RUST magazine: RUST#37

BETA ENDURO 2019
And if we had to make another
comparison, its kind of like a two-stroke
version of Beta’s RR390 four-stroke –
it’s a trail bike that will race if you like,
but the feeling is of a play bike, not race
bike. Just chill out and enjoy the ride.
Of course you can score great results
riding like that, and I’m sure the RR200
will pick up wins here and there.
Interestingly it does feel smallish. The
125/200 chassis is only 5mm shorter
than that of the RR250/300, so that
doesn’t sound much, but it’s also 13mm
shorter than the four-strokes and the
seat height is 10mm less. Somehow –
and this could psychosomatic – it feels
distinctly smaller (forcing 100kg of rider
weight through the suspension possibly
adds to this feeling, too). For smaller
people this is great news, but people
taller than 6’0” will want to try before
they buy.
Now I’ll comment again later on
suspension, and the new Sachs ZF kit
is good, the no-tools adjusters are a
win for ease of use, but they’re also a
win for making a significant change
to the performance of the suspension
– y’know, clickers that work. But with
light bikes like this, you have to be more
precise with the adjusters to get the ride
dialed in – less weight seems to mean
more sensitivity. So while I found a
decent setting for the four-strokes quite
readily, it would take me another ride or
three to get the 200 dialed-in.
All told, where I can’t ride a 125 to save
my life, on this 200 I felt perfectly at
home, it’s less stress and more fun. It is
a great addition to the Beta range and
for woods riders, say in the UK, in NZ
and East Coast US I can see a healthy
market for this bike.
NICE.
w
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