LIV HAIL 1
£3,249 Long-travel women’s bike with a serious spec
This new addition to the Liv range is probably the burliest women’sspecific enduro bike on the market, with 160mm of travel and a roughand-tumble spec designed to excel on technical and demanding terrain.
The frame
The Hail has the high-quality aluminium construction you’d expect from Liv’s parent company Giant, along with their proven twin-link Maestro suspension system, which gets a carbon rocker to save weight. The 66-degree head angle is slack enough to make short work of technical descents, and it’s combined with a 74-degree seat tube angle for more e!cient pedalling on uphill sections.
Interestingly, Liv have bucked the trend for low bottom brackets, giving the Hail a BB drop of 5mm (the Liv Intrigue it replaced and the men’s Giant Reign both have a 10mm drop) for better pedal clearance in technical sections. While this means the bike’s centre of gravity is slightly higher, they say this is o"set by the fact that women, on average, have a lower centre of gravity than men, according to their dataset. We didn’t notice any adverse e"ects in the turns or on technical descents, and didn’t have any pedal strikes.
The kit
The SRAM X1 cranks are fitted with an MRP AMg chain guide to prevent the chain jumping o" over the rough stu", and the drivetrain and GX shifters performed smoothly and e!ciently throughout testing.
Liv have opted for the traveladjust ‘Dual Position Air’ version of RockShox’s Lyrik fork up front, which can be dropped from 160mm to 130mm to aid climbing. The small-bump sensitivity of our fork was great, but we found it would blow through the mid stroke rapidly on bigger terrain and drops. Upping the pressure helped, but we’d recommend inserting the supplied ‘Bottomless Token’ volume spacer for a more progressive feel.
The RockShox Deluxe R shock combines with the Maestro system to give a stable and predictable action that soaks up small lumps and bumps without getting hooked up and reacts smoothly and predictably to bigger hits. Quality Schwalbe tyres front and rear dig in and hold on gratifyingly well in slick mud and on icy ground, without feeling too draggy when pedalling. With just a 100mm stroke, the Giant dropper post didn’t allow us to get the saddle as low as we’d have liked on the descents, but upgrade options are limited by the kink in the seat tube.
The ride
The Hail 1 is an absolute blast to ride. While it’s fun at trail centres, it’s on technical, natural, o"-piste terrain that it really comes into its own. A long wheelbase (1,188mm on the medium size tested) helps the bike feel planted and that reactive suspension system just eats up uneven ground while remaining spry enough in feel that you can still throw the bike around on the trail.
It feels poppy, springing o" drops and launches, and lands securely and confidently. From the get-go, the Hail feels comfortable, planted and capable, but above all else, fun. If you’re a fan of enduro racing or want a beefy bike for properly big and technical terrain, and don’t just want a unisex bike with a few spec tweaks, it’s one for the shortlist.