BOLD UNPLUGGED PRO

Can the revamped Uplugged do justice to its Bold design statement?

£8,999 • 29in • boldcycles.com

When 29ers first started to appear they looked plain wrong – malproportioned machines with crappy head angles and sky-high frames. And to be fair, those early models were worse to ride than they looked. Today, the opposite is true: 26inwheel bikes look bizarre, they’re almost exclusively for kids now, and it’s incredible to believe we ever rode them. And survived.

My point is that what you see becomes normal the more you’re exposed to it – case in point, the new Bold Unplugged Pro with its hidden shock, a bike that very quickly makes bikes with exposed shocks (pretty much everything else out there, bar those from Scott) look weird and ugly.

Big wheels confer an advantage to the rider, of course. But what about Internal Suspension Technology, as Bold’s hidden shock idea is called?

It’s the brand’s USP, it defines its bikes and helps them stand out in the congested mountain bike crowd. But is it an advantage for us riders?

Before I answer that, let’s take a closer look at the updates Bold has made to the Unplugged. It still uses a twin-link suspension configuration but frame travel has been increased by 10mm to 160mm, where the lower link pivots around the BB shell. It’s not a unique approach, but Bold does things a little differently because the shock is located horizontally and obviously inside the frame. With no shock O-ring visible, Bold takes advantage of the lower link by adding a magnetic sag/travel meter which rotates around the BB shell. This means you can still accurately set the shock pressure without grovelling on your knees with a thin torch clamped in your teeth. Frame/shock access is via a big down-tube protector or storage door. It’s secured with a little push-button magnet that’s easy to use, and gives you quick access to the air valve and rebound dial on the Float X shock.

No internal storage would be complete without the accompanying tube and tool wrap, in Bold’s case it’s called the Save the Day Kit. Inside is a pump, tube, tyre levers, multitool with Allen keys and spot for a chain quicklink. And just to make things easy, the removable rear axle lever doubles as a tool with a 6mm Allen key, T25 and T30 for essential fettling.

The frame is completely new for the 2023 bike; it’s made from carbon-fibre front and rear, of course (the same carbon Scott uses, in fact) but the bike looks noticeably lower to the ground, almost as if the BB area is sagging down between the two wheels. Standover height is far superior too,