Is This The End Of Traditional Trail Bikes?

[@bikeradar]

What else could possibly make a trail bike of the future? 🤔

[@captaincrazymofo]

Hopefully in the future marketing teams and accountants can stop designing bikes, and engineers and riders are hired instead 😜 so we can be done with headset cable routing, 1 piece bar/stems and down tubes thicker than 'someones mum' 🤔🧐

[@benlukkie]

Started on a hardtail 35 years ago, 10 years ago ran a DH 200mm fully, but had too vague of a feeling. On a sub 2k, 160mm forked 63degr MX hardtail now and having the best of times 😅

[@JaredRMorgan]

7k for an analog bike in today’s market is a big reach. Good luck to them!

[@mrsmartypants_1]

What is a fricken digital bike? I know what you mean btw but “analog” is a really dumb label as electric motor assisted bikes are of course analog also. Not until bicycles “drive by wire” like modern jet fighters will they ever be anything but analog. And that of course is not going to happen.

[@RegularJonMTB]

Don’t forget the midrange components!

[@briannyob7799]

​@@mrsmartypants_1I believe non-electric mountain bikes are just called mountain bikes.

[@323johnnybravo]

I prefer the term Amish Bikes.

[@AndrewJones-eo7nw]

Analog bike…so you mean a mountain bike (as opposed to a motorbike)???

[@livefreeandshred9818]

I have a Druid v2 and it’s easily my favorite bike I’ve ever owned. No question.

[@liquidSpin]

Scott Genius ALL THE WAY personally

[@philhunt1442]

my god you shredded that on that druid

[@bikeradar]

Hey thanks Phil! Appreciate the comment! I’ve spent an awful lot of time on that bike already, it feels like part of me now 😂 ~ Will

[@munga1302]

To much marketing in the mtb industry these days, we don't really need that much to have a blast on the trails

[@e_mtb]

Right, and the reality is, that nothing elemental has changed in the last years, so they need to compensate the lack of innovation with more and more marketing BS. Apart from that you can update every bike from 2018+ with new components, if you want to give electronic shifting a try for example (but it's also not perfect, just raises new problems). The geometry changes are so slightly, nearly no one will spot any difference if a chainstay is 1-2mm shorter or the front is 0.1 degree steeper, if it would be so much better, I would be interested to know why they didn't use this geometry on the previous model, since they claim to have developed it for years.. shouldn't they have tried different geometries then? So yeah, a lot of blah blah blah...

[@johnlesoudeur3653]

Great review and presentation. Scott Spark ST 900 Tuned. Why was your saddle so forward on the Druid?

[@bikeradar]

Hi! Thanks so much, really glad you enjoyed the video 👍🏼 I find running the saddle like that reduces lumbar aches… Not sure if I’m just a funny shape but after experimenting with lots of different seat angles, there seems to be the one that works for me! Any bike fit experts reading this, let me know what you think! ~ Will

[@grantwilliams2912]

Recently ridden a Druid V2.. Really impressive

[@bikeradar]

Ain’t it just! A really different approach to designing a trail bike, must be a Canadian thing eh!? ~ Will

[@ianbrown2336]

It's actually a modified 4-bar on the Forbidden

[@joshuaallswang8016]

My 2O22 Specialized Stumpy EVO 16O/15O travel fully adjustable geo said hold my beer🍺😤..

[@jmard24]

Providing commentary while fighting for your life is wild

[@bikeradar]

Haha ❤ Thank you! That’s why they pay me the big bucks 😉😅 ~ Will

[@wbd3159]

Would love to see Forbidden make an e-bike.

[@ThunderStruckMTB]

I'd be pissed if I thought I was buying a Short Travel Genius ST and then got a Super Trail.

[@devbrix1]

Forbidden are developing an e-bike. Interested to see the pricing😮

[@dadventuretv2538]

JC when you are pedaling that Druid it sounds like a tank. That sound would drive me nuts. But you know what the death of trail bikes is: that there have not been significant enough changes to make me get rid of my 2019. And the other thing: my burly emtb enduro bike that is more fun than any analog mtb on every trail.

[@theamazingtacocat9270]

Love my scott ransom but I basically only take it out for bike park days. 170mm travel is just so overkill for normal trail days

[@bikeradar]

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah Scot Ransom really are cool, but they are big bike designed to do a specific job! The genius ST bridges the gap between the genius and the ransom excellently! ~ Will

[@jtothada06]

Wouldn’t a trail bike be 140/150 rear travel in today’s standard.

