It’s going to be tight, as all the bikes tested have progressive geometry and sizing and are designed for modern trail riding

fter almost a two-year hiatus we’re back with our Trail Bike of the Year test. It’s been a long time coming and we can’t convey how excited we are to present eight cutting edge bikes from the heavy hitters in the trail bike category, in what is arguably one of the most important tests in the mbr calendar.

But why has it taken so long to get this test together? Well, you don’t need us to remind you how crazy things have been since the start of the Covid pandemic. And if you’ve tried buying a bike in the last two years, you’ll no doubt be aware that there’s been slim pickings at every level. With such limited supply, fuelled in part by increased demand, it’s been nigh on impossible to convince brands to part with bikes for review when they are already struggling to meet demand. But we finally managed it.

Yes, we probably could have cobbled together a raggle-taggle band of random trail bikes for a half-decent test earlier in the year, but it would have fallen short of our self-imposed standards. We’ve been honing the format of our Trail Bike of the Year test for almost a decade now and we didn’t want to backslide just to fill pages. Hopefully you’ll agree that it’s well worth the wait.

In keeping with previous years, our 2022 Trail Bike of the Year test is split into two distinct categories, shop bought and direct scales, with four bikes in each category all of which are rolling on 29in wheels. Why the split? Well, we believe that the rider buying a performance trail bike online has different priorities to the rider walking into his or her local store and leaving with a new bike.

Yes, that’s a massive oversimplification of the buying process that ignores plenty of exceptions, but we think that everyone can agree that one key advantage of splitting the test in two is that it really levels the playing field in terms of price. It also allows us to allocate a dedicated tester to each category, which means we’re not spreading ourselves thin testing eight bikes at once.

There is some overlap in this year’s test though, as the gulf in pricing between direct sales and shop bought bikes isn’t as dramatic as in previous years. As online retailers open up shops and showrooms and more and more traditional bricks and mortar brands offer click and collect services, both business models seem to be converging and prices are moving in the same direction. They have not reached parity just yet, however. But who knows, maybe in a couple of years we’ll have all of the bikes in just one category, and an outright winner of our Trail Bike of the Year award.

TARGET FIXATION

For now though it’s still split, so there will be a winner for each category. And to better reflect the converging prices we opted for the same target price point throughout the test, settling on £3.5k with a cut-off point of £500 either side.

In the direct-sales category, the Vitus

Escarpe CRX is the most expensive bike at £3,499.99. The cheapest bike is the Privateer

141 at £3,149 with the Canyon Spectral CF 7 and YT Jeffsy Core 2 taking up the middle ground at £3,399 and £3,212.21 respectively. Yes, the price on the Jeffsy Core 2 looks random and is higher than the headline price on YT’S website, and that’s because we’re using the UK landed price that includes all import taxes and shipping.

The shop bought category is bookended by the Specialized Stumpy Evo Comp at £4,000 and the Focus Jam 6.9 at £3,199. The Whyte T-160 RS V1 £3,600 and the alloy version of the 2019 test winner, the Nukeproof Reactor Pro Alloy at £3,699.99, rounding out the category. Ideally we’d have had the new Stumpy Evo Comp Alloy at £3,250, but unfortunately it wasn’t available in time to make the cut.

As such the Stumpy is the only carbon bike in the shop bought category, and it’s also why it’s the most expensive. It’s a different story with the direct sales bikes, with an even split between aluminium and carbon frame constitution. And while all the direct sales bikes are rocking Fox suspension components, the shop bought bikes are evenly divided with Nukeproof and Whyte in the Rockshox camp and Specialized and Focus running Fox.

In terms of rear suspension, most of the bikes in this year’s test boast between 140 and 150mm travel, the exception being the Nukeproof Reactor with 130mm out back. Still, it’s proved in the past that it can take on the big hitters and still come out on top, so there’s every chance it could do it again. And we’ve specially used the term ‘boast’ when it comes to travel, as a couple of bikes come up shy of their stated numbers.

How this plays out remains to be seen but one thing’s for sure, it’s going to be tight, as all of the test bikes have modern geometry, modern sizing and are designed for the demands of modern trail riding. Which bikes come out on top remains to be seen, but it’s going to be a bumper test where all will be revealed over the next 20 pages.

So get the kettle on, make yourself a brew and sit back and enjoy our 2022 Trail Bike of the Year test.

Size tested Head angle Seat angle Eff SA

BB height Chainstay Front centre Wheelbase Down tube Top tube Reach