Mountain Bikes

Seen here with X01 livery and 45NRTH Husker Du tires, the Borealis Echo starts to look less like "just a fat bike" and a lot more like a mountain bike. SRAM's unflappable one-by drivetrain, hydraulic disc brakes, and a real-deal suspension fork from RockShox round out the Echo's already-capable...

Borealis believes that fat bikes are meant to be ridden anywhere and everywhere, and when we see them built like this, we're inclined to agree. It's nearly as efficient as your favorite hardtail, but with heaps more traction and confidence over rough trails and chunky downhills. At the heart of...

Put away those skinny-tired, fair weather bikes and get on board the Borealis Echo GX/Bluto Complete Fat Bike for suspension-filled frolicking in the snow. Pairing Rochshox's Bluto suspension fork and SRAM's GX one-by-eleven groupset, this bike is a light, reliable, and versatile bull of a whip...

Send those skinny-tired bikes into hibernation for the winter and get out in the snow with the 2016 Borealis Echo GX Complete Fat Bike. Borealis pairs a rigid carbon fiber fork and SRAM's one-by-eleven groupset to create a light, reliable, and versatile whip for the non-suspension fat bike...

Admit it: you're intrigued with the fat biking trend. Almost every time you're hanging around your local trails, you're greeted by a monstrous set of knobby tires being steered around a corner by a pretty excited looking rider. And those riders get to be out on the days the weather keeps you in...

While Borealis suggests that the carbon fiber frame at the heart of the Crestone X01/Bluto Complete Fat Bike is the efficiency peak of fat bike frame technology, it's the inclusion of a 100mm RockShox Bluto fork that really sets our fat-o-meter spinning for this build. The carbon frame -- both...

Whether you're contemplating a snowy landscape or a sandy bikepacking trip, keep the fat fun rolling with the 2016 Borealis Flume GX Complete Fat Bike. With its aluminum frame and a rockin' kit that includes Borealis' own rigid carbon fork, SRAM GX componentry, and beefy Husker Du tires, this rig...

Keep the fat tires rolling through any season on the 2016 Borealis Flume GX/Bluto Complete Fat Bike. Pairing an aluminum frame, Rochshox's Bluto suspension fork, and SRAM's GX one-by drivetrain, this bike is a versatile bull whip just chomping at the bit to take on burly trail adventures....

It's really easy to build an awesome bike for $10,000. Creating a killer whip for a price that won't blow up your beer budget, though, is a little more tricky. The good bike doctors at UK-based Charge set their minds to that task way back in 2005, and the bikes they came up with--the fun, durable...

Bikes are meant to be ridden. It's an obvious fact that can get lost in all the discussion about carbon fiber, gearing ratios, and performance tracking, but it's not something that's slipped past the sharp eyes of the bike builders at England's Charge. In 2005, Charge started building bikes for...

Some bike manufacturers regard "utility" as a dirty word. Bikes are art, they say, not machines designed to do be ridden, to which Charge Bikes replies "Why can't they be a little bit of both'" That ethos has powered the Great Britain-based company for the whole of its 10-year history, and the...

It's easy to make a bike that looks good. Making a bike that looks good and rides just as well without costing a fortune, though' That's a little bit tougher, which makes what Charge Bikes has done with the Cooker series seriously impressive. Started 10 years ago in a glorified shed, Charge makes...

UK-based Charge Bikes got its start building stylish urban and fixed-gear bikes, but the company's no one-trick pedaling pony. Its Cooker line of hardtail mountain bikes is getting noticed, and so too are the company's fat bikes, the Maxi 1 and 2. The Maxi 1 is the more affordable of the two, and...

With 160mm of enduro-grade travel, Diamondback's Mission 2 GX Complete Mountain Bike makes a worthy companion for all-day, all-mountain adventures. Whether you're taking advantage of the nimble 27. 5in wheels while navigating switchbacks through dense trees or tracking confidently across rock...

Boasting clean lines on a classic black-and-red frame, Diamondback's brand new Release 3 Complete Mountain Bike is a pleasure to behold. As the highest-ranking build among Diamondback's Release series, the brand new Release 3 makes its grand introduction decorated with an enviable drivetrain and...

The inspiration for Diamondback's impressive new lineup of trail-gobbling 27. 5in frames came from the brand's completely new suspension platform, known as Level Link, and everything from the frame geometry to the drivetrain was built not just to work with, but showcase, the suspension's design....

We all know how exciting that first tug on a line can feel, once we realize that it definitely wasn't a piece of seaweed or a rock, but an insistent jerk that could only have been delivered by a living, breathing creature. Evoking thoughts of long days in the sun, fighting and pulling to bring a...

With 5-1/2in of travel, the 2015 Ellsworth Epiphany Alloy 27. 5 Mountain Bike Frame makes a perfect starting place to build your one-by dream machine. XC-light and all-mountain competent, the Epiphany will climb with ease and precisely pick its way down technical descents. Ellsworth claims that...

