- Today's bike check, we're checking out
my brand new 2019 Nukeproof Mega 290.
(bright music)
Of course, this bike runs on massive 29 inch wheels,
but let's start at the heart of the bike first.
So this is a size XL.
Everyone knows I'm fairly tall, about six three
and a half, nearly six four, and this is one of
the biggest out of the box size XL frames you can get.
Now you might've noticed it's quite skinny.
That's because it's actually an aluminum frame.
It's triple butted and it's hydroformed,
so not like the 275 that Neil has got.
He's got the carbon version of this bike,
with the smaller wheels.
I've actually opted to go for this bike
because I prefer, simply put, I prefer the way
the bigger wheels handle.
Now it runs 150 mil travel out back on the frame.
It's got 66 degree head angle up front
and a 75 and a half degree seat angle,
so it's pretty climb friendly,
and it's got nice roomy geometry.
Out back it's got 450 mil chain stays,
so that's quite long and I am a fan of long chain stays,
but it has meant I've had to alter a few things
to get the setup exactly how I want it on the bike.
Now in combination with those huge 450 mil chain stays
is a massive front end on it.
It's extremely long.
So the reach on this for an XL is 515 millimeters.
Just to put that into perspective, my previous bike,
the Scott bike I rode last year on the channel,
that was 505 millimeters and that was already
one of the longest bikes out there.
And a prior bike I had to that, my Canyon Spectral,
that was just 480 in a size XL, so this really is giant
as far as big bikes go.
So if you're a tall rider like myself,
this could be a great option for you.
So the last frame I had actually had
a RockShox Super Deluxe rear shock on there
and it's slightly different to this current shock here,
which of course is the Fox Float X2,
so it's quite an advanced shock.
On the shock you've got the air pressure settings,
you've got high and low speed rebound
and high and low speed compression,
as well as a climb switch.
There's a lot of adjustment you can do to this.
And you can also adjust the air volume internally.
Now it's a 55 mil stroke shock and it's 210 mil eye to eye,
in case you wanted to fit one of those yourself.
And, as I say, on the previous bike I've also chose to run
the RockShox shock with a load of volume spaces
and it's just my preference.
I really like a progressive feeling back end on a bike
and, of course, it's no different with the Fox suspension.
So there are a lot of different suspension designs
out there on the market, including the single pivots,
four bars, single pivot linkage activated rear ends,
and I really love the fact this is such a simple back end,
'cause it's really refined and it works well.
It's a classic four bar, which means it's got
a nice low pivot at the front there.
You've got the chainstay pivot, which used to be known
as the Horst link, on there.
And of course you've got the driver there for the shock.
It's a really supple feeling backend.
It's incredibly active.
Underpedaling, underbraking, it just works really well
and obviously it gives you a lot of scope
to set the bike up to suit what you wanna do.
Now this particular back end is Boost 148 spaced on here
and again, just emphasize the fact
it's a nice long chainstay.
Now short chainstays do feel really good on bikes,
it does mean you can pop the front end up
and you can manual and stuff, but also when it comes to,
like, a nice long rangey bike,
actually a longer chainstay's better because it puts
your weight more evenly distributed between the two wheels.
It actually gives you better traction, I find,
climbing and descending, but as a result of that,
I have had to change the front end to get it
the way I like it, so let's go
and have a look at the cockpit now.
Now as standard the bike does come with a full width
handle bar, but it tends to come with a 30 millimeter
Rise Nukeproof bar on there and also comes
with a 50 millimeter stem.
Now whilst they do feel great on the bike
and they do totally suit that size bike,
I just am completely picky about what I like
the bike to feel like.
I've always loved a really tall front end on a bike,
regardless of the size wheels, it's just the way
I like the bikes to feel.
And because this bike is so long I can get away
with having a really high front end,
which makes it feel really lively, but I still
get the benefit of that long wheelbase.
