BIKE TEST
HIGH-FLYING SHORT-TRAVEL TRAIL BIKES
Do short-travel rippers still make sense with ever-more capable XC rigs snapping at their wheels? We test three of the best from across the pond
TESTED THIS MONTH
£8,200
£9,199
£8,199
Here at mbr, we’ve always been big fans of shorter-travel trail bikes. Bikes capable enough to ride everything on, but still tight enough, and light enough, to let you interact with the trail. Bikes that will showcase your skills on your best days, and hide your lack of fitness on your worst days.
They bring trails dulled by ever-increasing suspension travel back to life, where pedalling efforts are rewarded in spades too. Flowing sections don’t get sucked into a soft mid stroke, as these short-travel shredders accelerate forward rather than simply tracking the contours of the trail.
That ’s the theory, at least. To put it to the test, we’ve rounded up three premium shorttravel trail bikes from three boutique brands: Pivot, Santa Cruz and Yeti.
All three bikes boast 120mm travel, but as we found out they don’t all deliver on that travel promise. Most strikingly, subtle differences in geometry, frame stiffness and the suspension response, meant that the test results were as surprising as they were diverse in terms of approach.
Two months of testing our trio on every sort of trail imaginable definitively proved that ‘120 is plenty’ whatever vibe you’re after. So it ’s clear to us that the best short-travel bikes are better than ever; the trouble is, what ’s happening to the bikes either side of the short-travel category?
Obviously, mid-travel ‘super trail’ bikes are getting more capable, more controlled and tough enough to tackle full-on enduro trails and occasional park days. They still pedal really well though, so why wouldn’t you want more ‘just-in-case’ travel for bad days? Taken to its logical conclusion, why not go all in and get an enduro bike?
Meanwhile, cross country bikes are now regularly coming with 120mm of travel, highvolume tyres and increasingly aggressive geometry. This shift in focus lets them handle super-aggressive, drop and rock-infested race courses or fast trail riding. Too far in the opposite direction? Possibly.
Now, if you’re looking for a Goldilocks trail bike, then our three bikes in the 12-14kg shorttravel bracket could be just right. Slimmed down in all the right places to gain an efficiency edge over their heavier relatives, they still beat out the throroughbred XC race bikes for grip, comfort and control.
They offer a take-no-prisoners assault on the most challenging trails and any longer-travel bikes they find lumbering along them. And having blasted and beasted these three bikes for two months, we’ve come away super-impressed.
