Andi and the team look at three bikes built for going big that shouldn’t be that good uphill.

A Nukeproof Giga, Last Tarvo and NS Define 170 1 walk into a bar. The Giga and Tarvo order a drink and sit down in a booth while the Define asks for a Wormdo. The barman looks at the Define for a second then tells it ‘sorry, we don’t serve mullets here’. The three bikes then leave the bar to hit the trails, get thoroughly thrashed, then pose for photos in remote locations. It’s a classy night out and they all have a lot of fun – they just do it in different ways. This is our big bruiser bike test.

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY ANDI

LAST TARVO

Price: Full builds start at €6,129.00, frame-only €3,999.00 From: Last Bikes, last-bikes.com

Last is a German bike brand that might not be so familiar to riders in the UK, but it’s one I’ve been watching for some time now. The first time I remember them really catching my attention was way back in the early days of aggressive 29ers.

Back then there were very few really radical hardtails that used larger 29er hoops, so when Last launched the Fast Forward I was instantly impressed. It wasn’t just me who loved the Fast Forward though – testers around the world loved the slack steel hardtail, heralding it as ‘full-suspension fast’ in the right conditions.

The Fast Forward went through a couple of revisions, but seems to have disappeared from the range and been replaced with some pretty cool looking full suspension bikes. For a couple of years the Last full suspension consisted of the Coal, a 27.5in bike with a single pivot rear end but with a yoke and linkage driven shock. The Coal continues and has now been joined by the Glen using a similar suspension platform, but 29in wheels.

Now, though, the Tarvo has entered the range and, as good as those alloy bikes still look, this carbon beauty really is something else. It’s so good that I’m surprised not more people, media and magazines aren’t talking about it, but then again I’m also happy that this bike has flown under most people’s radar as it gives us a semi-exclusive.

So, why am I so excited about the Tarvo – it’s just another carbon enduro bike, isn’t it? No, it’s actually the world’s lightest (claimed) enduro bike! It’s also handmade in Germany, built to crazy tolerances, and is probably the bike many of us would draw if we were to describe our dream bike. Who doesn’t want an ultra-lightweight 29er with a Zeb upfront? This being lockdown though, this is one bike I haven’t actually ridden and instead, that honour was bestowed to Ross, so while it will be me gushing in these descriptive paragraphs, it will be his balanced words you’ll be reading for the ride impressions and overall conclusion.

The Bike

 I’ve heard people say it’s really easy to make something extremely complicated that isn’t very good, but it takes some real skill, knowledge and know-how to build something that’s simple, but works really well. The Last Tarvo is a perfect example of this. Compared to the Glen and Coal, the rear suspension layout of the Tarvo is ultra-simple, settling for a single rocker and main pivot rather a bunch of additional linkages. It is so simple that Last has even stripped the pivot from the chainstay/seatstay intersection altogether and replaced it with a flex-stay arrangement, something more common on XC rigs rather than enduro race weapons.

The one word that springs to mind when looking at the Last in detail is ‘clean’. It’s by far the most simple, clean, and elegant enduro frame I’ve laid my eyes on for some time, yet it manages to be really clever and complicated at the same time. Last didn’t simply set out to make another cookiecutter carbon bike, but something that’s a cut above the rest, not only in terms of performance and weight, but how the bike is made and that meant thinking responsibly. Last wanted to ensure that the materials and processes used in the construction of the Tarvo met its responsibility and ecological requirements, which is why the carbon fibres used in the frame comes from Japan and the process of pre-impregnation is handled by a company in Italy. While I don’t know what that means for the carbon footprint of a Tarvo frame, at least I can be pretty sure those factories are a safe environment for the workers. All of that carbon then lands at All Ahead in Würzburg where the wonder weave is laid up in custom one-piece moulds. While some manufacturers will build their carbon frames as tubes and lugs still, the Tarvo is made in two halves of a mould to ensure a precise and strong construction with consistent wall thicknesses. Not only does this mean the Tarvo is strong (it’s tested to meet strict safety standards), but it also ensures each Tarvo uses only as much carbon as it needs, saving waste and ensuring a low weight.