ED’S YT JEFFSY CORE 3 29 £3,749 *

With the nights drawing in, I’ve been making the most of having a bike that pedals well to catch some after-work sessions at the local trails. Bristol isn’t too badly off for city-accessible riding, and a 150mm-travel 29er is the perfect weapon when you want to mix the flat Ashton Court trail centre with the steep off-piste tech of the Avon Gorge. If ridden hard, that stuff will test your suspension and how well your bike handles in awkward rooty turns. I’m finding the slackening effect of the offset shock hardware I fitted is serving me well for the steepness, while the Jeffsy’s relatively compact geometry is allowing me to just about stick a line through the bar-scraping tree gaps and off-camber bench cuts. www.yt-industries.com