So I've shortened the stem, I've put a 35 mil one here,
so it's one of those new Horizon stems.
I've obviously gone for that bronze and copper finish,
just 'cause it looks really nice,
if I'm being shallow about things, with the paint job
of the bike, it just looks great on there.
And I've gone for the Sam Hill edition of the bar
and that's in a full 38 mil rise,
so it's a really tall front end.
And I've also got three spacers.
I've got two of the bigger ones and one
of the smaller five mil spacers underneath that stem,
to get everything the way I like it.
Of course, climbing is not affected,
because that front end is so long and there's so much
weight on the front end, that you still have
plenty of traction, I don't have to try hard
to keep the front wheel on the ground.
Of course it means, when it starts going down again,
it's really fun to sort of pop up the front end,
manualling, bit of jumping, bit of messin' around.
It just feels really good on the trail.
Of course the bar is full 800 mil width.
I always run that on my bikes.
I like 'em nice and wide.
And the grips on here, I've got the GD1 model
of the Ergon grip, that's the downhill one.
It actually has a slight profile, it tapers,
it's shallower to the inside and bigger on the outside,
so it's really supportive on the outside edge of your hand.
They do these in two different diameters,
they do these in a thin and they do them
in a slightly thicker.
I actually prefer the thicker grip,
but in winter I actually prefer running the slightly
thinner one because, of course, you end up wearing
slightly bulkier gloves and just to give
a bit more feel on the bars.
And again, I do tend to change that around
for different times of year, but the thicker one
is my go-to grip.
Now you might notice I run my brake levers quite high.
They're not as flat as Rob Warner's bike,
if you go back to that gamer bike we released
just before Christmas there.
His brake levers are nearly horizontal
and that's because he comes from a motorcycle trials world.
And I actually took a tip from him years ago
to bring my brake levers up because I was suffering
from arm pain on long descents
and it makes a massive difference.
Basically just means you don't have to move around
too much on the bike and you've always got
the brake levers where you want them.
I do run them quite inboard, but because these are
Shimano XTs they're actually, the lever blade itself
is quite small so I actually have to run them
nearer the grip than I probably would usually.
Also there's a slight illusion here.
These grips are five inches long, so they're
quite a lot longer than standard mountain bike
handle bar grips, it does mean that they're actually
a bit more inboard than they do look.
Tidying up the rest of the cockpit here,
I've got my trusty GMBN top cap and I've also
got some of the orange grip tape
on my Crank Brothers Highline Dropper Post remote.
Just a nice little touch.
Of course, normally most people prefer black,
but just because I've got some orange highlights
on the bike, it just looks pretty cool.
And of course, everyone knows me, I love my cable ties.
For once they're actually doing the job they're
supposed to be doing, they're tying cables together
and stopping them rattling around too much.
Now up front of the bike here it's running
a Fox 36 fork with the GRIP2 damper.
This is the really advanced top end model.
So that means it's got two lots of compression dampening
and two lots of rebound dampening.
High and low speed for everything, so it's super adjustable,
it's super refined and it's probably
the most controlled fork I've ridden in some time,
it's absolutely fantastic.
So at present I'm running it with about 25% sag,
slightly on the firmer side for usual.
And it's got 160 mil travel.
Now the wheels on the bike are not the stock wheels.
It actually comes with DT Swiss E 1700s,
but they've actually been poached off my bike
to be used on another video on GMBM,
so for the moment I've actually done a bit better
out of this, I've got slightly lighter wheels on here.
So these are the XM 1501s.
So also DT Swiss, they're very similar wheels, in fact,
they're just slightly lighter.
Now they've also got the ratchet drive hub
on the rear, which is their high-end,
really, really nice internal hub.
And we've got the 30 mil rim option.
Naturally I've got this setup tubeless,
I've got Continental sealant in there,
Continental tires front and rear,
I've got the Trail King 2.4s with that Apex casing on them,
so it's a really grippy tire
but they roll fairly fast as well,
so they're pretty good in all conditions.
