- The heat is sapping.
- [Cameraman] Yeah.
- I'd like a beer.
(upbeat music)
(vibrant music)
(Bikers laugh)
Hey everyone.
I'm Matt Beer.
And we are here in Tucson, Arizona
for the 2022 Pinkbike field trip.
Behind me is the most impossible climb yet to date.
It is the driest most gravelly climb
that I've come across here in the desert.
We have four hardtails
and five full suspension bikes to try out.
And I can't wait to see which one of them
might make it up to the top.
Okay, so there's a couple things to note this time round.
For this challenge, we're not gonna change any of the tires.
They are gonna be just as they come right out of the box.
So that's gonna be a deal breaker for some.
Let's go take a look at the course.
Okay, so we are used to the slippery wet roots
of the Pacific Northwest.
But this gravel is equally as slippery.
This is gonna be one of the big crux moves.
A little corner with a step in it.
This is where things start
to get a little bit more inclined.
We've got quite a rocky outcrop with lots of little steps.
So this is gonna be a big move.
Now coming up here,
expert course designer Mike Levy has staggered
a couple more rocks to make it extra challenging.
Plus we've gotta deal with the cactus of the desert.
Got one more little choke point with a turn
and more cactus who would've thought?
Okay.
So we're making our way up here.
This is the last step in the impossible climb.
Who would've thought but there's more rocks on rocks.
I'm gonna be totally gased at this point.
But I'm gonna be really interested to see
if any of the bikes make it,
because this looks like the hardest one to date.
Okay. Let's give it a crack.
Okay, so first bike on the chopping block
is the Salsa Timberjack.
An aluminum frame of 29 inch wheels and big meaty tires.
Let's give this a shot.
(upbeat music)
Whoa.
Just rubble, absolute rubble.
Kinda got away from me.
Little power wheelie.
This is pretty steep and techy.
Okay. Next up we got the Marin XC hardtail.
There's no dropper post on this
and it's got some skinny fast tires.
So let's see if we get any traction outta that.
Oh yeah.
No dropper post is a bit strange.
These tires are skittish.
(vibrant music)
Yeah. Not the same amount of traction
outta this one as the plus tires.
So out here in the desert, they have some merit.
Okay. Next up we got the Commencal Meta HT.
This thing has some beefy 2.8 tires.
Hopefully this gives us a bit more traction
on this loose rubble stuff.
No dropper post on this bike either.
So going a little bit lower for some more traction.
Oh! (beep)
Didn't make it on this thing either.
It's just boulders on boulders.
Okay. Next step we got the Diamondback Sync'r.
This thing does have a dropper post
and big 2.8 inch tires as well.
So hopefully that gives the hardtail
a little bit more advantage.
(upbeat music)
Find a good medium height for the dropper post.
Maybe a bit more juice here.
Oh, we're already sliding.
Nope.
We're not gonna go.
You have to really tricky balance.
Keeping the hardtail on the ground from bouncing,
but also trying to maintain like a smooth cadence.
Trying to keep that traction delivered and no jerky moments,
but no rear suspension makes that difficult.
- This is Mishka.
Please subscribe to BETA so I can afford to feed her.
She eats a lot.
And right now the BETA membership is half off.
It's only 24 bucks a year.
Even Mishka could afford that.
Yeah.
- Okay, now we're onto the full suspension bikes.
We've got the Fezzari Cascade Peak.
Hopefully we'll get some more traction
with that rear suspension up here.
'Cause it is loose and chunky.
There we go.
Oh definitely need an easier gear.
This has got a very relaxed position.
Oh definitely easier than the hardtails.
Can feel that your tire slipping around a little bit.
Oh boy.
I don't know if there's any way
through this part of the impossible climb.
Pretty impossible looking.
Nice job Mike.
Yeah, so this is definitely
one of the crux moves at the impossible climb
and this cascade peak.
Definitely a little bit more relaxed feeling.
It's a shorter bike.
