In this episode of the MBR Show we cover Canyon’s updated Spectral, SRAM’s latest Maven brakes, and Scott’s resurrected Voltage. 

Canyon has thrown everything bar the kitchen sink at the new Spectral trail bike. It now comes with internal storage, the controversial KIS steering stabiliser as standard, and comprehensive geometry adjustment similar to what Specialized introduced on the new Turbo Levo SL. There's also some cool tool holders you can 3D print yourself at home. 

Scott's Voltage used to be a freeride bike, then a dirt jump hardtail, and now it's found its true calling – a mid-power e-bike with a TQ motor and 155mm of travel. Of course it gets Scott's hidden shock frame design, and TracLoc remote travel and geometry adjust. Lots of bells and whistles then, but does it perform on the trails? 

Best-known for using DOT fluid in its brakes, SRAM's latest Maven follows the entry-level DB8 by making the switch to mineral oil in search of better long-term consistency and longer service intervals. It's also the most powerful brake SRAM has built, with a claimed 50% more power than Code, and 30% less effort needed to access that power. So do those impressive numbers stack up in the real world?

Danny and Alan also reveal their thoughts on these new bikes and products, as well looking at the news in brief, including an innovative new hub from KOM Bikes, and a hybrid tubeless valve from E*Thirteen. 

00:00 - Intro
00:24 - News in brief
00:30 - KOM hub
02:36 - E*Thirteen tubeless valves
03:44 - New Scott Voltage
14:08 - New Canyon Spectral
22:41 - New SRAM Maven brakes

MBR Show - Scott's latest Voltage gets a hidden motor and shock!

In this episode we take a closer look at the new Scott Ransom and the new Pivot Switchblade. 

The Pivot is a mild tweak of the old Switchblade trail bike, with a subtly slacker head angle, steeper seat angle, and smidge longer reach. And Pivot has shunned internal storage to keep the weight down and the proportions in tact. So has it done enough or played it too safe?

By contrast, Scott has pushed the boat out with the new Ransom enduro bike. There's an internal shock hidden in the frame, internal tool storage, and a six-bar linkage. Concealed cables, geometry adjust headset cups and a remote progression and travel switch makes this one complex enduro bike. Find out if all these features make it a winner on the trails.  

We also take a quick look at some of the other stories that have got our attention recently, including Focus's lightweight Vam2 e-bike and Formula's 10-year spares pledge on forks, brakes, and shocks. 

00:00 - Intro
00:23 - Focus Vam2
01:49 - Trail centre under threat
03:10 - Formula 10-year parts pledge
04:18 - New Pivot Switchblade
10:08 - New Scott Ransom

MBR Show - Scott's complex new Ransom and Pivot's latest Switchblade discussed

With a crazy looking integrated handlebar display, rhino-neck head tube, and massive power, the new McLaren e-bike is a wild machine! But the British supercar manufacturer and F1 team is not the only car brand to produce a weird and wonderful MTB over the years. We run through some of the most interesting models, from a Lamborghini e-bike with single-sided chainstay, to a carbon Lotus with links to a cold war missile manufacturer, via models from Porsche and Polestar. 
https://www.mbr.co.uk/news/mclaren-mi...

RockShox has just released it's new Charger 3.1 damper for Zeb, Lyrik, and Pike forks, so we take a look under the hood to see what's changed, and how to get your fork up to 2025 spec. We also look at RockShox's new shocks, a clever new air can, and the updated Trailhead suspension tuning app. 
https://www.mbr.co.uk/news/rockshox-l...

Tweakers everywhere will love the new Geometron G1. With a gazillion different geometry, travel, and wheel-size settings to choose from, this radical new enduro bike takes adjustability to the next level. We run through how it lets you achieve all the permutations, and why this keeps the brand firmly at the cutting edge. 
https://www.mbr.co.uk/news/geometron-...

Finally we take a look at the surprising entry of Lidl into the e-bike market. And yes, we completely screwed up by saying it was Aldi all the way through, when it is, in fact Lidl. Anyway, this bargain e-bike costs under £2,500, yet comes with a Brose motor, internal battery, RockShox suspension, and a SRAM drivetrain. Check it out, along with all the other bits, in the latest MBR Show. 
https://www.mbr.co.uk/news/bread-milk...

Time stamps:

0:32 Car brands that have made mountain bikes
7:16 New RockShox suspension
12:08 Geometron G1
17:33 Lidl e-bike

MBR Show - Car Brands Making Bikes; weird and wonderful designs!

The big news this month is the arrival of drone giant DJI, and automotive behemoth ZF, into the e-bike market. DJI was the biggest surprise for most people, with not only a motor that (on paper) wipes the floor with most of the competition, but a whole new bike to mount it on. Yes, Amflow is effectively a DJI start-up brand solely created to bring this high-end motor to life. We discuss the potential of this system, ponder some of the possible weaknesses, and try to answer whether it's worth all the hype. 
https://www.mbr.co.uk/news/new-amflow-pl-carbon-electric-mountain-bike-with-dji-motor-439521

ZF is a huge automotive brand supplying gearboxes, electronics and even complete electric drivetrains. And it has entered the e-bike market with an impressive looking motor, boasting lightweight, compact dimensions, and plenty of power. Will it be enough to put the frighteners on some more established motor brands? And will we see it appear on e-bikes from mainstream brands soon?
https://www.mbr.co.uk/news/zfs-is-bringing-automotive-technology-to-the-e-bike-market-with-an-exciting-new-can-sized-motor-boasting-big-power-with-less-weight-439732

