Tested

Pembree Components is a young brand from the UK, which started out making flat pedals some 7 years ago now. They’ve more recently introduced a range of other parts, including bars, stems, and grips, all still made in the UK with a focus on sustainable design and manufacturing. The D3A is their newest pedal, and after a few months on the trail, here’s what we think of it. Pembree D3A Highlights Platform material: custom extruded recycled aluminum Spindle: High-strength, forged chromoly steel Pins: 12 thread-locked M4 pins with dual access Premium sealed bearings and seal system Footprint (size...

With so many Avinox-equipped e-bikes in the market, why would you buy the Amflow PX Carbon when you could buy an Avinox bike from a more established brand? That is what we spent the past few months trying to find out. What Vital Liked The general silhouette has not drastically changed. It’s still crazy slim for being a full-size e-bike, with a nice Stumpjumper-esque look. Tons of adjustability baked into the frame to skew the geometry to be more aggressive or reserved depending on your needs. The stock geo package is also more progressive than before. The two PX Carbon builds are fairly priced...

In the current climate of all eMTB talk involving the "A" word, it's refreshing to hop on a rig powered by the "B" word. Combine that with a svelte drive system that emphasizes a mountain-bike-like trail experience, high-end RockShox Ultimate suspension and a sleek full-carbon frame and you have the 160mm travel Kona Remote 160 CR, which has been ridden by a few different Vital testers for the past few months. Highlights Frame Material: Carbon Fiber Travel: 160mm front and rear Wheel Size: 29" (tested) for MD-XL, SM 29 / 27.5 - all sizes mixed-wheel compatible Motor: Bosch Performance Line SX...

The Podium flat pedal has a long and storied history. It all started many years ago with the Point One Podium which introduced what was certainly a fairly radical pedal shape at the time. Gamut acquired Point One in 2014, and released their version of the Podium pedal in 2016. It was extremely thin, with a shape that still worked well for generating grip, although the small-ish platform and the large inboard bearing bulge were not to everyone’s liking. Gamut stopped making the Podium pedal after just a few years, but Praxis carried the torch forward by releasing their take on the shape in...

Would Vital's thoughts of the $6,799 Amflow PR Carbon Pro line up with all the incredibly positive reviews out there? We spent a few months on this new eMTB in a variety of locations to find out. What Vital Liked The Avinox M2s drive unit has more power than any eMTBer will ever need, so regular riding leaves plenty in reserve. We only ever used the 150nm/1500w Boost function as a novelty and don't see a legitimate use case for so much power and speed short of escaping a mountain lion, bear or angry forum member. The host of software features to control the power, tune the ride experience and...

Many bike models tend to evolve by growing over time, whether it’s getting a bit more travel or burlier angles with each passing generation. It’s probably fair to say that this has been driven by the general evolution of bike geometry to some extent, so as our industry matures (and with it the collective understanding of what geometry could and should be), brands are taking a closer look at the positioning of each model in their range, and making changes accordingly. That’s exactly what happened with the Propain Hugene, as the latest generation found itself with slightly LESS travel than its...

Shimano dropped its latest rendition of Di2 drivetrains last year. Available in Deore, XT , and XTR , each strikes a different budget range, with variations in features, materials, and bling factor. We have covered and ridden the XTR and XT tiers, both of which are competitive options in the world of wireless shifting. What remained was the bottom of the totem pole. You don’t have to splurge on an entire groupset to ride Di2. Shimano conveniently sells upgrade kits to convert to wireless. The Deore upgrade kit retails for $675, and we spent the past six months hammering it across multiple...

Öhlins has been going from strength to strength over the recent years, making incremental changes to many of their MTB products in the name of improving performance and reliability – each time accompanied by an unassuming iteration in the model number. The TTX air shocks were updated in 2025, gaining the “m.2” moniker but more importantly benefiting from a host of actual updates. We were keen to see how this latest evolution would perform on the trail, and after several months of testing we can now share our findings. Öhlins TTX1Air m.2 Highlights Highly adjustable TTX compression valve...

Cannondale’s Bad Habit is one of those bikes that sells the do-everything experience. It’s an enduro race bike. It’s an all-mountain adventure vessel. It's playful enough to rip a bike park. It’s ready to go for an all-day pedal. I generally appreciate bikes like this because if you can afford only one bike to serve most use cases, it’s often money well spent. However, striving to maximize versatility can lead to mediocrity. That’s the line bikes like the Bad Habit walk. When the bike launched , it caught my attention because it was spec'd like an enduro bike (minus the Lyrik fork) but had...

