The area is great for hardtails and fullys with little suspension travel, I hear the lady from the tourist office enthuse, while my brake finger is already starting to cramp. The 160 mm brake discs on my test bike are not exactly the first choice for trails with over 1,000 metres of depth in one go. Tobi is also struggling with the grip on the front wheel in order to shift the rear in one of the steep hairpin bends here in Grindelwald. In our search for a suitable testing ground for our short-stroke trail bikes, the region around the Swiss glacier village was highly recommended to us. And indeed: the panorama of the 4000 metre high triumvirate of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau is absolutely stunning. Steepest paths uphill in thin air and equally steep and crisp trails downhill. The ideal way to get to grips with our seven summiteers.
In the 2020 July issue of BIKE we have already had the opportunity to test the high-priced sports tourers, or down-country bikes, on the Nurtschweg long-distance hiking trail. Even if very few people are familiar with the term, which is a combination of downhill and cross-country, the term seems to have become established in the industry due to a lack of alternatives. To repeat: this type of bike is a race bike that has been given more downhill potential thanks to a longer suspension fork, wider tyres, a wider cockpit and, of course, a telescopic seat post.
The first surprise when browsing through the current model ranges: you won't find as many bikes with 120 mm forks and 100 to 120 millimetres of rear suspension as you might expect. Especially with the restriction of under 4000 euros, because most models are based on the expensive carbon frames of the racefullys. The prices of the new BMC Fourstroke LT start at 6000 euros and the Mondraker F-Podium DC at 4800 euros. Nevertheless, we included the two more expensive bikes in the test as a reference. The second complication: As the market is currently completely cleared out, we had to postpone the test by a month due to a lack of availability of the test bikes.
The entire test article on these seven trail bikes with all the results including points tables, technical data and grades from BIKE 12/2020 is available as a PDF for € 1.99 in the download area below.
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, hundreds of thousands of euros every year.
