Avanti Ridgeline 2

Avanti have been in and out of the dual suspension bike game a few times over the years. After a noteworthy absence the New Zealand based brand stepped back into the bouncy game in 2011 with the 135mm travel trail-oriented Torrent and 100mm travel Vapour cross-country bike. Both were designed from the ground up by Avanti and garnered rave reviews.Just as Avanti’s new bikes arrived, the 26-inch wheeled cross-country MTB was simultaneously limbering up for a sprint towards the door. Despite its excellent ride qualities and execution, the shorter travel Vapour was just about born out-of-date (or possibly out of fashion). A year later Avanti debuted a big-wheeled dually – the Vapour 29 – but it was no longer an XC race bike like the original; it had bulked up and sprouted 120mm of travel, morphing into a trail bike not unlike the Torrent.

Now for 2013 the longer travel Vapour has been replaced by the Coppermine (a dedicated 120mm travel 29er trail bike) and Avanti once again has a cross-country dually in their line-up; the 100mm travel Ridgeline 29er.

At the moment there are two models in the Ridgeline range. They start with the Ridgeline 1 at $2,299. It comes with a mix of Shimano Deore nine-speed and SLX parts with Tektro hydraulic disc brakes and a RockShox Recon Silver fork.

Our test bike was the Ridgeline 2. Still quite an affordable option at $2,799, it comes with Shimano SLX 2x10 gearing, an XT rear derailleur and Deore brakes. Suspension wise it is fitted out with a RockShox Reba RL fork and a matching Monarch on the rear.

It may be pegged as part of Avanti’s ‘XC Race’ line but it only takes one heft on the hand-scale to know that the Ridgeline is not a race bike in the competitive sense of the word. Avanti makes some nice carbon hardtails (called ‘Competitor’ no less) and this is where the racer-boy will find satisfaction. That’s not to criticise the Ridgeline; it’s just better to make it known from the outset that this bike is designed for cross-country riding, but it’s not an XCO race bike. This however is set to change for 2014 when the range expands to include a more up-market carbon model, but for the moment the Ridgeline is more of a bang for your buck XC trail bike.

The Ridgeline shares many features with their existing suspension bikes, and that’s a very good thing. Made from custom drawn 6061 alloy, the frame uses high quality Enduro Max bearings with oversized alloy axles throughout. The one-piece seat tube mounted rocker is gigantic and the seat stay pivots are spaced generously apart. They’ve also used every last millimetre between the cranks to make chainstay pivot as wide as possible. The cumulative result is a very stiff frame that is finished beautifully with clean and consistent welds.

In use the wide stance of the seat stays rubbed the inside of my calves when pedalling. I often found myself staring at chickens and experiencing debilitating episodes of leg-jealously and it’s likely that keg-calved riders will spend their time polishing the seat stays whilst aboard the Ridgeline.

The straight top tube is out of kilter with the rest of Avanti’s dually range—it may look sharp but the extra standover clearance of a dipped top tube (as found on the Coppermine and Vapour) would be appreciated. One clear benefit of the straight top tube is that it creates a very open front triangle. Dropped top tubes can make it a real hassle to get a bottle in and out, especially with a larger bottle. With the Ridgeline, it was so easy that I’m sure that I drank more frequently whilst riding this bike.

Burly Build

Despite the lack of a thru-axle the Ridgeline is more than adequate in terms of stiffness—it feels very stout for a 100mm-travel cross-country bike. The fat diameter stays, oversized pivots and one-piece rocker all add up to make a really tight rear triangle. This ensures the suspension spends its time moving up and down as intended rather than twisting from side-to-side and binding.

Front-end stiffness is provided via a big downtube, extra gusseting around the tapered headtube and a 15mm thru-axle fork. It may only have 100mm of travel on tap but the Ridgeline rides like a confident and self-assured trail bike, not an XC whippet. If the longer travel Coppermine rides in a similar manner it will be quite a trail weapon!

The flipside to the robust build is some added heft. Sub-$3,000 dual suspension 29ers tend to be on the weighty side, but the total build weight of 14.1kg made the Ridgeline around half a kilo heavier than comparably priced bikes that we’ve reviewed. Much of this comes from the frame; at 3,218g it is 200-300g heavier than other alloy 100mm travel alloy cross-country frames—this figure is more inline with a trail or all-mountain offering.

Avanti have played it pretty safe with their frame geometry. Measuring 446mm the chainstays are moderately short for a 100mm travel 29er but they haven’t done anything radical or crazy to get them into the sub-440mm zone. At 70-degrees the head tube is in keeping with the bike’s cross-country intentions. Likewise, the top tube is long enough to offer plenty of breathing space when the trail points uphill.

Cunning Kinematics

Once out on the trail, the Ridgeline’s strongest suit was climbing. The XC-oriented geometry makes it easy to manoeuvre and keeps everything tracking straight at lower speeds while the suspension does the rest. Excellent small bump sensitivity keeps the rear wheel solidly planted when climbing yet the suspension didn’t feel mushy or inefficient under power—not once did we feel the need for a lock-out or platform damping.

