The new development department has paid off. Drössiger is now playing in the all-mountain league in impressive style. The daring combination of 29er wheels with 150 mm suspension travel works: extremely plush suspension that swallows every pebble like a hoover on the climbs and only allows one judgement on the descents: bottomless suspension travel. In fact, the fork and rear suspension are super-soft, the large negative suspension travel allows smooth compression and rebound on obstacles and holes where shorter-travel competitors rumble over them. Drössiger has given the XRA a successful geometry with a compact wheelbase and high-quality equipment. Get on and go full throttle with the XRA, even for beginners - downhill made easy. For touring use, you need lighter wheels, weight tuning would be really worthwhile.
ConclusionThe XRA 29 is an enormously powerful, impressive bike with one flaw: its high weight precludes sporty touring use. Very fair price!
PLUS Very good equipment for the money, exceptionally comfortable chassis; very easy to control downhill, good gear ratio
MINUS Very heavy bike (frame, wheels and fork), only two years warranty, only three sizes; only small water bottle possible
The alternative
If you can cope with less travel, take a model from the XMA series with 120 mm travel. The XMA 29 2 for 2599 euros would be a reasonable choice. Drössiger also offers models in 27.5 inches.
