The Stumpjumper model was the first in a long line of mountain bikes bearing the name Specialized. It remains in the lineup over 40 years later but the innovation has never stopped. The Evo Comp is the most affordable bike in the range and presents excellent value, not just because you get front and rear triangles made from Specialized’s FACT 11m carbon but also its versatility on the trails. With that in mind, we’ve put together some of the bike companies we reckon consistently make many of the best MTBs out there. Keep reading to see our list of the best mountain bike brands and our expert reviews of the top rated models they’ve recently released.
The SB120 has an uncanny ability to make everything from tires to grips to saddle, to mid-corner or black-grade, boulder run body position feel totally in the right place. It’s a tribute to how dialed the overall geometry is on the SB120; it’s nothing radical, just a brilliant place to be to enjoy all sorts of trails. That makes the SB120 an overachiever on descents with flowing rocky, rooty sections with a ridiculous amount of speed sustain for a 120mm travel bike. Travel is available when needed but support and ride height is maintained through even the hardest corners and compressions. For all the details and to find out what over four decades of evolution rides like, check out our full review of the Specialized Stumpjumper Evo Comp.
Today, Santa Cruz and Julianna continue huffy cruiser bicycles to hand-assemble all models in its California factory and they stand behind that process. They are so sure of the quality they put out that all Santa Cruz bikes come with a lifetime warranty covering the frame and fork. Since then Trek, like Specialized, has been one of the pivotal brands when it comes to introducing new tech into mountain biking. Under the Gary Fisher name, it was the first brand to make a commercial push with the 29er wheel. While that took some development and weathered much criticism, Trek has certainly come out on the right side of history with 29ers becoming the most common wheel size in almost every MTB discipline. Trek was also one of the brands that made huge inroads by introducing carbon fiber to mountain biking with its OCLV development.
Like a lot of mountain bike companies, Trek is a brand born from a lack of offerings. The dream was to start a nationwide chain of stores in America in the early 1970s, but things didn’t turn out like that and a lack of available bikes required a re-think. Before an era of globalization, good American bikes weren’t available so Trek set out to change that. They envisioned high-quality options from the middle price points all the way to the top shelf offerings but the focus was on road bikes. The company became synonymous with the American mountain bike scene with the release of the first Stumpjumper in 1981.