Tested

Today's full-suspension trail bikes are versatile, refined pieces of equipment. With blithe disregard, riders can approach ribbons of dirt all over the world on a single bike. What if we took a magic eraser and rubbed out that rear shock and pivots? If we left only the geometry and components attached to a rigid alloy frame, what would we have? Meet the new Devinci Kobain — simple, cost-effective, and heralding tidings of endless woodland fun. Vital has been rediscovering the roots of mountain biking in this wave of hardtail trail bikes and sought to find out if the Kobain makes good on its...

The Stumpjumper EVO truly evolved in 2018, taking the long, low, slack mantra to new extremes for the brand. It was a different beast with a 63.5-degree head angle, super-low standover, lengthy reach, and was clearly made for getting rowdy. Fast forward to today and Specialized is back with a new generation that continues to push their boundaries but is far more accessible to more riders. Join Vital MTB's Product Editor, Brandon Turman, in the video below for a look at everything that's been updated and his ride impressions, then keep scrolling for more information, pics, specs, and prices...

The spring of 2020 was tough. It was particularly tough if you were single when the bars of social isolation came down. Perhaps you started scrolling through the names of various exes and sent out texts about how you were “Just checking in” or the ever chivalrous and don’t you worry, oh-so-original, “Making sure you’re okay.” Well, much to your excitement and despite their better judgment, someone decided to meet up with you. It was the Giant Trance X. You remember it from 2013 though it was a rather forgettable escapade. “Sure,” was all that you could reply. What did you have to lose? Showing...

If you've ever ridden a full-suspension bike without a chain, you likely noticed an improvement in its suspension performance. After watching some incredible chainless downhill runs on the UCI World Cup circuit, this Italian brand dreamt up a way to provide the benefits of riding without a chain, with a chain. On many bikes, chainstay growth during suspension compression causes the crankset to rotate counter-clockwise. This is also known as pedal kickback. By allowing some spring-loaded rotational movement within a reimagined chainring spider, the Ochain device is claimed to automatically...

CFR stands for Canyon Factory Racing. Taken a bit broader, CFR relates to a new method of designing for Canyon that relies heavily on all of Canyon's best racers and their mechanics. The new Sender CFR downhill bike is the result of many talented people's efforts, ideas, inspirations, and race results. Bigger wheels, updated geometry with multiple adjustments, revised kinematics, and a big weight reduction are among the major updates. What else is new? Join Vital MTB's Product Editor, Brandon Turman, in the video above for an overview and his initial ride impressions. It's pretty rad to see...

Developed and manufactured in the CSS Composites aerospace facility in southern Utah, Revel's new RW30 wheels ditch the brittle epoxy that is commonly used in carbon fiber in the mountain bike space. The raw thermoplastic material blends unidirectional long fiber German and Japanese carbon impregnated with an advanced polymer. This is claimed to make for a more durable, lighter, and better riding wheel. Combined with Industry 9 1/1 or Hydra hubs and Sapim D-light spokes, they're an interesting package that piqued our interest. Perhaps best of all, should you crack one the rims can be recycled...

'Race on Sunday, sell on Monday.' While this adage about race technology trickling down to the consumer level certainly applies to most components seen on World Cup and EWS race bikes, the same can't be said for the increasingly ubiquitous data acquisition systems (DAQ) that just about every major team has been using for several seasons. Despite their popularity within the race paddock, aftermarket availability has been almost nonexistent. Aside from the complexity and expense, the other significant challenge is that a lot of the systems seen on the race circuit are bespoke items designed by...

You can set an air shock to any pressure you'd like, making them quite popular in mountain biking compared to coil shocks. You'll need a pump to make that adjustment though. With this new coil spring system from Sprindex, no tools are needed to adjust a coil's spring rate to a finer degree than ever before. Join Vital MTB tester and Trail Peek ripper, Zach Petersen, in the video above for a closer look at Sprindex and his ride impressions. Fewer active coils make for a stiffer spring. Twisting the Sprindex dial varies the number of active coils. Strengths Weaknesses No tools required for...

The iXS Trigger FF builds on the company's Trigger AM half-shell helmet, providing full-face protection on more rides. It's fully certified up to the DH-specific ASTM 1952 standard and achieves its low weight by relying on an in-mold, single-layer EPS construction with an internal X-Frame "skeleton" molded into the chin bar to increase frontal impact strength and security. The Trigger FF is made in two shell sizes with an adjustable internal retention system and a set of different thickness pads to fine-tune the fit. The visor is adjustable and there is a clever "gripper pad" around the back...