[@rockdown92]

looks like a fun bike and thank you for the review. but 3k+ only for the frame is ridiculous, for that money i bought my YT Izzo complete😅

[@dylantech]

Woah, I didn’t know Waluigi rips MTBs now!

[@cliffordrichardc]

you ride so power

[@ericmenu5408]

Scott Spark ST ("ST" means "SuperTrail", so not the classical "Spark RC" one for Racing, or the "Spark" for downcountry) is the real new tail trend ! :) (or Santa Cruz Tallboy or Scor 2030) Light for climbs and capable for downhills (140mm fork at the front and 120mm with piggyback shock at the rear). These ones in your video are too heavy for efficient climbs

[@Alex-md6bu]

Try again there are three configurations of spark… rc has 120mm fork and headset set to steep with remote suspension f&r Spark has 130mm fork with headset set to slack and remote suspension f&r Spark st has 140mm fork with headset set to slack and remote shock but not remote fork so they can run forks such as grip2 fox for better descending performance

[@johnlesoudeur3653]

@@Alex-md6bu They can also have their head angles switched in three stages. E.g the Spark RC can be ridden at 67.2, 66.6 or 66.00.

[@TheSamwhyte]

If you watch this video and think you need these bikes, you don’t need these bikes.

[@urielgonzalez9916]

What you think about bold bikes??

[@joseulloa8769]

7k for a bicycle is just ridiculous. He said the frame was special in 3 years frame won’t be special anymore. Industry is wild right now with the prices that are being pushed especially with the economy being down.

[@maciejklasa6783]

And here I am with my second hand 300 euro hardtail... 😅

[@LawrenceMacMacster]

You know why framesets are overpriced and building yourself isn't encouraged more? Because we're told buying a complete bike makes us benefit from manufacturers rebates on components. That's a very nasty lie.

[@joshuadoesstuffandsuch]

To think my 22 Stumpy Evo Alloy build and Hayabusa together cost less than one of these. Yeah, they can keep their shyte. It appears the only real future of trail bikes is overpricing. I'm so done with this pompous industry. It's literally turned into the haves and have-nots. What a load of cow dung. Oh, and high-pivot, nah. My Evo has slayed a few high pivots, soooooo........

[@shaun1900]

Nice advert

[@mikej1348]

The pure dentist bikes 😅

[@boramutludogan3539]

So, gx axs is mid spec nowadays huh? For 7k you get mid spec...

[@Alex-md6bu]

Let’s be fair, if superbikes can cost 12k then a 7k bike isn’t going to be top spec… should superbikes cost 12k is a completely different issue😅

[@beerenmusli8220]

Exactly my thought. A Drivetrain costing 500 USD shouldn't be mid spec. Thats XT levels of price and XT already wins races, the low end Sram-ission doesnt.

[@censorshipBS]

None of them as the future will be no rear mech ❤😊

[@antoanangelov5672]

I really want gearboxes to catch on XD

[@benjy288]

Supposedly gearbox bikes have more drag.

[@wbd3159]

So does the high pivot. If make Forbidden made an e-bike with gear box and DJI motor then it's a game changer. Awesome suspension without worries about drag. I'd love a dreadnought style e-bike.

[@woo_kash]

Trek suspension system? Whaaat? 14:32

[@E.T_rode_bikes_As_well]

Trick

[@woo_kash]

Makes sense :) Thanks

[@RatluBoogerbag]

The Scott is far from futuristic. Bold have been hiding the shock in the downtube for a decade.

[@Zaxaphone]

Scott actually bought Bold Bikes a while back, and said that there would be "no overlap in R&D" but then a few years later Scott started putting shocks in the downtube. The future is buying out others' cool ideas.

[@sampah89]

Is this the future of BikeRadar? Becoming industry shill?

[@elfaranelasul6886]

traditional will always be the king......

[@censorshipBS]

7k 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@luismartins9521]

