Ever wondered which mountain bike is best for you? I’m guessing I’m not the only one who’s spent hours looking at geometry charts, thinking about how much travel I actually need and trying to work out which is the right bike for me, my riding and my ability. So I thought it would be interesting to get three regular riders, and three bikes that sit across the range from 150mm to 170mm of rear travel, with different takes on things like reach, chain stay length and head angle, to see how they all feel and perform out on the trails.

So in this episode we take Canyon’s Spectral, Torque and brand new Strive race bike for two days of riding, one pedalling and one uplifted, to look at the positives and negatives of the different rides. Hopefully this gives you something to think about when you’re making your own decisions about what bike is best for you. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with me, Jonny and Ben.

You can find out more about the Canyon bikes by heading over to canyon.com.

Supporting Partners

CushCore

I’ve been using CushCore for a few years now and yeah they help protect your rims, but what I really love is what they do to the way the bike rides. The bike is more damped, it rolls faster and maintains momentum better over rough terrain. They really do allow you to go bigger, corner harder, and ride faster with total confidence.

CushCore have amassed 24 EWS wins and 94 podiums. In World Cup downhill they have 27 wins 96 podiums, 7 world championships and 3 world cup overall champions. Pretty impressive eh!

If you want to go bigger, corner harder and ride faster with total confidence then cushcore.com is the place to head.

Canyon

Canyon have just launched their massively updated Strive, which is a no compromises enduro race bike. Designed with feedback from the Canyon race team, including Jack Moir and Fabien Barel, alongside Canyon's talented engineering teams pushing the limits of what's possible, the new Strive is a force to be reckoned with. Designed to be the fastest bike over any given enduro, it uses Shapeshifter technology to provide a bike that descends and climbs like nothing you've ridden before.

You can check out the new Strive over at canyon.com.

Podcast Stuff

Downtime EP

Downtime EP issue 1 is now available at downtimepodcast.com/ep. EP takes inspiration from the guests and topics of the podcast. It expands on them, and takes them into a stunning print-only format. EP is the perfect companion for some quiet time away from the distractions of modern life. Beautiful to have and hold, and a timeless piece of mountain bike history.

Just head over to downtimepodcast.com/ep to save yourself £5 off of the cover price with an annual subscription for just £20 plus postage.

Merch

If you want to support the podcast, and represent, then my webstore is the place to head. All products are 100% organic, shipped without plastics, and made with a supply chain that's using renewable energy. So check it out now over at downtimepodcast.com/shop.

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Are you enjoying the podcast? If so, then don’t forget to subscribe. Each episode will get delivered to your device as soon as it’s available and it's totally free. You'll find all the links you need at downtimepodcast.com/subscribe. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google and most of the podcast apps out there. While you're there, why not join our newsletter to get our Weekend Warm-Up email every Friday. Full of interesting bike-related stuff, competitions, product recommendations and more.

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Photo - Boris Beyer