Normally we’re filling you in on a new test bike the moment it lands in the office but the BH Lynx 6 is one we’ve had for a little while and we’ve already been shredding the trails from Cairns to Sydney. The BH Lynx 6 27.5 is a 150mm/160mm travel all-mountain machine, and coming with Dave Weagle’s Split Pivot suspension system, we approached this one with high expectations.
Click here to check out our full write up.
So what’s in the package? 150mm of FOX CTD damped travel front and rear with a handlebar remote for both, Shimano XT cranks and derailleurs, SLX brakes, Stan’s ZTR tubeless ready wheels (even though we’ve shot ours with DT Swiss), to name a few highlights. The 90mm stem and 680mm bars made us feel like we were back in the 90’s, so we swapped them out as soon as we could. The absence of a dropper post is a pity. We’ve since had a chat with the Australian BH distributor and we’re super pleased to hear that the 2015 version of this bike will come with 50/70mm stem options, a 740mm bar AND a dropper post too – it’s great to see that BH has taken that feedback on board.
The handlebar-mounted controls for the CTD fork and shock make for it easy to stiffen things up in a hurry for the long climbs or sprints. It’s a simultaneous lockout system – it’s either C, T, or D for front and back, at the same time – so you can’t just stiffen the rear and leave the fork fully open, which is a common setup choice.
The BH Lynx is all about the rear end and it has a list of slogans to describe the technology employed here that’s longer than most people’s weekly grocery list. However, it’s really the ride that matters and our initial impressions of the rear suspension are very good, especially on those square rocks and bumps that tend to hang up the rear end. The BH doesn’t seem to get caught up as much and thus momentum is easier to maintain over the really rough stuff.
With a different bar and stem fitted (as mentioned above), the bike has a neutral, familiar feel. The geometry feels perfect for a bike of this kind, with a head angle that instills confidence and a compact frame that lends itself to flicking about. We’re excited to have the bike for a bit longer, so look out for our full test soon.