I was sitting outside today, sipping from a tired mug of abusively burnt coffee, drawing bicycles in the clouds as I’ve been known to do, occasionally. And, I had a ‘What If?’ moment. And after I rolled it around in my mind a while it dawned on me that it was the makings of a decentish article. The question: If MEATengines were a real mountain bike review site, and I was reaching out to companies for current* model testing experiences, short-term or long-term, what are the top-five full suspension bicycles I’d ask for and why?
I’ve purposely listed them in order by price starting with the lowest in honour of my first bicycle shop boss, Grant. We sold everything from basic hi-ten Raleigh rigs to custom frame-up mountain builds and he was of the rigidly held opinion that folks coming into the shop looking for boutique bicycles will always find them, but arranging your most expensive machines at the front door will absolutely drive some folks away.
I’ll also note the word choice of ‘Try’ as opposed to ‘Buy.’ One of my all time favourite mountain bicycle testing experiences was riding We Are One’s Kamloopsian-Made carbon Arrival in the 170mm travel configuration, but no version of that bike was reasonably in my budget. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a brilliant option for someone with different financial priorities or circumstances and I think it’s possible to include that consideration without taking away from the machine.
*[Aside] In terms of both hardtails and non-current bikes, I’d be beating on Kona’s door to be test-writing the soon to be announced urSkeking of the Honzo ST and Honzo ESD.[/Aside]
Marin Tam 2 – CA$4300
Before I hit the trail the Tam 2 would be receiving a bigger front rotor, a fast-enough front tire with a lot more braking bite, and a CushCore trail insert in the back, but beyond that from the Deore 4-piston brakes to the true-trail geometry this looks to be exactly my kind of XC bike.
It’s a great looking bike. Sure, I’m much keener on the top-Tam’s paint job, but if I had the price difference in pocket I’d still spend for the Tam-2, skip the battery-powered derailleurs and buy some nice wheels and a couple of contact-point upgrades. I’d also be online trading those 170mm cranks for a pair of 175mm arms.
I’m fascinated by the idea of aluminium flex-stay frames and I think for a test to deliver value it would need a long term focus with the bike being ridden beyond its intended usage. Although, what usage is that? The big brakes and 200mm dropper post {size large} vs. XC suspension platforms point to this being one of those bikes that would be impossible when it comes to choosing tire spec.
Devinci Troy Deore 12s – CA$4650
A Canadian-Made aluminium frame, Shimano Deore 12-speed build, the new RockShox 35 Gold fork with the under-rated RC damper, Super Deluxe piggy-back rear shock, excellent Deore M6220 brakes, and middle-of-the-trail geometry for a 150/160mm travel bike add up to an interesting machine with the now industry-standard 1994 Turner-Burner aesthetic.
Sure, I’d prefer it if it sported the awesome ‘Forest-Lilac’ paint job of the equivalent price point Troy ST, I could happily ditch the in-frame storage to save some weight and complexity, and a Deore/U6000 LinkGlide drivetrain would free up enough cash for a Rush-RC Lyrik, but every dollar and feature counts when selling a bike at this price point, and I understand Cycles Devinci’s choices.
While aggressive shorter travel bikes and pedalable longer travel bikes tend to grab the most attention, the ready-steady just-ride-it all-arounder characteristics of a good 6″ bike do make them the best one-bike-ride-all options {or one sag-wagon, paired with a rad single speed hardtail} to own around here.
The Cycles Devinci Troy – Deore 12s.
Norco Revolver LT C2 – CA$7600
I’ve ridden high-pivot + idler {HP+I} bikes, and I’ve ridden shorter travel bikes, but I’ve never ridden a shorter-travel HP+I bike and in that sense, the third-generation Norco Optic is probably the most intriguing mountain bicycle in their lineup. That is, the rig with the most potential meat. By contrast, the Revolver LT is, well, a bit boring. I mean, a carbon frame with no down-tube storage in 2026?!
But I love the lines of this bike, the two water bottle holders on the down tube, a geometry chart that says that they’re going to ride this machine on all the same trails as their bigger travel pedalable bikes {just with less margin of error}. Frankly, for where and how a lot of riders use their bikes, plenty of folks with bigger bicycle brains than mine are suggesting sub-30 pound rigs like the Revolver LT are a potential counter arguments to buying MTeeBs.
The C2 build has a bunch of parts I’d love to spend more time on. The SRAM Eagle 90 T-Type cable drivetrain, Fox 36 SL, and SRAM Motive Silver brakes brakes are all interesting. Also, recognizing that this bike is a pile of money, I love to see the DT 370 star ratchet hubs. I would expect to always see a high quality hub set at this price point but experience tells me otherwise. Would I love more engagement, yes. But these are hubs someone can have forever and that’s a nice feature.
