What's The BEST Trail Mountain Bike In 2024?

After months of solid testing in a whole host of conditions, in a minute I'm going to tell you my pick of the top three trail bikes in 2024. A long list of 20 current trail bikes was whittled down to eight, which all got put through three months of solid testing. This is selection at all price from between £3,000 up to £4,200, a little broader than I'd hoped, but only because two of the bikes dropped in price mid-test. Without further ado, here are the top three trail bikes in 2024. First up is the Alloy Marin Rift Zone 29XR, or Extra Rad. Don't let its 130mm travel deceive you, this is built for fun. Its parts package, including select plus level Lyric and Super Deluxe shock from RockShox, hints at its aggressive nature. Next, we have Canyon's Box Fresh Spectral CF7. It has an innovative carbon frame and Fox suspension, as well as in-tube storage and their KISS system, which pulls the bars back to centre. More on that later. 140mm out back is balanced with 150mm travel at the front. Last, but as you'll find out, definitely not least, is the White T160RS. Not only does it have modern geometry, but it's also decked out in some fancy kit, including ultimate level suspension from RockShox. Despite this, it's actually the cheapest bike in the test. 150mm of rear wheel travel is paired with 160mm at the front. Let's start with climbing, which is key on any trail bike, and all three have a distinct feeling. The Marin is the least peppy here. When you stand up and pedal, it sinks into its mid-stroke and moves around, sapping your input. However, if you stay seated and spin, the super stable suspension doles out grip, enabling the Maxxis Assegai tyres to dig in and propel you up smooth and choppy drags alike. It's also super comfortable, smoothing the edges of rocks and roots. The short chainstays give it a slightly less balanced feel than the other two bikes here, and with the bike sitting into its travel, when set up with fun in mind, the 77 degree seat angle can slacken, leaving you feel like you sat a little bit over the back wheel. On smoother drags, I often reach for the shox lockout lever, which firms things nicely. The Spectral CF has seen the travel reduced on this generation to 140mm at the back, but this has been done with a drop in anti-squat figures too. This gives it a similarly smooth ride over fist-sized rocky climbs and helps the Maxxis Minion DHR2 do its job well. However, like the Marin, it can feel a little less urgent when you're cranking out the power. With 7mm longer chainstays though, the Spectral is well balanced and doesn't seem to sink as deep on the steeper pitches, giving it the edge over the Marin. Neither can quite compete with the white T160RS though. It might have 10mm more travel than the Spectral and 20 more than the Marin, but the T160 has the archetypal trail bike perkiness when heading uphill. The suspension remains stable under all but the most ugly of pedalling styles, meaning I rarely reach for the shox lockout switch. The shape is nicely balanced with the longest chainstays here at 440mm, which helps maintain traction on technical climbs and helps you moderate the front end's direction and control while keeping the rear wheel digging in. Let's quickly look at the kit. While the Shimano SLX gears found on the Spectral feel great when clean, whenever a layer of grime is applied, the Marin and White SRAM GX shines. Punchy, light-leaving and powerful, I love the SLX brakes on the Canyon. The White SRAM Koda RS feel good on this test bike, though they can be a touch inconsistent in general. I'm not a big fan of their DB8 brakes found on the Marin, but the addition of the fancy HS2 rotors makes the Rift Zone stoppers some of the best on test. I've already mentioned the suspension on the White and on the Marin. The Spectral bounces on a Rhythm 36 from Fox, with a grip damper and a performance-level Fox Flow X shock. Finishing kit across the board comes largely from their own branded stuff. I love the broad flange on the White's grips, they really lock your hands in place, while the Marin's grips are super comfortable, if a little vague. Canyons are a touch thin for my taste and clamp onto a moderately harsh cockpit. All three have travel-adjust dropper posts. Despite having the lowest cost in the entire test, the White wins hands down. Right, this is what really matters, how well do these bikes descend? The Marin shines on steep tracks. The Assegai's front and rear might slip and slide over British mud, but as soon as that clears, they're a class-leading do-it-all aggro tyre, even in the dual-compound Exocase version found here. The Rift Zone 29 XR's generous reach ensures that there's plenty of bike in front of you, and with ample spaces under the stem, there's room to run the bars high when you're in the steeps, or slam them lower if you want to minimize understeer when you're cruising the blues. Short chainstays help you haul the front wheel around when you're slipping and sliding through rooty twists and turns, or lift the front when you want to pop and play. Even if all-out high-speed stability might be improved with a little more rearward length. The single-pivot linkage-actuated multi-track suspension is smoother in rattling over roots, helping keep the rear wheel nicely planted. Though the rear end does stiffen a touch when you're pulling on the brakes. When it's time to generate speed over lumps and bumps, the support in the suspension comes a little later in its stroke, so there's a bit more effort required than the perkiest of bikes. However, when gravity takes hold, the Rift Zone XR is flat-out fast. The piggyback Super Deluxe shock gave me little to complain about, while the Select Plus version of the Lyrik, with its Charger 3 damper, is a high-spec product that complements the Marin's ride quality as well. The Spectral is a seriously smooth operator. At the front, though