REEB SST REVIEW – A STEEL FULL SUSPENSION REVELATION

There’s always talk of all the steel hardtail frames made in America, but the conversation rarely shifts to steel full suspensions. Reeb is the pivot point around which that conversation shift is revolving with the release of the SST. It’s a short-travel trail bike with as much new-school innovation as there is old-school inspiration. Cutting-edge 3D laser printing is employed alongside intricate fab work to make the SST a true work of art. This bike was designed and hand-fabricated in Lyons, Colorado, with beer and fun ingrained in its chromoly DNA.

 

FRAME

Building a steel full suspension is without question more complicated than building a steel hardtail. All of the moving parts, kinematics and overall weight constraints have to be dealt with before anything can go to market. Reeb used their experience building hardtails and combined it with an alternative 3D printing process to cut down on weight.

Oversized 4130 chromoly with custom tube profiles make up the bulk of the chassis, but the suspension pieces are a little different. Multiple key suspension components—the chainstay yoke, seatstay clevises and rear dropouts—are made using an SLM (Selective Laser Melting) 3D printing process that takes a metallic powder, in this case, 316L stainless steel, and melts it into a strong, hollow piece that can then be combined with the rest of the frame to complete the bike. This process saves a ton of weight on pieces that would have otherwise had to be made of solid steel to keep the strength. Reeb also CNCs their own alloy rocker arms in-house.

The SST is labeled a trail bike and has all the numbers to back up that claim. A 65.5-degree head angle, 76-degree effective seat angle and 482mm reach on our size large are exactly what we’d expect from a modern trail bike. Unlike some recently released bikes, the SST keeps a uniform chainstay length throughout the size run at 435mm. There is plenty of standover height on all sizes, with the size small coming as a mullet with a reduced travel fork in order to heighten compatibility with the shorter riders of the world. Reeb offers the SST in two standard colors—City Lights and Pacific Blue—but you can choose from other custom colors, like our green frame, for an extra $350. It’s easy to customize the bike to suit your personal style.

 

COMPONENTS

Of the two build kits Reeb offers, they decided to send us the more affordable GX build, which features a SRAM GX Eagle 10-52 tooth drivetrain, TRP Slate Evo brakes with 203mm front and 180mm rear rotors, and Industry Nine 1/1 Trail wheels. Spank Spoon handlebar, stem and grips make up the cockpit, along with a WTB Volt saddle mounted on a KS Rage-I dropper controlled by a Southpaw under bar remote. Other things like a Cane Creek 40 headset and Vittoria Mazza 2.4-inch Trail tires put the finishing touches on this beautiful bike.

This bike is also available as an X01 build, as well as a frame-only option that is ready for your imagination to run wild with your own custom build.

SUSPENSION

There’s a simple quality to the suspension design despite some of the components being 3D printed. Think Horst link without the traditional pivot points in front of the axle. The shock is mounted vertically with a trunnion mount to the alloy rocker link. From there, there are no pivots to be seen until you get to where the chainstays connect back to the frame just above the bottom bracket. So, how is it still like a Horst link? Well, the chainstays just in front of the dropouts are shaped to allow a bit of flex. This allows a similar effect to a pivot point while keeping torsional stiffness. This suspension system gives the SST 120mm of rear suspension travel that is compatible with both coil and air-sprung shocks.

Reeb specs all SSTs out the door with an air shock; in this case, the RockShox’s Deluxe Ultimate. This shock is paired with a RockShox Pike Select with a 44mm offset and 140mm of travel in which we put two volume spacers to help with bottom-out control.

 

CLIMBING

“Impressive” is one word we could use to describe our climbing experience on the Reeb SST. Nothing could’ve prepared us for the efficiency we’d feel when pointing this bike uphill, and that’s saying a lot. We had the privilege of riding this bike across much of the Southwest during our travels, which gave us the opportunity to test it on some delightful terrain, including our favorite destination—Sedona, Arizona. We wouldn’t bring this up except for the fact that the Reeb SST is the perfect bike for Sedona. The way the trails undulate with technical bits sprinkled in willy-nilly really helped us appreciate the subtle performance qualities of the SST. It doesn’t feel like a 32-pound bike when navigating punchy climbs along ridgelines or when you have an awkward change of direction mid-tech section, it just eats them up.

Now, we rode more than in Sedona. Some of our testing was done on the steep hills of Southern California where the brutal uphill access trails know no limits. We found ourselves very content on these extended climbs with the active rear suspension providing more than enough traction to get over any obstacle. Long days in the saddle were welcome with open arms and the SST became our go-to adventure bike when we felt the call to explore.

