Charge’s Cooker serves up a refreshingly different yet traditional ride that minimises some of the downsides of plus-sized rubber without undermining its basic advantages.
Retro aesthetic
The Cooker frame even looks retro, with simple round main tubes behind the tapered head tube and an open-ended throat gusset to assure correct stress transfer. The BB uses threaded external cups, the rear gear cable and brake hose are clipped onto the outside of the frame for easy servicing, and – praise be – there are two bottle cage mounts. Sticking with a 135mm wide, open dropout, quick-release rear axle makes the frame and rear wheel much cheaper, meaning Charge can deliver good value across the Cooker range.
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The QR rear hub is fine for the Cooker’s intended use
This bags the Cooker 4 full SRAM GX (albeit with the cheaper solid-armed crankset), plus a RockShox Reba fork with Boost Maxle axle. While the TurnKey damping is relatively primitive, it’s hard to tell through the big WTB tyres.
Keeping the travel to 100mm (3.9in) limits the effect of braking and turning twist on the 32mm legs, but the frame can handle a 120mm (4.7in) fork upgrade if you want a bit more stroke. The bar is narrow and the stem long by fashion standards, but for what Charge has designed the Cooker for – a global recreational trail riding market – they make a lot of sense.
Standing out from the 27.5+ herd
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