winner

yt Jeffsy 29 CF

so, here’s the big reveal… The YT Jeffsy CF 29 is our Trail Bike of the Year! But that’s far from the whole story. It’s a bit of a cliché, but there really weren’t any bad bikes in this year’s shootout. The range of machines on test was massively diverse, and the top three give a fair indication of that diversity. The Trek feels like an XC bike on steroids, while the Norco is an enduro bike on a bit of a diet. As for the YT, it nudged past those two in the final days of testing purely because of the grins it put on the face of everyone who jumped on it.

One standout feature of this year’s line-up was that none of the bikes was let down by truly terrible tyres. This was in stark contrast to previous tests, when we’ve ridden trail bikes with rubber that needed removing immediately, due to skatey compounds that provided no grip or paper-thin sidewalls that flatted at the first sign of a rock. Yes, we suffered some punctures, and dinged one or two rims too, but on the whole, we were happy with what we felt underneath the wheels.

Another trend in the trail bike category was the resurgence of non-directsale bikes. The YT is only available online, and comes with the spec benefits that brings. But, despite being available from high street bike shops, neither the Norco nor the Trek is particularly bad value for money, and generally, where cheaper parts have been used, they’re well chosen (for example, the Trek’s Fox Rhythm 34 fork).

With such variety on offer, 2018 is looking like a vintage year for the humble do-it-all trail bike.

The YT nudged past the others purely because of the grins it put on the face of everyone who jumped on it