Inbox: Five new trail bikes and what they say about the state of mountain biking

XC bikes are XC bikes. DH bikes are DH bike. Enduro bikes are … their own thing. Between is the vast wilderness of bikes not designed for the demands of any race. Mountain bikes designed to, well, explore the vast wildernesses, I.e. trail bikes.

What a trail bike looks like, though, always seems to be changing. Here are five trail bikes released in the last few weeks that all have a very different idea of what mountain biking can be, and different ways of facilitating that idea for riders.

Rocky Mountain Instinct

Instead of exploring some new, more specific niche of mountain biking, Rocky Mountain worked to make its Instinct appeal to more people. There’s a wide range of adjustments, to geometry and suspension available to help rider’s make this bike their own. Which makes sense, right? Why try make one design work for the wide, wide world of trails? Why not let individual riders tweak a core design to make it work better for them?

Rocky Mountain joins several brands moving in this direction of building in space for riders to experiment and tweak bike design. It replaces halfway fixes like angle-sets and aftermarket linkages that may, or may not have worked the way the brand intended (and often voided warranties). My preference in personal bikes has always leaned towards having one bike that could do more things, both for practical and financial reasons, so I’m happy to see more brands adding features that put riders in the driver’s seat, so one bike works for more riders and more uses.

First Impressions: Rocky Mountain Instinct evolves closer to ideal

Scott Voltage eRide

While adjustability is one trend, integration is another. Scott takes integration to extremes with its hidden rear shock. The brand is also pushing the electric market. With the Voltage eRide, electricity runs together with integration for a sleek-looking trail eMTB.

integrationElectronic continues to evolve so rapidly that current owners should have to write a thank-you note to early adopters when they buy their bike. Look at the Voltage eRide. Reasonable weight. Clean, sleek design that looks similar to the new Ransom, but with an assist. Scott opts for a reasonable level of power instead of mini-moto style. This growing segment of eMTB actually translates to how many people ride the trail, instead of just being a boost shuttle bros who don’t have a truck. That power comes via the TQ…