I was asked what I thought by a good friend and I said the only issue I had with it was the lack of battery 😂 It’s quite a bike. The suspension feels so stable the ground underneath you is almost none existent. It feels really stable and almost docile, but then also very nimble. It’s strange to have those combinations in a bike and without one compromising the other.
That's a proper boys room full of all 2 wheeled madness! Such a lucky fella! The build looks fantastic too. Way too much bike for my meagre ability but great to watch the build up. Best of Luck to you with your racing, being 58 I just ride for pleasure now and my Mondy carbon Raze pulls me out of the shit more often than not! My Crafty also flatters my lack of fitness 😁 But I'd obviously love to try that 170 on the silly stuff! 😈
I’m very lucky, the Mrs says I’m having a mid life crisis 🤣 you need plenty of toys though.. The bike is just mega, I have recently been to Dyfi and bike park wales I’ll be uploading the video soon.
@@A_bit_better_than_average hoping to do BPW in the New Year. I've got a Mondraker Carbon Raze that should get me down there nicely! But those Atherton bikes look VERY cool with the Ti lugs etc...
I have had all carbon frames for the last 4 bikes and can’t say I have had a problem. I will say the carbon reserve wheels are by far the best wheel I have had. The amount of times my aluminium wheels went out of true was unreal. I’ve had some big incidents with those carbon wheels and they are always straight 👌🏽
The plan is to get out a lot more on my new Atherton and do a comparison to my old bike. The other thing that I’m thinking, is it going to make me any faster.
Such a sick bike. I’ve been drooling over one of those. Just can’t justify the $8000 dollar price tag when my carbon transition spire is full 29r and just as good, half the price. But, a Gucci boutique bike would be a nice status symbol of frivolous spending.
I have to say it’s the best bike I have rode. The fact that the sizes are so near to perfect is a brilliant. Hardly a surprise but it feels so comfortable to ride. My Santa Cruz megatower use to give me a bad lower back. The mullet setup is really nice to work with. I can’t wait to get into the French Alps racing next year…
@@A_bit_better_than_average Mate, you are so stoked. It’s funny you say that about the mega tower. Mine did as well. I tried everything to “fix” it. Bars, stem, sliding the seat every which direction. Ended up selling the frame and bought the transition spire frame. And you’re right about the sizing on the Atherton. Seems as close to a custom fit bike you could get. I was just winding you up about the price. I’ll be making my first trip to DYFI to ride and hopefully some Forest of Dean this summer from North Carolina. Going to buy a frame and hopefully meet the Athertons. It’s going to be my DH race bike and maybe some enduro. I’ll be smoking the old farts in my class. Cat-2 50+. If I clinch the season championships in a week I’ll have to move up to cat-1 and will need all the help I can get. You would be surprised that there is actually a pretty large group of pensioners that race and all of us are extremely competitive.Cheers mate. Keep the rubber side down.
I’m just turning 40 so looking forward to moving up to vets. With the results I had last year I would hopefully get on the podium next year.. We might see you next year at Dyfi, hopefully Thanks for the kind words 👍🏼
Awesome bike and video mate! I’ve been waiting for someone who’s not an influencer to do a video on one of these. I’m some where in between the am150 and am170 - would love to hear some feed back on climbing and if it’s too much bike for anything other than a downhill track or jump line. It’s all natural trails round here with a lot of climbing and wonder if the am170 would be too much.
Yes I’m by no means an influencer. I can’t comment on the 150 but I can imagine if it’s anything like the 170 it will be fantastic. The reason I went with the 170 Firstly it’s a mullet. I have a mullet e-bike and love it, it turns in so well. So that was a big consideration for me. I was concerned thinking my full 29” mega would feel faster but it definitely doesn’t. This bike is seriously fast, and I think because the suspension is working so well you can just ride faster. Better sizes to get a better fit. I’m a big guy and I usually ride an XL Santa Cruz, but it does give me a bit of a bad back as I feel I’m stretched out a bit to much. Initially when I sat on the Atherton I thought it felt small, but after riding it, I now realise the Santa Cruz is just really big. This leads into the pedalling. Because your in the perfect position pedalling doesn’t feel hard and the bike climbs just as well as my 150mm travel mega.. Jumping.. I really like to push my self and hit big features. I want to have a bike that is a park bike and trail bike, and I feel this is exactly that. Time will tell, I am still in the early days and getting out as much a possible given the wet conditions. I’m back in Dyfi and Bike Park Wales next week so I’ll be uploading those videos which my feedback. Thanks for commenting.
@@A_bit_better_than_average Oh man… you have me more interested than ever to try one. Did you manage to get a demo before you pulled the trigger? I’m heading down to Wales in the new year and might see if I can demo them both. I’m riding an old Hightower LT with a 170mm fork which is fine but getting on a bit and fancy a change. There’s so many good bikes out there it’s hard too decide. Looking forward to following your videos and see how you get on with it. Thanks
Funny enough I had an old Hightower LT. I could have had a demo on site but, I decided to just pull the trigger. A friend of mine in the industry gets to demo lots of bikes and he said he was seriously impressed. With him being a close friend, his opinion of a bike when talking to me is as honest as it could be, if you know what I mean.
