As a BIKE editor, you can't get out of your skin. Whether it's a party, a cosy evening with friends or at the parents-in-law's birthday party, at some point the conversation turns to your job. Then you inevitably hear: "Oh, from BIKE? What a coincidence, I'm just about to buy a mountain bike. What can you recommend?" The difficult addition is not long in coming: "But it shouldn't cost that much." Not much more than 1000 euros, please.
This recurring question makes us realise that there is a need for clarification. In order to provide as comprehensive an answer as possible, we invite 18 manufacturers to the mega test. The only condition: The products must cost at least 1200, but no more than 1400 euros. And it has to be a Fully. The category is up to us.
Strictly speaking, we don't really expect bikes from different categories to arrive. Up to now, the choice of components that manufacturers can install in this price segment has been too limited. This makes it all the more surprising when the BIKE team looked at the test candidates. We unloaded 18 bikes at Lake Garda, eleven of which we can categorise as "marathon" with a clear conscience. Seven bikes fell into the "All Mountain" category.
You can find these bikes in the PDF download:
MARATHON:
Centurion Backfire LRS 1, Corratec Airtech Pure, Cust Tec Superlight FS, Diamondback Axis Pro, Fat FXC 0.4 SL, GT I-Drive Four 3.0, Hai Q-FS One, Maxx Razormaxx X9, Radon QLT Team Only, Scott Reflex FX-35, Specialized FSR XC Comp
ALL-MOUNTAIN:
Bergamont Evolve 5.6, Canyon Nerve XC-4, Carver XP 500, Dynamics Blade Elite, Ghost ASX 5100, Red Bull Werks CC-400, Wheeler Hornet 30
