofisher.co.uk SEAN WHITE Position Freelance writer/tester Mostly rides Forest of Dean, Mid Wales Height 6ft 2in Weight 87kg ■ 29er trail bike with 130mm rear travel and a 130mm fork ■ Ride Aligned proportional geometry with size-sp
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
Pb’s Canyon Spectral:on Cfr
£9,349 • 29/27.5in • canyon.com PAUL BURWELL Position Freelance writer/tester Mostly Rides The High Weald and Surrey Hills Height 5ft 10in Weight 79kg ■ Full carbon frameset, 160mmtravel fork and 155mm rear travel ■ Shimano EP801 motor with Auto-Shif
Mountain Bike Rider1 min read
James’s Pivot Firebird Pro
£8,200 • 29in • saddleback.co.uk JAMES BRACEY Position Freelance writer Mostly rides South Wales Height 6ft 1in Weight 75kg ■ 29er enduro race bike with 165mm rear travel married to a 170mm-travel fork ■ Four frame sizes, all with proportional chains
Mountain Bike Rider2 min read
Ben’s Scott Genius St 900 Tuned
£10,999 • 29in • scott-sports.com BEN SMITH Position Art editor Mostly rides Forest of Dean Height 5ft 9in Weight 76kg ■ Scott’s range-topping carbon trail bike with 150mm travel, paired with 160mm-travel Fox 36 Factory fork and no TwinLoc ■ Fox Floa
Mountain Bike Rider17 min read
Tested
SPECIFICATION Weight: 1,340g (Super DH 29x2.4in) • Width: 60mm (2.36in) on 30mm internal rim • Casings: Super DH, Super Gravity, Super Trail • Compounds: Addix Ultra Soft (tested), Addix Soft • Sizes: 29x2.4in (tested), 27.5x2.4in • Contact: schwalbe
Mountain Bike Rider14 min read
Trail Gloves
Full-finger gloves are part of most trail riders’ uniform, but there’s also a very practical reason to wear them – they protect your hands. You get reinforcement on the back, which is helpful when riding through spiky vegetation, and padding on the p
Mountain Bike Rider1 min read
Xc Race Bikes
Specialized Epic vs Trek Supercaliber Specialized Stumpjumper EVO vs Trek Fuel EX NOVEMBER ISSUE ON SALE WEDS 11 OCTOBER ■
Mountain Bike Rider1 min read
Mountain Bike Rider
Editor Danny Milner Bike test editor Alan Muldoon Front section editor Jamie Darlow Deputy digital editor Aoife Glass Contributors Paul Burwell, Sim Mainey, Roo Fowler, Mick Kirkman, Sean White, Andy Barlow, Andy McCandlish, James Bracey, Guy Kesteve
Mountain Bike Rider3 min read
Mbr Opinion: Who Really Won The World Championships?
“UK riders put in fantastic performances to come away with gold and bronze medals in the DH and XC events at the MTB World Championships in Scotland last month. So I thought I’d take a look at which discipline ‘won’ in terms of how they looked on the

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