The Last Coal came out of nowhere this year, but it went straight to the hearts of our testers. "The Coal SL from Last Bikes knows no limits downhill"we summarised euphorically. The successful geometry and the simply outstanding rear suspension made even the somewhat sluggish climbing behaviour fade completely into the background, because downhill the Coal was simply in a class of its own.
The Coal has been relaunched for 2018 and has undergone a number of detail improvements. Large stainless steel bearings in CNC-milled bearing seats are intended to further improve durability, the reach has been slightly increased on the L and XL frames and the standover height should be higher across all frame sizes. So that you don't experience any unpleasant collisions with the frame in sensitive areas during the wild chase downhill.
New for 2018: Compatibility with metric dampers and steel springs
Probably the biggest innovation of the 2018 model year is the new rocker arm. It is intended to retain the kinematics of the old enduro bike, but now large, metric shocks fit in the frame and fans of coil shocks will also get their money's worth with the 2018 version of the Coal. The seat tube has also been shortened so that dropper posts with even more travel can be better integrated into the bike and the equipment has of course also been adapted for the new model year.
The Last Coal 2018 is now available in four builds, from Flow and Ride to Trail and SL. All information can be found on the Website of Last Bikes.
Adrian Kaether
Editor
