Best of ENDURO – The Highlights of April: Month of Firsts…
April is always a month full of firsts, after the fun and jokes of the 1st was over, we were literally inundated with new products, new events and the first glimmer of summer. The trails began to dry, and sun came out and the racing season kicked off in a big way!
The Enduro World Series is back! After a winter of secret training and rumours we finally got to find out who had got fast, and who had fallen off the pace. The battle was fought in the deep volcanic dirt of Chile, and there were some surprises in store. But there were also casualties; Fabien Barel unknowingly risked it all, racing 2 stages with a badly broken back! But Fabien has bounced back before and we expect to see him back on the trails soon!
It was not just the EWS that caught the media’s attention, national enduro is more popular than ever and the second round of the POC Scottish Enduro Series brought some good old fashioned mud to the table. The Superenduro series hit Sestri Levante, and with sunshine and dusty trails, the seaside venue did not disappoint! The UKGE brought some intense racing to Ae, the European Enduro Series kicked of with the race in Punta Ala and the Specialized-SRAM Enduro Series visited Terlago and Riva del Garda, Italy – with nearly every weekend full of quality events, enduro has never been stronger!
When it comes to products, it looks like 2014 will be the battle of the drivetrains, with Shimano finally announcing their new XTR group set with an extra gear! But will it be enough to sway opinion away from the class leading SRAM 1×11 drivetrains, especially with the release of the new more affordable X1 group?
Two of the big players released new bikes to the market too, both bringing cutting edge technology packaged into the latest low, long and aggressive geometry. At just 11.9kg, the new Mondraker is frighteningly light for such big hitting bike, and the new Santa Cruz Nomad is a deadly serious shredding machine!
It has been an immensely exciting month and we hope you have enjoyed all the action! For many more articles and reviews, be sure to check out enduro-mtb.com.
More Highlights
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