According to Pinnacle, the Iroko 2 is designed to be ‘ridden hard and put a smile on your face’. Sounds good to us, but before we reveal our facial expressions, let’s take a closer look at what you get.

Firstly Pinnacle is Evans Cycles’ in-house mtb brand. It designs the frame, finds the factory, sources the parts and ships it over to the UK.

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Effectively it is a direct-sales brand — with all the associated cost savings — that’s available to buy, or click and collect, through Evans’s 60 stores across the UK. You get the savings of direct sales with the confidence of bricks and mortar.

The Iroko boasts a low-slung frame with a super sloping top tube and butted aluminium tubing that removes weight and adds an element of compliance. In addition, there’s a small diameter post shimmed to fit the 30.9mm seat tube. This adds a bit of flex when seated, takes the edge off bumps, yet still lets you upgrade to a dropper at a later date.

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With a stubby 40mm stem, relatively slack head angle, low bottom bracket and chunky WTB Vigilante front tyre, the Iroko 2 absolutely rips.

The short stem helped boost our confidence

It’s playful, confidence inspiring and it always felt like it was working with us rather than against us. This is a bike with progressive handling that won’t get left behind as your skills improve.

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Shifting was crisp, the Deore brakes powerful and dependable, and the Recon Gold fork never became flustered.

Pinnacle definitely delivered on its promise; we couldn’t stop smiling on the Iroko 2. The problem is, we had an even wider grin aboard the Ragley.