Depending on how far back your mountain bike history knowledge goes, the Nukeproof Reactor name may be familiar. It was first used for an aluminum hardtail in 1996, when Nukeproof was still based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Nearly 25 years later the model name has resurfaced, but this time it's being applied to a full-suspension, aggressive trail bike that's available with either 27.5" or 29" wheels.
The 27.5” Reactor has 140mm of rear travel and a 150mm fork, while the 29” version has 130mm of rear travel and a 140mm fork. There's also an RS version for both wheel sizes, which sees the fork travel bumped up by 10 millimeters.
Nukeproof Reactor Details • Wheelsize: 29" or 27.5"
• Aluminum or carbon frame options
• Travel: 130 (29") / 140 (27.5")
• 2.6" tire clearance
• 12 x 148mm rear spacing
• Threaded BB
• Price: $2,729 - $5,399 USD
• Available: Late October 2019
•
nukeproof.com Along with the two wheel size options, there are carbon and aluminum-framed models. This is Nukeproof's first full carbon frame – their previous carbon bikes used alloy swingarms. Now, even the aluminum bike gets carbon seatstays in order to shed a bit of weight.
Complete bike prices range from $2,750 for the aluminum Comp model up to $5,400 USD for the carbon RS edition. There's a healthy number of build kit options, with two complete aluminum models and four carbon models, along the option to go the frame-only route.
The Reactor is expected to be available by late October.
Frame DetailsRoom for a water bottle inside the front triangle? Check. Threaded bottom bracket? Check. Those two important details are taken care of, and Nukeproof also equipped the Reactor with a generous downtube protector to ward of flying rocks and other debris, and enough room to fit 2.6” tires, or to run something smaller and have extra mud clearance.
The derailleur and brake housing are internally routed through the front triangle, but then emerges just in front of the bottom bracket and remains externally routed on the swingarm. That under-the-BB routing is a point of contention for some riders, but it is relatively uncommon to run into any issues with pinched or smashed housing – the chainring or crankarms are more likely to hit an obstacle first. On the topic of smashing into immovable objects, the Reactor also has ISCG 05 tabs for chain guide / bash guard mounting.
Geometry No matter the wheel size, the Reactor has a 66 or a 65.5-degree head angle depending on the position of the flip chip that's found on the seatstay. Flipping the the chip from the steeper 'Trail' to the 'Rail' position also drops the bottom bracket height by 6mm, and slackens the seat tube angle to 75-degrees.
On the RS models, the longer fork slackens the head angle to either 65.5 or 65-degrees, and the seat angle drops to either 75.1 or 74.6-degrees. The seat angle isn't as steep as what's quickly becoming the norm – we'll see what that translates to out on the trail once we get a Reactor in for review.
Reach numbers range from 451mm to 514mm for the 29” model, and 425mm to 516mm for the 27.5” option.
Suspension Design The Reactor's Horst Link suspension layout is similar to whats found on the Nukeproof Mega, but the kinematics have been altered to suit the Reactor's slightly more pedaling-oriented focus. Anti-squat sits at 92% in the 32/50 gear ratio, but it falls off fairly quickly as the bike goes through its travel in order to allow the suspension to work unimpeded on rougher terrain.
The Reactor has a 21% leverage ratio change, which is also a bit higher than the Mega. That was done in order to increase the amount of mid-stroke support and end-stroke ramp up – Nukeproof expect this bike to be ridden hard, and don't want riders to find themselves blowing through the moderate amount of travel too quickly.
Models Nukeproof's parts spec for the Reactor make its 'get rowdy' intentions clear. All bikes have a piggyback shock from either Fox or RockShox, and a 2.5" Maxxis Assegai / 2.4" Minion DHRII tire combo. A 200mm rotor and powerful brakes are also standard on most models as well - this isn't a bike that was made for casual cruising.
• Reactor RS Carbon: Carbon frame, RockShox Lyrik Ultimate / Super Deluxe Ultimate, SRAM Code RSC brakes, X01 Eagle drivetrain. $5,400 USD.
• Reactor Factory Carbon: Carbon frame, Fox 36 Float Factory / DPX2 Factory, Shimano XT brakes, drivetrain. $4,900 USD.
