Back in 2013, Vital MTB set out with a mission to bring you the most honest, unbiased reviews you'll find anywhere. The yearly tradition continues today as we keep riding and rating the most exciting new bikes in great locations.
Reviewed by Steve Wentz, Joe Schneider, and Brandon Turman // Photos by Shawn Spomer and Brandon Turman Introduced in 2011, the Cannondale Jekyll has a very fitting name given its two-sided personality. With the flip of a switch, the custom DYAD RT2 pull shock transforms the ride from a 150mm travel bump gobbling machine to one with just 90mm of rear travel and steeper angles ready to haul you back to the top for another run. Of the five models in the Jekyll lineup, the Jekyll MX was most inspired by the builds used by Cannondale's professional OverMountain enduro race squad and is the...
Reviewed by Steve Wentz, Joe Schneider, and Brandon Turman // Photos by Shawn Spomer and Brandon Turman From its creation, the Fuel EX has been the "go-to trail bike" in Trek's lineup. They say it's for the rider that "can't decide between a rugged, capable long-travel trail bike or a nimble, lively XC bike." That's a big slot to fill, especially for a bike with just 130mm of travel and a 68-degree head angle. Curious if it really could meet the needs of both ends of the spectrum, we had the boys from Wisconsin send out a recently updated Fuel EX 9.8 for our 2013 Test Sessions in Southern Utah...
Reviewed by Matt Thompson, Steve Wentz, Jess Pedersen, & Brandon Turman // Photos by Shawn Spomer & Brandon Turman Founded in 1981 in Scot Nicol's garage, Ibis Cycles has a long and rich history in mountain biking, even though they've had to overcome a few bumps along the way. Throughout the years they've developed a number of bikes that are seen as iconic - innovation in the sport and often a welcome breath of fresh air amidst lots of marketing hype. They're a company that builds what they want to ride, and in 2006, that was the Ibis Mojo Carbon - a bike that stood out as the first carbon...
Reviewed by Matt Thompson and Jess Pedersen // Written by Brandon Turman // Photos by Shawn Spomer The Chilcotin Region of British Columbia is home to big, burly, mountains that call for adventure. When you're out there, you're really out there. Think thousands of miles of trails, epic climbs, long descents, gorgeous views, and a campfire to huddle around at night. Sporting 160mm of travel, a 66-degree head angle, and a stout frame, it's only fitting that Knolly should name their all-mountain bike after the region. This is a bike that also invites adventure, and the BC boys made it to...
Reviewed by Steve Wentz, Joe Schneider, and Brandon Turman // Photos by Shawn Spomer and Brandon Turman Meet the SB66. That's code name for Yeti's" Super Bike" with 2 6-inch wheels and 6-inches of travel. Why is it super? Because it's built to do it all, and to do it well. As proof of this bike's all-around super-ness, Yeti-stud Joey Schusler used it to race four different types of races over a single weekend. Dual slalom, downhill, cross-country and short track, all on one bike. And he crushed it. Inspired by Joey's results and a love for all things from Colorado, we called up the boys at...
Reviewed by Matt Thompson and Jess Pedersen // Written and Photo'd by Brandon Turman Somewhere along the way, Specialized realized that people who ride burly terrain want easily pedal-able bikes that are up to the task. So, rather than putting out something that those types of riders would have to heavily modify to get just right, they took their popular Stumpjumper FSR platform, bumped up the travel, slackened it out, lowered it, slapped some burlier parts on, added EVO to the end of the name, and told us all to have some fun. And guess what? We had an absolute blast on the Stumpjumper FSR...
Reviewed by Matt Thompson and Jess Pedersen // Written by Brandon Turman // Photos by Shawn Spomer and Brandon Turman First introduced in 2006, the Felt Virtue series has grown with the times, technologies, and preferences of riders. While the model names, angles, and frame materials have varied over the years, Felt's Equilink suspension platform has remained constant, proving its value and function. Now in its seventh year of production, the 2013 Virtue 1 features up to 130mm of travel, a full UHC Performance Carbon frame, and retains the geometry numbers found on the 2012 lineup. After a...
Reviewed by Matt Thompson and Jess Pedersen // Written by Brandon Turman // Photos by Shawn Spomer and Brandon Turman Many of the best things in life take some time to brew. Such is the case with the Mach 5.7 Carbon from Pivot Cycles. After five years of making aluminum only frames, including the Mach 5.7, Pivot released their first ever carbon model in 2012 - the Mach 5.7 Carbon. Why did it take so long? Because the brand doesn't rush things, and they were waiting for (and actively working on) carbon technologies to advance to the point where they could beat the already impressive reliability...
Reviewed by Steve Wentz and Joe Schneider // Written by Brandon Turman // Photos by Shawn Spomer and Brandon Turman Meet the 150mm 2013 Scott Genius 720. Once a bike that utilized a proprietary pull shock, the line has been completely reworked and revamped for its 10-year anniversary. Now lighter, stiffer, and up to current standards, the Genius 700 series also sees the introduction of 650B (~27.5-inch) wheels. Scott's wheel testing with their World Cup cross-country athletes showed gains substantial enough that the company actually scrapped the 26-inch wheel size altogether. As a whole, the...
Reviewed by Steve Wentz, Joe Schneider, and Brandon Turman // Photos by Shawn Spomer and Brandon Turman With its unique "Forward Geometry" and super short 10mm stem, the Mondraker Foxy XR was perhaps the most unique ride in the 2013 Vital MTB Test Sessions lineup. Billed as an all-mountain bike (that's important given that Mondraker also has trail and enduro bikes), the Foxy XR has 140mm of rear travel, a 67-degree head angle, and a massive wheelbase. Mondraker says they made this ride capable of pedaling up and rallying down, and rally we did! In fact, this may have been the most rally-able...
Reviewed by Matt Thompson and Jess Pedersen // Written by Brandon Turman // Photos by Shawn Spomer and Brandon Turman The Santa Cruz Tallboy LT was released on April Fools Day, 2012. It's no laughing matter though. In fact, this long travel 29er is capable of taming the most serious descents. It does however, know have to have fun, and lots of it. The original Tallboy, introduced about four years ago, was among the first 29ers that people actually enjoyed riding. But the people wanted more - more travel, slacker angles, more fun. After weighing their options, seeing what worked well and what...
Reviewed by Steve Wentz, Joe Schneider, and Brandon Turman // Photos by Shawn Spomer and Brandon Turman Inspired by their already existing 26-inch Sortie platform, Diamondback super sized everything in 2012 to bring it up to 29-inch standards. One year and few minor refinements later, the 2013 Sortie 29 serves up 4.5-inches of travel via Diamondback's unique Knuckle Box suspension design and benefits in many ways from the big wheel. We've heard Diamondback DF5 team member Eric Porter say great things about the Sortie 29 in the past, and considering that he's the type of guy that likes to have...
Reviewed by Matt Thompson and Jess Pedersen // Written by Brandon Turman // Photos by Shawn Spomer and Brandon Turman As of 2013, the enduro bug is officially upon us. To create a bike that excels at the discipline, one that's capable of killing it on the descents and hoofing it back to the top in record time, GT took their 2012 Force and Sanction platforms, mashed them together and tweaked the result to meet the enduro racer's needs. In this case, those were the needs of Dan Atherton and the recently signed young gun, Martin Maes, both of which have posted incredible finishes. The outcome was...
