It was a bit of a waiting game for the official release of Nukeproof’s first carbon bike after they built up a custom painted Mega 275 C for Sam Hill to race at the last of the season’s Enduro World Series and even the DH World Championships. Now the wait is over. Nukeproof has made the Mega Carbon RS official, and it sits at the top of a revamped 2018 family of carbon & alloy Megas, and options in 27.5″ & 29″ wheels.
The carbon bike has been in development with Sam Hill for almost four years, going from the all aluminum prototypes dialing in final race-ready geometry to this final bike with a carbon front triangle mated to an alloy rear.
It’s actually the 4th generation of the bike Nukeproof developed first back in 2009 to take on the insane Megavalanche before Enduro mountain bike racing had a name.
Nukeproof Mega 275 RS carbon enduro bike
The newest Mega Carbon retains that gravity focus, while getting pedaling efficiency that Nukeproof claims is up for all riding as well.
Five-time DH world champ Sam Hill even raced this new bike as the first down the mountain at this year’s UCI Downhill World Championships in Cairns, coming in a very respectable 6th place, just six seconds off of the winner.
(Yes, he was sixth place on a 165mm travel enduro bike at DH Worlds!)
The new carbon frame makes its way into two complete bike specs with 27.5″ wheels only – the Mega 275 RS & Mega 275 Factory – and will be available separately as a Mega 275 Carbon frameset, each with aluminum seat & chainstays.
Nukeproof Mega 275 Factory carbon enduro bike
The move to carbon was all about increasing stiffness for Nukeproof. It just doesn’t hurt that the new bike sheds 320g over the alloy bike, while still keeping an aluminum rear end.
Even though the bike is a proper race bike for Sam Hill, Nukeproof revised their geometry to better fit a wider range of riders and riding styles. The new Megas get slightly taller headtubes for a bit more confident upright positions on the bike ,and longer reach on the bigger frames to better fit taller riders.
The monocoque carbon bikes also get internal cable routing through the front triangle, with a large access port for simplified setup
Nukeproof Mega 275 Pro alloy enduro bike
At the same time that the new carbon bike gets geometry and tech updates, Nukeproof is bringing the same updates to new custom triple-butted aluminum bikes & their hydroformed tubeset for a full line-up at many pricepoint. Both the new Mega 275 and 290 models fully commit to 1x drivetrains which let the Nukeproof designers ignore the front derailleur and instead widen out the main pivot bearings for improved stiffness and resistance to pedal induced torque or frame flex in really rough terrain.
Nukeproof Mega 275 Comp alloy enduro bike
Of course it was also time to go full Boost. with wider, stiffer rear wheels and more tire clearance. The bikes also get reshaped for longer forks, going to 170mm for the 27.5″ bikes and 160mm for the 29er.
Nukeproof Mega 290 alloy enduro bikes
The bikes all use new metric-sized Rockshox Super Deluxe rear shocks, and a short rocker link with a bearing mount that Nukeproof says improves suspension sensitivity. Each and every one sticks with a threaded bottom bracket. And all get stealth internal dropper post routing and 3D shaped frame protection for both the downtube and chainstay.
For the time being the 29ers stick with aluminum frames for each of the Factory, Pro & Comp level builds.
