BH Ultimate

BH is not shy when it comes to the appearance of their bikes. Their curvy Zenith hardtail (tested in May/June/July 2013) and the Lynx dually are distinctive looking beasts, as was the now discontinued Ultimate 26-inch hardtail.

The new 29-inch wheeled version of the Ultimate looks plain Jane in comparison, at least from afar. Get closer and it’s instantly apparent that this thing is a monster. Sure, the tubes aren’t contorted like pretzels, but they are absolutely huge! When the Ultimate casually saunters into the gym the squat rack stops and cowers in fear and the bench press shuffles off to hide behind a treadmill. This is the MTB equivalent of a front row, season ticket pass to the gun show. Buckle up!

The top tube is flattened and almost 60mm wide and 30mm deep before it meets the head tube. The down tube is closer to 65mm wide and 50mm deep for most of its length. It fans out to a palatial 70mm directly behind the head tube. Oh, the chainstays are a hair under 50mm tall but let’s round it up to an even 50mm. Who’s counting anyway? When a big order of Airbus A380s goes through, there is always talk of how this affects the price of raw carbon for small industries such as the bike game. Well BH is doing their best to swing the pendulum the other way with the Ultimate!

If I stop the silly girth-based shenanigans for a brief moment, BH pitches the Ultimate as their go-to elite level XC racing frame. They say that it has been specifically designed to succeed in competition, so it should be light, rigid and responsive. It’s worth noting from the outset that this is a 2013 model—the 2014 bikes are due any second. Both use the same frame but there are some minor (but wise) parts variations that we’ll touch on later. The significant point regarding the 2014 bikes is that there also be a 27.5 inch wheeled option, so file that in the back of your head if smaller wheels are more your cup of tea (or shaker bottle of high-protein muscle rebuilding drink).

BH hasn’t missed a trick on the Ultimate. Every current development makes an appearance; a 92mm wide press-fit bottom bracket, tapered head tube, direct mount front derailleur, post-style brake mounting, internal cable routing and 142x12mm rear thru-axle. She’s not about to be out of date! There’s no provision for a dropper post, but that’s not what the Ultimate is for, so we can let that slide.

The tapered Evolution level Fox fork looks positively wimpy compared with the head tube, as does the seemingly anorexic stem. In a large size the bare frame weighed 1,290g; while that’s a reasonable figure, it’s far from feathery in this age of sub-kilo carbon wonder-frames. The weight is somewhat understandable given the volume of the tubes, there’s plenty of scope for weight reduction in the parts. The stock XT build-kit takes the Ultimate up to 11kg out of the box—respectable yet again but not a show-stopping figure.

Basic Bits – Ultimate Frame

For a lazy $5K it’s fair to expect a fast bike, and the Ultimate certainly is, but it’s fair to say that BH has invested more of your hard earned into the frame than the parts spec. It comes with an in-house branded handlebar, stem and seatpost, all of which are alloy. The stock bar on our 2013 model was only 660mm wide while the stem was a 100mm long. The 2014 bikes will come with a 700mm wide bar, which is a big improvement. We swapped to a wider bar/shorter stem combo almost immediately for this review. While the newer models have an appropriately wide bar, they remain pretty basic alloy units where a future upgrade could trim a fair chunk of weight.

Wheel selection is a critical part of any bike build and BH has made some sensible decisions in this area. BH branded hubs, straight gauge spokes and brass nipples keep a lid on the cost but the Stan’s ZTR Crest rims are a top-notch choice. A popular rim with XC racers everywhere, they keep the weight low around the wheel circumference (where it matters most) while offering good durability. Best of all, they are built with tubeless conversions in mind. Give them a wrap of tape, some valve stems and a scoop of sealant and you’ll be able to toss the inner tubes away. In addition to dropping a couple of hundred grams in rotating mass, you’ll get fewer punctures and be able to run lower pressures for better comfort and traction. Another change for 2014 is in the tyres, which change from fast rolling Continental X-Kings to the slightly lighter and possibly faster Schwalbe Racing Ralphs.

The rest of the kit is mostly Shimano XT. Shifting and braking on the Ultimate were fantastic, as we expected from Shimano’s second tier group. Our bike had carbon FSA SL-K cranks, but these will also be swapped for Shimano XT double ring cranks on the 2014 model. They will come with a 24/38 chainring combination—this offers a wide gear spread and comfortably allows you to tackle steep and sustained climbs, but it also creates a big gap between gear ratios that can be annoying on some trails.

Numbers Now

Back to the bit that really counts on any bike; the frame and most importantly the geometry. BH has given the Ultimate oodles of standover. The top tube makes a subtle arc from the headtube to the seat tube, which is then continued by the curvature of the seat stays. The seat tube extends quite a way above the top tube in order to support the seatpost. This is necessitated by the low height of the top tube itself. BH supplies the Ultimate with a quick-release seatpost clamp, which seems odd given its racy intentions.