The budget alloy wheel segment is a pretty competitive space at the moment. With plenty of wheels to choose from, like Tenent’s Coven or Reserve’s 30/HD , you’d better have your ducks in a row introducing a new wheelset. OneUp Components has a good track record of offering smart solutions to problems. Today they enter the wheel segment, and we spent the past few months finding out how good they are at organizing ducks. Highlights Intended use: Aggressive trail and enduro riding | eMTB tested and certified 6069-T6 aluminum rim with angled bead walls and bead retention tracks Front/rear...

As temperatures rise and summer riding gets underway in North America, riders looking to stay cool on long trail rides have a growing list of warm-weather gear options. The newest additions to this list are Crankbrothers Mallet and Stamp Speed Lace Vent shoes. With generous venting throughout and a sleek profile, we spent the past month logging hours to see how well they perform. Highlights Mesh upper for maximum airflow Also offered as a flat shoe (Stamp Vent) Match Outsole and Compound Low-rebound EVA midsole TPU-reinforced toe box Speed lace closure with integrated lace pocket in tongue...

Lazer has been re-designing their helmet range over the past couple of years, in particular since the introduction of their “KinetiCore” technology , which can now be found across all their mountain bike helmets. KinetiCore is Lazer’s take on a dual-density impact foam layer that is also said to be able to deal with rotational impact forces without the need for an additional slip-plane of any kind. The current Lazer range does not include a high-end, carbon DH helmet, but as of today, that gap has been filled. Meet the all-new A-Line KinetiCore. Lazer A-Line KinetiCore Highlights Carbon shell...

Finding a mountain bike that balances performance and price is a game of compromise. However, after spending some time on the Polygon Collosus T6, it’s clear that for $2,500, this aluminum trail machine offers a surprisingly high fun factor with plenty of options for fine-tuning geometry right out of the box. Highlights ALX aluminum frame 140mm rear travel, IFS 6-bar suspension platform 160mm fork travel 29-inch wheels, MX compatible Oversized hardware, wide pivot bearings PolyPocket internal frame storage Slack/Steep and 0-degree headset cups included, Low/High flip chips Internal Cable...

For the past few years, clothing and protection companies have pushed aggressively towards comfier products, lighter fabrics, better breathability and an emphasis on range of motion. In one phrase we could describe this line of thinking as “wear it without it being noticed.” Fox sent us a new protection product aiming to add options to the menu and score high marks in this category, but did they get the recipe right? Fighting out of the green corner, this is the Airframe Chest Guard. Strengths Weaknesses Lightweight Very flexible Slim profile under jersey with a tight fit Washable Sturdy...

Shimano likes to take its sweet time developing products. It’s kinda their shtick. The best (current) example of their conservative innovation is the Saint gravity line—it turned 16 this year. If a Saint derailleur could drive, it would, in 2026. A new Saint groupset is surely on the horizon based on the volume of prototype parts hanging from bikes at the first World Cup . I wouldn’t hold my breath that it lands soon, but it’s coming. To keep us occupied until then, Shimano casually dropped its new Saint PD-G8040 flat pedal. On paper, they are a big improvement over the past pedal—lighter...

Helmets are easily the most important piece of safety equipment in a rider’s arsenal, and there have been many advances in this field over the past decade or so . iXS is of course a heavyweight in the MTB protection world, so it stands to reason that they would throw the kitchen sink at it when they set out to renew their helmet line-up. Safe, comfortable, and quite good looking too – meet the all-new Carve 1.0, a half-shell helmet designed for aggressive trail riding. iXS Carve 1.0 MIPS Highlights Multi-shell in-mold construction Patent-pending Head-Guard impact reinforcement for increased...

Bigger is always better, right? When it comes to flat pedals, theoretically, the answer is yes. A bigger platform means more pin engagement and grip. But there is a point of diminishing returns: when the odds of clipping a pedal become too high, grip fades because the pins are too spread out and don’t catch your shoe, and the pedals become heavy. If you browse our extensive Flat Pedal Face Off , you’ll see that most flat pedals are of a similar size. Crankbrothers has decided to challenge this notion with its latest Stamp EVO pedal, which has a much longer-than-average platform. In fact, it's...

