Monster climb with your 120-pound friend Miguel on Saturday; lift-served downhilling with the nose-ring set on Sunday—the Jekyll's dual personality handles it all. By adjusting the rear shock in its mounting collar, the single-pivot frame mutates from steep-angled cross-country mode (steeper head-tube angles provide quicker handling and a more
balanced ride for climbing) to a slack-angled downhiller's dream (reduced head-tube angles kick the fork farther out for big hits). In either mode, the bike has a healthy 4 inches of rear-wheel travel. We kept the Jekyll in cross-country mode and were amazed by the nimble handling, the phenomenal modulation of Magura's mechanical disc brakes, and the damp
feel of the Lefty fork with its electronic lock-out switch on the bars.
CLAY ELLIS
Santa Cruz
Superlight X
$2,300;
24.5 pounds; rear-wheel travel: 4 inches
Here's a sub-25-pound, raceworthy bike festooned with fancy parts for a little less than 100 bucks a pound. How can that be? Well, Santa Cruz began making single-pivot frames in 1993 and continues to refine the same basic design. That means low production costs, and, because they've learned precisely how much weight they can shave without sacrificing
durability, an extremely lightweight bike.As with any single-pivot, you definitely feel some pedal feedback in the small ring, but it doesn't result in any noticeable loss of power. If it bothers you, upgrade to the Fox Float R rear shock with the lock-out switch for another $70 and you've got a hardtail. Regardless, the weight savings of this single-pivot
feather easily makes up for its one nebulous flaw.
CLAY ELLIS
K2 Razorback Team
$2,350
24.7 pounds; rear-wheel travel: 3 inches
A hardtail full-suspension bike: That's how most of our testers described the Razorback. Relax, in this case it's a compliment. The Razorback has precise handling because the rear triangle is extremely stiff laterally, making it ideal for the race course. Feel like sprinting? A lock-out lever on the bars gives you the option to stand up and hammer like a
track cyclist. Although the Razorback was the least plush of all the bikes we tested (we're dubious about the amount of travel claimed), it's far more comfortable than a hardtail with a suspension seatpost, and the single-pivot design is nearly maintenance-free. Gripes? A $2,350 bike should come with a better front shock—the Noleen lacks adequate
rebound damping.
GT skinned the bio-pace cat with i-Drive, a design that keeps constant tension on the chain by suspending the crank with the rest of the four-bar rear triangle—an eccentric pivot within the oversize bottom bracket keeps the cranks moving in perfect sync with the rear suspension. It works, and because you're not fighting chain feedback, you can spin
higher gears. We were even more impressed with this bike's whopping 4.6 inches of travel: In Sedona, the i-Drive soaked up slickrock stairs like a downhill machine. One of the most balanced, versatile bikes we've ridden, our only complaint is that the high bottom bracket (13 inches) renders it a little tippy on steep, slow climbs. On the downhills,
naturally, that translates to good ground
