Bike Tests

It took a few years for all-mountain cross-country bikes to come into their own. Originally, when longish-travel cross-country bikes rolled onto the scene, they were a compromise between climbing and descending prowess. Today, thanks to…
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I t has taken us too long to get a Sultan in here for testing. Introduced in 2007, the 29-inch-wheeled trailbike got a total makeover in 2009 with the adoption of a dw-link rear suspension. The key ingredient of a dw-link (a dual-link…
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The Specialized Epic is the world's most popular cross-country race bike. When we tested the 26-inch-wheeled Specialized S-Works Carbon Epic Disc (MBA, November 2010), it was impossible to imagine that Specialized, or anyone else for that…
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The Mach 5, one of our favorite trailbikes since we tested the first version in 2008, got a complete makeover for 2011. But what was this .7 stuff? The Mach 5.7 got less than an inch of additional travel, which seemed to position it in…
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The 29er movement, or should we say revolution, has largely taken over the performance-oriented cross-country segment in the United States. Traditional 26-inch-wheeled cross-country race machines can be very lightweight; however, they are…
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Name game: It has a new name and it plays a new game. The combination of Fisher creativity and Trek ingenuity results in a great bike that is free of the teething problems of old. In case you haven't been keeping up with current…
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Giant had one major goal for every 2010 Maestro suspension bike in their line?make it lighter. From their cross-country race machines to their downhill dragster, each design was refined to shed weight. Along with revising their existing…
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All the excitement in mountain bike design seems to surround 29-inch wheels, ten-cog cassettes, two-ring cranks and carbon fiber everything else. So where does a bike like the $1059 Cannondale F4, which does not have any of these…
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Scott takes cross-country racing seriously. They offer ten models of their Scale hardtail and nine models of their Spark dual-suspension cross-country race bikes. That's 19 models specifically designed for cross-country racers. Many bike…
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Founded in 1999, MSC offers a complete lineup of bikes with everything from ultra-light, carbon cross-country race versions to World Cup downhill rigs. In 2010, MSC products will be available in the United States, and we had the opportunity…
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In 2008 at the annual Interbike tradeshow in Las Vegas, there was a buzz among those who cruised the aisles searching for groundbreaking products, and GT's  prototype carbon fiber downhill bike was the reason for their excitement. GT took…
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We raved about Trek's 2009 carbon fiber Fuel EX 9.9 trailbike (MBA, August 2009). The 4.7-inch travel machine screamed uphill like a race bike, and the top-notch Fox Shox suspension smoothed the trail on descents, making it worth every foot…
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The new-in-2009 aluminum Titus FTM (Full Tilt Moto) tested in our July 2009 issue unseated a perennial favorite, the Titus Motolite, on our short list of recommended trailbikes. The FTM offers a half-inch more rear wheel travel than the…
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Redline only offers two mountain bike models, the MonoCog and D Series. The MonoCog is a single-speed, fully rigid bike rolling on 26- or 29-inch wheels and your choice of a chromoly or aluminum frame. The MBA wrecking crew heartily…
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Motobecane U.S.A. has a reputation for delivering a lot of bike for the bucks. The Fly Team 29 Ti XX is going to cement this reputation, coming in way below $6000 and loaded to the max with the SRAM XX group. WHO IS IT MADE FOR? The Fly…
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Wandering the new-exhibitor section of the annual Interbike trade show, we discovered a 10x10 booth manned by Michael Schwartz, who was showing off his creation?the Morpheus Bikes Oracle World Cup. The bike was a real eye-catcher…
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Can it really be only two years since the Tomac brand was reintroduced (for the third time) under the control of an all-new company headed by industry veteran Joel Smith and John "Johnny T" Tomac? That seems impossible, because the latest…
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Specialized Bicycles produces seven models in their Epic cross-country race line. The top offering is the World Championship-winning S-Works Epic Carbon Disc at a staggering suggested retail price of $8800. While we would all love to ride…
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Norco is located in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, north of our border in Canada. Their location gives them a certain advantage when it comes to developing mountain bikes. There are few places on the planet that allow you to ride most of…
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