Price: Frame only from €2,150.00, as tested €4,300.00

From: Pole, polebicycles.com

Pole is a Finnish bike brand which has been raising eyebrows and piquing interest with its approach to geometry for a few years now. The company doesn’t necessarily place its confidence in the geometry of their bikes on speed, or results. Rather, its angle is that longer bikes are safer, and more stable, and so an increase in speed is a natural result of that stability.

And yes, this Evolink 158 29in bike has scads of length. More reach than Mr Tickle after a prolonged stint on a rack and enough slackness to star in a ‘90s stoner comedy.

Our Pole test bike is, perhaps inevitably, a striking beastie and no mistake. It arrived at Singletrack Towers in a teeny tiny box, because with the removal of one screw it’s possible to fold the back end up and under the front. But after a surprisingly small amount of fettling, it was resplendent in all its enormoglory.

Even though this is an extra large bike (and, therefore, approximately the same size as a cruise liner) it’s possessed of flowing lines, a relatively low profile and discreet back end and lots of standover. In terms of proportion it actually resembles a regular 27.5in bike; it’s only when you approach it that you realise that this is indeed a bike for lanksters, and not a more ordinary one; come closer…