We spied Spanish bikemaker BH’s next generation cross-country race bike this summer on the World Cup under Carlos Coloma. Now BH have released the full details of the all-new Ultimate EVO XC hardtail – the lightest mountain bike they’ve ever built. Working with much of the same advanced carbon tech that shapes their light EVO road bikes as well, this new Ultimate EVO MTB hardtail is lighter, stiffer & more comfortable than ever…
2020 BH Ultimate EVO lightweight carbon XC mountain bike hardtail
The Ultimate was already a pretty solid cross-country race bike when it hit the scene back in 2015/2016, with a light carbon frame & modern for XC geometry. But BH knew they could improve creating an even more capable World Cup XC race bike. This new Ultimate Evo then is a major performance overhaul, taking advantage of significant carbon construction improvements.
Lighter carbon, shedding over 100g
BH set out to build a new lightweight carbon hardtail, and ended up dropping a claimed 140g from their previous World Cup XC bike. It’s still not quite the lightest XC hardtail on the market (Specialized & Unno can argue over that one a bit), but at 840g for a medium bike, the new Ultimate Evo is definitely a lightweight.
BH have gone about shedding grams across all disciplines by refining their carbon manufacturing over time – working their hollow core internal molding (HCIM) tech to get more precise control on the inside of the frame to match the precision conventional molds shapes the outside of frames. Combined with a higher ratio of top-spec hi-mod Toray T1100G fiber in the layup, BH has been able to thin tubing walls, decrease profile diameters and even reduce the size of exaggerated joints overall – all without sacrificing strength.
In fact, BH again claims bottom bracket to headtube stiffness increases for more efficiency power transfer & handling, plus more flex in the top half of the frame for rider comfort.
Updated XC race geometry
BH says this new Ultimate EVO takes the progressive geometry of the old Ultimate one step further. Head angle is slackened just a half a degree to 68°. Then frame Reach grows out an extra 10-20mm depending on frame size for a longer front center.
It even drops 10mm off the rear for super short 420mm chainstays on this 29er – and uses a thin dropout design that was said to reduce overall width at the rear axle by 2cm for more clearance.
BH Ultimate EVO – Tech details
Hidden inside the headtube, the new bike uses a BlockLock headset by Acros that limits handlebar rotation to 150° to protect the thin carbon tubing from impacts.
The new Ultimate EVO features a flat mount rear brake on the chainstay, PressFit 92 bottom bracket, Boost 148 rear end, a still internal dropper compatible 27.2mm seatpost, and is 1x specific but includes Di2-ready routing & internal battery storage.
Pricing, availability & customization
The new Ultimate EVO will soon be the first mountain bike to be added to the BH Unique offering, which allows for custom paint color choices through an online customizer.
The new race-proven EVO frame is offered in five complete build specs – starting at 3000€ for the Ultimate Evo 8.0 with XT 1×12, 8.5 also with XT, then 9.0 with XTR 1×12, 9.5 with XX1 Eagle & BH carbon wheels, and climbing to the top Ultimate Evo 9.8 with wireless XX1 AXS Eagle & carbon wheels.
The bikes are said to be available now through local dealers for pre-order, with no delivery dates set.
As the new Ultimate EVO takes over the top spot in BH’s XC racing catalog, the still capable older version gets rebadged down to Ultimate RC offering a lot of affordable-level carbon value still race-proven on the World Cup circuit.
