Latest Product Reviews

The “big” news of the past year in suspension was undoubtedly the introduction of beefed-up, long travel enduro forks, and the FOX 38 stole a lot of the limelight in that category. The trail family of suspension products is probably less attention-grabbing but certainly more important to a large group of riders. For 2022, FOX has completely overhauled its trail range, with major revisions or altogether new products added to the line-up. We’ve been testing it all for the past four months now, and

We admit it. We thought we needed more travel. The thought of not having enough loomed heavily as we carefully considered which bike would check all the boxes and most of us decided to buy long-travel enduro sleds. While there are some practical reasons to opt for long-travel 29ers, we did not know how much fun we were missing out on until we rode the Tilt; Canfield's latest mid-travel 29er. Or, maybe it is better to say we did not know how fun our regular trails were until we threw a leg over

Last season, we had the opportunity to swing a leg over the Alchemy Arktos 29. It had some good qualities, but it left us feeling that there was more potential there and we hoped to see an updated version before too long. Fast forward a year or so and we’ve got our mitts on the updated Arktos 150, sporting similar travel numbers and aesthetics to the previous version, but with a pile of incremental improvements, including geometry, which we felt were lacking in the previous generation. We’ve

With the last update to Norco’s long-travel 29er being back in 2018, the all-new 2022 Range is a bike that should excite those with a focus on flat-out speed. After Vital's First Look with the new Range, it became clear this is a massive departure from previous year's models with a full redesign from the ground up. The new Range is the first official bike launched under Norco’s new brand image. The long-travel 29er now features a high, virtual pivot suspension layout with updated geo aimed at

At the beginning of 2020, DT Swiss unveiled the new 232 platform, a group of components dedicated to enhancing the capabilities of modern XC bikes to cater to real-world XC racing needs. After years of experience gained with forks and rear shocks, it seemed inevitable that DT would create a dropper post to complement their suspension products and really unleash those aspiring racers or World Cup crushing competitors, allowing them to find that extra edge when needed. We bolted the new dropper on

Back in 2018 Knolly Bikes took their first dive into the 29-inch wheeled world with the introduction of their Fugitive trail bike. At the time, the 120mm platform succeeded at providing riders what was demanded from short-travel 29-inch bikes: maximized pedaling efficiency for all-day adventures. Fast forward only a few years and 120-140mm travel bikes have seen the most progressive geometry changes geared towards increasing descending abilities while maintaining climbing performance. Knolly

After the launch of its Switchblade model, Pivot has been working through the rest of the line. Updates include a new vertical shock layout and revised geometry. The Firebird is the latest to get the revision and Pivot did not hold any punches here. Not one of the best kept secrets out there, when the Firebird did finally land, we were pleased as punch to have one in our studio. Strengths Efficient pedaling platform Carries speed well Reduces trail noise and chatter Weaknesses Struggles in steep

When YT launched the revised Jeffsy platform in 2019, we were on hand for our First Ride report from the press camp. Since then we've tested the $2,399 Jeffsy 29 Base model and again, found it to be a stand-out performer, especially for the price. When YT released their latest Jeffsy Core offerings earlier this year, that Core label had us grinning. We have a test pilot who is the very type of rider that YT’s marketing efforts embrace. Young, eager to hit massive jumps without much regard for

Last year, Öhlins signed a few new OEM agreements which saw their suspension products being specced on bikes from Mondraker, Commencal and Intense, among others. At the time, Öhlins also introduced a new, 38-mm singlecrown fork, but it was designed specifically for ebikes and made available as an OEM product only. Today, the company is releasing the brand new RXF 38 m.2, an aftermarket version of that fork that is suitable for regular old mountain bikes as well. We were fortunate enough to