Senior bike tester Steve Jones takes a look at Nukeproof’s all–mountain, enduro machine.
DIRT ISSUE 125 – JULY 2012
Words by Steve Jones. Photos by Steve Jones
FIRST THOUGHTS: Black with a killer component setOn a structural level the Mega seems to have been designed by a person who knows what they’re doing, whilst on a mood level it’s certainly built by someone with a penchant for fun. Component wise it comes boxed with the correct baggage for the task in hand, whilst cosmetically the stealth black with ‘mix and match’ blesses the bike with a purposeful air of menace.
Furnished with the correct tune shock absorber and paired with a similarly damped RockShox Lyric of RC2 DH vintage, the Mega is balanced, it certainly holds excellent symmetry even though it’s 150mm rear, 160mm front. With a good width bar, decent wheelbase and bottom bracket height the bike appears to be predatory in its nature when it comes to hunting out the dipping terrain.
Furnished with Sram X0 this, that, and the other, the Mega has quality componentry. Solid hubs laced to Mavis rims, usable gearing with a tidy chain device, this Nuke also has silence in mind with chainstay padding. Cable routing is reasonable, finish totally acceptable with gun–proof graphics. Not a bad size for a six footer, this large was ready to rock and I certainly looked forward to it.
SECOND THOUGHTS: Is it too much bike?This Nuke didn’t disappoint with good poise, accurate steering and generally quiet at its business. The balance between front and rear worked well with similar dampers, whilst loading the bike pre–corner, mid–root traverse, was easy to understand.
After a long day the Mega isn’t the sharpest climbing 160mm travel bike. There were certainly thoughts passing–through of the sub 30lb carbon Spicy and Ibis Mojo that lean more towards the trail side of the balance. I’d like to try a larger version and as it is I might even consider a longer stem! Overall? Very much like an enduro, it’s of beef stock and not of nut bake.
Cable routing on the RockShox Reverb is not perfect and snagged on a few occasions, the grips feel a bit thick, but that’s it really. Oh, I lost count how many times the word ‘Nukeproof’ is printed on this bike and I wondered where the next generation of this bike will go, hopefully not carbon with a thousand pound price hike. Just some thoughts really.>>