Orbea’s Occam has been in the Spanish company’s lineup for several years as their designated trail bike. Revamped for 2020, the latest rendition is an impressive upgrade to the Occam model in its own right, and Orbea also offers a couple of appreciative upgrades from the factory to fine-tune the bike to its intended use. Specifically, our review bike was equipped with a 150mm travel FOX Factory 36 and Maxxis Minion DHF/DHR tires, compared to a stock 140mm FOX 34 and lighter-duty Maxxis rubber. Strengths Weaknesses Good all-around trail bike Clean, rattle-free internal cable routing Nice...

Since their arrival, we have been fans of the flat pedal shoes from the Truckee, California, brand, Ride Concepts. Now with a chance to test their Transition clipless shoe, we were anxious to see how it would stack up to its highly performing flat-pedal sibling. The Transition is the only clipless shoe in the Ride Concepts product line, and as the old saying goes, "Do one thing, and do it well." Ride Concepts could be cited as putting all their stock in this one shoe, but how would it fair? We spent the past few months dragging the Transitions through muck and rocks to find out. Strengths...

Another tire company?! Yes. Versus Tires is a direct-to-consumer brand hitting the ground running with great pricing on fresh rubber. While Versus is entering a well established market with some dominant brands, they're coming at it from a unique angle with an excellent product. Versus reached out over eight months ago with the chance to ride some prototypes and then the final version. Our extensive testing proved that these are not simply catalog tires with fancy branding, these are well-thought-out, premier level tires. We have no doubt that Versus is coming into the mountain bike tire world...

Just last year, Guerrilla Gravity launched a fresh line of bikes featuring an easy-to-convert frame platform and a new material technology called Revved Carbon. Today they're pleased to show the full range of what their system is capable of by introducing the fifth bike built around a shared front triangle, chainstays, and linkage. Hop onboard with Vital MTB in the video above for a closer look and ride impressions. It has a point-and-shoot attitude and could not care less about what's between points A and B. Strengths Weaknesses Potential for five bikes in one High-speed stability Robust...

Alchemy Bicycles isn't the biggest name, but the Colorado-based company has been building its reputation for high-quality carbon frames since 2008. Alchemy's founders Ryan Cannizzaro and engineer Matt Maczuzak set their sights on producing world-leading bikes and in 2018, they took their design to the Enduro World Series by signing veteran racer Anneke Beerten and style wizard Cody Kelly. In August 2019, Kelly piloted his Artkos Nine7Five to a 7th place result at the notoriously rocky Northstar EWS, confirming the quality and performance capabilities of Alchemy's bikes. For 2020, Alchemy is...

At the end of 2018, Öhlins released a pair of updated products that we discovered during a launch event in Sweden. The RXF m.2 fork and the TTX Air were both wholesale redesigns of previous offerings in this category, and we came away from the launch feeling like Öhlins had really hit the mark. More long-term testing was needed to know for sure, and we spent quite a lot of time on the updated fork which confirmed all the good things we thought about it at the launch. The TTX Air shock took a little longer to actually become available for testing, but we’ve now got about 5 months on it as well...

When the all-new Norco Sight was originally launched at the end of October, we already had the bike on our home trails for a week to get a feel for it. Our first impressions had us a bit smitten but a long term test is what the Sight deserved. After four months and hundreds of miles on the trails, we are ready to share where we stand with the 27.5-inch wheeled version of this trail smasher. Hang on as we share our final stance with the Norco Sight and how the all-mountain bike held up in the video above and review below. Strengths Weaknesses Class-leading descending performance Aggressive...

The new H3C has been slimmed down everywhere possible. It also uses a lighter spring material which brings it closer to the weight of high-volume air shocks. With the weight in check, it comes down to cost and performance. Listen for a straight-shooter's perspective after three months of ride time. Could this shock make sense for your ride? H3C Coil Shock Highlights Built for all-mountain and enduro Metric and trunnion mount Sizes: 185×55/50mm, 205×65/60mm, 210×55/50mm and 230×65/60mm overall length x stroke Platform adjustment (3 clicks) Low-speed compression adjustment (16 clicks) Rebound...

Downcountry, underbike, upduro... whatever you want to call it, it’s a different breed of mountain bike. For 2020, the Juliana Joplin and its twin brother, the Santa Cruz Tallboy, are among a handful of exciting new-school, super slacked-out, short-travel (125mm max) 29ers. The fourth-generation Joplin joins the party with slacker n’ longer geometry, flip-chip adjustability, increased travel, and a lower-link VPP suspension design. Like getting in a swimming pool, some riders are jumping right into this new variety of mountain bike while others are waiting to hear the reports. We’ve taken the...