Our large frame had a roomy 620mm effective top tube, so it’s a genuine ‘large’. With the saddle at proper height, the top tube seems a long way down below. We’ll always take as much standover as we can get; hats off to BH for getting the Ultimate long and low. The back end is reasonably tight. Measuring 436mm, the chainstays are nice and short, which tucks the rear wheel in under the rider to enhance manoeuvrability. The 70-degree head angle is about average for an XC 29er. Overall, the Ultimate is a pretty lively character.

Generally the Ultimate frame is beautifully finished but there were a couple of noteworthy quirks. Firstly, the guides for the rear brake hose run along the top left hand left hand side of the down tube. This placement is based on the assumption that the rear brake will be run on the right hand side of the bars, giving the hose a nice rounded arc around the head tube. For Australian riders, who typically run their rear brake on the left, this means that they will need to loop the brake hose around the head tube and then cross it back over the down tube to run through the first cable guide on the left hand side. It doesn’t affect performance, but it doesn’t look tidy and the hose rubbed slightly on the top of the downtube as a result. It’s a shame that such a permanent feature of the frame has not taken different rider preferences into account.

The other idiosyncrasy is the placement of the rear brake calliper inside the rear triangle. By mounting the calliper on the chainstay it’s tucked out of the way, but it can be a real hassle to access the rearmost mounting bolt. While it’s acceptable in the workshop where you have a range of tools to help, it’s a real hassle out on the trail. Our rear brake came loose during the review and we struggled to tighten it with our multi-tool. These bolts thread into little alloy barrels that slot into the frame, and they could get lost if you were unable to tighten the calliper mid-way through a trail ride.

BH sponsored riders may never have to worry about issues such as this – it’s for the pit crew to deal with – but the privateer racer would be outta luck, and the privateer racer is the Ultimate’s guy. This is such a go-fast race day machine. It’s not so fast in its steering that it’s unmanageable under a non-elite bike handler, but it’s so powerful and direct that it demands to be ridden hard. Of any mountain bike that I’ve ridden, this is the most reminiscent of a high performance road bike. It’s still a mountain bike, don’t be confused for even a moment, but the way the frame responds instantly made me feel like I was on my road bike and giving it some real anger. The overall weight is low for a mountain bike, and the back end is so stout that decent out of the saddle effort seems to catapult you forwards.

Ultimate Power

If you don’t own and regularly ride a road bike then this may be a little lost on you, and that’s almost a case in point: if you’re not out smashing it on the road to get your fitness dialled then the BH may not be the ride for you. The power transfer makes dancing on the pedals a handling point of the bike, provided that you have the engine to follow through. You can intentionally gas it out of a corner and easily spin and slide the rear wheel to change your line or counter weight the direction of the front wheel. You can throw trail debris at the rider behind you on a whim, or pop your weight back just a touch before unleashing an unsportsmanlike acceleration that leaves them in your wake.

Riding to the trail on the blacktop I was surprised by the sizable whack that square edges delivered through the frame, especially given the amount of rubber and air between the bike and the road. Again, a real ‘responsive’ road bike feel in an off-road machine. Thankfully this all becomes a little more subdued on the dirt. Big one-off hits are left to the rider to deal with, but smaller trail chatter is nicely absorbed into the ride. There’s also loads of room in the frame for a bigger bagged tyre if more ‘squish’ is desired.

The overall rigidity of the Ultimate means that you can set off like a missile on winding singletrack, using the rear end to punch out of corners after you’ve used the beefcake front end to muscle through the turn. Even the race-oriented XC tyres felt solid and manageable when drifting through the turns. Ultimately, this is one very powerful bike.

Thumbs Up

Ultimate rigidity

Excellent standover

Tyre clearance 

Thumbs Down

Rear brake access

Brake hose routing

Basic cockpit spec

Specifications (2013 model)

Frame: Carbon Monocoque

Fork: Fox Evolution 32 CTD 100mm travel

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

Handlebars: S.Lite Alloy flat

Stem: S.Lite Alloy

Shifters: Shimano XT

Front Derailleur: Shimano XT

Rear Derailleur: Shimano XT

Cassette: Shimano SLX, 11/36 10-speed

Chain: KMC X10

Cranks: FSA SL-K

Bottom Bracket: FSA

Pedals: N/A

Brakes: Shimano XT

Hubs: BH Alloy

Spokes: Stainless Steel

Wheels: Stan’s ZTR Crest

Tyres: Continental X-King 2.2

Saddle: Prologo X8

Seatpost: S.Lite Alloy

Weight: 11kg without pedals (Medium frame 1,290g)

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

Price: $4,999

Distributor: BH Bikes Australia (02) 4560 1200 / www.bhbikes.com.au