All of these beauties scored 10/10
Here are thirteen of the best 2019 mountain bike products… so far. All these items received a full 10/10 review rating from mbr.
It’s the middle of the year and so it feels like a suitable time to reflect on what stuff stood out for us in the past six months. These products are the standout items in a period already jam-packed with testing.
Dropper posts, shoes, helmets, saddles, wheels, tyres, disc brakes, hydration packs, grips, suspension forks and plenty of other items. Go check them out.
We’ve not included bikes in this round-up. If you want to check out what were our favourite 2019 bikes, check out our Bike of the Year and our recent Hardtail of the Year features.
2019’s Perfect Products
Hunt Wheels TrailWide wheelset, £349.00
A wider rimmed wheel (that’s stronger and heavier) targets Enduro and DH, if that’s your bag. The TrailWides are superb value, but it’s obvious the details have still been sweated over.
Giro Terraduro shoes, £149.99
This is one pair of shoes that can turn its hand, if you’ll forgive the expression, to any form of riding. It’s equally at home racing XC as Enduro, as well as weekly trail riding duties.
Bell Super 3.0 MIPS helmet, £119.99
We awarded the Super 2 a test-winning score the last time out, and now Bell has made a couple of revisions to the new Bell Super 3 to make it even better.
Shimano Deore M6000 disc brake, £69.99
Amongst our raft of budget stoppers that we’ve tested, the Shimano Deore M6000 is the most refined and is not that far removed from the XT (tested elsewhere) in terms of quality and finishing.
SRAM Guide RE disc brake, £125.00
SRAM’s Guide RE brake is designed for e-bike use but there’s nothing stopping you fitting this a regular bike. What makes it so good is it combines the best of Guide and Code but has a price that’s not much different to the budget brakes in this test.
Fox Indicator Pant, £85.00
These long kecks are highly breathable, lightweight and comfortable, so much so we’ve been wearing them in conditions where we’ve traditionally donned shorts.
Camelbak Skyline LR10, £114.99
For 2019 our favourite trailpack, the Skyline LR10, has undergone a bit of a nip and tuck. The LR stands for Low Rider and accordingly the pack sits nice and low, the weight centred on the hips and lower back, and supported through broad shoulder straps and a new highly ventilated waist strap.
Five Ten Freerider Pro shoes, £119.95
The secret to Five Ten’s success is its rubbery sorcery, and the dotty Stealth sole on the Freerider Pro delivers astounding grip. Much more durable than previous incarnations yet lightweight and comfortable, this brilliant shoe actually costs the same as many of its closest rivals, but walks all over them on rough terrain.
Ergon GE1 EVO Factory grips, £34.99
The rubber tread profile has been refined for extra texture and hold with a series of deeper fins or ridges on palm facing panels. The GE1’s now grip even more securely, especially in the wet or with sweaty hands riding gloveless.
Maxxis Minion DHR II WT tyre, £64.99
Counter-intuitive though as it may seem, the Maxxis Minion DHR II tread is equally at home up front as it is out back, and grips more tenaciously than arguably anything in the Maxxis range. OK, so you lose a bit of rolling speed speed compared to the DHF version, but you more than make up for it in cornering hold and outright confidence.
Milkit Booster, £42.99
With the introduction of the Milkit Booster, the tubeless inflator has come full circle. It delivers a sufficient blast to seat even big volume tyres, it’s great value and we love its dual-purpose simplicity.
Brand-X Ascend dropper post, £154.99
There are better quality dropper posts on the market with multi-adjustable remote that go longer without needing servicing but none as are cheap as the Brand-X Ascend. Nor are they available in five lengths or three sizes.
RockShox Lyrik Ultimate RC2 suspension fork, £990.00
A bonus is RockShox’s proven long-term fork reliability. The Lyrik continuously performs at a high level even if you don’t service it regularly, which you can’t say for all suspension products, plus this Ultimate RC2 version delivers the pinnacle of enduro performance at a lower price than its nearest rival.