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Trillion has informed us that all these issues have since been resolved with later prototypes, and that there are substantial changes due for production models, so we set all of that aside and got on with testing the Prime to see how it rode on the trail. The Ride Following Trillion’s sizing advice, I tested the M/L frame size based on my 175cm height. With its sloping top tube and short seat tube, I was able to fully appreciate all 170mm of travel on the Reverb dropper post – unusual for a rider of my height. With the saddle slammed out of the way, it becomes so much easier to move around the frame for cornering and descending, and I’ve since struggled going back to anything with less than 150mm of drop. With the longest fork on test, the Prime feels big the moment you board. Due to the external headset and 160mm 29er fork, the Prime has a substantial stack height of 634mm, putting the grips up quite high – about 50mm higher off the ground than the grips on the Nukeproof. Reach is decent, with the M/L frame measuring in at 448mm (422mm for the S/M and 470mm on the L/XL sizes). To quicken up steering, Trillion has built each frame size around a compact 33–35mm stem length. All told, with the uber-stiff 780mm wide Renthal handlebar and 27.5in wheels fitted, the Prime feels big and bold. It has a very stable and sure-footed feel that makes an over-the-bars excursion feel very unlikely. The Yari forks complement that feel, with the bulky chassis and smooth action keeping the front wheel tracking true. With the Prime being wheel-size ambidextrous, I subbed in 29in wheels to see how the bike would handle. Immediately apparent was the increase in BB height, which lifted 1.5cm to sit 33cm off the ground. I also had to pull the dropouts rearwards to accommodate the larger diameter wheel. With this set-up the Prime felt calmer overall, and I had no issues with pedalling through deep blown-out ruts thanks to the extra ground clearance. However, the whole bike just felt a little too cumbersome for my liking. To remedy this, I left the 29er up front and put the 27.5in wheel back into the rear. This dropped the BB height back down, shortened the chainstays to 430mm, and slackened off the head angle a touch to 64.5°. Once back on the trail, the Prime felt the best it had throughout testing. It’s still too tall at the front, it doesn’t climb particularly well, and you really need to boss the bike about to make the tighter corners, but it’s very solid. Commit to the Prime’s ‘tip and dip’ cornering style, and it’ll sling in and out of high-speed corners well. And as your confidence (and speed) increases, the wheels begin to skip over the top of the chatter, which feeds into further acceleration to let you really pinball downhill. However, like other big forked hardtails, the 160mm of travel up front can lead you into a false sense of security. So be prepared to handle your way out of some dicey trail situations. The head angle also effectively steepens as you sag through the travel, and I’m not totally convinced the Prime needs such a big fork. Retaining the slack head angle but running a shorter 130–140mm travel fork would help to preserve the Prime’s dynamic geometry at speed, while also lowering the overall ride height too. While I’m making suggestions, the arty brace on the back of the seatstay looks neat, but it is both a mud collector and a physical barrier for running a shorter chainstay length. Overall Being a prototype frame, there’s only so many conclusions we can make about the Prime’s performance. There’s no doubt that it’s a burly and capable steel hardtail, but I’d like to see further refinements to the frame and geometry. The bike sits tall at the front, and it isn’t immediately intuitive to ride. And while the wheel size flexibility is nice, the Prime chassis does feel somewhat compromised to afford such allowances. However, there have been enough moments of brilliance on the trail where the capable Prime has demolished sections with far greater speed than a hardtail should, that we’re excited to see what changes are to come for the production versions. We’re also big fans of the UK-manufacturing ethos and the company’s bold plans, and if Trillion is indeed heading where it says it is, this will be a name to watch. Frame Fork Hubs Rims Tyres Chainset Rear Mech Shifter Reynolds 853 & Colombus Zona Steel RockShox Yari RC 29, 160mm Travel Mavic XA Elite, 100x15mm F & 148x12mm R Mavic XA Elite 27.5, Hookless, UST Tubeless Mavic Quest Pro UST 2.4in Front & Rear SRAM X01 Eagle 32T SRAM X01 Eagle 12-Speed SRAM X01 Eagle 12-Speed Cassette Brakes Stem Bars Seatpost Saddle Size Tested Sizes Available Weight SRAM XG-1295 Eagle, 10–50T, 12-Speed Hope Race Evo E4, 180mm F & 160mm R Renthal Apex 35, 33mm Long Renthal Fatbar Carbon 35, 780mm Wide RockShox Reverb Stealth, 170mm Travel Fabric Scoop Flat M/L S/M, M/L, L/XL 12.13 kg (26.86 lbs) 61
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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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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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ChIPPs LAST WORD Event organisers a