ALEXEVANS’2015 GTSANCTIONPRO

£1,499 (frame) Will BikeRadar’s tech ed ever feel this way about a bike again?

In 2015 I returned to the UK and a new job as MBUK’s features editor after eight years living in the French Alps and riding mostly downhill bikes. The new role meant I could pick pretty much any bike I wanted. I was after a burly, long-travel but pedalling-friendly machine suited to epic days in the saddle and gnarly descents. After browsing the web for hours on end, the 650b-wheeled GT Sanction stood out, because it was designed under the scrutiny of Dan Atherton, who’d debuted the prototype at the inaugural round of the Enduro World Series two years earlier.

Ahead of its time

Even by today’s standards, the Sanction’s geometry doesn’t look disastrously dated. My large frame had a 461mm reach, 1,215mm wheelbase, 66-degree head angle and 74.5-degree e ective seat angle. These figures were combined with 165mm of rear wheel travel, with the chunky front and rear triangles connected by a large single pivot. This made the GT a full-gas mini-DH rig that just loved to be ridden aggressively.

Luckily, I had the opportunity to spec the Sanction with some dream kit, too. I chose SRAM’s freshly-released 11-speed GX groupset, a 150mm RockShox Pike RCT3 fork and, after some burping issues on my original light but narrow Easton Haven wheels, a set of 30mm (internal) Easton Heist hoops, to give more tyre stability.

Perfect companion

As features ed, I was able to head out on plenty of work trips with the trusty Sanction at my side. It was the perfect two-wheeled companion as I travelled the UK rediscovering the types of riding our small, rainy island had to o er. I still have fond memories of its ability to perform over rough, long descents, massive jumps and up tough climbs, and I even went so far as to proclaim that it was the best bike ever made.

At the end of 2015, with teary eyes, I retired the Sanction, having been treated to a new long-term bike for the next year. Luckily, GT didn’t want the rather well-used frame back (our long-termers usually have to be returned at the end of the year) so it lay gathering dust in the rafters of my garage until 2018, when I gave it an overhaul, determined to prove it really was the best bike I’d ridden. Updated with SRAM’s latest 12-speed GX Eagle drivetrain, Race Face wheels and a fork and shock service, it entered service once again, bruising its way down trails in Scotland’s Tweed Valley, Morzine and Les Gets in France, and my favourite secret spots in the Welsh Valleys.

In a rather dark period of my life, that summer I did cheat on the Sanction a few times as I swung my leg over an Orange Stage 6 and NS Snabb 29 for brief periods. And that’s when I started to realise that it was a little small for me, compared to the most up-to-date bikes, and that the Pike fork left it a little undergunned for enduro duties. My illusions weren’t shattered in one fell swoop, but access to more modern rigs with progressive geometry and bigger forks did slowly chip away at my perception of the Sanction’s perfection. Bikes now are just that bit bigger than this 2015 relic, making them more comfortable and easier to ride quicker. I do wonder, though, if I’ll ever feel the same way about a bike again.