Click: The switch in your head flips. From now on, euphoria and adrenaline take control. You’ll make jumps, fly through the air, and negotiate berms as you answer the call of gravity. It’s only when the brakes have cooled that you realize that your mind was only occupied with the sensations of that moment, that route, that experience.
The feeling of turning off the constant chatter in your head and fully engaging with the flow of the trail is indescribable. You go into a trance and feel unstoppable until your face hurts from smiling and the trail comes to an end. All your thoughts and problems will simply be wiped away. To achieve this zen state, you must have complete confidence in your equipment. Especially when it comes to your brakes, because they are more than just your safety net when things get tough.
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The trails are becoming more and more demanding, the bikes are becoming more and more powerful and we are becoming faster and faster. To get everything under control and stay in control, you need powerful stoppers. That’s why we pitted the 14 most promising MTB brakes against each other over several months. We compared them head-to-head on some of Spain’s best trails, lit them up in rigorous lab tests, and aired them out in the workshop until not a single air bubble remained. But how does theory differ from practice, why are the strongest brakes not necessarily the best and what influences braking performance the most? You can find out more about this in the brake comparison test in this issue.
If there was one thing that was absolutely unstoppable in 2023, it was Manuel Lettenbichler. With 6 out of 6 race wins, the Red Bull KTM Factory rider achieved the perfect season and was crowned consecutive FIM Hard Enduro World Champion. When he’s not dominating the hard enduro scene, the likeable Bavarian races down the mountainside on his YT DECOY, and that’s how our paths cross. We spent two days with Mani in the Austrian mountains, pushing our limits, revving the engines and entering unknown territory. Warning: It will be loud, dirty and electric.
10 years ago we carried out the world’s first downcountry comparison test to escape the cold German winter and test the eight hottest models of the time directly in California, ushering in this new bike category with a bang. Powerful and fun XC bikes are still in vogue and we pitted the three hottest models on the market against each other in our current comparison test. Which bike is the most fun, which type of rider brings out the best in each?
Lightweight e-mountain bikes are also on the rise: almost all notable bicycle brands now have one on offer and the choice of uses, suspension travel and motor concepts is almost endless. Our editor Antonia went on tour with a few lightweight e-mountain bikes in tow to find out whether they might be the perfect mountain bikes for women. We looked beyond the stereotypes and delved into the world of lightweight e-MTBs from the perspective of female riders.
The e-MTB boom is unstoppable and is slowly reaching North America. But would you believe that the mountain biking mecca of the world – Whistler – still has huge untapped e-MTB potential? That’s because the biker’s paradise is still on the decline when it comes to the introduction of e-mountain bikes. We met up with Seb Kemp from Whistler and explored the area’s untapped potential with the help of our e-mountain bikes.
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Cheers, Peter
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Words & Photos: Peter Walker