• Reactor Pro Carbon: Carbon frame, RockShox Pike Select / Super Deluxe Select, SRAM Guide RE brakes, GX drivetrain. $4,400 USD.
• Reactor Elite Carbon: Carbon frame, Fox 36 Performance / DPX2 Performance, Shimano SLX brakes, drivetrain. $3,800 USD.
• Reactor Expert: Alloy frame (carbon seatstays), RockShox Pike Select / Super Deluxe Select+, SRAM Guide RE brakes, NX drivetrain. $3,100 USD
• Reactor Comp: Alloy frame (carbon seatstays), RockShox Revelation RC / RockShox Super Deluxe Select R, SRAM Guide T brakes, SX drivetrain. $2,750 USD>
Where it all began. The 1996 Nukeproof Reactor.
m.pinkbike.com/photo/17722399
St Patrick's day.
3am.
The dark backstreets of Bordeaux.
My poor 1970s peugeot, she didn't stand a chance.
Full taco.
Long walk home.
Mr Kazimer, can we battle off Reactor Expert, Habit 4, Ripmo AF and Stumpjumper EVO Comp, please? Maybe throw a Spectral for good measure.
FWIW in your comparison diamondback release would be nice to have in there as well.
You can engineer a Horst system to give all sorts of different traits, it may be just the specific types you have tried give those riding attributes.
It's actually a bit overkill for me, but I sold my 5010 V1 to go to a bigger bike (Trek Remedy to this). I like it much better than the Remedy. Despite how fun this bike is, I may end up back on a 5010 in the future when I've had enough time on this one.
Long live the MegaTR.
I have a MegaTR XL with -2 angleset (shortens the reach slightly), 160mm fork (used to run 170mm), I put 26" wheels on mine as I wanted the longer rear end for stability, 165mm cranks. Fun bike to ride.
www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/mountain-bikes/nukeproof-mega-tr-275-pro-review
Fork too dont forget.
Me... tight... really... ok.... yes I am.
I got too many kids hahahahaha
But i would guess there are some places in the UK where you can get one custom built (probably in steel).
I've ridden my friend's Pipedream Moxie. It's good at descending, and even then, it's not that great at it. Climbing is terrible, BB is too damn low, and it's heavy. It's a novelty bike, at best. The closest I've ever gotten to a 'hardcore hardtail' is my old Nukeproof Scout 290 build with a 140mm fork. It was a fun bike, but only in certain circumstances. Everywhere else, it was mediocre. It has been recently replaced with the new Chameleon C and I don't miss the Scout one bit. Longer, lower, and slacker isn't the answer to everything.
I used to be a wannabe enduro bro. But enduro bikes are barges compared to more fun mid or short travel bikes. I have more fun riding a shorter travel bike on the ragged edge than a long travel enduro bike.
www.btr-fabrications.com/products/pinner-frame/#frame-options
I'm old enough to have ridden the full range of mtbs, from the slack rigid bikes of the 80s, through the ridiculous long stem/narrow bars/steep head angle bikes of the 90s, all the way through to my current bike, which has a 63.5 degree head angle, and I just don't understand people who think that bikes should be steeper or shorter. Steep bikes handled like crap back in the 90s and they still do today.
As for UK trails - there's enough here to provide a training ground for a decent number of DH World Cup and World Championship winners over the years.
JP
The old argument used to be climbing prowess, but I can honestly say that my 2018 Mega climbs steep and technical stuff just as well as my old 70 degree HA hardtail. Everywhere else the Mega obliterates it.
Chris Porter got it right many years ago:
'So you run a slack head angle on a bike and it works very, very well at speed and is much safer on the steep stuff. The opposite side of the coin is that the bars feel like they flop a bit at low speed, and you need to lean the bike over a bit more to steer when going at low speeds. That’s the sum total of negatives; not many then.'
JP
Not everyone gets to only descend all the time. People have to climb too. What can I not do on a 63 HA bike? I can do mostly everything probably. But I will not be having any fun. Climbing a 63 HA, long wheelsbase and heavy hardtail on anything more than 5% grade is a chore. The front end wanders around and good luck with any switchbacks. Descending is the only think they're good at. And even then, it's still a hardtail, and as such, bound by the weaknesses of being a hardtail.