The past few years have seen Intense quietly revamp its entire product line while publicly developing the latest M1 downhill bike at World Cups. The transparency of the downhill project was a reminder of the passion Intense pours into bike development. Unfortunately, I think it also overshadowed the work they put into the latest Tracer 279/29 , Primer and DJ models. Not to say that SoCal is the best sample case, but it is Intense’s backyard, and I’ve yet to see their bikes filling trail heads as I did a few years ago. What really put Intense back on everyone’s radar was the resurrection of...

We’ve ridden every version and evolution of the RXF38 fork from Öhlins, and we’ve always been very impressed by it. Not ones to ever rest on their laurels, Öhlins dropped the m.3 generation of said fork in 2025, and we were of course eager to put it to the test. It came with the classic promise of “revised internals, less friction, and a new damping tune,” but what would the story be out on the trail? Keep reading to find out! Öhlins RXF38 m.3 Air Highlights TTX twin-tube damping technology Independent spring and damper system Retuned air spring system 38-mm stanchion tube Wheel size: 29 in...

Norco’s Sight has been their all-mountain workhouse for well over a decade. 2026 sees the Sight expand into its 3rd category--Norco’s first foray into SL e-bikes. Virtually identical to the recently updated Sight VLT CX, the Sight VLT TQ sheds the pounds and the power to deliver an intuitive ride feel that can go all day. Highlights Full carbon frame Five sizes available, S1-S5 150mm of rear wheel travel // 160mm fork Mixed-wheel only TQ HPR60 drive unit (60Nm torque, 350W max power) 580Wh removable, integrated battery (160Wh range extender sold separately) No Other Way limited lifetime...

Ever since they started making pedals, OneUp has done things a little differently. Never afraid to follow their own path, the shape of their first aluminum pedal bucked some of the most prominent design trends in favor of a flatter and thinner profile. Now, they’re back at it again – their new Wave pedal is an attempt at combining the characteristics of both concave and convex surfaces into one shape, said to offer the best of both worlds. We were curious to see how this idea would pan out in real life, so here is our report after a few months of riding it. OneUp Wave Pedal Highlights Body...

Madrone Cycles was named after the Madrone trees that grow in the Oregon region that the company calls home. It was founded in 2023 by Aaron Bland, who had become disenchanted with the lack of good rebuild and repair options for rear derailleurs. After initially launching a series of replacement parts for SRAM derailleurs, Aaron realized that Madrone could easily make a whole derailleur by themselves. The Jab was launched in 2025, and it sports a number of unique features that made us want to test it – after several months on the trail, this is our report! Madrone Jab Highlights Materials...

We’ve been testing EXT products for quite a few years by now, and we’ve always been impressed by their performance and “trail feel”. There were of course teething problems with some of the early versions, like the overly harsh tunes and air spring setups of the first ERA forks or noisy, clunky rebounds on the first generations of the Storia shocks. EXT has learned a lot since those days, and the current crop of products is nothing short of excellent. When the company launched the Vecta, they stated that it was built by “recycling” some aspects of previous designs, so we initially worried that...

Troy Lee has always produced good protective equipment, but some of the slimmest knee guard options have historically been a bit on the flimsy side (the original “Speed Sleeve” wasn’t exactly a great design, let’s say…). Earlier this year, TLD dropped two new knee guards adorned with the “Pro” moniker, made for trail and enduro riding. We were curious about the improvements TLD had brought to these pedal-friendly options, so we’ve been testing them for a couple of months to see what gives. Read on to find out! Troy Lee Stage Pro Highlights D3O® Diablo™ EN 1621-1:2012 CE Level 2 protection...

Trek's Gen5 Rail+ is their do-everything, long-range eMTB for riders who want to climb farther, descend harder, and explore deeper, free of any battery range anxiety. With updated geometry, a mullet wheel setup, an adjustable suspension leverage curve, and Bosch's latest 100Nm motor feeding off an 800Wh battery, the Rail+ seems destined for success on paper. But do these evolutions keep pace in the quickly advancing eMTB world? Has performance been compromised in any way to tick all these technical boxes? We spent the past few months understanding where the Rail+ delivers the best experience...