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NUKEPROOF SCOUT 290 RACE Price: From: £1,099.00 Nukeproof, nukeproof.com Nukeproof. For those with a few more laps around the sun under their belt, that name will always be associated with trick hyper-light hubs made from carbon fibre and aluminium. The Michigan-based brand enjoyed significant commercial success during the mountain bike boom of the ’90s, though like many other niche component brands at the time, Nukeproof suffered the same fate when the bubble burst not long after. After it was bought by Chain Reaction Cycles, the Nukeproof brand was reinvigorated and relaunched in 2007, first with titanium shock springs, then 800mm wide riser bars that were relatively uncommon at the time. That range has expanded significantly over the past decade to now include pedals, stems, dropper posts and complete wheelsets – all built tough and priced reasonably too. Nukeproof still makes all of that stuff, but these days it’s earning more recognition for complete bikes, most notably the Mega – one of the original enduro race bikes to hit the mass market. And thanks to UK mountain biking legend Nigel Page and a rather fast bloke by the name of Sam Hill, Nukeproof’s reputation in the downhill and enduro race scenes has blossomed over the past decade. As well as the Mega, the brand’s growing bike range now includes downhill bikes, cyclocross bikes, and hardtails. The Scout is Nukeproof’s ‘do it all’ hardtail. Like the Mega, the Scout is available in both 27.5in and 29in versions, both of which are built around chunky alloy frames and heavy-duty components. The Scout 290 (290 = 29in wheels) is available in two different build options: the Race (£1,099), and the Comp (£1,599). Each model is available in four sizes from Small through to X-Large, and you can also buy it as a frame-only for £349. The Bike The immediate impression you get from looking at the Scout 290 Race is that this bike is ready to take a punishing. Using large-profile hydroformed T6 6061 alloy tubes that are welded together with the addition of flares and braces, the Scout is a tough-looking rig. A fat tapered headtube, big boxsection stays and stocky dropouts indicate that weight and compliance has taken a backseat, while brute strength rides shotgun. Combined with the heavily sloping top tube and short seat tube, the Scout certainly won’t feel out of place sat atop the run-in at the dirt jumps. To match the brawniness of the frame, Nukeproof has specced the Scout with solid WTB SX23 rims that are built with a full complement of 32 spokes and brass nipples per wheel in a 3x lacing pattern. Nice and easy to replace a spoke when you bust one after casing a landing. The rims come pre-taped for tubeless setup, and the Maxxis EXO tyres are tubeless ready, so all you’ll need is a pair of tubeless valves and some sealant to drop 400g of mass out of the wheels off the bat. Whereas the Scout 275 is designed for 140mm travel forks, the Scout 290 uses a 130mm travel fork. In the case of the Race model, it’s a Manitou Minute that comes colourmatched to the frame. It’s air adjustable with external rebound and compression dials via the Absolute Plus damper, and it uses a 15mm tooled axle. Geometry on the Scout 290 Race is as progressive as it gets for a hardtail knocking on the £1k door. Drawing from the alpine-capable Mega, the Scout uses a similarly slack 66° head angle to keep the steering steady when pointing the bike down very steep things. The bottom bracket also sits nicely low at 65mm below the hub axle line, so watch out for those pedal-catching moments when spinning through narrow rock gullies. Elsewhere the numbers are more modest. The reach isn’t massively long at 420mm on our Medium test bike (440mm Large, 455mm XL), and the 73° seat tube angle is pretty relaxed. Likewise, the chainstays sit at a middling 440mm length. The rest of the Scout 290 frame has been designed to be as versatile as possible to reduce headaches when it comes time for upgrades or repairs. The frame is front derailleur compatible, and there’s the option to fit a chain device via the ISCG 05 tabs. The bottom bracket is the good ol’ threaded type, and Nukeproof has kept all cabling external, except for the option of running a stealth dropper post. Our test bike arrived at <strong>Singletrack</strong> Towers already set up tubeless, dropping its complete weight to 12.7kg (27.94 lbs). 54
The stock Manitou Minute forks were a touch out of their comfort zone on the more technical trails. A solid frame design with a threaded BB and ISCG Tabs. 55
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Page 12 and 13: Into China. A bleary, jet-lagged st
Page 14 and 15: Wailing welding solos on the wah-wa
Page 16 and 17: Building Boris. Our afternoon visit
Page 18 and 19: Laying up the slices of carbon, rea
Page 20 and 21: Final holes are drilled, post mould
Page 22 and 23: Our final stop was to see the sampl
Page 24 and 25: JASON MILEs PHOTOGRAPHY ED ROLLASON
Page 26 and 27: TRAIL HUNTER EXPLORES THOSE MUST-DO
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Page 38 and 39: Balls. The walkers, sensing blood,
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Page 44 and 45: TOPEAK RATCHET ROCKET LITE NTX Pric
Page 46 and 47: WORDS CHARLIE THE BIKEMONGER ROOM 1
Page 48 and 49: KILLER HARDTAILS Wil and the crew r
Page 50 and 51: KONA HONZO CR TRAIL DL Price: From:
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Page 58 and 59: TRILLION CYCLES PRIME Price: From:
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Page 62 and 63: VERDICT In a marketing landscape th
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Page 68 and 69: Bright coloured photo-gimp avengers
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Page 72 and 73: Illustration by BEATE KUBITZ 72
Page 74 and 75: Mmmm Guinness. We didn’t bother c
Page 76 and 77: CROWN COPYRIGHT The Knowledge Total
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Page 80 and 81: KEITH BONTRAGER “Strong, light, c
Page 82 and 83: Keith, we were talking about the co
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Page 88 and 89: And finally, Keith, you made your n
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Page 92 and 93: Hangover remedy: A single dose of s
Page 95 and 96: A Hopton, a skip and a jump. Hopton
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Page 99 and 100: HI-TECH RUBBER James Vincent and th
Page 101 and 102: STEP INSIDE MY LAB Tyred and Tested
Page 103 and 104: 102 The tough casing on the TRSr ty
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BEST SUMMER TYRE MICHELIN WILD ROCK
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106 At 1150g, the Hutchinson Toro i
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BEST ALL ROUNDER MAXXIS HIGH ROLLER
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VERDICT We tested ten set of tyres
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PREMIER DEALERS. Bike shops and bus
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DISCOVER AN EXTRA 32 PAGES OF EXCLU
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Rise and shine! Our two guides pick
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After the descent we continue down
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Island hopping and a change of scen
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Snack-time, Azores style. Formosa f
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The Azores The Azores are a group o
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IAn BAILEY PHOTOGRAPHY IAN AND FRIE
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In the clearing, Matti, our guide,
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Not the bars he had in mind. Hike-a
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A sprinkling of magenta on a cloudy
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What goes up… In proper ’90s st
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142 Those fat tyres just glide over
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There’s far too much order in tha
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ChIPPs LAST WORD Event organisers a
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