Tag Archives: First Ride

Knolly Chilcotin 6 First Ride Review

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A side-view photo of a mountain biker on a hot pink Knolly mountain bike, rolling down a steep wall of bright orange rock. The background is a solid wall of dark pock-marked red-orange rock.

Thanks to Knolly for getting this hot pink Chilcotin 6 mountain bike to us a few weeks before the official announcement. Click the Read More button below to read our first impressions of Knolly’s all-new 29er enduro/freeride bike.


Ibis HD6 Enduro Bike – First Impressions Review

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Photo of a mountain biker in a red helmet and black sleeveless T-shirt, floating off a steep desert rock on a lavender-colored full-suspension mountain bike.

We sent local freerider Danny Mac and Photo-John to the Grafton Downhill for an Ibis HD6 shakedown/photo ride. Read our Ibis HD6 first impressions review to find out how the new mixed-wheel enduro/freeride bike performed on a classic Southern Utah downhill trail.


Revel Rail 29 Ride Report – Cedar City, Utah

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A mountain biker wearing a bright red shirt, riding a matching red full-suspension mountain bike over a slope of large lava boulders.

A few weeks ago the new Revel Rail 29 showed up at the shop in Hurricane. With 155mm of Canfield Balance Formula suspension, fun-focused geometry and a beautiful carbon frame, the Rail 29 seems like it was designed especially for Southern Utah. For our Revel Rail 29 ride report, we sent Photo-John and OTE, HU service manager, Todd Cramblett, to Cedar City to see what it could do.


2021 Rocky Mountain Instinct First Impressions Review

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Mountain Biker and Bike with Zion Cliffs in Background

Rocky Mountain was kind enough to send us the new 2021 Instinct all-mountain trail bike a few weeks before the official announcement. We took advantage of this opportunity to get familiar with the bike on a variety of local rides. We also took it out to the Guacamole trails with our friend A.J. for an action/glamor photo shoot. Read on for our 2021 Rocky Mountain Instinct first impressions review.


Ibis Mojo 4 First Ride – Gooseberry Mesa

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Ibis Mojo 4 First Ride Review

The Ibis Mojo mountain bike is a classic. It’s arguably the original full-suspension carbon trail bike. The latest version, the Ibis Mojo 4, was launched recently and arrived at the shop a few weeks ago for our mountain bike rental fleet. As soon as we got our hands on the new Mojo we took it out to Gooseberry Mesa for an Ibis Mojo 4 first impressions ride: a classic ride for a classic bike, if you will. The modern trail bike was born in 2005 when the original Ibis Mojo mountain bike was introduced. At the time you pretty much had two choices for full-suspension mountain bikes – XC or downhill/freeride – steep angles with short travel or slack and squishy. The Ibis Mojo changed that with 140mm of travel, a sleek carbon frame and slacker, more aggressive geometry than most early to mid-2000s mountain bikes. Fifteen years later (has […]


New Ibis Ripmo V2 Ride Report – Southern Utah

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Mountain Bike Wheelie in Southern Utah

Ibis recently announced a new Ripmo 29er with updated geometry and a retuned DW Link suspension system. The new Ibis Ripmo V2 takes the original Ripmo platform, stretches it out, improves the suspension and turns it into a legit enduro rig, ready to take on Enduro World Series race courses, bike parks and big mountain terrain. We got the new Ripmo V2 within a few days of the announcement and sent shop wrench Jordan Rarick out to Church Rocks to get a feel for how it compares to the original Ripmo.  Keep reading for our Ibis Ripmo V2 ride report. The original Ibis Ripmo has been one of our most popular mountain bikes. The combination of 29er rollover, new-school geometry and DW Link suspension made it a fantastically versatile and capable bike – especially for mountain bikers who don’t mind pedaling to get to the good stuff. That made the […]


2020 Pivot Switchblade First Ride Report – Southern Utah

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Boy Scout Trails Mountain Biking - Hurricane, Utah

2020 Pivot Switchblade First Ride: the new 2020 Pivot Switchblade 29er is here! Looking back over the past five years, it’s hard to think of another mountain bike that stirred things up quite as much as the original Pivot Switchblade. Our first shipment of 2020 Switchblade 29ers arrived about a week ago and we invited Chris Castle, owner of Advenduro Tours , a local mountain bike tour business, to break it in and give us his first impressions. For more information including complete specs, geometry and pricing, visit our 2020 Pivot Switchblade bike page. The first thing you notice about the new Switchblade is the classic design of the carbon frame. Chris said, “Out of the box, the new Switchblade takes me back to a time of clean straight lines. It’s very reminiscent of the bikes I longed for many years ago. But the Pivot Switchblade has incredibly smooth blends […]