The AM.130 joins the AM.150 enduro bike (what we recently reviewed) and the World Cup-winning AM.200 downhill bike in the young company’s repertoire.
Those with excellent pattern recognition skills will have guessed that the new bike has 130mm of rear wheel travel. This is paired with a 140mm fork or, in the case of the AM.130.X, a 150mm fork for a slightly more gravity-biased ride.
The AM.130 takes advantage of the same highly customizable 3D printing process as Atherton’s other bikes, but they say they’ve been “removing even more material where it didn’t directly contribute to the strength of the bike.” It’s not known exactly how much lighter the AM.130 makes it than the AM.150, but the claimed frame weight is 3.1kg without shocks and about 14.9kg for a full medium frame.
That’s not the lightest, but unusually for a trail bike, it passes the stricter EFBE Cat 4 (Enduro) and Cat 5 (Downhill) tests, meaning you shouldn’t have a problem handling big landings in the bike park. . While many trail bikes have a warranty that doesn’t cover bike park use, Atherton offers a lifetime warranty to the original owner of the frame, no matter where you ride it.
Atherton will make 22 (yes, twenty-two) sizes, with numbers ranging from 410mm to 530mm in 10mm increments. The effective seat angle ranges from 77 degrees on the smallest size to 79 degrees on the largest size, to prevent tall riders from sitting too far off the back. The chainstay length goes from 430mm to 436mm across the entire size range, which is a barely noticeable change in my opinion and is much shorter in any case. Head angle is fixed for all sizes, at 65.5 degrees with a 140mm fork or 65 degrees with a 150mm fork.
There are four main build options in the AM.130 lineup, starting at £4200 for a frame with a Rock Shox Super Deluxe Ultimate shock.
Complete builds start with Build 2, with a RockShox Pike Select fork, Deluxe Ultimate shock and Sram GX gears, priced at £6600. The top-end Build 1 gets a Pike Ultimate, Super Deluxe Ultimate and Sram X01; it costs £7,800 / €7,410 / $7,410 USD. Build X has the longest-travel 150mm fork, with the Fox 36, Fox Float X2 and Sram GX; it costs £7,300 / €6,935 / $6,935 USD.
There is also the opportunity to upgrade selected components or fully specify your own “dream build”.
For more information, see athertonbikes.com
