First Look: 2021 Rockrider AM 100S - new all mountain trail bike

New from Decathalon's in-house bike brand, Rockrider, is the new AM 100S. It gets a hearty amount of travel and all of the mod-cons, making this bike a pretty decent bang for your buck. The geometry is not entirely to be sniffed at either, here's a quick look.
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The Rockrider AM 100S is designed as the brand's all-mountain 29er with 150mm of squish at the front and 140mm at the rear. Rockrider's bike testers have been ripping their AM 100S's around the French Alps so it should be primed for some proper UK trail riding.
It's built around an alloy frame which comes fitted with a RockShox 35 Gold fork that sits at a 66° head angle. As its name suggests, it comes sorted with those new 35mm stanchions, promising a stiff front end and direct steering. The fork is also kitted with RockShox' respected Debonair air spring.
The AM 100S's frame doesn't get internal cable routing but it's rather tidily routed along the downtube and let's face it, it'll be much easier to work with.
As for the rest of the geometry, our large frame gets a rather stout 447.5mm reach, a 74° seat tube angle, and a 445mm chainstay.
Handling the 140mm of rear suspension is a Manitou McLeod shock which has been specifically designed for this bike. To help things on the tougher climbs, a four-stop compression dial to firm the shock up and lock it out, and there's an adjustable rebound dial, with the important stuff looking pretty easy to reach, while being well protected.
As for the drivetrain, we get a full SRAM NX Eagle set up, so that's 12 gears to play with and our test bike gets a 34t chainring for a helpful boost on the climbs. It comes with SRAM Level T brakes too but a nice touch is that the front end gets a four-pot caliper which will offer extra braking power. They're matched with a 180mm rotor at the front, with a 160mm out back.
The cockpit on the AM 100S looks pretty modern too, with a 35mm stem and 760mm wide handlebar.
Often a luxury on more budget-friendly full sussers, our size L comes with a lengthy, unbranded, 150mm dropper post. Smaller frame sizes have to put up with a 120mm dropper, however.
It's nice that Rockrider has sorted us with some good looking tyres. Here we get a 2.5" Hutchinson Taipan at the front and a narrower 2.35" Hutchinson Toro both from the brand's Racing Lab range, they're tubeless-ready too.
Speaking of tubeless ready, the Sun Ringle Duroc 30 wheels are pre-taped, meaning all you'll need is tubeless valves and sealant to benefit from the joys of tubeless tyres.
If a £1,400, big-wheeled, mid-travel trail bike gets your juices flowing, keep an eye out for the full review coming soon.