Our initial impressions of two hot new rides – Nukeproof’s Giga 290 Carbon Factory ‘super-enduro’ machine and Devinci’s Troy Carbon XT 12S LTD all-mountain rig
£5,499.99 Serious big-hitter that’s more agile than you might think
The Giga is Nukeproof’s new ‘super enduro’ bike, which boasts more travel than their successful Mega but is still designed to be pedalled uphill easily enough. Will it tread on its stablemate’s toes or are the two di erent enough to prevent confusion?
The frame
Unlike the four-bar Mega and Reactor, the Giga uses a singlepivot swingarm and linkageactuated shock to deliver its 170mm of rear wheel travel (180mm on the 650b-wheeled Giga 275). As on Nukeproof’s Dissent downhill bike, you can use a small lever on the non-driveside main pivot to alter the frame’s leverage curve. This increases progression from 25.5 to 29 per cent – useful if you’re looking to slot a coil shock on instead of the air-sprung damper that comes as standard. (You have to loosen the pivot before moving the lever and then retighten it once in the required setting).
There are five frame sizes on o er (S-XXL). As on the Mega, the seat tube angle steepens on the larger bikes to ensure that everyone gets the most comfortable, e cient seated position possible. The medium size we tested sports an e ective seat tube angle of 77.5 degrees and a reach of 455mm, matched to a 445mm rear centre (measured from the centre of the bottom bracket to the centre of the rear wheel). Up front, the head angle is a slack 63.5 degrees.
The fully-tubed internal routing will make things easier when it’s time to switch hoses/cables over, and Nukeproof have gone to town when it comes to integrated frame protection and silencing, so you won’t have to worry about doing it yourself. There’s enough clearance in the rear triangle to fit a 2.6in tyre, and the use of SRAM’s readilyavailable Universal Derailleur Hanger should make it easy to find replacements if you prang the mech. In the front triangle, there’s room for a bottle, plus some handy bolt fixtures so you can attach spares to the frame.
The kit
The Factory build you see here is the flashiest Giga and comes with top-spec Fox Factory suspension. Up front is a stout 38 fork with 180mm of travel and GRIP2 damper, while handling all the travel at the rear is a highly-tunable Float X2 shock. Shimano’s 12-speed Deore XT drivetrain o ers incredibly smooth, consistent shifting, while the matching four-piston brakes are punchy and powerful. Michelin’s front- and rear-specific Wild Enduro
tyres (both 2.4in wide and with the GUM-X rubber compound) are wrapped around DT Swiss EX 1700 Spline 30 wheels.
The ride
With its low-slung weight and well-centred ride position, the Giga provides instant confidence as you sling it into the turns. Bank it over, hold your line and it’s incredible just how much you can get away with, even in slippery, damp conditions. The pronounced tyre shoulder treads dig into the dirt while the supple suspension does a sterling job of keeping those tyres incredibly well connected to the trail. This all adds up to a bike that can rail a turn better than most, with e-bike levels of traction when you most need it.
Although the Giga feels like a big, burly beast of a bike – a lot like the latest Specialized Enduro – its frame dimensions and the ample support through the suspension ensure that it still has a spring in its step when you do want to loft it into the air or make last-second changes of direction.
Through faster, rougher sections, the back end of the bike does a superb job of soaking up squareedged hits. When we ploughed the Nukeproof into a particularly nasty root spread on one of our regular test tracks, its calm demeanour and almost complete silence not only impressed but also helped us to stay on-line through a section of trail that’s renowned for firing riders o track in the blink of an eye.
Getting back up to the top of the hill is easier than you might expect, too. While there’s a lot of supple travel on tap, the Giga pedals surprisingly well, with little in the way of suspension bob when sitting down and mashing at the cranks. The steep seat tube angle helps to provide a comfortable position on the bike and we happily attacked steep, technical climbs without ever needing to counter a wandering front wheel. It’s on these sections of your ride that you’ll notice the slowrolling Michelin tyres, though.
On the whole, the Giga is a seriously impressive descender. It’s distinctly di erent to the Mega, with a more planted, less lively feel, but it’s a comfortable climber and still a whole lot of fun to throw around on the jumps. ROB WEAVER www.hotlines-uk.com