I think this a good bike trial but really, really "narrow"...All of us in the mtb world know that both Forbidden and Scott make some of the best frames there are but, this video couldn't possibly be considered a complete one without the new Specialized Stumpumper 15, with it's new proprietary Fox Genie shock. Wich exists only, that shock, to compensate the fact that it lost a few mm's of rear wheel travel in comparison to the Specialized Stumpjumper Evo that it substitutes. And wich I own. And wich I consider, with my 160mm Lyrick Ultimate 3.0 in the front, Fox Float X2 Factory controling 150mm of sweet rear travel and a mullet setup THE best trail bike that ever existed. And actually I know that my opinion is shared by a LOT of people that tried the bike, own the bike or owned the bike. And just for all of your consideration, my bike, an S3 size frame, with a Newmen Evolution Mullet Wheelset(aluminium, 1.7kgs), Sram GX mechanical transmission(wich is absolutelly sweet!), Magura Mt5 brakes on 203/180mm rotors, 2.4 Maxxis tires front and rear and 160mm Syncros 1.5S dropper came in with a "dry weight"(without the pedals) of 13,57kgs. Now, that's a fabulous number, hem? And cost me, this summer 4880€(final assembling within this cost number)...And I bought every single piece of that bike myself. I don't buy full bikes, just choose every component and do the build. Cheers for everyone from Coimbra, Portugal!

[@ilovelimpfries]

Seven grand for a mid spec bike, i dont care how complicated the frame is. At that price, it's a ripoff.

[@Sir-Kay]

Keep pushing all these 7billion dollar bikes no wonder the industry is dying. I now ride scooters.

[@benjy288]

Hopefully they're not the future, I don't want trail bikes to be high pivots, and I'd prefer not to have switches on my bike that I have to remember to press before I descend, I'm more of a set it and forget it kinda guy.

[@BreeZieDoesiT]

I remember when the slickest Stumpjumper back in 2001 was like 1.8K for all the best Shimano parts and frame. the fact that things went up 3-4x in price for whats called the best is crazy. I guess if people are paying for it there isnt a problem, just seems crazy to me.

[@mac001texas]

The new equipment works much better than that old stuff though

[@JimLacey357]

I owned a Scott Spark… worst bike to work on… never again will I own any Pressfit bike and the TwinLoc was also a pain in the A$$. I hope Scott is not the future, I think the current trail bikes are very impressive, Ibis Ripley/Ripmo, Specialized Stumpjumper and Santa Cruz Tallboy/Hightower those are the go to trail bikes in my opinion. 🤘😎

[@johnlesoudeur3653]

I find the Spark easy to work on in all respects but I must admit I have switched out the Twinlock for a Twistlock which I prefer.

[@liquidSpin]

What was so painful about the twinloc? Like, if you know how to install cable shifters in your shifters and dropper post there's no difference. It's not that hard. Sorry to hear you had PF issues but I've had zero issues with PF in all the bikes i've owned since they were installed properly and installed into well made BB shells

[@JimLacey357]

@@liquidSpin I’m not sure how TwinLoc works now but on my 2017 Spark the dropper lever was not in the traditional spot below the bars like on all other mountain bikes… it was very annoying and the extra cables looked bad… just my preference. As for Pressfit, it is an unnecessary solution to a nonexistent problem, even Yeti switched back to threaded BBs. Mine creaked and so did many of my friends. Lucky for me Santa Cruz and Specialized do not use PressFit so not an issue for me either. ✌️🤠

[@liquidSpin]

@ totally understand. They make different twinloc version. Over the bar or below so you can if you want have the dropper below the bars. I currently run the twinloc below the bars but it also includes the dropper lever below the bar as well. As for aesthetics yeah totally subjective. I think it's bad ass and love being able to change the suspension on the fly while also changing the geometry while climbing. But all twinloc's work the same as they all just use a basic shifter cable. Cheers~

[@JimLacey357]

@ I do agree, the ability to change the suspension on the fly is a nice feature. I used it a lot on my rides. It all comes down to personal preference. As long as we can get out and ride is all that really matters. ✌️🤠

[@roilev]

The forbidden has a single pivot rear end. It is not a 4 bar since there is no linkage between the pivot and the rear axle.

[@bikeradar]

Hi! The Forbidden V2 in the video has an inverted four-bar suspension system. It can be tricky to see, becuase you’re probably used to seeing the main pivot on the chainstay of the bike. Whereas the Druid V2 has the main pivot on the seatstay! Hence why it IS a true four-bar, but it’s inverted ✈️ Hope this helps! ~ Will

[@roilev]

@@bikeradar Thank you, Will, now I see it! The upper stay is fixed to the frame, while the lower one drives the shock. Opposite what the others do.

[@1Moggi]

Tally-ho! 😁

[@IainMarshall-i4l]

Can I just point out one pretty obvious mistake here. The Forbidden isn't a high pivot suspension bike. It's a low single pivot! It may have a high idler wheel but that's the only similarity.

[@tom6493]

Except at 3:40, you can clearly see the pivot is above the “high” idler and way above the axle’s horizontal centre line…

[@andyflaw]

None of these are the future of trail bikes. Pricing too close to e bikes .