Mountain Bike Rider Magazine March-20 Edizione posteriore

BEST OF BRITISH
Outdoor equipment shop Alpkit wanted to build on its reputation for durability and affordability when it entered the bike market. We go behind the scenes with sub-brand Sonder to find out more about this unusual move.

FIRST RIDES
After a long wait and a bit of a stutter, Shimano is well and truly back in the groupset game with its new XT M8100. We’ve been riding it through the worst of the winter to see how it bears up. Plus,
first rides on the 2020 Specialized Turbo Levo Expert Carbon, the Orange Switch 6 RS mullet bike
and Cotic’s latest FlareMax.

LONGTERMERS
Scott’s women-specific Contessa Ransom has arrived for Laura, and guess what, it’s pink. Meanwhile, Benji is singing the praises of his
Nukeproof, Ben 2 is running out of adjectives to describe his NS Synonym and Ben 3 has been
puzzling with the headset on his Canyon. Also, Jamie waves goodbye to his quirky Marin Mount Vision.

ENDURO 29ERS
Specialized had the good fortune to first adopt the word Enduro for a range of bikes, along with the
foresight to develop one of the first long-travel 29ers. Does that headstart give its latest model
the edge? Pivot and Giant certainly don’t think so