Having my brand new bikes bolted together, I had to give them a good blast !
Day 1, the RFX.
To test/bed in the RFX we choose (with my mate Eddine) to go down to Samoëns from the top of la Bourgeoise, a smooth climb followed by a 1000m drop, singletrack only... wicked ! Unfortunatly, at this time of the year, mountains can be a little bit snowy, so we had to push our bikes all the way to the top ! Nevermind, the ride down was fantastic, it highlighted almost everything the Alps offers, steep, fast, technical, rooty, rocky and even... a few climbs !
The RFX was absolutly up for the job, it actually made it feel like a ride in the park ! The suspensions are very smooth, even on the most beaten up part of the trail, and the geometry is spot on, making you feel at home straight away. I also loved the Hope parts, the modulation on the brakes is great and the hubs make the bike moving forward effortlessly, they also make a sweet noise... all good !
Day 2, the DHR.
Joined up with Guy Bowden (thanks for the photos), and we decided to visit our Swiss neighbours and go to Bex. After an hour and a half drive, we were in the Vaux county’s town. From there a little cog train leave every hours to join the mountain villages, perfect for us ! Locals have built up a variety of tracks, going from flowy singletracks to some really steep tracks, where stopping is unlikely ! A great riding spot off season as the train works all year. All the locals we met were really nice and helpful, I think the train controler would have come with us if he could have !
The DHR is a killer ! Same as the RFX, the geometry make you feel like you’ve been riding it forever and the suspensions work a treat, you are truly glued to the ground, but on top of that, the bike is really lightweight which makes it really fun to ride. It is a bit early to test it, but it is very obvious that Mr DT is designing his bikes with reliability and ease of maintenance in mind... bless him !
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