Along with that Fox fork you might've noticed
they've got a mud guard on the front,
this particular one is a Mudhugger,
who support us here at GMBN and of course,
had to get a color coordinated graphics,
just to match in with the bike.
And the last thing you might notice,
I've got a whopping great 203 mil disc rotor on the front.
Of course, it's a Shimano XT caliper
with the heat fin brake pads.
So, like I said, out back is the same XM 1505 wheel set
with that ratchet drive hub.
That's really the key in the DT range,
because they do have two different internals.
You've got the classic, which has those regular
pulls that you get on traditional style hubs,
and then you get the ratchet drive,
which is super reliable, really fast positive engagement,
and they're an absolute delight to work on for servicing.
Absolutely brilliant hubs.
Again the tire out back, Continental Trail King 2.4.
I've actually clipped down the center tread,
just to make it roll that bit quicker,
but actually at this time of year locally
it's pretty muddy out, so I am looking at swapping
both of these out for a set of the Der Baron tires,
so slightly better in the looser conditions.
The only thing with those tires for my local trails
is they do roll a little bit slower,
so I might end up running that front tire on the back
and putting Der Baron up front there,
just for that bit more control
in the real wet, muddy conditions.
It's 11 speed, rather than 12 speed,
which I don't think's much of a problem,
but there are a few little things that I might
wanna change on here.
Now it's got an XT transmission,
so there's an XT shifter up on the bars,
XT derailleur here, it's a Shadow Plus
with the clutch on there and it's an 11-46 cassette,
so it's quite a big climbing gear.
Of course, not as big as the 50-tooth
that you get on the SRAM Eagle,
however on the SRAM Eagle I was running a 34 up front
and it's got a 32 here on these XT cranks.
Now there's nothing wrong with that gearing,
it's low enough to get up everything I need to,
but what I have noticed is I spend a lot of time
down the high end of the block, which means
there's a lot more chain flap going on,
so I am looking at considering taking up to
34-tooth chaining on the front and maybe opting out
on the cassette on the rear to see if I can get
a slightly bigger top sprocket on there,
but that's something I'm gonna play with.
And just another thing as well, it's got 170 mil cranks,
which, to be honest, that's a great choice
for a bike like this because it's quite low
and you do ground out the pedals,
but I do prefer a 175 crank,
so I'm gonna look at changing that out for a 175.
Finishing kit on the bike includes
an Ergon SME3 saddle on here.
That's my preferred current choice on the range,
though Neil keeps telling me to switch out
for one of the newer ones that he insists is a lot comfier.
Seat post is a Crank Brothers Highline with a 170 drop,
so that's a super tall drop.
That is full extension for me, as you can see,
the collar is nearly in the frame,
so I love the fact that I get a maximum drop possible.
You might've noticed I'm also running a set of the bigger
Crank Brothers Stamp Flat Pedals.
My normal choice of pedals is actually
the Mallet clipless pedal but I've really
been enjoying running flats recently.
And you might've noticed I'm running
a tube strap down here as well,
with an inner tube, a CO2 cartridge on it
and a couple of park tire levers.
Of course this one is by Lowry, a British design here,
and it just helps you get back on the trail
as soon as you get a puncture.
As the bike is, it's absolutely fantastic for the stuff
I love to ride, but I do plan on doing some changes
to it over the year, over on GMBN Tech.
I wanna be doing some stuff to the shock,
I wanna be doing some stuff with wheels
and all sorts of other little hop ups,
just to alter the way the bike rides
and just perfect it for the stuff that I like to do,
so be sure to check out GMBN Tech for that.
For a couple more videos along these lines,
click down here if you wanna see me
set this bike up out on the trail,
taking it for his first sort of maiden voyage
and just get the suspension dialed in.
And click over here if you wanna see
all the other pro-bike checks we've done
on GMBN Tech over the last year.
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