So there's a lot of weight focused over the back wheel
which is good for traction,
but hard to keep your weight forward
when things get really steep.
Okay, so this impossible climb is proving to be impossible.
But we have the Kona up next.
There's no climb switch on this.
And it's got a pretty relaxed seat angle.
Maybe that will give us some more traction
out back on that rear wheel.
So here she goes.
Cool.
Maybe go easier gear a little higher seat.
(vibrant music)
Oh yeah.
It does actually get quite a bit of grip.
(upbeat music)
Oh.
Stumbling at this point.
So all the hardtails stopped at that little choke point.
It's usually getting here on the full suspension
but gotta keep your head up.
And it's tiring.
Uphill's hard.
Now we have the Canyon Spectral 125.
It's the longest bike on test.
So I'm curious to see how
that does negotiating some of those tighter corners.
(upbeat music)
Wow. This thing is huge.
But it's staying on the ground pretty well.
Oh, nearly there.
(upbeat music)
Man it's loose out here.
Whoa.
We got one.
(upbeat music)
Oh yeah.
(upbeat music)
Wow. Okay.
So this thing cleaned it.
It was a little challenging,
to time where the crank placements were going.
Across some of those bumpy steps.
I'm gasping for air.
But this thing had a lot of traction.
It was good.
Okay, this is the base bottle
Specialized Stumpjumper alloy frame.
In the past, we've called this the traction master.
Let's see if this value bike makes it up the climb.
(upbeat music)
(vibrant music)
I don't know if that counts.
We're still going.
Whoa boy.
This fork is bouncy even on the uphill.
Nope.
I'm not taking another cactus to the hand.
So we have one last bike to test.
Let's see if we can do two on the impossible climb.
Okay, so the YT IZZO is the last bike
in the impossible climb challenge.
It's a lot lighter than all the other bikes
because it have a carbon front triangle.
Maybe that'll make a difference
on this short little section.
(upbeat music)
This looks just as ragged as the first attempt.
Whoa.
Skinny, old tires.
It's definitely light.
Wow.
Wow. Okay.
- All right everybody,
that is another impossible climb done and dusted.
I think dusted being the operative word here.
This is definitely the most gravelly
impossible climb we've ever done.
So Matt, my question for you is what makes
or breaks a bike in this sort of situation?
You've only made it up here on the Canyon.
And I look at this bike, it's big, it's long.
Yet you made it up that slow speed climb.
So why?
- Well, like we saw in Pemberton when it was cold and wet.
It's also slippery here because it's so dry and gravelly.
- Desert scree.
So the number one differentiator has to be the tires again.
That was really noticeable.
The Canyon has 3C rubber.
So it's a little bit softer on the outside.
Whereas the other ones were just really hard and skittish.
- And that's definitely worth pointing
out in this price range.
This bike comes with great 3C tires.
So you don't need to upgrade them to get more traction.
What about the angles on this thing?
This is a big long bike,
but it looks like it hid that pretty well.
- Yeah, totally right.
It did feel the longest,
but I felt the most central on it.
- Yeah.
- Yeah. The weight distribution felt really even
and I think that had to do with the steeper C2 angle.
- Yeah. So speaking of weight distribution,
I wanna talk about some of those hardtails.
None of them made it up here.
Why do you think that is?
My guess is that they're shorter
and they looked a lot skittier but...
- Totally. - I dunno.
- So a lot of them had shorter chainstays.
So the rear half of the bike definitely kept my weight
over the back wheel for traction.
But it made me loop out a little quicker.
And then again, no rear suspension.
So you do get bounced around.
It's harder to maintain your center of gravity,
and kind of tell where the traction's getting powered.
- All right everybody,
that is it for the impossible climb.
This time from Tucson, Arizona.
We've been out in the sun long enough.
My skin feels a little funny.
So we're gonna get outta here.
But stay tuned for more from Tucson,
including the video you guys have all been waiting for.
The Hard To Flat.
(upbeat music)