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If you stroll through the stands at the BIKE Festival on Lake Garda, you will discover a few mountain bikes with fat tyres among the dozens of test bikes. In addition to fat bikes, bikes in Plus format and with the new Boost standard can also be seen. The Plus format is positioned between the super-wide fat bike tyres and conventional 27.5-inch tyres. We show the most exciting bikes that were presented at the festival for the first time:
Müsing Makan: Fatbike hardtail made from aluminium
Müsing designer Andi Heimerdinger presented his new fat bike, which goes by the name of "Makan", for the first time. The geometry of the aluminium hardtail is based on the Savage hardtail series from Müsing. It also uses the same tube set. In frame size M, the Makan comes with a 590 mm top tube, the seat angle is 69 degrees and the seat angle is 73 degrees. The solid aluminium frame weighs just under two kilos and has no front derailleur at all. This means you have to ride the Makan with a 1x11 drivetrain, which is perfectly understandable for a fat bike. By dispensing with the front derailleur, Heimerdinger was able to keep the chainstays relatively short, which should favour the handling of the Makan.
Internally routed cables ensure a tidy look. Müsing has also considered the use of a telescopic seatpost: the cable can disappear into the seat tube on models with cable routing from below. At the front is a Bluto suspension fork with 100 millimetres of travel, the wheels come from Sun Ringlé with 4.0-inch Innova tyres. The Makan will be available to buy from Eurobike 2015. As always with Müsing, there are various configuration options for wheels, add-on parts and groupset. There are also 260 frame colours to choose from. The Makan fatbikes will start at around 1800 euros.
Drössiger XMA & XRA: All Mountains with Boost Standard
Like many other companies, the German label from Eschweiler sees the future of mountain bikes in the Plus format. At Lake Garda, Drössiger will be presenting two prototypes of its all-mountain bikes in this wheel standard for the first time: the XMA with 120 millimetres and the XRA with 150 millimetres of travel. In the past, BIKE has tested the Drössiger 29er XMA and the Drössiger XRA-Fully already tested. The XMA is a twentyniner with 120 millimetres of travel, which will roll over the trails in Plus format in the future. You can choose between 27.5-inch wheels with voluminous 2.8-inch tyres or conventional 29-inch wheels. This broadens the range of use of the All Mountain. Both sizes should fit in the rear triangle and fork of the new XMA. The geometry remains more or less the same as the current XMA.
Drössiger was one of the first to present a 29-inch fully with 150 millimetre travel last year in Willingen: the XRA. This all-mountain bike will also be compatible with the Plus format from Eurobike 2015 and will be designed for wheels in the Boost standard. At the moment, there is still a bottleneck with 27.5+ components, but this should change soon. The more stable wheels with Boost standard and the wider 27.5-inch tyres with 2.8 inches provide more stiffness and grip compared to 29-inch wheels. The new Drössiger All Mountains will be available from Eurobike 2015.
BH Lynx 4.8 Carbon: All Mountain Sport in 27.5 inches
The Spaniards from BH gave us a first glimpse of their new carbon all-mountain bike: the Lynx 4.8 in 27.5 inches. It is the little brother of the Enduro bike Lynx 9.7, which we tested in BIKE 12/2014. The 120-millimetre fully was already available in aluminium, but now BH has introduced three new carbon models. Like all BH Lynx models, the new carbon bike also relies on the Split Pivot rear triangle with a floating shock. This is designed to eliminate drive influences that affect the kinematics when pedalling. The steering angle is 68 degrees, while a 73° seat angle creates the conditions for putting enough pressure on the pedals.
The top 9.9 model of the BH Lynx 4.8 Carbon weighs in at a competitive 11.3 kilos. Fox Factory suspension elements take care of the damping, an MT8 from Magura takes care of the deceleration and a 2x11 XTR groupset from Shimano is used for shifting. However, the Spaniards are asking a proud 6800 euros for it. However, the sporty touring fully is also available for less money. The entry-level version 9.5 with Shimano XT, Rock Shox Recon Gold/Monarch and Magura MT4 brakes is available for 3500 euros.
Stevens Whaka Plus: All Mountain Fully in Plus Size
The new Whaka Plus is still on the Stevens stand with 2.8-inch tyres. However, when the semi-fat bike has matured to series production, the candy-red gem will roll through the terrain with 3.0 inch wide tyres. Plus sizes are the brand new format and apparently no manufacturer wants to miss the boat here. To accommodate the extra-wide tyres in the frame, the engineers at Stevens have worked extensively on the rear triangle. The chainstays now run straight to the dropouts and have also been shortened by a few millimetres. This has even saved a few grams of weight. The shortened geometry is made possible not least by the new XT front derailleur, which is now side-hinged. This saves space and gives the developers more options when designing the frame.
The wheels, cranks and fork have been adapted to the new Boost standard. Six millimetres more width on the rear wheel and a whole ten on the front wheel should make the wheels in particular stiffer. The manufacturer has put a lot of effort into the cable routing. They are routed internally and covered with a kind of rubber liner to prevent the cables from rattling annoyingly against the frame. If a cable opening is not required, it can be neatly closed with a small cover. The Whaka Plus will initially only be available in one version. Shifting and braking will be carried out with a complete XT groupset, double, mind you. 140 millimetres of suspension travel in conjunction with the massive tyres should reliably smooth out even the roughest of bumps. Stevens is aiming for a live weight of 13.2 kilos. We are looking forward to the production version.
A dream for kids: Supurb BO24
MTB-enthusiastic parents naturally want the best equipment for their kids. The company Supurb is known for investing a lot of brainpower in the development of children's mountain bikes. The 24-inch BO24 bike is now available for all those who are too big for a balance bike and have already outgrown their first bike with drivetrain and gears. For 799 euros, it offers an aluminium frame, a ten-speed drivetrain with Sram twist shifters, Avid disc brakes and a rattle-free Type Two rear derailleur from Sram. Because the cool kids in the school playground already have a suspension fork in their bike, the BO24 from Supurb has a Manitou Spinner air fork. This can also be adjusted to the low body weight. Thanks to the folding tyres, the children's mountain bike weighs just 10.5 kilos. The bike is available at Bike components available.