A broken clock is right twice a day. That's what I feel about these 'hardcore hardtails.' And I mean no disrespect by that. I like that they're around, but it's not for me or my kind of riding.
If you look at a bike like the Reactor and balk at the "steep" HA, consider that you might have drank too deeply from the bro-science koolaid. The bikes that basically defined the aggressive short travel category (Process 111, Smuggler, etc) are in the 66-67° range, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with how those bikes handle. Geometry is a balance of tradeoffs, not a more-is-better pissing contest.
@Jprestidge 71° hasn't been standard for a loooooooong time, even in XC. Nino's been racking up podiums on ~69° since about 2015.
JP
65* and local trails are very xc. It is awesome. My mega is for trips to Arkansas.
Glad they are keeping the CS length fairly short, because its a trail
bike and we want it to be nimble. Yea chuck the chainstays back out to 440-450 on enduros but for trail lets keep them in the 425-435 mark.
Reach is nice and long. Shame the XL has such a mazzzive seat tube, as we do have 200+mm droppers now, Nukey.
Generally I’m really impressed. Will definitely be testing one out
geometrygeeks.bike/bike/nukeproof-reactor-275c-factory-2020
geometrygeeks.bike/bike/nukeproof-reactor-290c-factory-2020
Too bad the carbon frameset is $4000 CND....
In terms of geometry it may help them keep the stack height closer to where they want it. The headtube is around 10mm shorter on the 29er already. The amount of travel also effects where they can position/angle the seat tube too so that may another factor.
So basically you say because they are too lame to make two different frames they just cut down travel for 29er.
It‘s all about keeping the costs low instead of making the customers happy.
Well done industry.
Even with interchangeable frames(there aren't too many), there are usually different dropout kits to make for up the drastic changes in BB height and to preserve the intended geometry.
I did not refresh, thats why i did not see the post from @dingus.
I see they are different. My bad.
But still why cuting down travel? I‘m up for a new bike but just 10mm more travel is too less for me.
....however this bike seems like a step in the wrong direction for the pragmatic folks. Internal routing is a disappointment. The pricing and value is not nearly comparable to the last few model years also particularly the alu models. Big upticks in price and lower component specs. SX and NX just shouldn't be specced when SLX and Deore are options.
Otherwise, I like the general concept behind this bike. Knowing how Nukeproof specs bikes I'm sure it'll be plenty capable and a bit porky. The 275 and 290 are both a lot of bike and a little less is probably better suited for a fair bit of folks for general trail and park/flow shenanigans.
Hell you can get the top of the line Reactor RS for $300 cheaper than the Intense Pro builds, and it's equivalent to their $7000 Elite builds. If I wanted a SRAM/Rockshox build, the RS will fit the bill. I literally have to change nothing on it. Besides the dropper.
Intense may be slightly cheaper than everyone else. But no, they can't even touch the spec to price ratio that Nukeproof has.
I suppose my minor complaint is that Nukeproof has always had some blazing builds in sub $3k range. There were certainly compromises, but frame, suspension chassis, tires, and drivetrain selection were always very mindfully chosen. Perhaps the US tariffs are somewhat to blame, I really don't know, but seeing the drivetrains and to a lesser extent the suspension take big dips at the lower price points in addition to the increased cost is disheartening to me. The new SLX and XT costs are not very high.
Yea in the grand scheme of things, it's thousands of dollars for a damn bike. But looking at it closely, even with the yearly price bump, Nukeproof bikes(at least the carbon models) are still the kings of price/spec ratio RELATIVE to what else is out there TODAY. Relative and today are key words here.
More fear than harm fortunately, he pulled the branch out, put the derailler back in place and could keep riding.
It’s easier to buy huge speed/time gains with new tech when you are a beginner to average level but once you get close to the top, those margins become blurred and it’s questionable whether a like for like replacement would make any difference at all.
He could swap to Fox, Enve, Schwalbe and Shimano and it wouldn’t make a difference so why would changing a frame make a difference?
Also where's the top spec aluminum version?