As the flagship enduro bike of the line-up, the Saracen Ariel 60 has been built to take on the wildest wilderness epics, bikepark laps and can of course get competitive between the tapes. At the heart of the all-new 160mm suspension platform is our series 3 custom-butted and hydroformed 6013 aluminium frame.
It's enduro-ready and while we might not have an EWS race team, we do have Matt Walker from the Madison Saracen Factory Racing Team. The testing instructions were simple: we wanted him to ride this bike as hard as he goes on his Myst but with one difference he'd be pedalling back up the hills too. Now it's Matt's favourite bike to jump on, with a steep seattube and efficient suspension design helping on the way up. On the way back down, it's a riot.
It's also easy to get the right fit on an Ariel 60. That's because it features size specific wheels, with small and medium bikes in the 29/27.5 mullet setup, and the large and extra-large sizes 29er models.
Our Pro model delivers its 160mm of race-spec travel through a Fox Float X2 Performance air shock and Fox 38 Performance Elite fork, featuring the GRIP2 damper. The latest Shimano SLX groupset continues to set new standards in shift performance and aided by an XT rear mech, each one of the 12 selections on the 11-51 cassette is crisp and fast. A 30mm rim is a must for enduro and the DT Swiss E532 is resilient and gives a great ride feel. Maxxis Minion DHRII tyres are the standard choice, and will easily setup tubeless. You'll just need to add tape, valves and sealant.
Singletrack magazine awared the Ariel Pro the Editors Choice award: Just one of those bikes I found myself wanting to ride all of the time, even after the review was long since written and published.
SIZING -
- Small: 154-173cm
- Medium: 169-181cm
- Large: 177-187cm
- X-Large: 185-197cm