The good old days: Three or four years ago, it was easier for the specialist dealer when a mountain bike newcomer came into the bike shop to buy a new piece of sports equipment. The dealer would then briefly enquire about the key data: Where will the bike be used? In the forest, on gravel and on easy trails on the doorstep. What would you like to spend? A maximum of 1000 euros. And the shop owner pushed two or three suitable 26-inch hardtails towards his customer for a test ride. The customer did a few short laps and decided in favour of one of the entry-level hardtails. The two then negotiated individual wishes: a different saddle? Perhaps a shorter stem? And the bike had already changed hands.
Nowadays, the specialist dealer has to think about which bike to put in the shop and in which wheel size at the pre-order stage. After all, some manufacturers offer their affordable hardtail programme in three wheel sizes, but almost all offer at least two. The 26-inch wheel size is increasingly having to make way for the new intermediate size of 27.5 inches. Every manufacturer is trying to jump on the 27.5-inch bandwagon, following the motto: the main thing is not to miss the descent. The selection of affordable components on the market for 29-inch bikes has also improved, with many manufacturers offering 29ers starting at price points of 500 euros. Big, new world: This development is reflected 1:1 in our test field. Five 27.5-inch hardtails and four 29ers were sent into the ring by the specialist retail brands. Knockout for 26 inches? Not quite, because some manufacturers such as Drössiger, Müsing and Ghost are also using 26-inch bikes in their affordable hardtail range. Why not mail order? Because new bikers like to take advantage of the professional advice and service plus offered by dealers. Order bikes for experienced bikers, who sometimes work on their bikes themselves and know what they want, have therefore been left out.
Whether bought from a trusted dealer or ordered online, a solid aluminium frame with balanced geometry is still the basis for a good hardtail. The aim must be for the bike to climb just as efficiently as it does downhill over roots and winding trails. In terms of weight, the growth of the wheels puts a lot of pressure on the scales: whereas almost all frames used to hover around the 1800 gram mark, the current test field weighs a whopping two kilos on average. However, Bulls (1802 g) and Müsing (1880 g) show that even 27.5 and 29-inch chassis don't have to be heavy. In the coming years, there will certainly be some progress in terms of weight across the market, as 2014 is the first 27.5-inch year for all test candidates. In terms of overall weight, only Bulls undercut its previous year's mark of 11.8 kilos, with all other models weighing significantly more than the 26-inch models from the previous year's comparisons. An average of 12.9 kilos must be factored in for the 2014 model year. A look back: in 2011, the average total weight in the BIKE test was 12.2 kilos, last year the 26-inch hardtails weighed 12.6 kilos. Of course, a few grams more is not a problem, especially as the 1000-euro hardtails only very rarely battle against the clock in racing anyway. Moderate trails and tours through the forest or on gravel remain the playground of inexpensive aluminium hardtails - even with a few grams more weight. However, the additional weight cannot be passed on to the larger wheels alone. The current vintage also differs in the combination of gear components and suspension forks.
The suspension fork influences the handling and riding impression of entry-level hardtails more than any expensive shifting component. Sensitive to small bumps, enough reserves for bigger drops and weighing a maximum of 1700 grams: this is what the perfect fork for a 1000 euro hardtail looks like. The Rock Shox Reba has been fulfilling precisely these criteria for years and is therefore rightly regarded as the benchmark in this price category. However, only Bulls equips its Copperhead with the sensitive air suspension fork. Everyone else switches to cheaper and unfortunately also inferior models. Kreidler and Principia use the not particularly supple, over-damped SR Suntour Raidon with two kilos. Ghost and Müsing go for the absolute low-budget model from Rock Shox, the XC 32, which works reasonably well but weighs 2.15 kilos with its steel stanchions. Only the TK Gold 30, which weighs around 1.8 kilos and is fitted to Drössiger, Felt and Univega, responds reasonably sensitively and utilises the full suspension travel on our test ride, which was peppered with boulders and drops. However, all the forks in the test field have one thing in common: they can be locked out on long climbs or on tarmac using the handlebar remote without having to take your hands off the handlebars. The most user-friendly feature is the Pushloc lever from Rock Shox, which hardens the Reba fork on the Bulls. From the damping to the shifting components, which are often given more attention in the shop than they actually deserve, the following applies: Since the majority of buyers are so fixated on certain Shimano parts, the manufacturers naturally jump on board - on eight out of nine test bikes, XT derailleurs dazzle and fool inexperienced beginners into believing they have high-quality shifting. However, none of the manufacturers in this price range fitted a complete XT groupset, instead using parts from cheaper Shimano groupsets for less prominent components such as the shifters or front derailleur.
The full-length article from issue 2/2014 is available as a free PDF download.
