Deep in north Wales on a wet, rocky, rooty day of nonsense, the GT Sanction Team lit up events with its shape and balance, beautiful damping characteristic and silent glide through Llangynnog’s worst. In fact it had been my intention to concentrate on downhill bikes that day but so stunningly placed was this mule bike to deal with what was on offer I simply got carried away.
No longer is it stealth black but fluro’ and out to grab as much attention as possible. And more than this it is one of the few bikes that comes in a range of sizes to suit nearly everyone. In fact the XL Sanction has a longer reach and wheelbase than most other production 160mm’s bikes apart from the Mondraker Dune and Mojo/Nicolai.
“the bike was fast-tracked into the range and now stands as one of the GT jewels”
The big news for 2016 is that there are to be a full range of different specification bikes on offer through UK importers CSG, no doubt this comes after probably selling out of stock such is the current demand for long travel bikes.
Component wise its nice to see the marvellous Fox 36 fronting the show and like its downhill stablemate is the finest fork currently available. At 170mm travel up front it doesn’t take much imagination to realise that the Sanction gets nothing but the green light for as much trouble as possible. Elsewhere it’s a nice blend of Shimano both in drivetrain and braking, an interesting DT Swiss/Stans Flow wheel combination and KS Lev seatpost set-up. Race Face and WTB fill in the details in terms of control points.
Overall it’s quite a mix of componentry and quite refreshing to see a Shimano clad bike in what appears to be Sram domination on downhill and enduro bikes. So put it on your hit list, for its one bike that we’re more than happy to give our full endorsement.
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