While 2016 brings updated aesthetics to the Ellsworth Epiphany 27. 5 Mountain Bike Frame, you can rest assured that it features the same suspension and geometry found in its much-loved predecessor. The California-based brand perfected its ideal suspension clear back in 1991, and has been ripping...

Though the aesthetics of the frame are radically different (Old English script, we hardly knew ye), Ellsworth left the suspension and geometry virtually unchanged on the 2016 Epiphany 27. 5 XT 1x Complete Mountain Bike. The Ellsworth dedicated will be happy to hear this, as the California-based...

The Epiphany Alloy 27. 5+ SLX 2x Complete Mountain Bike is similar to the other Epiphany models in name only. With a slacker head tube and plus-sized tire clearance, the 27. 5+ Epiphany is able to run a lower amount of travel while still handling the same terrain. The result is an aggressive...

While it isn't regressive by any means, Ellsworth certainly doesn't feel compelled to follow the industry trends in frame and suspension tech. But when the brand decides that something is worth the hype it's generating, Ellsworth typically demonstrates the kind of innovative flexibility to...

In its own words, Evil Bikes describes The Following Mountain Bike Frame as, simply, "FUN." While we typically favor subtlety in our own writing, we're happy to forgive Evil this moment of enthusiastic Caps Lock excess because the bike actually delivers by turning "FUN" into a four letter...

While the spectacle of its development and the intricacies of its carbon lay-up may initially shroud The Insurgent Mountain Bike Frame in a most intimidating aspect, the iconoclasts at Evil Bikes assure us that it is, in fact, "a bike that likes to party." Upon filtering our own experiences...

We'd be remiss if we didn't begin any discussion about The Wreckoning Mountain Bike Frame, Evil Bikes' latest twentyniner-stein, with a warning: This bike doesn't give a damn about your lines. Or rather, it doesn't give a damn about whether or not you give a damn about your lines. Other Evil...

GT's Karakoram Elite Deore Complete Mountain Bike simplifies what should already be a pretty simple concept but has become the victim of over-engineering: riding a bike on a trail. 29in wheels, no suspension, and a lightweight alloy frame are about as pure as mountain bikes get. Sure, the longer...

Whether you're dipping your toes into the dirt riding world or just in the market for a reliable and fun hardtail, the 2016 GT Zaskar LE Expert XT Complete Mountain Bike has you covered. It boasts a Shimano drivetrain, a RockShox fork, hydraulic disc brakes, and tubeless-ready 27. 5in Stan's...

As the old adage goes, good things come to those who wait. And after waiting for the crafty folks at Ibis to meticulously dial every line and geometry detail, the Ripley Ibis Tranny 29 X01 Complete 2015 Mountain Bike is here to change your preconceived notions of just how fast and versatile a...

At the heart of Ibis' Tranny 29 Special Blend Complete Mountain Bike is a feature called the Slot Machine, which governs chainstay length, adjusting it by up to 15mm. The Slot Machine lets you customize the bike's rear triangle for whatever set up you want to run. Short, nimble chain stays for a...

Ibis is never one to shy away from controversy, and the Tranny 29 Mountain Bike Frame is obviously no exception. By controversy, we of course mean the controversial way the frame is built, which allows for a bike that can transition between full cassettes and singlespeed. The heart of the Tranny...

Ibis returned to their beloved Ripley Mountain Bike frame design this year, fine-tuning it for a second version of this 29er that likes to do a little bit of everything. When it was first conceived, Ibis imagined the Ripley would be used mostly for XC, but quickly realized that many riders were...

Those two little initials camped out in the title of Ibis' latest Ripley LS Mountain Bike Frame may seem innocuous, but they've got some outsized importance. LS is an initialism for Longer Slacker, and those awkwardly free-floating modifiers apply primarily to the top tube length, which gains...

When Ibis made the decision to beef up the Mojo with 27. 5 wheels, it also introduced a host of significant changes to the beloved chassis, adapting it to modern standards and enhancing its versatility as a capable enduro bike. The changes center around the Mojo HD3's 27. 5in-specific DW-Link...

Transitioning from long afternoons spent on flowy singletrack under the trees to staring at a blank wall on the trainer all winter could break even the toughest mountain biker. Don't do it. If the trails are where you'd rather spend your time, add the 2016 Ibis Trans-Fat Complete Fat Bike to your...

The 2016 Ibis Mojo HD3 Carbon XT 1x Complete Mountain Bike marks a return of the much-lauded geometry found in last year's model and ushers in Boost axle widths for bigger tire clearance and increased stiffness for even more fun in the dirt. Kitted out with 160mm of Rock Shox RCT3 Boost front...

Subverting the industry narrative that all-mountain shredding is best achieved on an enduro sled with 6in + of travel, the Ibis Mojo 3 Carbon XO1 Complete Mountain Bike strikes the sweet spot between trail-taming hooligan and nimble precision scalpel for riders carving tight switchbacks,...