Foldable Bikes Party: Introducing Mountain Biking UK magazine's 2016 machines

Thursday, 21 January 2016

Introducing Mountain Biking UK magazine's 2016 machines – part 1

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After a fond farewell to our 2015 bikes, it's time to meet BikeRadar sister mag Mountain Biking UK's new long-term fleet. We ride these bikes hard all year, using them as testbeds for new kit, and coaxing, punishing and teasing out the truth about their capabilities.

To get these bikes ready for a January 2016 launch, most of us had an early Christmas present, all packaged up in a bike sized box. After ripping off the bubble wrap we got out on the trails to get shredding on our new steeds. As you can imagine, we were like kids in a candy store. Here our testers give you their initial impressions of their 2016 long-termers.

Ric's Lapierre Zesty AM 527

Way back when i first started work at MBUK towers, Lapierres were about as hot as trail bikes got. I was given a beautiful black-and-white Zesty to test, and as I rode it home that night I couldn’t have been happier. Then I went for a shower and threw up over myself. The norovirus had struck and the bike was subsequently disinfected and presented to somebody else to test. That, sadly, was as close as I ever came to riding a Lapierre.

It’s a disgusting rather than romantic anecdote, but it did make rolling my new Zesty out of her box that little bit more special. I’ve been on the bike for going on a month now and straight away the feel was more ‘sniper rifle’, as opposed to the bludgeoning ‘sawn-off shotgun’ of my outgoing and much-loved Vitus Sommet.