Following on from our First Look at the stunning carbon Mondaraker Dune in June, we cast our eye over the rest of the Mondraker 2016 range.

Key Points

• Trail and All-Mountain 29ers ditched in favour of 27.5+
• First ever e-bike for Spanish bike brand
• Introduction of kids’ fat bikes

Let me guess, a 2016 bike launch = 27.5+ wheels?

Yep, Mondraker has shown its hand for 2016 and it’s going all-in on plus bikes. The Spanish company will be producing eight models fitted with 27.5×3.0 tyres next year including the Vantage+ hardtails, Crafty+ full suspension, e-Vantage+, e-Crafty+  and other e-MTBs.

Mondraker has never been shy of innovation as its dedication to Forward Geometry has shown and it clearly believes that Plus bikes are the next big trend for mountain biking.

>>> Confused? Read our complete guide to wheelsizes here

The video above demonstrates the Crafty+, the Plus bike version of Mondraker’s existing 140mm trail full-suspension bike. it shows the bike tackling dsuty trails, clifftop paths and most worryingly of all, sand (won’t someone please think of the bearings!?).

There are three Crafty+ models available – the Crafty+, the Crafty R+ and the Crafty RR+. The higher specced RR+ will have a FOX 34 fork, a Float X shock, Deore gearing and a Reverb seatpost but there’s no official word on pricing just yet.

The top of the range Crafty RR+

The Vantage range will be expanded to four models next year. Two Vantage models will become 27.5+ with the other two remaining on the standard 27.5 wheels.

When we tested the 2015 Vantage we found it really twitchy and lacking in grip, maybe the increased contact patch of the 27.5+ wheels will help this. Of course, the problem could lie with Mondraker’s forward geometry as well…

Will 27.5+ wheels sort the Vantage’s handling problems?

What else is new?

It seems that Mondraker are ticking all the 2016 boxes, much like Scott and Lapierre they’ve launched a range of e-bikes too.

Leading the way is the absolutely unstoppable looking e-Panzer, an electric version of Mondraker’s fat bike.

The unstoppable looking e-Panzer

However there are also electric versions of the Crafty and Vantage for those of you wanting less of a tank. All the Mondraker electric models are powered by a Bosch Performance CX Drive with a 400Wh Powerpack battery. They also have an on-board electronic display.

Is it all fat for Mondraker then?

No unlike Charge, it’s worth saying that Mondraker hasn’t fully comitted to plus sized wheels and will still be making bikes with normal width tyres such as the gorgeous Dune Carbon that we listed as one of our Most Exciting Mountain Bikes for 2016.

The Dune’s Geometry perfectly suited the Alpine trails

Is this a wise move from Mondraker?

Well, potentially. We just spent two weeks in Italy on the Scott Genius 700 Plus and that was enough to convince us that there’s is definitely a future in plus sized wheels. If Mondraker gets the right frame and spec combo on these bikes it could make for a very interesting range indeed.