You asked, they created: Atherton Bikes launch AM.130 trail bike

Aoife Glass

The new Atherton AM.130 is designed to be light, playful but capable enough to handle the bike park. And it's also two bikes in one

TAGS:

Atherton Bikes has launched a brand new trail bike, partly, it says, in response to a ‘tidal wave’ of customer requests. The AM.130 is built using the signature additive manufacturing technique with modern trail geometry, yet is tough enough to withstand enduro, downhill and bike park riding.

Need to know:

  • Lifetime frame warranty for first owner (including bike park use)
  • DW6 suspension platform
  • 29er wheels
  • 22 size options
  • Size specific seat tube angle
  • 140mm or 150mm fork option

Multiple Downhill and World Champion Rachel Atherton has had a lot of input into the development and refinement of this bike, clocking up hundreds of miles during her pause from downhill racing, and often riding with her baby Arna quite literally in tow.

“The AM.130 is designed to be super playful, wherever you want to ride, so don’t limit yourself,” comments Atherton. “I frequently take this bike on a long pedal ending up in Dyfi Bike Park and riding the hardest trails down to the café. It’s always such a fun ride, I don’t even mind pedalling, and I hate pedalling!”

The AM.130 joins the longer-travel AM.150 and the World Cup winning AM.200 in the Atherton stable, and like the other bikes in the range is designed and manufactured in Machynlleth, Wales, UK. It boasts 29er wheels, DW6 suspension platform, and either 140mm or 150mm of fork travel, more on which later.

The Dyfi bike park and trails of Machynlleth, home of Atherton Bikes, are a tough testing ground for any bike, and given that the brand has it’s origins in downhill racing it’s perhaps not a surprise that the AM.130 passed the EFBE Cat 4 (Enduro) and Cat 5 (Downhill) certification safety test – good news if you have a habit of taking trail bikes onto spicy terrain.

“We set out to design a bike that delivered a super-fun ride whatever the terrain,” explains Atherton CEO Dan Brown. “The AM.130 handles trickier, technical terrain in its stride but it’s still super-playful on a mellower trail. We went back to the drawing board with lug construction, stripping out even more material where it didn’t directly contribute to the bike’s strength which makes for a lighter ride and fantastic handling on the climbs; but this bike still descends like an Atherton–it’s the perfect combination for a big adventure or a blast round the local woods.”

The Atherton AM.130 with 140mm forks

The AM.130 is two bikes in one

“The AM130 is offered in 22 sizes for the perfect physical fit with a size specific seat tub eangle that moves from 77 to 79 degrees to ensure that taller riders won’t end up too far back on the bike for the climbs,” Brown continues. “But this bike also comes in two very distinct versions so wherever you ride you can be sure of a top day out.”

Boosted travel for gnarlier descents – the AM.130 X

“Our first prototypes for this bike had half a degree slacker head angle and a smaller fork but it quickly became clear to us that with different component selection we had not one but two great bikes on our hands. In line with our guiding principle of “no compromise” we’re offering the AM.130 which has a 140 mm fork for excellence on the climbs and more responsive steering on the flat and the AM.130.X (eXtra travel with a 150mm fork) which has a 0.5 degrees slacker head angle for extra stability on the rowdier descents.”

The AM.130 also features fully guided internal cable routing, bottle mounts, downtube protector, and a universal derailleur hanger plus standard bolts and barrel nuts to make maintenance easier.

Atherton AM.130 price and build options

Atherton Bikes offers a range of different builds plus a frameset-only option or, at the other end of the spectrum, a fully customisable dream build.

The frameset comes with a RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate shock and retails for £4200. The first full build in the lineup is the Build 2 kit, featuring RockShox Pike Select forks, Deluxe Ultimate shock and SRAM GX groupset, for £6600. The range topper Build 1 has RockShox Pike Ultimate forks, Super Deluxe Ultimate shock and SRAM X01, while Build X features Fox 36 forks, Fox Float X2 shock and SRAM GX.

As with other bikes in the Atherton stable, individual components in each build can be upgraded or, as mentioned, there’s the full dream build option, the price for which obviously will depend heavily on what parts you opt for.