Downhill racing drives mountain bike innovation like nothing else, and my Gear of the Year 2024 comes straight off the gnarliest tracks on the circuit. I’m talking about e*thirteen’s revolutionary new Sidekick hub, it decouples the drivetrain, reduces chain growth and makes my suspension feel so good it was almost ‘chainless’.

It’s a complicated product and topic to understand, so complicated in fact I wrote a university dissertation’s worth of tech babble on e*thirteen’s new Sidekick rear hub and its near-magical chainless effect.

e*thirteen Sidekick hubs disengage the drivetrain, and the chainless feel made my Tallboy ride like an enduro bike

If you haven’t got time to read my feature taking in every possible nuance of performance and interactions between hub, drivetrain and suspension I wouldn’t blame you, so here’s a brief summary. Yes, e*thirteen’s Sidekick does what it says on the tin and makes my bike feel smoother, faster and more like it has that chainless feeling when you’re not pedalling.

I slotted a set of Sylvan carbon wheels with their Sidekick hub onto a Santa Cruz Tallboy and it seemed to give that short travel machine extra travel. And most impressively of all it felt like the rear wheel tracks better under braking too. This final part gives loads more control on steeper tracks where any shorter travel trail bike usually feels most hamstrung by less suspension capability. It’s a great have-your-cake-and-eat-it feeling because you still get to ride around on a peppy, tighter-feeling bike that gives all that trail bike energy I really enjoy.

With a fatter body to accommodate the new pusher mechanism, e*thirteen’s Sidekick rear hub is easily recognisable… get it hub only or as a built wheelset

Bear in mind though that I’m a total DH-er at heart and Sidekick’s massive lag in pedalling response is a problem for techie climbing. In fact it invoked a few choice references from Viz’s Profanosaurus when trying to tackle those climbing challenges where I’m teetering on the impossible, constantly tweaking my crank position and lung capacity to crest steep hills.

I still think it’s one of the most interesting design solutions of the year though, and it surprised me just how important chain growth and kickback are to suspension performance. Take those two out of the equation and a whole new world of bike tuning opens up.

Who likes a dry bum and legs when riding? 100% me, so the Rapha Trail Pants are my go-to bottoms in wet weather

Rapha Trail Gore Tex Pants

It seems a bit crazy recommending a pair of trousers at £250, or a quarter the price of RockShox’s latest enduro fork (my other Gear of the Year runner up). But, Rapha’s waterproof keks are, by a mile, the best winter riding trousers I’ve used. They keep on performing despite being continually doused with as much mud and spray as your average farmer’s muck spreader kicks out of its back door.

Waterproof pocket and zip means the Rapha Trail Pants are practical, as well as fitting really well

One standout weekend in them was a recent trip to North Wales, with two days at Dyfi bike park and one riding off-piste near the Marin trail in biblically damp conditions. Despite being constantly soaked for three full days and having grit and grime ground into the seat like some kind of weird paste, I never once had wet legs. That’s pretty remarkable considering I also rode around 50km in mud on a full fat e-bike around Gwydir Forest. It’s not just Rapha’s waterproofing that’s top notch, however, it’s also the fit. It follows my legs’ natural shape and the extra comfort that comes from this detailed cut is priceless. The waist tensioning system actually works for once too and I never feel too clammy and scratchy inside either.

I rated last year’s RockShox Zebs here thanks to the solid chassis, but the new version Ultimate is even better thanks to its plush damper

RockShox Zeb Ultimate

The only product I deemed worthy of a perfect 10 score in 2024 is RockShox’s latest Zeb Ultimate with the new Charger 3.1 damper. This latest generation refines and perfects everything that was great about the previous fork and makes the damper tuning window broader for a wider range of users as well as upping bump swallowing and grip performance.

Both editor Danny Milner and I rate the latest Zeb so highly because RockShox has managed to reduce the friction to even lower levels than before, while the damping is lighter and seems to work better for a wider range of users and scenarios.

The best fork of 2024 is the RockShox Zeb Ultimate, how long it will stay at the top of the pile is anyone’s guess though

The brand already had a totally dialled chassis, so RockShox’ updates are all about the damper and making the black 38mm legs slide more smoothly in and out of the gorgeous deep red lower legs. One of the things that’s most impressive about the Zeb is how easy it is to get good performance if you’re not exactly a total suspension guru. I stuck the fork on my bike in the car park at BikePark Wales and within two runs had it feeling better than the old Charger 3 model I had dialled to within an inch of its life. In fact, this latest model even felt just as good with the brand’s recommended settings for my weight. I usually find Fox’s recommended settings offer too much damping, and they’re harder to really dial in too.

Being able to saw a steerer tube, plug it into your bike or e-bike and get close to top performance from the off is a big deal. And it doesn’t hurt either that if you’re as allergic to servicing as I am, you can usually run RockShox forks all year and they’ll still work OK.

The Ultimate Zeb is the best model to get, and even though it’s listed at £1,200 but you can usually find some killer deals online thanks to the brand’s big market share. A quick scout just found Tweeks offering it at £895 and Lordgun listing the 180mm or 190mm versions for the crazy cheap price of £675. For that money this fork is an absolute steal.

Buttercups aren’t new on the RockShox Zeb the rubber bushings are still crazy good at cutting trail buzz and letting the fork ooze into its travel