VERDICT In a marketing landscape that’s dominated by pricey carbon fibre wunder-bikes and hyper-long geometry sleds, the humble hardtail regularly misses out on a lot of the media attention. Which is a shame really, because we like hardtails. As we’ve rediscovered during this group test, today’s hardtail is far, far more capable than those that have preceded it. Modern technologies have certainly taken the hardtail’s performance a long way. Bigger wheels, fatter tyres, dropper posts, and stiffer forks have all played their part. But without doubt, it’s the new-school frame geometry that has upped the ride quality stakes and enhanced the speed capabilities of each one of these bikes we’ve tested. Whether you’re looking to get into the sport for the first time, or you’re after that N+1 bike to accompany you through a wet and muddy winter season, or you just want the fastest and most responsive bike you can get for cutting up snaky singletrack, chances are that there’s a hardtail here that’ll answer your needs. Made right here in the UK and from every diehard mountain biker’s favourite material, steel, the Trillion Prime ticks all the right boxes for a hardcore hardtail. It’s slack, can fit semi-chubby rubber, and comes equipped with a cartoonishly long travel fork that will have downhill riders eyeing it up as a potential winter silly bike. Being a prototype, however, our test bike was far from perfect, and there’s some refining required both on the finish and on the geometry before the Prime is ready for its time in the spotlight. Nukeproof originally wanted to get us the higher-end Scout 290 Comp model, but, due to availability, we ended up testing the cheaper Race spec. Despite a twisty fork and soft brakes, the £1,099 Nukeproof Scout impressed all testers with its composed attitude and surprisingly stable descending manners. It’s the perfect example of how far entry-level hardtails have come, with its tough frame, slack geometry and grippy rubber possessing masses of capability that’ll allow your skills and confidence to grow with it. It’s a terrific beginner’s bike with loads of upgrade potential. On the other side of the price spectrum, the Kona Honzo CR Trail DL is no cheap proposition. There are certainly bikes with a better spec list than this for the same money, and some of those bikes have rear suspension too. Price aside though, the Honzo is just pure and simple wickedly fun. It corners on a penny, it blasts downhill way too fast, and rides with a gung-ho attitude that I have never experienced with any other carbon hardtail. Sure it’s lightweight and race-capable for all but the most elite World Cup level athletes, but it’s the Honzo’s responsive handling and on-trail feedback that makes it so addictive to ride. 62 This feature was created in association with Innsbruck Tourismus, which enabled us to shoot this Bike Test on location in Innsbruck, on the Nordkette Singletrail and at Bikepark Innsbruck. For more information, visit: innsbruck.info and bikepark-innsbruck.com Check out singletrackworld.com for our follow-up travel feature.
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