Cotic Jeht Enduro Silver – ~CA$10840 + ~CA$265
I’ve wrenched on a few Cotic double-squishers, all with their previous horizontal-shock layout. The frames are clearly of the highest quality with the small-tubed aesthetic I love. As with Chromag, their chainstay assembly is aluminum which boosts the three-way ratio of strength to weight to stiffness for any steel four-bar or faux-bar.
The steel-factor aside, my biggest buy-in with the newest Jeht is that Cotic’s geometry story matches my experiences with the Banshee Titan. Great cornering is the number one design focus, and, like Banshee, Cotic isn’t new to the narrative that longer stays lead to cornering beastliness. The C3 {size 3/5} frame they’d put me on pairs a 480mm Reach with a 450mm chainstay which is damn close to my favourite mulleted Titan setup. See Cotic for more information on their Longshot geometry.
From their list of options I’ve singled out the ‘Enduro Silver’ build as being the min-maxiest, which, given it’s over 10,000 Canuck Bucks for a bike with Shimano XT cable-actuated drivetrain, Deore brakes, and a RockShox Select fork is going to require some explaining.
First up, all the stuff is great. Deore 4-piston brakes are excellent on any budget and the same is true of that Zeb Select. XT cable-actuated was standard against which all other drivetrains were measured for decades. But, build wise, there’s extra value delivered with products like Hope Pro5 hubs and a CaneCreek 40-level headset as standard.
The only parts of the build that are complete throwaways are the SDG Tellis dropper post and remote. To give you an idea of how cheap those components are, Cotic offers a OneUp V3 dropper post & remote upgrade for an extra ~CA$265. Worth every penny. Unfortunately they don’t have an option to trade the Tellis post/remote for a Cotic T-Shirt {probably about fair?!} because I’d do that and run my ancient BikeYoke Revive if this was a bike I was buying.
Oh, also, it’s neat that the frames are 100% manufactured in Europe. Umm, I mean, once and {someday, in the} future Europe. You know, the UK.
Yeti LT XO/90 – CA$11775
More bearings continues to be the big trend with sag-wagons, but that’s only a small part of the service story. When it comes to servicing full suspension rigs, pivot points aside, some bikes like it gentle and some bikes always seem to choose the hard {heat & hammering} way. I’ve done more wrenching on the Yeti’s LT-esque eebs, sporting the same Sixfinity suspension system, than I care to admit and, like their SB-series bikes, they’re consistently straightforward when it comes to linkage surgery, assuming the correct tools are on hand.
I don’t know what I started there, I suppose it’s because the LT looks pretty complicated. And, speaking of looks, they already have a boring colour, why not take that half-turquoise/half-grey frame and make the grey section classic Yeti yellow? Bold-money paint job for a big-money machine. And speaking of money, how is it that only the most-premium build has an MX option?
All that, and a massive stack of cash, aside, the Yeti LT is probably the most interesting human-powered super bike released this year. By all accounts there’s witchcraft in the mix of efficient speed, down and up, and quiet capability. Going fast but feeling slow. I’m not saying that’s what I need or want for most meals, but it is pretty delicious.
Yeti’s most basic LT, at this point, features Fox Factory suspension and a SRAM Eagle 90 drivetrain with Maven Silver brakes. I like that it includes top-end Schwalbe tires, and nice-enough finishing kit: Crankbrothers Highline Dropper, CaneCreek 40 headset, and DT E1900 {DT 370 hubs} wheels. Nothing fancy, and for that money, but nothing that needs to be replaced either.
This is another bike in the longer-rear-centre club with the large that I’d ride pairing a 485mm Reach with adjustable 455/465mm chainstays for a 1288/1298mm wheelbase. The 64° headtube angle is quickly becoming the standard for 160/170mm {rear/front} full suspension bikes.
I admit that more than the ride, and the ‘Yeti Factor’ the LT’s appeal is just how much there is to explore with this bike. Reams of writing to wrenched from the experience.
It’s weird to me to put together a list of potential mountain bikes that starts at CA$4650 but if I’m honest, taking a step down from that pricing tier I usually find myself making a compelling argument to ride a hardtail. Better bits for the bucks not to mention reduced maintenance expenses annually and beyond and significantly improved long-term repurpose-ability.
That said, I’ve already started a follow-up, 5 Sag-Wagons I’d Buy Used, that’s my actual list of bikes I’ve been looking at, so for a more budget minded bicycle rocker, I’ll have that out in the future.
In the meantime, of all the current machines on the market, if you had the opportunity to test-write one of them, what would it be and why?
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