Hayes HFX-9 brakes with 203mm (8in) rotors do the stopping effectively, and the WTB wheelset takes the hits without worry. A clamp-on e.13 chainguide (the frame doesn’t have mounting tabs) keeps things running smoothly in the rough too. The almost ubiquitous Truvativ Hussefelt crankset is joined by a full Truvativ cockpit and SRAM X.7 gears. We’d rather have it plush for traction than too stiff though, and you can tune squat and bob out with the SPV damping. The Manitou Swinger 4-Way coil shock out back was a bit too soft for even our skinny test team too. It’s noticeably more flexible under braking and cornering loads though, and you can feel the springs grating in the legs. Once we’d fettled the rebound it was actually very plush and keen to level out long step or boulder runs or serious drops without panicking. With £300 less to spend on kit there are some obvious compromises, but we were impressed by how well the Marzocchi Super T fork rode compared to the 888s elsewhere. It’s certainly not a bike you’ll get the wheel out of in a hurry. The only disappointments are the thin, unclamped, 12mm drilled dropouts that spread and bind when you try to drift the 150mm rear axle out of them. You even get a bottle cage under the down tube for drink or light battery duty. The Kumicho’s the only bike here to use a big 1.5in-compatible head tube, which means you can fit Manitou’s monster single-crown Travis fork if you remove the reduced Aheadset.
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