DESCENDING

Okay, so the SST climbs well, awesome, but what happens when you get to the top and are staring down the trail? We have an answer to that question: it’s phenomenal. With only 120mm of rear travel, you’d think it’d be limited in its descending capabilities. While that’s true in some ways, in others it couldn’t be farther from it.

Remember when we tested the Canyon Spectral 125 and practically called it a mini enduro bike? We’ll compare the SST with that, because that’s the closest thing we can think of to a comparable bike. The Reeb beats the Spectral 125 on the climbs, but where else? Let’s talk about flow. The SST rides flow like very few bikes we’ve ever encountered. The suspension is very supportive, and we can really feel it when railing berms or pumping through mellow sections. It hugs the ground well, but when it’s time to take off, it flies. We had a blast at the pump track in Sedona on this bike while other full suspensions had us feeling a bit bogged down.

We were comfortable flowing around and jumping the SST, but we’re comparing this bike to the Canyon Spectral 125, which shined on enduro-style trails also. In a similar fashion, the Reeb SST was never brought up as an excuse to not ride some of the gnarliest trails we could find. A great example of this would be riding Hi Line in Sedona. It didn’t tackle it like the Revel Rail we rode a few months ago, but it held its own without hesitation or the need to walk any sections.

Composure in heavy chatter was a bright point in the SST’s descending performance. The suspension felt like more than 120mm on most trails, and even when we did hit a heavy bottom-out, it didn’t break our ankles as some bikes do. Even at speed, the stability of the bike was comforting, and we didn’t feel like it was going to rattle off the trail underneath us. The bottomless suspension feel and stable ride characteristics made every trail so much fun to ride.

 

WHAT DID WE LOVE?

It’s hard to beat the looks of a steel full suspension. The SST was a constant conversation piece in trailhead parking lots or at the top of climbs. Compliments come in droves when you’re riding this bike, and it makes it so much fun to ride on unfamiliar trails. This bike is well put together—from the wheels and tires to the suspension to the simple but effective suspension design.

WHAT DID WE HATE?

We’re not big on the KS Rage dropper post. In order to put it down, you have to first unweight or else you won’t be able to press the remote. This caused more than one awkward tip-overs that could’ve been avoided with another dropper. Another thing that caught us by surprise a little was the tire rubbing on the backside of the seat tube when the suspension bottoms. In talking to the Reeb guys, they were saying that only a limited run of bikes was produced with this issue, and it has since been resolved, so you shouldn’t have to worry about it when you get yours.

BOTTOM LINE

As a whole, this bike is an excellent addition to today’s ever-expanding market of capable short-travel trail bikes. As eccentric as it is, it works extremely well, but it’s not going to be for everyone. If you don’t mind paying a bit of a weight tax for steel, this bike may be for you. If we’re defining a modern steel full-suspension trail bike, the SST is a forerunner and will be setting a high bar for all to reach for. If you value overall performance and want to be a little different, here you go. We’re not going to say this is a quiver killer, but it sure ticks a lot of boxes we deem important, so we can confidently recommend at least giving this bike a try. 

REEB SST

www.reebcycles.com

CATEGORY: Trail

WHEEL SIZE: 29″

SUSPENSION: 140mm (front), 120mm (rear)

Price:

$6495

Weight:

32 pounds (without pedals)

Sizes:

XS, S, M, L (tested), XL

Frame tested:

120mm, Chromoly Steel

Shock:

RockShox Deluxe Ultimate

Fork:

RockShox Pike Select

Wheelset:

Industry Nine 1/1 Trail

Tires:

Vittoria Mazza 29×2.4″ Trail front and rear

Seatpost:

KS Rage-I Dropper 210mm, Southpaw under bar remote

Saddle:

WTB Volt

Handlebar:

Spank Spoon

Stem:

Spank Spoon

Grips:

Spank Spoon

Headset:

Cane Creek 40

Brakes:

TRP Slate EVO

Rotors:

TRP RS01E 203mm (f), 180mm (r)

Rear derailleur:

SRAM GX Eagle

Shifters:

SRAM GX Eagle

Crankset:

SRAM GX alloy

Bottom bracket:

SRAM DUB

Cassette:

SRAM GX Eagle 12-speed, 10-52T

Chain:

SRAM GX Eagle

Chainrings:

SRAM 32-tooth X-Sync 2

 

GEOMETRY

Head tube angle:

65.5°

Effective seat tube angle:

76°

Reach:

482mm (19″)

Stack:

623.5mm (24.5″)

Bottom bracket height:

340mm (13.4″)

Chainstay length:

435mm (17.1″)

Wheelbase:

1232.5mm (48.5″)