Componentry

With the damping dialled in and dealt with by Fox exceptionally well, it is pretty much down to a Shimano Saint groupset to carry out the rest of the tasks. The gearing and crank on this bike have been spot every time I have been out but the brakes are far from the most polished or quietest performers. They had to be bled after the first ride and have not stopped making noise the whole time. Even after bleeding the Saint brake if the bike is stood upright on an uplift the brake feels vacant when back on level ground sometimes taking half a run to come back to life. It’s an issue that we’ve encountered on other Saint clad bikes.

With Stans rims, Maxxis tyres and the Athertons PRO finishing kit, it makes for an altogether well rounded build straight out of the box however, but we’d like to see a higher bar or stem on it and there could be a touch of weight shed from the bike as it weighs in at 36.10lb but as we found out in Pila last season, weight isn’t really an issue that many make it out to be. It certainly doesn’t hold this bike back.

Limitations

In terms of shape the bar height feels slightly low, and when riding I did feel over the front wheel and had to adjust to deal with this. At a shade over 40” it was some way off 42” which we feel to be a good average height. The Race Face stem did flip over for more height however and even though it was a bit of a faff with crown spacers to get the clearance for the bars on the fork adjusters it was worth it as it transformed the bike making it far more comfortable.

Being a full-on race bike if not ridden hard and fast some might find the bike lacks a bit of life in its sturdy chassis. This is partly the price you pay for a bike which is designed for pure downhill riding, its not a park style jump bike which some downhill bikes lean towards. It’s great that GT have not compromised the Fury in this respect.

Verdict

A super fast bike which is stiff enough for the world fastest could benefit from a touch more give in its bones. But then it’s also a fantastically robust work horse too and for many the slight stiffness is a price worth paying.

The Fury is all together components wise and definitely a “ready to race” bike. It’s a great package at just under £5000 and even though many direct sales bikes are making it a challenging environment what the Fury has is a bullet proof build and proven reliability. That’s worth loads.

When you open the taps out the positives that the GT Fury had to offer really do get unleashed. And what an incredibly stable bike this is. A total charger that will not shy away from any challenges, one that holds its line and poise. In big breakers the Fury is an inspired ride certainly one of the most stable downhill bikes in the business and easy to see how Gee had such great results on this bike.

If you can get past the chunky industrial look that it has and some of the overkill welds and you aren’t after a beauty queen with the spec and sizing it’s a great bike.

PRICE: £4999

cyclingsportsgroup.co.uk

gtbicycles.com

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