Mountain Bike Rider – Summer 2020

The latest issue of MBR is out now, packed full of inspiring ideas and routes to help you find new places to get out and ride.

What about the magazine itself? Here’s a taste of what you’ll find inside…

On the Cover

Alan Muldoon makes dust with the Calibre Bossnut. Photographer: Roo Fowler.

Sam Hill at the EWS

In true nail-biting style, last year’s EWS came right down to the wire in what was arguably the best most exciting enduro season ever. It wasn’t until the final stage of the final race before we knew who would be crowned world champion. We go behind the scenes with Sam Hill and find out how the race unfolded.

Bike geometry 101: Part 2

In Part 1 we explained how your bike’s geometry influences your body position. Fascinating stuff, but what do you do with that information? Simple, you use it to change your existing bike, tweaking your balance and riding position to get maximise your potential. Here’s how.

First Rides

The Izzo does things differently from YT’s usual stable of bikes; it takes short travel, light weight and a suspension lockout and blends them with trail bike geometry – read our first impressions. Plus we swing a leg over Merida’s similar One-Twenty RC and Scott’s even racier Spark RC.

Longtermers

Introducing the Cannondale Habit, a trail bike with size-specific suspension, but will it work for JD in XL? Meanwhile, Benji the web editor (Northern division) discovers dust for the first time, aboard his Nukeproof Reactor, Laura fettles aboard the Scott Ransom Contessa, Ben Day reveals some cost cutting components on his NS Synonym, and Ben Smith’s Strive heads back to Canyon to investigate the wheel rub.

Product

Tested this month is the alloy version of Crankbrothers’s Synthesis wheelset, with different ride feel front and rear. Plus we check out the Birzman Maha Grand Push & Twist V Floor Pump; Race Face’s Stash Quick Rip 1.5L Bag; Troy Lee Designs’ SE Ultra glove; the Bontrager Rally clipless shoe and loads more.

Tested: Tyres

Your only contact patch between your bike and the ground, so choose your tyres wisely. We’ve got ten rubber hoops on test: the latest Maxxis Assegai with EXO+ casing, Kenda’s new Gwin inspired Pinner, the Hutchinson Griffus, Schwalbe’s Hans Dampf II and loads more.

Bike test: budget full suspension

For £1,000 it is still possible to get a good full-suspension bike… just. We check out the reigning champ in its new sleek-framed guise, Calibre’s Bossnut, and compare it to the new Vitus Mythique 27 VR and VooDoo Canzo.

Bikes in this Issue

Calibre Bossnut
Cannondale Habit Carbon 3
Cannondale Scalpel SE
Canyon Strive CF 8.0
Cotic BFeMAX
Merida One-Twenty RC9.9000
NS Synonym TR2
Nukeproof Reactor 290C Elite
Scott Contessa Ransom 910
Scott Spark RC 900 AXS Team Issue
Vitus Mythique 27 VR
Voodoo Canzo
YT Izzo Pro Race

Get fit for riding

Put a little effort into off-bike train in you’ll reap huge rewards on the bike, explains Fit4Racing. Here’s how and why to get fitter, faster and stronger at home, with no kit, little space but lots of technique.

Learn from the pros

Downhill riders are the best in the business when it comes to technique, and fortunately plenty of their riding is televised for our skills homework. Dirt School’s Andy Barlow talks us through the evolution of speed and how to learn from it all.

Buzz

Cwmcarn in South Wales has four fantastic legal trails, but they’re only accessible if you’re an experienced rider… until now – a new blue-graded loop is all but open, with flow for days.

Mailbox

Why do flat pedal shoes not come with the same tech features that clipless ones do? How can I get my school’s new mountain bike trails up and running? And why did I receive the July issue before June’s your questions answered.

Three Bike Garage

Rob Warner, the fastest mouth in mountain biking, talks us through his history bikes.