Mountain Bike Rider

Published by Time Inc. (UK) Ltd mbr is the UK's leading magazine for trail riding, mountain bike enthusiasts. Published since 1997, mbr aims to inspire readers to just get out and ride! with every issue, by providing the very best expert advice about where, what and how to ride. Every edition delivers the ultimate mix of inspirational riding features, with extensive bike and product reviews, along with superb advice and reader involvement - plus free pull-out route guides.

Long live XC! • Modern rigs and tracks are reigniting the XC embers

BIG PICTURE

FAKE BIKES • Cheap imitations won’t break the bank, but they could break your bones…

CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE • Pivot’s new Shuttle SL is one of the lightest production e-bikes ever

CAR CULTURE • ABS braking and automatic shifting are coming to a bike near you, courtesy of Bosch and Shimamo

BOSCH EBIKE ABS

SHIMANO FREE SHIFT & AUTO SHIFT

TECH STOCK

GARMIN EDGE 1040 SOLAR £629.99

OUT OF THE ORDINARY • Looking to get away from it all? We’ve got five overlooked natural rides that will take you far from the mountain biking crowd

9 STRENGTH TRAINING MYTHS BUSTED • When it comes to resistance training, falsehoods abound; here’s nine to let go of

FORESTAL CYON HALO • Andorran brand Forestal is thinking big; does its new e-bike back up ambition with ability?

WHYTE E-160 RSX • Whyte’s new e-bike packs a punch but can it float like a butterfly and take the sting out of the trail?

ARC8 EVOLVE FS • At sub 10kg, the ARC8 Evolve is a lean XC race machine – but is it mean enough to win?

SUBSCRIBE TO mbr FROM ONLY £13*

Mountain Bike Rider

Mailbox

CHRIS MALONEY AKA KEEPER OF THE PEAK • Chris Maloney’s Twitter account is an invaluable pre-ride news hub for Peak District mountain bikers and with his wider advocacy work he’s also connecting people together to change UK mountain biking for good

LAPLAND’S SIXTH SEASON • With the Northern Lights above, and a blazingly majestic landscape below, Northern Finland’s the place to go for some sublime late-summer riding

NATURAL ABILITY • Learning to identify and join grip points together is the first step to boosting control and speed on sketchy trails

BEN’S PRIVATEER 141 ÖHLINS • Countless hours on the trails make this the ultimate test of performance as well as reliability

IN THE SHED

JAMIE’S SPECIALIZED TURBO KENEVO SL COMP

SEAN’S SONDER SIGNAL ST GX

PB’S GIANT REIGN E+ 1

CANE CREEK DB AIR IL TRUNNION SHOCK

YOUR TESTERS

SWEET PROTECTION TRAILBLAZER HELMET

mbr ratings explained • The scores on the doors

NUKEPROOF BLACKLINE WOMEN’S BAGGY

SMITH LEADOUT PIVLOCK GLASSES

SPECIALIZED PURGATORY GRID 2BLISS T7 TYRE

ENDURA SINGLETRACK LITE KNEEPADS II

DAINESE HGR PANTS

RESERVE FILLMORE VALVES

Dropper posts • A seatpost that can be lowered and raised at the push of a button is an instant game-changer and has become an mtb essential; we drop in and get the lowdown on 10 of the best

Know your dropper seatpost

BIKEYOKE REVIVE 160

BONTRAGER LINE ELITE

BRAND-X ASCEND XL

CRANKBROTHERS HIGHLINE 7

GIANT CONTACT SWITCH

ONEUP V2

RACE FACE AEFFECT

ROCKSHOX REVERB AXS

ROCKSHOX REVERB STEALTH

X-FUSION MANIC

Conclusion

EXPRESS DELIVERY MODERN XC RACE BIKES STRAIGHT TO YOUR DOOR • It’s a three-horse race to the top of the podium, as the latest direct-sales XC bikes jockey for the win

CANYON LUX WORLD CUP CFR TEAM

INTENSE SNIPER T EXPERT

VITUS RAPIDE FS CRX

Conclusion

Our test...