In this article, we use so-called affiliate links. With every purchase through these links, we receive a commission from the merchant. All relevant referral links are marked with . Learn more.
"This isn't the first time you've done this, is it?" we hear behind us as we roll out of our test lap into the Treuchtlingen trail park car park. The visibly impressed hardtail rider willingly let us pass on the Z-Trail. Three experienced testers, who ride mountain bikes every day and often have many years of racing experience, usually get to grips with our test bikes in order to identify subtle differences and maximise the potential of the material. This all-mountain test field also raises the question: Who should be happy with these bikes, which cost around 4500 euros? After all, the demands on a mountain bike are completely different depending on riding ability.
We had already mentioned it in the Test of all-mountain bikes around 3000 euros (BIKE 2/21): Not only enduro bikes, but also many fullys in the 150 millimetre class are becoming more and more specialised. Especially when it comes to geometry, some manufacturers are exploring the extremes. It is therefore surprising that the steepest steering angle in this test is still a slack 65.5 degrees, with the average levelling out at 64.8 degrees. Welcome to the realm of smoothness! The slack head angle increases the front centre (distance from the front wheel axle to the bottom bracket) and with it the wheelbase. Add to this a long reach and the bike becomes even longer.
On the one hand, this leads to a stable and safe riding experience when things get really fast or steep. The bike also reacts less sensitively to weight shifts by the rider. On the other hand, the rider is challenged more than ever: Without actively putting weight on the front wheel or a skilful and courageous physical effort, the bikes with a long wheelbase are cumbersome to manoeuvre around tight corners and can even lose grip on the front wheel if the rider's posture is passive and rear-heavy.
The realisation after several test laps in the trail park is therefore: There are all-mountain bikes that are easy and intuitive to ride from the very first moment and those that require an experienced biker to be able to tease out their full potential. Bikers should realistically assess themselves before buying: Am I a racer and do I need the extra stability when the going gets tough downhill, or will the long wheelbase and more extreme orientation of my dream bike only restrict me unnecessarily?
You can download the complete comparison test of the 8 all-mountain bikes from BIKE 6/2021 as a PDF below the article. The test report costs 1.99 euros.
Why not free of charge? Because quality journalism has a price. In return, we guarantee independence and objectivity. This applies in particular to the tests in BIKE. We don't charge for them, but the opposite is the case: we do charge for them - tens of thousands of euros every year.
- Canyon Spectral 29 CF 8.0
- Giant Trance X Advanced Pro 2
- Lapierre Zesty AM 6.9 CF
- Last Glen
- Propain Hugene
- Radon Slide Trail 10.0 HD
- Rocky Mountain Instinct C50 Tour
- Scott Genius 920