relatively basic, the 36 Rhythm is wonderfully comfortable, easing into its travel, ensuring that it's no white-knuckle ride. This allows the Minion DHR2 to concentrate on generating grip, while giving plenty of confidence to drive the bike forward. While the DHR2 is a rear tire, it works well on the front, with a less vague transition to its shoulder tread than the DHF, ideal as you initiate a turn. The more paddle-like central treads of the DHR2 also work well at front, when you're squeezing on the brakes, boosting braking. The fork can come a little unstuck when you're going full gas, as the mid-stroke support from the more basic internals aren't quite as solid as you'd find on the pricier forks. However, Canyon has stuck two volume spacers in the air spring to help it ramp up later on, so it's rare that you're really banging off its bump stops. Canyon's triple-phase suspension rules supreme, with a wonderfully compliant ride that soaks at small, medium and large hits alike. On trail-centred cruises, its lower anti-squat figure is still a little zeal when you're pumping rollers, but the tyres don't drag heavily. There's still enough pop in the rear suspension to ensure the Spectral is a ton of fun when there's a route to pop off or a berm to rail. And when the going gets steep, the slack front end, long reach and smooth transition to the fork and shock's deeper reaches gives the utmost in composure. Canyon's KISS system splits opinion. It aims to pull the bars back straight, with a view to increasing calmness when you're battering through rocks and roots, as well as helping pull the rear wheel round in corners. It's effective. You can feel the bars fidgeting less through rock gardens, for example, and get a corner good and it really feels like it's on rails. But it can feel odd when you initiate a turn, and I found on slippery off-camber sections it didn't help with tracking. This was largely in its strongest setting. Reduce it to minimum and the overall impact is negligible. It's worth experimenting with, as we know some people love it. And if you really don't like it, you can remove it from the bike. What are your opinions on KISS? Let me know in the comments. Overall, top marks have to go to White. The super deluxe's piggyback adds oil volume, boosting consistency on long descents. Further forward, the 160mm Lyrik is sublime. It features the excellent Charger 3 damper seen in the Select Plus fork, but adds trail-bust-killing rubber bumper buttercups and extra bushing overlap to ensure super smooth performance when under pressure. The Shock is the only one in the test with a low-speed compression adjustment dial. I rode it fully open in order to keep the rear end supple. I wonder if lighter riders might find the Shock marginally over-damped. The difference between the Select Plus and the Ultimate dampers might seem small, but these features have an effect, ensuring that both ends of the T160RS are as good as it gets. The alloy frame is solid and, as we'd expect from White, comes with almost flawless geometry, though it is noteworthy that it only comes in medium, large and extra large. The reach is long and is complemented with a sub-65 degree head angle, ensuring that the triple compound Maxxis Assegai front tyre is well in front of the cockpit and the chainstays balance it well. The bottom bracket isn't as low as some, but with 150mm travel on tap, it keeps pedal strikes to a minimum and the bike has more travel to drop into anyway. The T160 doesn't sit too low on the trail and the Shock filters out small and mid-sized hits with ease, even when the rear brake is dragging. The supportive suspension translates to easy speed on rolling trails, generating speed better than the Canyon or Marin. Hit something bigger and the extra travel at both ends comes into play, giving that extra margin for error. The XO Plus case rear tyre adds puncture protection while powerful brakes add to your control. I'd happily keep any of these three bikes in my garage, but if I had to pick one, it would be the white. The Marin Rift Zone 29 XR is a short travel burly ripper of a bike that thrives on steep, rough and rugged terrain. They've put together an enticing package with some smart spec choices, demonstrated perfectly by the upgraded SRAM HS2 rotors. If you want a no-nonsense bike for rallying around the woods, look no further. Canyon almost always put out class-leading bikes and the latest Spectral, even with 140 rather than 150mm travel, is no exception. The German brand has constructed a beautiful chassis onto which some really great performing parts are bolted. Their attention to detail in the framing design is excellent, with great in-tube storage and that KISS system, which might split opinions, but it does work and if you don't like it, you can just turn it off anyway. If you want a carbon fibre trail bike with some innovative features, take a look at the Spectral. However, the title this year quickly went White's way. I requested the bike before a recent price drop and even before I realised it was stunning value, it was rising to the top. White's approach to geometry and suspension setup is almost perfect, blending the performance-befitting 150-160mm travel with the requirements of the modern trail and all-mountain rider. It crushes technical descents, shreds bike parks and gives buckets of confidence when you're hauling through the woods at warp speed. And when you need to get back to the top of the hill, it does so with an attitude of a bike with a chunk less travel too. Simply put, if you're looking for a mid-priced true do-it-all bike, the T160RS is the best trail bike on the market this year. So that is my trail bike of the year. Which one from my shortlist would you have picked? Thanks for watching. Don't forget to like this video and subscribe so you don't miss any more bike of the year content and if you want more trail bikes, then check out this video.