Canyon’s first lightweight e-MTB, Brett Rheeder’s components and more

We bring all the latest news from the mountain biking and gravel world to you.

Adwitiya Pal

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Apr 27 2024

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After a couple of weeks of relentless tech drops from the mountain bike world, things seemed to have slowed down compared to the frenzy during the Cape Epic. But don’t worry, that doesn’t mean a drought in tech news all around — we’ve got some eye-watering deals thanks to Spesh and Trek, while we shine the spotlight on two of MTB scene’s best riders — Brett Rheeder’s brand making its way into the UK, and finally a chat about all things tech with the legend himself, Nino Schurter.

Specialized halved its mountain and gravel bike prices

“Is now the best time to buy a Spesh?” was the question on everyone’s minds at off.road.cc, as Specialized lifted the lid on a crazy sale that promises up to 50 per cent off of chosen products – yes, even bikes.

Owing to the economic issues plaguing the bike industry since the post-lockdown days, this latest splash of discounting means that you can grab a Ground Control Sport for just a tenner with the Fast Track Sport costing the same.

On the bike side, the Stumpjumper Evo LTD has been brought from £6,500 down to £3,250, while the Epic Evo Pro and Epic Evo Pro LTD bikes are being sold for £3,650 and £4,000 respectively – that's almost half their original retail price.

That’s not it though, and to see all the products discounted by Specialized, go to our news story: Specialized slashes mountain and gravel bike prices by up to 50 per cent.

Brett Rheeder’s MTB componentry brand made its debut in the UK market

We don’t think Brett Rheeder needs any introduction — his 39 podiums and 19 wins speak for themselves. And now the freeride MTB rider’s own brand, called Title, is making a breakthrough into the UK market with the entry coordinated by Traffic UK (also responsible for Bombtrack).

Title is set to introduce its full suite of components including the FORM Aluminum 35 Handlebar priced at £137, as well as the aluminium-forged Connect pedal which weighs 398g and costs £150.

To check out more components in Title’s array, click here: Brett Rheeder's Title MTB componentry brand is now available in the UK.

Canyon released its first lightweight e-MTB

Coming in at 19.1kg, Neuron:ONfly is Canyon’s offering to those looking for a more agile electric mountain bike. It features a carbon frame and 140mm of suspension travel front and rear, positioning it as a dedicated trail bike.

And like most bikes in Canyon’s e-MTB range, it is powered by Bosch’s Performance Line SX mid-drive motor, rated at 55Nm of output torque and 600W of power. The Neuron:ONfly is powered by a 400Wh battery that Canyon claims saves two to three kilos over the full-fat Neuron:ON.

Check out this latest bike here: The 19.1kg Neuron:ONfly is Canyon’s first lightweight e-mountain bike.

We chatted with Nino Schurter about his cross-country bikes

Off.road.cc got the chance to sit down and chat up the Swiss ace and greatest male cross-country mountain biking racer of all time, Nino Schurter. The strands of conversation unravelled in myriad ways, including his favourite paint jobs, his 2024 Paris Olympic dreams and retirement…

And of course, his bikes! There’s a lot of cool info we got out of Schurter, including his thoughts on dropper posts, his tyre setup, his preference between hardtail and full-suspension rides and his choice of drivetrain (if you’re wondering, that’s SRAM AXS as of now).

Don’t miss out on this amazing interview, read the whole thing by clicking here: Retrospective: the evolution of Nino Schurter’s cross-country race bikes.

We dissected the effects of weight and geometry in e-MTB design

Ever wondered what things such as weight and geometry have do to with e-MTB design? Well, if you couldn’t tell, with the more and more e-MTBs hitting the market and getting more popular with each passing day, you could bet that we’ve been wondering about that a lot. So, we sat down with several industry professionals to find that out.

Do they also stick by the MTB industry's mantra of “long, slack and low” when designing electric mountain bikes? How important is the weight in determining the bike’s stability? How does the battery affect its agility? And what about things like reach and stack?

To find out the answer to those questions and learn more about how electric mountain bikes are designed, click here: E-MTB geometry explained: how weight and geometry affect your ride.

Our list of the best 2024 mountain bikes

With more and more bikes now coming in an array of shapes and forms with varying degrees of suspension travel, it can get very complicated for the novice rider. So we’ve made things easy for you with this guide to the best mountain bikes.

This is the comprehensive off.road.cc guide to buying a mountain bike in 2024, whether you’re looking for a cross-country bike, a trail, an enduro or a hardtail bike, based on all the stuff we’ve tested so far: Best mountain bikes 2024 - top options from cross-country to Enduro.

Trek followed Specialized with another crazy April sale

With Specialized offering an up to 50 per cent sale on not only kit and tools but also bikes early on in the week, Trek decided to follow up with a 30 per cent sale of its own come Thursday.

What’s on offer? You can get a Fuel EXe 9.9 XX1 AXS for only £9,499.95, a tidy discount from this e-bike’s usual retail price of £13,500. The Slash 9.8 XT Gen 5 is selling at 25 per cent off for only £4,500, which gets you a RockShox ZEB fork, Shimano XT 1x12 drivetrain, four-piston brakes and Line Elite 30 carbon wheels with 108T internals gearing the rear hub.

Check all the sweet deals from Trek here: Trek offering up to 30% off bikes and parts in crazy April MTB sale.