GIANT GLORY ADVANCED

£7,499 We can see this bike bringing plenty of race wins

Giant's downhill bike has a strong heritage, but in recent years it's seemed like its glory days are behind it. However, this latest model comes out swinging, with impressive performance and a ton of adjustment.

THE FRAME

There's a host of new tech to help the Glory get back to the sharp end of the race scene. The full-carbon front and rear triangles are claimed to be lighter and stiffer than those on the old model. Giant have also beefed up the down tube and top tube, aiming to increase lateral and torsional rigidity, to improve steering and pedalling. Unusually for a DH frame, there are no fork bump-stops.

Three areas of adjustability allow riders to fine-tune the geometry. Headset cups can be swapped to give three different reach positions (-5mm, 0mm, +5mm), a flip-chip gives 'low', 'mid' and 'high' geometry settings, and also makes it possible to use both 29in and 650b rear wheels, and there's a choice of two chainstay lengths, which alter the rear-centre figure by 10mm.