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Drawer open: Trail bikes have 120 to 130 millimetres of suspension travel. Their willingness to climb equals their temperament on the downhill. They are reliable companions on long Alpine or low mountain stages and are equally at home on a quick after-work ride. Drawer closed.
Categorisation helps. Mountain bikers and the industry thus harmonise supply and demand and create comprehensible categories to make it easier to get an overview. This basically works well: the suspension travel provides a handy reference point for categorisation. Powerful enduro bikes with 160 millimetres or more of travel really pack a punch. Their riders focus on descents at the technical limits. All-mountain bikes, as downhill-orientated tourers, use suspension from 140 millimetres. Racing bikes for circuits, marathons and stage races make do with around 100 millimetres. Trail bikes fill the gap between all-mountain and race bikes. Eight exciting models take part in this test.
But somehow, when we analyse the bikes, we sometimes get a strange feeling: Are the bikes really in the right category?
You can find the answer to this question in the test report. The entire article on these eight trail bikes with all the test results including points tables, technical data and grades is available as a PDF in the download area below:
- Canyon Neuron CF 9.0 SL
- Cube Stereo 120 HPC SLT 29
- Giant Trance Advanced Pro 2
- Merida One-Twenty 9.7000
- Scott Spark 920
- Specialised Stumpjumper ST Comp Carbon
- Trek Top Fuel 9.7
- Whyte T-130C RS V2
You can find this article in BIKE 3/2020. You can read the entire digital edition in the BIKE app (iTunes and Google Play) or the print edition in the DK shop reorder - while stocks last:
