Pinkbike 2025 Field Test-6 Bike Shootout -Which eMTB Jumps, Corners, Climbs, & Descends the Best

Alfmeister said:
Yeah your right, I was thinking T3 was the top of the line, but that’s the T4 Podium version. Still in the UK, one could possibly expect to get 10% off if your lucky, as I was, if you can get your size.

Not sure how the US discounts are at the moment, on the various manufacturers?
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I just know I couldn't get any discount on a Levo 4 when I was shopping this past September in the Phoenix Arizona area. That's why I ended up buying a store owner's demo Levo. No regrets because the price was right; and I'm super happy with the upgrades he did to it. For example, I wouldn't have chosen the Lewis LH4 brake set but I've been nothing but impressed with them!
 
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This looked to me to be a test by trail riders on easy trails. Not fair for a 180mm bike.
 
They don't have mountains, but there is chunk, and there are drops and jumps galore a plenty.

I wouldn't call the PB testers 'trail riders' either, if you mean that in a way that indicates they can't ride proper trails. I mean, Matt Beer is a Canadian DH champ and was testing the trail bikes.

180mm isn't the bike I'd buy there either though, I'd buy like a 150/ 160 most likely if that was my main riding spot.
 
Suns_PSD said:
They don't have mountains, but there is chunk, and there are drops and jumps galore a plenty.

I wouldn't call the PB testers 'trail riders' either, if you mean that in a way that indicates they can't ride proper trails. I mean, Matt Beer is a Canadian DH champ and was testing the trail bikes.

180mm isn't the bike I'd buy there either though, I'd buy like a 150/ 160 most likely if that was my main riding spot.
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Well. the terrain on the video's was very easy. My point being it seemed to be a test that advantaged a basic 150/160 bike. In those tests of course the 150/160 bike will come out on top. Throw in some actual chunk both up and down and some big features.
 
Suns_PSD said:
They don't have mountains, but there is chunk, and there are drops and jumps galore a plenty.

I wouldn't call the PB testers 'trail riders' either, if you mean that in a way that indicates they can't ride proper trails. I mean, Matt Beer is a Canadian DH champ and was testing the trail bikes.

180mm isn't the bike I'd buy there either though, I'd buy like a 150/ 160 most likely if that was my main riding spot.
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I'd put a $100 down that no one on this forum is a faster rider than Matt Beer.....lol
 
Suns_PSD said:
They don't have mountains, but there is chunk, and there are drops and jumps galore a plenty.

I wouldn't call the PB testers 'trail riders' either, if you mean that in a way that indicates they can't ride proper trails. I mean, Matt Beer is a Canadian DH champ and was testing the trail bikes.

180mm isn't the bike I'd buy there either though, I'd buy like a 150/ 160 most likely if that was my main riding spot.
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Yes same here but at the same time it is nice to know how well the bigger travel bikes ride in those traul conditions just as it's also good to know how well the 150 160 bikes adapt to bigger mountain stuff. I find most reviews offer something and that these guys are being pretty honest with what they find. They seem to be making all the changes as you do to tune a bike in for themselves and that's about all you can ask of them
 
Suns_PSD said:
They don't have mountains, but there is chunk, and there are drops and jumps galore a plenty.

I wouldn't call the PB testers 'trail riders' either, if you mean that in a way that indicates they can't ride proper trails. I mean, Matt Beer is a Canadian DH champ and was testing the trail bikes.

180mm isn't the bike I'd buy there either though, I'd buy like a 150/ 160 most likely if that was my main riding spot.
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I’ve come to the conclusion that a 180 Zeb is the only fork I’ll run on the ebike unless something drastically changes next year. It’d have to be pretty smooth stuff for me to want anything less, and if I did, I’d go with a 170 fox 38. 170 Zeb is good but imo that fork is on a whole new level when you bump it to 180, whereas the fox 38 oddly gets worse at 180.

I wouldn’t run either one at 160 either. But just my preference.
 
2supple said:
I’ve come to the conclusion that a 180 Zeb is the only fork I’ll run on the ebike unless something drastically changes next year. It’d have to be pretty smooth stuff for me to want anything less, and if I did, I’d go with a 170 fox 38. 170 Zeb is good but imo that fork is on a whole new level when you bump it to 180, whereas the fox 38 oddly gets worse at 180.

I wouldn’t run either one at 160 either. But just my preference.
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I am interested in this finding. Currently running a 170 Zeb on my Forbidden core and am pretth pleased with it however I would be all for upping to 180 if the gains were worth it and yes I know Forbidden state 170 is max but anyway tell me about your experience with the 180 and how it performs better. Cheers 🍻
 
Chairman said:
I am interested in this finding. Currently running a 170 Zeb on my Forbidden core and am pretth pleased with it however I would be all for upping to 180 if the gains were worth it and yes I know Forbidden state 170 is max but anyway tell me about your experience with the 180 and how it performs better. Cheers 🍻
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The zeb gets better with more travel. Im running 2 x 180mm zebs. I have run 170 and 190 zebs too. 180mm is the sweet zone imo.
 
Chairman said:
I am interested in this finding. Currently running a 170 Zeb on my Forbidden core and am pretth pleased with it however I would be all for upping to 180 if the gains were worth it and yes I know Forbidden state 170 is max but anyway tell me about your experience with the 180 and how it performs better. Cheers 🍻
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While the Zeb is still a great fork at 170, to me it has a pretty linear air spring and it goes through the midstroke quicker than the 38. The Fox tends to sit up in its travel a bit more, so even though both are 170, the Zeb can feel like it has “less travel” in certain situations because the dynamic ride height feels lower—especially on an e-bike where you really want that extra support.

After riding both the 38 and Zeb at 180, the Fox felt a bit flexier and didn’t really benefit from the extra ride height the way I expected. The Zeb, on the other hand, feels better at 180: the ramp is more predictable, it sits a little higher, and it matches the Zeb’s air spring character (since it naturally wants to use more midstroke). Bottom-out support is great for me with one token, and on an e-bike it just feels like the perfect setup.

If you go from 170 to 180 travel on the Zeb, you'll want to remove 1 token (I went from 2 to 1) and run ~10% less air pressure (I went from 72 to 65psi) - I'm 175lbs rider weight for reference.
 
2supple said:
While the Zeb is still a great fork at 170, to me it has a pretty linear air spring and it goes through the midstroke quicker than the 38. The Fox tends to sit up in its travel a bit more, so even though both are 170, the Zeb can feel like it has “less travel” in certain situations because the dynamic ride height feels lower—especially on an e-bike where you really want that extra support.

After riding both the 38 and Zeb at 180, the Fox felt a bit flexier and didn’t really benefit from the extra ride height the way I expected. The Zeb, on the other hand, feels better at 180: the ramp is more predictable, it sits a little higher, and it matches the Zeb’s air spring character (since it naturally wants to use more midstroke). Bottom-out support is great for me with one token, and on an e-bike it just feels like the perfect setup.

If you go from 170 to 180 travel on the Zeb, you'll want to remove 1 token (I went from 2 to 1) and run ~10% less air pressure (I went from 72 to 65psi) - I'm 175lbs rider weight for reference.
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Thanks. Exactly the things I am looking for. Good report
 
It'll be interesting to hear the breakdown podcast.
The reality is that they are all amazing e-bikes.
 
Dario just liked the Yeti suspension and spent a lot of time on the bike, that’s what swayed it.

My takeaway is that they’re all pretty good.

I personally would buy the Forbidden (which I did) or the Crestline (which I missed by a few hours).
 
It is interesting however that every review of the six infinity suspension just gives rave reviews on the suspension in particular.
It must be something pretty magical.
 
Suns_PSD said:
It is interesting however that every review of the six infinity suspension just gives rave reviews on the suspension in particular.
It must be something pretty magical.
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It is. I poured over the patent years ago and was taken by its dynamic linkage, that effectively fine tunes the best aspects of a Horst Link suspension - Its basically Apex Horst. It's cleaner than their Switch Infinity on the their analog bikes, IMO. I recall Leo at Pole was interviewed years ago on PB and said that suspension was the only one he was envious of.

Besides the value dimension, their motor choices in the past have kept me back, and I had wanted more travel. The 160 had Shimano, the MTE has the TQ. Now though, All that's left is the cost and the chubby aesthetic, and perhaps waiting for a 170mm version.
 
slickrock said:
It is. I poured over the patent years ago and was taken by its dynamic linkage, that effectively fine tunes the best aspects of a Horst Link suspension - Its basically Apex Horst. It's cleaner than their Switch Infinity on the their analog bikes, IMO. I recall Leo at Pole was interviewed years ago on PB and said that suspension was the only one he was envious of.

Besides the value dimension, their motor choices in the past have kept me back, and I had wanted more travel. The 160 had Shimano, the MTE has the TQ. Now though, All that's left is the cost and the chubby aesthetic, and perhaps waiting for a 170mm version.
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Yah, it's very close to an ideal bike for sure, but still has a couple of issues. They are racing it so it's going to be an 800w and the Bosch 800 is fat and low for better handling.

Can you elaborate more on the suspension and what it's doing that is so special? Is this the same suspension that the Atherton bikes utilize?

Thx
 
Suns_PSD said:
Yah, it's very close to an ideal bike for sure, but still has a couple of issues. They are racing it so it's going to be an 800w and the Bosch 800 is fat and low for better handling.

Can you elaborate more on the suspension and what it's doing that is so special? Is this the same suspension that the Atherton bikes utilize?

Thx
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No. Atherton has been using DW6, a different 6 linkage design. In general 6 linkages give more independent control over anti-squat/rise and more nuanced ICT position and dynamics, but at the supposed cost of extra complexity/maintenance from the extra pivot points. What I like about the Sixfinity is that the switch link has a distinct inflection point that you can see reversing - like it's giving up on 100% anti-squat in favor of super active suspension (like in the old Horst Link days that required a pedaling platform shock) at that very point. I think this might be the "magic" you were referring to. That you can also change the the progression (3 settings) without affecting the kinematics at all is interesting as well - coil shocks fully welcome.
 
I did notice that the LTe has a really flat AS curve until it falls off. IN the past I owned a Yeti 5.5 and I have a good friend that went through all the modern Yeti iterations (pedal bikes) and I thought that they all had atrocious rear traction. When I examined the AS curves, they would often have North of 150% AS so I figured that was what was going on.
 
doochenozzle said:
It’s funny that the Forbidden was the best descender in their group test and noted as as outstanding climber but the Yeti was eeb of the year.
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Balance is key, and that's where the Forbidden comes up short based on reviews I've read.

I think the E-core would be better with 5mm less CS length and 10mm more Reach. They used the same frame for the Lite and the E-core. The geo should have been made ideal for the e-Core, instead it seems like it's ideal for the Lite.
 
Suns_PSD said:
Balance is key, and that's where the Forbidden comes up short based on reviews I've read.

I think the E-core would be better with 5mm less CS length and 10mm more Reach. They used the same frame for the Lite and the E-core. The geo should have been made ideal for the e-Core, instead it seems like it's ideal for the Lite.
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I disagree. I reckon they have nailed it. Riding is believing. Sweet bike that feels tough as nails
 
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