Travis, our Head of Purchasing, has entered middle age but refuses to go gentle into that good night. He reckons he has a few years (decades even) of hard racing left in him. So to prove himself right, he built himself a new race bike for the 2023 enduro season. With eclectic tastes and an interest in high-pivot suspension, he chose a 130mm travel Forbidden Druid. But why did he go with a mid-travel trail bike? Travis goes into great detail about his decision-making and explains how he upgraded every part of his Druid to transform it into his dream enduro rig.

High-pivot suspension has become one of the hottest trends in downhill and enduro racing over the last few years. But those in the know remember that high-pivot bikes were popular way back in the 90s. Why have they made a comeback? How much do they really improve performance? And are there any drawbacks? To find out, I talked to Luis Arraiz, the suspension guru and frame design engineer for Cannondale and GT, and the brains behind K9 Industries, one of the O.G. high-pivot downhill bike brands.

If high-pivots have made a comeback, could dropbars? Eh... maybe not. But there was something special about seeing the legendary John Tomac rip past with dropbars and a thundering Tioga Tension Disk, especially if he was on his Merlin-made Raleigh Carbon/Ti. When it comes to vintage mountain bikes, the Raleigh John Tomac Signature Carbon/Ti is one of the holy grails. It was exceedingly rare and expensive, and only 13 were known to exist. That is until Eric Rumpf made a surprise discovery. He tells the story of how he uncovered one more Carbon/Ti hiding in Indonesia, and with lots of patience and determination, brought it back to the U.S. to restore it to its former glory.