We also speculate about what's new with Bosch's unreleased Gen 5 CX motor, spotted on numerous bikes at the recent Eurobike show. 
https://www.mbr.co.uk/news/spotted-boschs-new-performance-cx-motor-was-hiding-in-plain-sight-at-eurobike-439833

We also take a look at the latest Specialized Stumpjumper 15. Alan has been to the launch of this significant new bike and dug deep into the details with the product manager and suspension engineer. We find out about the new Genie shock, and why it's such a clever bit of kit, as well as discover Alan's first ride impressions. For Alan's full first ride review, packed with insight, click the link below.
https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/29er-full-suspension-bikes/specialized-stumpjumper-15-pro-carbon-trail-bike-review

Finally, we find out more about YT's latest e-bike, the Decoy SN. Danny went to the launch for this, and goes through all the details, as well as revealing his pick of the new range, and why. To read more about his first ride impressions, click the link below.
https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/electric-bikes/yt-decoy-sn-mx-core-4-cf-review

Time stamps:

0:30 DJI motor/Amflow bike
5:50 ZF motor
9:09 Secret new Bosch motor
12:36 Specialized Stumpjumper 15
17:11 YT Decoy SN

Have DJI and ZF killed the mid-power e-bike? Game-changing e-bike tech launched | The MBR Show

Bike prices have gone through the roof recently, with the most expensive models blowing a hole in the £10k ceiling, and accelerating towards the £15k mark in some cases. 

But is that really the case? Or are a few ultra high-end models grabbing the headlines and skewing the market? We trawled through nearly 30 years of archive magazines, fed the numbers through an inflation calculator, with the aim of introducing some objectivity in to what is an emotive subject. 

We look at a broad range of bikes, from e-bikes to analogue bikes, both high-end and entry-level. Discuss the impact of direct-sales disruptors on the market, and the arrival of the one percenters – a new breed of super consumer that many brands are now chasing.

It's also impossible to ignore the development of bike technology, and how the bikes available now are leagues ahead of their predecessors. As well as external factors such as Brexit, and huge fluctuations in currency, raw material prices, and shipping. 

Even the scale of brands needs to be taken into account, with multiple models covering a wide remit of intended uses, along with parallel ranges of analogue and electric bikes. 

What do you think? Are bike brands ripping us off? Let us know in the comments.

MBR - Are Bike Brands Ripping Us Off? Charting bike prices over the last 30 years

The question we’re posing on this month’s MBR Show is whether expensive analogue bikes are dead? This comes in the wake, if you’ll excuse the pun, of the Trek Slash+ launch. Effectively a Slash high-pivot enduro bike with a TQ motor and upgraded 580Wh battery, this new e-bike actually undercuts its analogue stablemate by a massive £750. So who on earth is going to buy the version without the motor and battery? 

While the Slash situation may be caused by over-optimistic pricing at its launch, and reflect the state of the market currently, other brands have been pondering this question for some years. When we attended the launch of the new Enduro in 2019, Specialized was wondering who would be buying these premium unassisted bikes in five years time. Fast forward to the present day and the Enduro is conspicuous by its absence on the Specialized UK website, with only a couple of old and discounted models listed in the US. 

As much as the big mainstream brands may be considering streamlining their analogue offerings, there will always be companies stepping into the breach. Brands like Arc8, Acto5, and Raaw to name but a few. 

Specialist models designed for racing will always have a place too, whether XC, DH, or Enduro, where chasing marginal gains means placing budgetary constraints to one side. 

So maybe the expensive analogue bike is not dead, but we’ll see the range of options shrink over the next few years. 
https://www.mbr.co.uk/news/trek-launches-new-electric-slash-enduro-bike-440148

Also on the show we have a look at Schwalbe’s new radial tyre technology. Or is it? Maybe not as radial as the marketing headlines make out, nevertheless, the claims surrounding this new construction are impressive. And the fact that Amaury Pierron has ridden the tyres to a couple of dominant wins has helped build the hype. 
https://www.mbr.co.uk/news/why-schwalbes-new-albert-and-shredda-radial-tyres-could-change-everything-440607

Finally we discuss the new Santa Cruz Bronson. A tweak here, a nip and tuck there, the new bike slides closer to the Nomad in character, while sacrificing some of its peppy, responsive nature. Guy Kesteven has been riding it for us, and we run through some of his feedback on the bike. But the real story here perhaps underlines our original argument – that high-end analogue bikes are on borrowed time, with innovation stalling and brands finding it harder and harder to persuade riders to upgrade to the latest model. 
https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/mullet-mx/santa-cruz-bronson-gen-5-xo-axs-rsv-first-ride-review

The MBR Show - Are Premium Analogue Bikes Dead?

News and opinion from the world of mountain biking. A monthly show hosted by Danny Milner, Alan Muldoon, and Jamie Darlow from Mountain Bike Rider – the UK's original trail riding magazine established in 1997. #mtb #mtbtech #emtb #mountainbike

MBR Show - Car Brands Making Bikes; weird and wonderful designs!

Mountain Bike Rider Podcast

Related tracks