Bike of the Year 2018
Throughout the winter, our testers Rob Weaver and Tom Marvin have been flat out, riding a huge selection of bikes, in order to bring you what we believe is a selection of the top (sub £3,500) bikes available now. The bikes have been split into two categories, Trail refers to those with 110-140mm of travel, capable of anything from ripping around the woods, to all-day missions and Enduro means big, burly 150-175mm travel rigs, built to descend flat-out, but still climb back up. Once a top five was established for each, we headed to the sunnier climes of San Remo in the Italian Riviera for a final showdown. The suspension pummelling rocks, brake burning descents and savage climbs were the perfect for dissecting the finer points of each bike and allowed us to draw a verdict on which is worth the money. All is revealing in the mag!
Through the lens
Full-length mountain bike films are few and far between these days, especially ones about downhillers, as World Cup racing becomes ever more serious and professional. GAMBLE is the film project that's set to change that, taking a selection of the sport's most charismatic riders and letting them run wild outside the tape. Filmed in exotic locations around the world, we join the crew in South Africa, for behind the scenes look at the filming of Greg Minnaar's segment. Discover what's it's like to be on set with one the other greatest riders of all time and find out more about the backstory behind the film in this month's mag.
Mille Johnset
Norway's Mille Johnset is one of the fastest rising talents in women's downhill racing. We meet up with her in Hafjell Bike Park and discover that this is a seventeen year old girl who doesn't shy away from going fast and ain't afraid of going big.
Grizedale & North Yorkshire
This month's Wrecking Crew heads for Grizedale in the Lake District fells. On the tail of our guides Adam Brayton and Katherine Sharp, we discover what this rugged trail centre has to offer and discover all the hidden local lines. If you'd rather get away from it all though, then check out our Big Ride feature on Baysdale in North Yorkshire. Expansive moorland views, natural rocky singletrack and a real feeling of exploration awaits.
Get bike park ready
Trail and enduro bike are seriously versatile these days (as our Bike of the Year test proves), but if you want to get the most out of one, especially on gnarlier terrain, it's worth making a few setup tweaks. In our How To section we give advice on how to get you and your steed ready for a day in the park and what to do to ensure maximum fun on the day. We've also got riding tips on how to power out of berms and give you guidelines on how to take killer photos with your phone, so you can show all your mates how rad you got!
Testing
Bike of the Year testing doesn't mean we've skimped on other testing this month. May's mag has a grouptest on trail riding jerseys, individual reviews on DT-Swiss and Spank wheelsets, Vittoria and Bontrager tyres, Thule and Evoc hydration packs and protection from Endura, Scott and O'Neal. Keep up with what our test team have been doing and what they like and dislike about their test bikes in our monthly Longterm Rides section.
This month's free gift is a performance riding socks from Lezyne. You'll find a pair on the cover of every mag.
You can subscribe to MBUK here and check out our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts for all of the latest mountain bike action.
And don't forget to sign up to our newsletter!