I've got the Am150 and it's an incredible bike for climbing. With the dw6 suspension geometry on the rear you get next to no bob or bounce even when cranking up steep climbs. The 150 also has 160mm forks. I can't compare it to the 170 because I've only rode mine. They are great bikes and I found everyone at Athertons very helpful when deciding what one to get. I basically spoke to Joe (sales) about what type of riding I do and would what to do. He made some suggestions and between us we spec'd my bike. The main thing I've noticed is that with the fit of the bike I'm more comfortable and confident to push my limits and progress more. Simply give them a call. You won't be disappointed.
Yes the sales team are great to deal with. I was lucky enough to deal direct with the CEO as I met him at a local show. A friend was riding one of there bikes and dropped it back with them so we got introduced. I chose to collect the bike and got a tour round the factory. Really interesting.
@@HajrhJsjcjus-oe5ekthe oils on your hands eats through pads unlike anything that you pick up on your ride. You never touch the braking surface of a rotor with bare hands.
@justinreera7588 I always do, then just get an alcohol pad and wipe them down. I think using blue loctite to torque spec, and a light film of grease on every part that touches other parts makes for a quiet bike and less friction.
This is literally the first set of continental tyres I have used, basically I fancied trying something new. I didn’t have a problem with the maxxis tyres I always use and I think I prefer them. I will try the enduro soft next before I fully make up my mind.
I’m on the hope v4 e4 the discs are a bit thicker and absolutely love them. I’m a 16 and a half stone guy and riding Enduro 2 last year on my megatower. One of the many stages was a 1000 meter 10k descent, it was brutal and the brakes got hammered but work faultlessly. I had SRAM code RSC on the megatower prior and I could get them to fade on my local trails doing 180 meter descent. The other bonus, I always ran the SRAM brakes with the lever fully out to try and get as much leverage as possible, anticipating the fade. I fitted the hope brakes before my French Alps trip I ran the hope brakes with the lever fully out as I was use to it. I then started to get hand pump, I brought the lever in as I was able to because they didn’t fade like the SRAM and it reduced the hand pump 👍🏼
i noticed you put the 2.3mm rotors on. It’s a megatower i have and see a few people have put E4’s on instead off v4’s so sounds like a good option just worried it wasn’t enough power but i could always go for the thicker disk’s if i thought that! thanks man
@@kevyndamezin821E4s have plenty of power. I've been running them since they came out and they have been flawless and I've never been left wanting for power. I'm 80KG kitted up for reference and run them with 200mm standard floating rotors.
Did you know when some brake discs are supplied there’s actually a protective oily film on them? As long as you make sure before use you clean with the correct cleaning agent and for a really good addition a light rub with some sand paper to help the pads bed in you will be just fine Like I said, this isn’t my first rodeo. I have been building, cars,bikes, and things that go really fast for many years. 😉
@@A_bit_better_than_average It can be an anti-rust coating, which is even designed to evaporate with high heat...not just any bike grease. Is also just a bad practice (when instead the wheel could easily be hold by the rim), especially as an experienced mechanic... Yeah, I know lots of mechanics with the "I always did that" argument 😄
Not sure what you’re referring to, there’s grease used on everything that’s needed and thread lock used where it’s needed. Don’t panic cowboy, this isn’t my first rodeo 😉
As a mech, I got a few serious questions 🤔‼️ First of all, tell your wife, your present wish for this Christmas would be a set of wrenches. If she loves you, maby extra a set of Nuts. So can put this Frenchie wrench, back to the souvenirs wall. 2 - grease is your friends, for me in the Bavarian mountains, and especially for you in the UK! And, while building up a new bike!!! 3 - who showed you, to hold your wheel on the brake disc? The dirty hands doesn't harm anything, the bike track or street are way More dirty! But you are holding it so, that the weight of it may bend the disk! Never seen before, and I'm educating the mech aprentences, since 15 years. 4 - as a German, I can clearly see and say, you build the front break- lever on the wrong side 🤣🤣🤣🤣‼️‼️‼️ Exept you are really using the motorbikes behind you, or you are truly from the Uk ( Wich I don't believe, because hope parts and an Atherton frames, are the most " NON UK" things, I know in the bike business!) 🤔🤣🤣🤣🤣‼️
Don't like the way the frame is made, would never buy one, I don't trust it's strength over long term use season after season?, if they made a fully welded aluminium frame with the same geo I might consider it, but everyone to there own thou I guess, it's up to the buyer what they want!....ymmv
I’ll see how it goes. Not sure there really making things all that different to any other carbon bike that has a wound/bonded in section for the headset, bottom bracket and calliper mount. At this point in time we have to trust that the Atherton bikes staff are smarter than we are..
"They're" and no, 225mm rotors on orange spiders are made in Barnoldswick, but only if you know the right people, you'll only get one on a black spider !