The stock Kenda Slant Six tyres are covered in very short, flat-topped knobs and their profile is very round. They resemble an Echidna that’s just had a stoush with a pair of clippers. Even with these tyres fitted, it scampered up loose slopes and grabbed onto rocky steps like velcro. The Ridgeline strikes a rare balance; it pedals very well but still soaks up the tiniest imperfections on the trail. There are plenty of more credentialed and expensive bikes that would love to climb both rough and smooth trails as effectively as the Ridgeline.

The Avanti is pretty good at going down too. Both ends of the Ridgeline happily use all of their available travel without having to make them overly soft. This keeps the bike riding high in its travel and always ready to take on the next obstacle, as well as adding to a taut and efficient pedalling feel. The lateral rigidity of the frame and fork combo helps to keep the Ridgeline on track, allowing the composed suspension to do its thing.

Throughout the review, the dialled rear suspension performance clearly outshone the Reba’s abilities up front. The Reba offers good range and stiffness, but it never felt as plush as the rear end. Out back the Monarch shock performed admirably, its only downfall being high-speed/high-frequency hits where it felt a little overwhelmed regardless of the rebound and air pressure settings. It’s a small gripe when the rest of the performance is considered.

With its refined suspension and no-nonsense geometry it delivers big performance in a modest package. Thankfully Avanti has nailed the component spec too, allowing the performance of the frame to dictate the overall ride experience. As with most sub-$3,000 bikes the cockpit parts are a generic in-house brand. Avanti calls their parts  ‘Zero’, and the Zero parts on the Ridgeline 2 are particularly good. The bar, stem and grip combo are all on the money. The 680mm flat bar gives good leverage for the type of terrain the Ridgeline is suited to and keeps the front end low enough to make climbing and flat corners a no brainer. The short Zero stem and lock-on grips finish off a great cockpit package that I’d be happy with on any of my own bikes. The Zero saddle looks a little low-rentcompared with its stable-mates but it was perfectly comfy.

Forgettable Parts

The component highlight on the Ridgeline has to be the drivetrain. The SLX cranks and shifters are paired with an XT rear derailleur and SLX front. These parts lose little in performance when compared to XTR and they are quickly forgotten once on the trail, a just as a classy component should. The tactile click of the SLX shifters is a mark above Deore and the SLX cranks are stiff and light—SLX really is the business. My only niggle in this area is that the XT rear derailleur lacks the clutch mechanism that’s appearing throughout the Shimano range. I’d have preferred a lower level SLX derailleur with a clutch instead of the non-clutch equipped XT unit. Clutch derailleurs give you a quieter drivechain and help to keep the chain on over rough ground.

Avanti has gone for a 24/38 double-ring set up and it’s a big jump between the two chainrings. The 24 tooth is too low for anything unless it’s decidedly steep (or you’re totally baked), while the 38 can be a tough push when climbing a moderate grade. In practice it’s like having a single ring 38-tooth setup, with an emergency bail out option. Thankfully the Ridgeline’s tenacious traction usually gets you by, even when you’re over-geared and grinding up a loose slope, although less powerful riders may still find the 38-tooth ring too tough to pedal.

The functionality of the bike makes for a great climber, but the weight means it will never be a swift climber. Once it’s got a bit of velocity behind it, the 2x10 drivetrain makes sense and the efficient yet supple rear end helps to amplify whatever speed you already have. Add in the fast rolling and predictable Slant Six tyres and you’ll be cracking a grin for sure. The most obvious way to boost the performance would be to go with some lighter wheels and tyres to improve acceleration and manoeuvrability. The Mavic CrossRide wheels are solid and engage relatively quickly, but at just over 2kg for the pair, they add heft to the Ridgeline. The stock tyres, although a good tread pattern, are a basic low thread count wire bead version. Mounting some high-quality folding-bead tyres with a tubeless conversion would be money well spent.

Tyre replacement is likely to be high on the mind of a Ridgeline rider; the low profile knobs wear quickly and it’s likely that you’ll be riding it all the time! The Ridgeline really is classy riding bike for under 3,000 clams. Its mass may deter some people but Avanti has favoured ride quality over gram counting. The design of the Ridgeline delivers a high-dollar ride in a modest package, and for most people the enjoyment of ride is what matters most.

Thumb Up

Dialled rear suspension

Torsional rigidity

Excellent drivetrain 

Thumbs Down

Very heavy frame

Standover height  

Specifications

Frame: ADT 6061 Ultralite Alloy

Shock: RockShox Monarch RL 100mm travel

Fork: RockShox Reba RL 15QR 100mm travel

Headset: FSA Orbit 1 1/8 - 1 1/2

Handlebars: Zero Strile Pro Alloy flat 680mm

Stem: Zero Strike Pro Alloy

Shifters: Shimano SLX

Front Derailleur: Shimano SLX

Rear Derailleur: Shimano XT

Cassette: Shimano HG62 11/36 10-speed

Chain: Shimano HG54

Cranks: Shimano SLX 24/38

Bottom Bracket: Shimano

Pedals: Alloy Platform

Brakes: Shimano M596

Wheels: Mavic CrossRide

Tyres: Kenda Slant Six 2.0

Saddle: Zero Zealth Pro

Seatpost: Zero Strike Pro alloy

Weight: 14.1kg including pedals (Large frame 3,218g)

Available Sizes: S, M, L (tested) and XL

Price: $2,799

Distributor: Sheppard Cycles 1800 883 305 / www.avantibikes.com