Test Storck Rebel.4 Platinum: Touring hardtail at half the price of the competition
Jan Timmermann
· 25.11.2024
In a duel with the best race hardtails in the world, the Storck Rebel.4 Platinum has a decisive price advantage. For the complete bike, Storck charges less than half the price of the high-end options from Pinarello and Cannondale can be called. Nevertheless, the unit price of the Rebel carbon frame is even higher than the lightweight competition from Bike Ahead. Does the concept of expensive frame, cheap bike work in the test? The facts are promising: The Storck Rebel.4 Platinum is the lightest mountain bike Storck has ever built and, with 110 millimetres of suspension travel, has an extra portion of reserves for off-road fun. In addition, a controlled flex in the carbon frame should provide more comfort. We were very excited to see how the Storck Rebel.4 Platinum could compete with the hottest hardtails on the planet.
Details of the Storck Rebel.4 Platinum Hardtail
- Area of application: Cross Country / Marathon
- Suspension travel: 110 mm
- Wheel size: 29"
- Frame material: Carbon
- Price complete bike: 4199 Euro
- Price frameset: 2499 Euro
- Weight: 9.7 kg
The race hardtail from Storck: stocktaking
Fans of the Cross-Country World Cup will probably be less familiar with Storck than with the race bikes from Cannondale or Pinarello. The Hessian company does not have its own mountain bike racing team and has been focussing its profile on road and gravel bikes for years. Nevertheless, Storck also wants to score points on the market for fast MTB hardtails. We already had the Storck Rebel.4 in our first BIKE test in 2022. At that time, we attested the outsider a good price-performance ratio and high touring ambitions. The top model with the Platinum suffix has a chassis that is a good 250 grams lighter than the Rebel.4 Pro, whose frame Storck still has in its range for € 1999. The Platinum complete bike is currently reduced to 3199 euros (as of 11/2024). Thanks to an upgrade to carbon wheels from DT Swiss, our test bike costs 4199 euros.
Price question
When it comes to cost, the Storck Rebel.4 Platinum is in a completely different league to the competition. No question: 4199 euros for a complete bike is by no means cheap. Nevertheless, for the price of the second cheapest test candidate, the Bike Ahead The Frame, you could get two complete bikes with carbon frames, carbon wheels and solid equipment from Storck. Compared to the € 11,000 Pinarello Dogma XC, the Storck even seems like a bargain. Especially when you compare the individual prices for the frames. The price tag of the Rebel.4 Platinum frame is on a par with other high-end hardtails. In our test, the Storck frame is not only cheaper, but also slightly lighter than the Pinarello, but cannot keep up with the Ahead bike in the price-weight comparison:
- Bike Ahead The Frame frame: 912 grams / 1970 euros
- Cannondale Scalpel HT Lab71 frame: 1035 grams / no individual sale
- Pinarello Dogma HT frame: 1215 grams / 5000 euros
- Storck Rebel Platinum frame: 1160 grams / 2499 euros
Features of the Storck Rebel.4 Platinum
- Fork: DT Swiss F 232 One Remote
- Gear system: Shimano XT, 1 x 12
- Gear ratio / bandwidth: 34, 10-51 / 510 %
- Brakes: Shimano XT 180/160 mm
- Seatpost / Diameter: Storck SP 250 / 30.9 mm
- Wheels: DT Swiss HXC 1200 Spline Hybrid 30 mm (in series DT Swiss X1900 or XRC 1200)
- Tyres: Schwalbe Rocket Ron Addix Performance 29 x 2.25"
The practical test: How good is the Storck Rebel.4?
It's like day and night, light and dark: as delivered, the seating positions on Storck and Pinarello differ massively. However, it's not like winning and losing, good and bad. Compared to the racy competition, you sit much more upright and relaxed on the Rebel. Even when we moved all the spacers under the cockpit upwards and set the stem to the negative angle position, the Storck didn't show the aggressive riding position of its competitors. On the one hand, this is due to the slight rise of the handlebars, on the other hand, Cannondale and Storck share the highest stack value with their slightly longer suspension forks.
Storck also installs a rearward-cranked seat post on the Rebel.4 Platinum. As a result, the riding position is set far back in relation to the sporty competition and pedalling efficiency suffers on steep ramps. Overall, the riding position on the Storck is the least suited to the demands of a radical racing machine. Rather, it sits comfortably on the bike. For classic MTB tours, this is definitely a positive aspect. The weight disadvantage of the cheaper Storck is negligible away from the race track. On the hunt for seconds, however, the concept is not entirely convincing. Racers should at least fit a straight seatpost. With lightweight carbon rims and narrow tyres, the Storck secures second-best wheel acceleration. Off-road, the Schwalbe tyres with their favourable performance compound are not convincing. Traction and rolling resistance could easily be tuned here.
It remains a mystery to us why Storck chose such a cheap tyre option on a bike costing 4200 euros. This equipment detail is penalised particularly severely on the hardtail. The weak damping of the entry-level tyres, together with the thick aluminium seatpost, generates little riding comfort - no matter how elaborately the frame has been designed. The feeling of safety also suffers downhill due to the choice of tyres. On the other hand, the Shimano XT brakes do an excellent job, shining with power and modulation. In general, it's nice to see that Storck has specified a flawless XT specification. Even if the gears are still changed mechanically, the function is still at a very high level.
The balanced handling of the Storck Rebel.4 Platinum shows its good-natured side on the cross-country trail. Without extreme geo-values and with a rather steep steering angle of 68.3 degrees, the hardtail steers easily through key sections even at lower speeds - quite unlike the long and slack Pinarello, for example. The DT Swiss suspension fork does a good job, but can't keep up with the confidence of the luxury forks from Fox and Cannondale. All in all, the Storck has to let its more expensive test opponents go quickly on radical downhills. Be careful with high body weight: The Rebel.4 has the lowest stiffness of our test field in the main frame.
Data from the test lab
Measured values
- Total weight: 9.74 kg (without pedals)
- Frame weight: 1160 g
- Weight of wheels: 3720 g
- Acceleration of running wheels: 2605 kg x cm²
- Seat comfort: 7.08 mm
We determine the weight of the complete bike without pedals in the BIKE test lab. The wheel weight is per set with tyres, cassette and brake discs. The following applies to wheel inertia: the lower the measured value, the easier it is to accelerate.
Valuation
- Uphill riding behaviour (15%): 3.00
- Play instinct (8%): 2.75
- Downhill riding behaviour (17%): 3.00
- Downhill suspension (13%): 3.00
Driving behaviour grade (45%): 2.96
- Weight without pedals (12%): 1.75
- Inertia impellers (6%): 1.50
- Seating comfort (12%): 2.50
Laboratory grade (30%): 2.00
- Equipment quality (5%): 1.63
- Usability/added value (5%): 3.75
- Transport volume bottle cage (5%): 1.00
- Saddle retractability (5%): 5.00
- Quality/processing (5%): 1.00
Equipment grade: 2.48
Overall grade: 2.55
Conclusion
The Storck Rebel.4 Platinum is a tip for bikers who appreciate a classy hardtail for tours on easy to medium terrain. The equipment is absolutely functional and the geometry is tried and tested. Small details spoil the overall impression. Hardcore racers and perfectionists will have to spend more money or choose another option. However, the frame has potential. - Jan Timmermann, BIKE test editor
Pro
- Comfortable seating position for touring
- fair complete bike price
- functional equipment...
Contra
- ...except for cheap tyres and offset seat post
- not the fastest racer in this configuration
Jan Timmermann
Editor
