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Late last year, John took delivery of a Cowboy Cookie frameset and assembled the build spec to make for a kit of metal components. After reviewing the Pasta Party in 2020, he’s been closely following Sour Bicycle‘s brand development, particularly its full-suspension bikes. Read on for some killer riding shots from Spencer Harding and John’s thoughts on this Horst link 120/130 mm build and why the Cowboy Cookie from Sour hits an especially sweet spot…
Despite its short-travel initials, the Devinci Troy ST has a long-travel soul. It’s quick, quiet, and made in Quebec. But Travis found it felt quite at home in southern California.
The all-new Ibis Cycles Ripley SL is made in California, in Ibis’ 100% solar-powered factory. It’s made from handcrafted carbon, featuring some clever engineering details, and is an example of Ibis’ drive and obsessive passion in creating bikes…
Introducing the Starling Cycles Big Bird. Are 32er mountain bikes the next big thing? Starling Cycles was inevitably cynical but also interested to find out. After all, what’s opinion without experience?
This edition of our Shock Value suspension-education series will get a little nerdy. We’re taking a shallow dive into leverage curves, anti-squat, and anti-rise. We’ll explain how these metrics can be useful when shopping for a full-suspension bike, and why they are still a bit flawed.
Ashley King’s framebuilder brand Significant Other has constantly impressed us with her Made Bike Show and Bespoked offerings. This year, at the 2025 Made Bike Show, she bowled us all over with her Ded Reckin titanium-and-steel full-suspension, which she just launched a pre-order for…
Revel Bikes is back at it, experimenting with materials and developing new bikes. Today, they are giving the public a sneak peek at their latest experiment, a full suspension titanium prototype dubbed Project RaTical.
Hold on to your butts. We present the Trek CheckOUT, a new 60mm-travel full-suspension gravel bike with a focus on adventure, efficiency, and freaking out the squares. Of course, Travis loves it. The day after his first ride, he took it on a 400-mile trip across the Rockies. The day he got back, it became his daily driver.
Right around April Fool’s Day 2020, a strange product hit the scene called the Ochain (OH-chain). It was an aftermarket “spider” that allowed for limited rearward rotation of the chainring relative to the crank. This was to combat pedal-kickback, which is the occasional tendency for a bike’s rear suspension motion to tug rearward on the chain, and thus the pedals. Pedal kickback is a tricky thing to pin down, because it doesn’t happen for every rider or on every bike. If you’re traveling fast enough, or if the impact is shallow enough, the motion may not be extreme enough for kickback to occur. And some suspension designs are more susceptible than others.
When we talk about the Esker Howdy Ti, we could focus on its cutting-edge linkage design. Or its titanium frame. Or its pretty good value. But what stood out for Travis is how much fun it is … That, and the fact that it’s a cutting-edge titanium bike that’s a pretty good value.
We’re pausing the multiple bike gallery format of our 2025 Made Bike Show coverage to give one bike its own spotlight. Ashley King from Significant Other brought a few killer bikes, but John really vibed with her Ded Reckin, a titanium and steel full suspension. Let’s check it out in detail for one of a few individual build showcases we have planned from the show…
Offered in a race-focused 115/120 setup or a bike for good ol’ fashioned all-day mountain biking with a 120/130 setup, the all-new Norco Revolver looks to join the ranks of bikes that are redefining “cross country”…
With the success of the 120/150 mm travel Darco, BC mountain bike pioneers Chromag wanted a bike with a little more travel. Using the same geometric approach but with a 135 mm rear shock and 160 mm fork, the Reazon was born…
CrossWorx’s German-made aluminum frames combine brutalism and futurism with surprising elegance. Travis reviewed the trail-oriented CrossWorx Lite 290, finding that it punched well above its weight. And that’s saying a lot for a frame that is definitely not “Lite.”
This year, Kona announced the tenth generation of its lauded Hei Hei full suspension bike. Known for being a playful, shorter travel sibling to the brand’s all-mountain offerings, John was intrigued if the bike would be able to hang with his favorite backyard terrain. Read on for his thoughts on the platform…
Last week, John scoped the Sentient Workshop Project Stepping Stone full suspension cargo bike on the Welsh brand’s Instagram. He immediately reached out to Tullen and James to see if they’d send in a write-up on this very unique project. Below you’ll find a special Readers’ Rides, from the minds of two tinkerers with a lot of talent and vision. Let’s check it out!
Drew is a mountain biker, Marathon XC racer and coach from the South West of the UK and one of the nerdiest bike nerds Starling has ever met! When he emailed Starling Cycles to tell them all about his money-no-object Marathon XC Beady Little Eye, the Bristol-based builders just KNEW they had to build it, and shoot some video of it all going together…
This is more than just a review of the Spot Mayhem 140. It’s an exploration of what suspension does, what we want it to do, and what happens when a small company throws a small chunk of titanium into the works. It’s also an excuse for Travis to talk about leverage curves.
