The new Maxxis High Roller, Trek's Slash+, Boardman's ADV and TRVL range and YT Industries' Dirtlove

The most exciting tech stories of the week.

Liam Mercer

Jul 27 2024

The off.road.cc website has been buzzing with the news of the Maxxis High Roller tyre and Trek entering the lightweight enduro e-MTB race with its new Slash+. Guava Bikes also announced its arrival in the UK market and YT Industries unveiled its latest Dirtlove jump bike. In other off-road news, Boardman unveiled two new gravel bikes: an updated ADV line and an all-new TRVL range, and both look like awesome value for money.

We highlighted the best MTB saddles we've tested

A mountain bike saddle can make or break your ride, but we've done the hard work and compiled the best saddles we've tested to make your buying process as easy as possible.

Not only have we included each saddle that scored four stars or more, but we also provide expert advice on what to look for when buying your next saddle. So if you're in the market for a fresh perch, check out our latest buyer's guide to put yourself in with the best chance of nailing your next saddle purchase.

Here's our best mountain bike saddles 2024 guide to get you started.

Guava Bikes announced its entry into the UK market

Hailing from Barcelona, Guava Bikes is now available in the UK. With three builds of Spot gravel bike on offer, the base Shimano GRX build gets Shimano's gravel-specific 1x shifting and an alloy finishing kit. The top-of-the-range bike uses carbon componentry for a racier feel and lighter weight.

For a limited time, Guava is offering a handful of customers the opportunity to fly to Barcelona to collect their new bikes and enjoy a guided ride. The bikes will be packed by the brand, ready to be flown home with its new owner.

For more about the new brand, check out the story - Spanish brand Guava Bikes blasts onto the UK market.

Maxxis shook up its High Roller tyre

This week, Maxxis radically overhauled the High Roller to fill a gap between the Assegai and Shorty that was left for an aggressive intermediate tyre.

Rather than the heavily ramped, mid-profile knobs that the High Roller II made its name for, the latest High Roller III gets a taller, almost mid-spike tread pattern that's wider spaced. it then borrows from the Shorty with mini-knobs placed on the carcass, which we expect will help shed mud.

As a gravity-focussed tyre, the High Roller III can be bought in Maxxis' Double Down and Downhill casings, although there's an EXO+ casing on the way. It's then available in 29-inch and 650b sizes and a 2.4in width.

Head over to the story for a deeper dive into Maxxis' latest tyre - The Maxxis High Roller 3 is now a mixed-conditions DH tyre.

YT Industries' Dirtlove got an update

The Dirtlove is the bike that put YT Industries on the map in 2008 and, this week, the German brand announced an update for 2024. Now, the dirt jump bike has been designed with help from the YT's athlete, Erik Fedko and it gets the brand's signature headbox design.

Also new are 7075 aluminium sliding dropouts with built-in chain tensioners that provide a non-slip connection for consistent chain tension. With the sliding dropout, the bike can adjust from 375mm to 389mm in chainstay length and there are two builds available, as well as an Uncaged frame-only.

Here are all of the details - The YT Industries Dirtlove dirt jump bike evolves for 2024.

Boardman's ADV and TRVL ranges look great value for money

Boardman announced its updates to its ADV gravel bike range while introducing an all-new bike dubbed, TRVL.

The ADV bikes comprise alloy and carbon frames with modern geometries and luggage mounts. There's even an alloy-framed SRAM Apex AXS-equipped bike for £2,000.

Where things get properly interesting is in the TRVL range. These bikes get aggressive geometry, alloy frames and RockShox Rudy forks with 40mm of travel. Prices start at £1,600 and go up to £2,100.

Here are all the details - Boardman's new ADV and TRVL gravel bike range offers crazy bang for buck.

Trek's Slash+ joins the lightweight enduro e-MTB party

A couple of years ago, Trek introduced its Fuel EXe, one of the earliest bikes to receive a TQ mid-drive motor, and the brand continues the trend with its latest Slash+. However, this bike looks set to compete with the YT Industries Decoy SN using 170mm of travel at both ends and the high pivot suspension platform.

With the TQ HPR50 motor, the bike kicks out 50Nm of torque with 300w of peak power. There's a larger 580Wh battery.

There are some differences between this Slash+ and the regular Slash as the e-bike runs either a mullet wheel arrangement or full 650b hoops and loses the Mino-Link. Instead, Trek has fitted the Slash+ with adjustable headset cups, allowing for a 63.5-degree or 62.6-degree head angle measurement.

For more, here's the article - Trek joins the lightweight enduro e-MTB race with the Slash+.

Specialized celebrates 50 years in the industry with a special-edition Epic WC

Specialized has been shouting about its 50th anniversary for a while and has ushered in large updates to nearly all its mountain bikes. This week, the brand has gone one step further and released a special-edition Epic World Cup bike.

The bike benefits from super-high-end componentry and a special colourway to mark the occasion. There are only 250 of these bikes available worldwide and yes, one will cost you with a price of £12,500.

Here's the article for more - Limited edition S-Works Epic launched to celebrate 50 years of Specialized.

Author block

Liam Mercer

Since beginning his mountain biking career while working as a resort photographer in Greece in 2014, Liam became a freelance contributor at off.road.cc in 2019. From there, he’s climbed the journalism job ladder from staff writer to deputy technical editor, now finding his place as technical editor.

Partial to the odd enduro race, heart rate-raising efforts on slim-tyred cross-country bikes, hell-for-leather e-MTB blasts or even casual gravel jaunts, there’s not a corner of off-road cycling where Liam fears to tread. With more than 40 bike reviews under his belt and hundreds more on MTB, e-MTB and gravel parts and accessories, Liam’s expertise continues to be cemented and respected by the industry.