Evil Calling
Bike|December 2017

EVERY NOW AND THEN I HAVE A BRIEF encounter with a bike that I can’t get off my mind. Last year at our Bible of Bike Tests in Bentonville, Arkansas, the mint green Evil Calling was that bike. And that came as a total shock if I’m being honest. When I heard about Evil’s new short-travel 27.5 bike, I only had one question—why? It seemed like such a ridiculous concept. With the modern trend of progressive trail bikes pushing the boundaries of big travel with big wheels, why would they produce a bike that essentially did the exact opposite? What was even more puzzling about this bike was that Evil had arguably one of the most exciting long-travel 29ers in our test with the Wreckoning. So yeah, why make the Calling?

Anthony Smith
Evil Calling

Last year at our Bible of Bike Tests in Bentonville, Arkansas, the mint green Evil Calling was that bike. And that came as a total shock if I’m being honest. When I heard about Evil’s new short-travel 27.5 bike, I only had one question—why? It seemed like such a ridiculous concept. With the modern trend of progressive trail bikes pushing the boundaries of big travel with big wheels, why would they produce a bike that essentially did the exact opposite? What was even more puzzling about this bike was that Evil had arguably one of the most exciting long-travel 29ers in our test with the Wreckoning. So yeah, why make the Calling?

It was the first bike that I rode at last year’s Bible. Subconsciously I think I wanted to be the first to ride it so that, when my Bike mag colleagues asked the inevitable question, ‘So, how was it?’ I could back my argument as to why this bike was a dud. That didn’t happen.

All the attributes that I was so convinced that I would hate were put together in such a way that all I could do was love the thing. The snappy, short-travel Calling turned the low-grade flow trails in Bentonville into a playground. It gave me what I love about the big-wheeled big-travel bikes in the long, low, and slack department, but in a short travel package that created a type of bike that I had never ridden before. All I wanted to do was jump, jib and generally just mess around at every opportunity. It was a childlike experience that put a grin on my face from ear to ear.

This story is from the December 2017 edition of Bike.

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This story is from the December 2017 edition of Bike.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.