We saw the new Ultimate 29” racing the XC World Cups this year under the BH-Suntour-KMC team, getting on the podium a few times. But now that the carbon cross country bike’s race testing is done, it’s ready to make the jump from the pro circuit to a bike you can actually buy. The new bike is a part of the industry move to longer, slacker, lower setups that aim to improve descending capability while keeping the quick handling of a proper race bike. Take a closer look at the details of the bike that is available now, as well as a video of the bike hitting the trail below…
The new BH race hardtail will hit bike shops (or ship direct to customers in 10 countries across Europe) with its fully-revamped geometry, updated in ties with BH’s enduro riders and testing for better descending in XC riding too. The new bike’s reach grows 15mm and its headtube angle goes to 68.5º, and the same time holding the short 430mm chainstays for quick acceleration.
The new frame gets a boost in construction too, taking over the molding and lay-up methods from BH’s top-end road bikes. The result is frame weight under a kilo (~950g for a medium) that can still take trail riding abuse.
Flattened stays keep the rear end smooth, and a PF92 bottom bracket and 142x12mm rear-end keeps the drivetrain stiff. As we showed at Eurobike, there is a lot of flexibility built-in, with 1x, 2x & electronic drive compatibility, a secure internal battery solution, plus internal or external dropper post routing.
