Only a bike with dropped bars and 700c wheels would be less ‘Dirt’ than this full–on XC race bike, but sometimes you’ve got to admire what the others are up to and it’s good to remind yourself that we’re not the only ones pushing design and technology. I reckon even Buck Rogers would be happy aboard this futuristic looking weapon.

We were impressed with preproduction versions of the 150mm travel Mega but this final version with all its finery is sweet to say the least. RockShox Reverb dropper post, carbon cranks, 1×10…it’s a pretty much dream build. This bike is well and truly ready to take on its namesake straight out of the box, but it will cost you £3399.99. That said, the cheaper ‘Comp’, which possibly looks even better in silver, still has a great spec and sells for a grand less.

It seems like pretty much everyone these days is jumping on the carbon bandwagon and with this carbon version of their Mach 5.7 Pivot are another name to join the ever expanding list. Still, when a material can turn what was a relatively ugly duckling into something that looks pretty nice who can argue? Of course it’s also lighter/stiffer/stronger, but at £2099.99 for the frame alone it’ll relieve you of an extra £400 compared to the aluminium version.

At just 650g all in (cranks, BB, ring, etc.) these new carbon DH cranks from Race Face are around 100g lighter than SRAM X0 carbon DH cranks, and yet they also reckon they’re a fair bit stronger. The steel pedal inserts are a reassuring touch too, but if their previous SixC cranks are anything to go by there’s absolutely nothing to worry about anyway. Oh, and if you can’t quite stretch to their £549 price tag you’ll be pleased to know that the already light Atlas cranks are now 50g lighter too, bringing them in at 822g all in.

If you’ve ever bought a dud pair of brake pads you’ll know that anyone who says ‘just buy whatever you can get’ is talking shite. These pads though should be far from dud considering that the company behind them has done work for the likes of Brembo and Formula 1 teams. The fact that the packaging can be reused as a credit card holder is a nice little touch too. Hit up Upgrade if you want to try some out.