FINAL VERDICT

With all four bikes here being designed for racing and sporting hefty price tags, it’s no surprise that they performed well, although each presented pros and cons. The NS Synonym is as radical as XC bikes come, and definitely felt at home on the gnarliest of courses. Its skinny front tyre and long stem dulled performance on loose and tight tracks respectively, though, and we’d have liked more urgency coming out of corners too.

The Canyon Lux was the direct opposite – it’s razor-sharp, snappy out of the gate and loves a tight, technical climb. However, it’s short and steep, and this was obvious on new-school technical courses.

Orbea’s Oiz is perhaps the most versatile bike in this test – quick between the tape, but also a hoot to ride outside of the race course. The Squidlock lever gave the best control of the suspension of all the bikes here, and we love the MyO program.

The Specialized Epic just pips them all to the line, though. Yes, it’s more expensive, but the Brain suspension does exactly what it’s supposed to, when it’s supposed to, whether you’re racing short-course XCO or marathon-style events. The geometry works on both tight-and-twisty trails and in flat-out sections where you can open up and hang on. It’s a very racefocused bike but, like all here bar the Lux, there is a more trail-friendly option, the Epic EVO (MBUK 375).

Ultimately, if we were due on the start line tomorrow and could pick any one of these bikes, it’d be the Epic Pro that we’d choose to be aboard.