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Some brands have come and gone over the years and some have even returned from the dead. Some brands are fashion strongholds in any bike shop. Some brands are legends, icons or cult brands.Call it what you will but one brand is back and it looks to be swinging a big bat! Mountain Cycle is BACK! Although the ownership has changed a few times they are back in capable hands and from the looks of things the future looks bright. The very first dual suspension bike I rode was a San Andreas way back in 1991.
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To say they were ahead of their time is an grossly understated fact! So far ahead they are still using the same single pivot suspension. Although a bit refined over the years, it is tried and true to form and works. They have spread their spectrum of bikes from Downhill and All MTN to also include some awesome XC specimens. Progression is a wonderful thing and MountainCycle is definitely looking to take over the biking world again. From looking at all the new bikes I say they are gonna fair well in this battle!
Enter the bikes
First off their Shockwave Two. Setting things up with the usual single pivot but now with a “tuned link” to provide a new feel to the old favorite. It features a full 8″s of travel.
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Next up is the San Andreas 2.0 AM bike sporting 6.5″s of travel. Marzocchi handles the suspension duties both front and rear. While Shimano 2×10 handles shifting while Avid Elixer 9′s squeezing Ashima rotors stop the bike.
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Their Zen ii is the middle man of the line up blurring the lines of XC and AM riding. Sitting at 5.5″s of travel carrying a similar build as the San Andreas but at a much more friendly weight and the trail rider that cant make up his mind to race either XC or Super D. It comes in either a complete bike or two different offerings of RACE packages with some great graphics.
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With their line up in springy bikes handled there are two choices for those of us that like to ride hardtails. First the all new carbon fiber Twentysixandsix. This is their full on, uber light XC racer that the casual rider will LOVE. Looks to be a great bike for the XC racer/rider.
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And saving the BIG hoops ride for last is the Twentynineandthirteen 29″ hardtail bike. This guy sports a super low top tube and a ridiculously short rear end. Combine that with the steeper than most head angle and you have a 29″ bike that handles very fast and climbs like a billy goat.
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The Mountain Cycle line up features a new bb and crank system that makes use of a BB30 bottom bracket in the frame yet features outboard bearings to support a 35mm spindle featured on the new cranks from Turn. This is said to translate into and incredibly stiff crank and really let you put the power down. Also almost all of their bikes will come with a Cane Creek Angle set to let you fine tune the geometry to your riding style. The bikes all come in component packages that were hand picked and not your typical factory build. Pairing Shimano and Turn drive train that also use Praxis Works sprockets and Sram brakes with Ashima rotors stopping the Kore wheels just goes to show how serious Mountain Cycle is about putting you on an awesome bike.
Mountain Cycle seems to have really refined themselves from past years and it looks as though they are not going anywhere any time soon. Hopefully we can get our hands on one of their new bikes for a review….me personally I am digging the Zen ii. Which one is your favorite.
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