cross-country-bike

Tester: Mike Cushionbury Age: 47 Height: 5’10” Weight: 158 lbs. Inseam: 32” Scott’s revamped Spark line is vast and thorough. It hosts 39 models all based on a new-single pivot rocker-link suspension design and the elimination of links at the dropouts. Included in the lineup are options to choose 27.5 or 29 inch wheels at ...

Pivot’s full-suspension “race” bike, the Mach 429SL carbon, has been updated for 2017. It’s not plus (but it does have a Boost rear); it’s not even 27.5. This carbon bike has 100 mm of suspension front and rear and—gasp—29-inch wheels.   The Mach 429SL is spec’d with the Fox Float Dual Piston System (DPS) shock custom ...

Boost spacing and plus-sized tires burst into our collective consciousness so quickly and so definitively that a bike like the Foundry Firetower looks slightly odd in the current, trend-soaked world of mountain biking. But here it is, a brand-new cross-country race machine that lacks Boost, takes only a 29×2.25 tire and runs a 100 mm ...

At this year’s bike Press Camp in Park City, Utah, Cannondale released several new models, as well as existing model updates and an expanded women’s line for 2017. Keep reading for details on the new plus bike and refreshed carbon rigs. Cujo 1 27plus The Cujo is a new 27plus bike based on Cannondale’s other ...

For 2017, Kona has updated its full-suspension, cross-country Hei Hei with two 29er models in carbon: the DL and Race DL.   Kona increased bike stiffness and dropped the weight by giving the two-bike line full carbon frames weighing 1800 grams (just under 4 pounds). Kona’s own Fuse Independent Suspension—a design that eliminates a pivot at ...

Tester: Jon Pratt | Age: 45 | Height: 5’11” | Weight: 195 lbs. | Inseam: 31” The Canfield EPO is a sexy carbon 29er hardtail born from the gravity-loving minds at Canfield Brothers. Its very name is meant to take a jab at the carbon hardtail 29er racing crowd. This is by no means a ...

Editor’s note: This is one of six bikes we’ve gathered together that fall between $1,900 and $2,600. Read our introduction to see the other five and watch for our long-term reviews of each in Dirt Rag #182, due on newsstands and in mailboxes any day now. Subscribe now and you’ll never miss a bike review. GT’s ...