In the 90s, the bike world was even more colourful and the hunt for the last gram was omnipresent. Drilling, filing, wild milling and even more anodising took place. Lightweight construction was the dominant theme and resulted in filigree add-on parts and daring designs - albeit not always with a long service life, which often put bike and rider in trouble.
Over the years, more and more was developed instead of simply being trialled. The result: bikes and components became more reliable, but also heavier. At the same time, the demands placed on the material grew: cross-country World Cup courses today can easily compete with the downhill courses of the past, and the loads placed on an Enduro in EWS races are also enormous. Larger wheels, forgiving suspension, telescopic seatposts and smooth geometries have helped modern mountain bikes reach an unprecedented level, but have also been busy reducing weight in recent years - across all categories, as our comparison tests prove. "Weight is overrated anyway," is what the industry often says when asked.
But does an all-mountain bike for 3000 euros, which you can also use to tackle long tours in the Alps, really have to weigh 15 kilos? You could almost think that the industry has only developed e-MTBs to make normal bikes seem lighter again. But they still exist, the brands that push the limits of what is technically possible to get every last gram out of them. And by the way: Anyone who claims that weight doesn't matter has definitely never ridden one of the four bikes on the following pages.
You can download the exciting test of the four lightest production bikes in the world from BIKE 5/2021 as a PDF below the article. The test report of the bikes costs 1.99 euros.
Why not free of charge? Because quality journalism has a price. In return, we guarantee independence and objectivity. This applies in particular to the tests in BIKE. We don't pay for them, but the opposite is the case: we charge for them, namely tens of thousands of euros every year.
You can find these lightweight bikes from four categories in the test:
- Hardtail: Mondraker Podium Carbon RR SL
- Trail bike: Cannondale Scalpel Carbon SE LTD
- All Mountain: Stoll T2
- Enduro: Last Tarvo
