2020’S HOTTEST NEW BIKES
We test eight of 2020’s hottest bikes, from a hardtail to a DH rig, to see if they’re on point or wide of the mark
We put eight of next year’s most exciting rides through their paces, priced from £1,100 to £8,999
Picking the bikes that we think are going to make waves and set the trends for the year to come is never an easy task (never mind actually getting hold of them!). We’ve wracked our brains to come up with a wide selection, and then given them a good thrashing to get the measure of them. Because the bikes vary so dramatically in price and intention, we haven’t pitted them head-tohead in our usual manner, but rather have tested each one individually.
This year, we’re covering everything from a long, low and slack titanium trail hardtail to a big-wheeled carbon downhill bike, with some interesting trail and enduro bikes in between. It’s not just the disciplines we’ve spanned, either – you’ll see we’ve covered a broad price spectrum, from a killer £1,100 full-sus trail machine all the way up to a full-carbon enduro rig at a jaw-dropping £8,999.
As the years pass, it seems we’re seeing fewer and fewer 650b wheels on the new bikes being pushed by the brands – especially if they even so much as hint at being ready to race. That’s not to say that this wheel size is going to disappear, but with engineers now living by the ‘longer, lower, slacker’ mantra, this extra frame length gives them a bit more room to play with when it comes to packing in suspension travel and other essentials around 29in wheels. We’ve got several 29er enduro bikes here with 150 to 170mm of bounce – something that would’ve been unheard of just a few years ago.
While some of the bikes covered are very different to each other, they share similarities. All of them, with the exception of the DH bike, sport 1x12 gearing. That now includes Shimano-equipped models, and even budget bikes, thanks to SRAM’s SX Eagle drivetrain. This means riders have just one shifter to think about and a more-than-wideenough range of gears to choose from for just about every type of trail going. Then, of course, there’s the geometry. Just a few years ago, some of the figures flaunted over the coming pages would have been scoffed at and considered almost unridable due to their unwieldly lengths and slack head angles. Now these measurements are slowly becoming the norm, delivering more speed and better handling when it matters most.
So, are there any brands really shaking things up in 2020? Have a gander at the next 13 pages to see what we make of the latest and greatest trendsetting machines...
WE’VE COVERED A BROAD SPECTRUM, FROM A KILLER £1,100 FULL SUS TO A FULL CARBON ENDURO RIG AT A JAW DROPPING £8,999