Mountain Bike of the Year - Shreddy Awards 5

With so many incredible and impeccable mountain bikes on the market, Vital's testers are required to spend 37 hours per week reading through the technical manuals of any new bike introduced. Alright not really, but you get the point, right? Bikes these days are on point, and you really have to do something crazy to create a dud. Since we don't care about duds, let's get to the Bike of the Year specifics with Vital's Top 3 choices for two-wheeled,-dirt-hunting-thrill-seekers.

BIKE OF THE YEAR - Commencal Supreme DH 29

We know what a lot of you are probably thinking and we don't care. Race results speak loudly, and this bike truly set the pace during the 2018 downhill season – so much so that several top Pros from competing teams wanted to give the Commencal Supreme DH 29 a go. With its high pivot point suspension design, the Supreme DH 29 provides a remarkably neutral, fast, stable, and composed ride that all but erases trail noise under your tires. You'll be looking further down the trail than ever before aboard this big-wheeled brawler. Congrats Commencal!

See Amaury Pierron's Winning Commencal Supreme DH

2nd Place - Scott Ransom

Scott always has a way of standing out from the crowd in the world of mountain biking, and the new Ransom does exactly that. From the space-aged bar-and-stem combo to the shock you've never seen before, there's a lot that's new and different. On trail this bike is quiet, composed, well balanced, and soaks up chatter and rough portions of the trail incredibly well. You're also able to morph the bike in seconds, transforming it from a 170mm-travel rock crusher into a 120mm uphill go getter. The frame itself is remarkably light while maintaining excellent stiffness traits.

3rd Place - Yeti SB130

Yeti's new SB130 brings incredible versatility, lots of pep in its step, and the ability to keep things in check when it's really needed. Like the SB150, the SB130 is able to tame the trail with its smooth, lively suspension feel and excellent front end manners. We enjoy the new direction Yeti has headed as it makes their bikes more fun, sensitive, and bottomless with less compression damping to get things done. This bike is well suited as an everyday ripper and would do very well as a one-bike quiver.