Affordable Enduro Shredding: The Dartmoor Blackbird - Video
PRESS RELEASE: Dartmoor Bikes
When the snow covers most of Europe and bikers are counting down the days to spring, there is a place where you can ride your bike also in the winter. This is the south coast of Spain, full of breathtaking views and high mountains with peaks reaching over 2000 meters above sea level. So no wonder that every winter, this place is full of bikers from all over Europe enjoying every minute they spend on their bikes, riding on trails that offer almost every conceivable type of mountain biking you could ask for. One of the most popular and insane spots to ride your bike is the area near the village of El Chorro. This area gained its popularity among mountain bike enthusiasts thanks to its very special terrain. When riding the trails there it looks like you are riding on a giant rock. But it is not too steep and the wavy lines make flow riding so awesome!
When riding on this massive rock you can pick the lines that will give you a natural flow trail.
You won't find typical bike park infrastructure here, professional bike shops or real bike rentals. The trails are built by local riders and most of them can easily be found on the Trailforks: https://www.trailforks.com/region/el-chorro-6127. All trails are accessible by asphalt roads so you can easily reach them on enduro bikes or by using a shuttle bus service offered by the locals.
El Choro is also popular amongst hiking enthusiasts. It’s full of cliffs, caves and gorges, so you’d better not fly off of the trails.
This spot offers trails for all kinds of mountain biking, from cross-country to downhill, but the best and most universal idea seems to be using an enduro bike here. That's why Jan Kilinski (R&D Manager in Dartmoor-Bikes) and Aleksander Wieczorkiewicz (DH European vice-champion in Masters category and team rider in Dartmoor-Bikes) took their Blackbirds to enjoy every minute they spent on their bikes in this stunning area.
Keeping up with DH European vice-champion in Masters category Aleksander Wieczorkiewicz is not an easy challenge.
Blackbird 27.5 is an all-purpose enduro bike made by the Polish brand Dartmoor-Bikes. Its simple but very well-designed frame, based on progressive geometry suitable for 27.5” wheels, makes it possible to create a bike that is comfortable on the uphills and perfect for smashing downhill. The super stiff swingarm cage is welded from 12 pieces of tubes and forged parts. The carefully designed pivot position allows high pedalling efficiency with the anti-squat parameter at about 100% and eliminated pedal-bob effect. The swingarm is connected with the front triangle with a stiff 17mm axle, mounted on 3 Max type bearings packed with waterproof Mobil grease. The frame design with a shock mount yoke means a full-length seat tube can be used with plenty of room for the long travel dropper posts. Blackbird has a linear leverage ratio from 2.6 to 2.4 which makes it perfect to work with medium chamber size air shocks.
A single-pivot suspension system doesn’t mean a boring bike. Compact construction with clean lines and attention to details give this frame a distinguished look. On the photo is Jan's custom-built Blackbird bike in a large size (reach 460mm).
Blackbird's progressive geometry with low positioned BB, 65 degrees head tube angle and reasonably long reach with low standover even in XLarge size - everyone will find something suitable.
Dartmoor Blackbird bikes range
Dartmoor offers 3 versions of complete bikes, all very reasonably priced:
Blackbird Pro $3799 USD with Fox Performance Elite suspension, Sram GX Eagle 12-speed drivetrain and Fox dropper post.
Blackbird Evo $2899USD with RS Yari Boost fork and RS Monarch Plus shock, 11-speed Sram NX drivetrain and KS dropper post.
Blackbird Intro $2249USD with Suntour Aion fork, RS Monarch shock and 10-speed Sram drivetrain.
Blackbird frameset $1249USD with RS Monarch Plus RC3 HV Debonair shock.
You can also grab one of the affordable Blackbird frames and build your own dream bike!
Along the main trails you can also find steep walls which will test your riding skills and self-confidence.
There is more sand-soil terrain in the forest areas. The interesting thing is, you won’t find here many loose, sharp rocks which are so typical in Spanish mountains.
While riding around El Chorro you'll find many water reservoirs, which regulate the water level during heavy rainy days. They are not only important to protect this area from floods but make this place really breathtaking.
Video and photos by Dirt It More
Special credits to local riders who helped us to explore El Chorro: Yaroslav Alpizar & Ruben Garcia
MENTIONS: @dart-bikes
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Other things are prices in Euro zone and prices with local value.
In Poland example You brought - Kona 153SE is priced around 2.800$