Review: Nukeproof Mega 290c Factory

For 2020 the 29” versions of the Mega now come with a 170mm fork and 160mm of rear travel, available in all aluminum and half carbon/half aluminum versions. There are 27.5" bikes available too.

We took the Mega 290 Factory spec, with Fox suspension, Shimano XT drivetrain and brakes, DT Swiss wheels and Nukeproof finishing kit and gave it a damn good testing over the past four months to see how it holds up for the common man, rather than a flat pedal legend of the sport.

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Construction and Features

The Mega 290 Factory is a half-half affair, with the main frame being made from carbon fiber composite and the chain stay, seat stay and link being made from aluminium.

Those chain stays and seat stays are skinny in their width, which does go towards keeping the rear of the bike more out of the way of your feet and legs. There’s a double shear connection at the Horst pivot, with the chain stay wrapping round both sides of the drop out part.

It is possible to run a water bottle on the Mega, but it’s under the down tube and right in the firing line of rocks and all manner of things you don’t want covering your bottle.


The frame is heavily covered in protection. There’s thick rubber chain stay and seat stay protectors silencing chain slap, and a large down tube protector right on the belly of the tube. The rest of the frame has clear protection over the vital wear points which should help the paint underneath looking good for years to come. Not something than all manufacturers do.

There’s internal cable routing on the main frame, with a mix of push in rubber grommets and bolt in parts. Up near the head tube, where the cables enter the frame, they’re cable tied to the plastic bolt in part to help secure them and, along with the foam tubes over all the internal cables, reduce rattling.

It’s all external routing on the rear of the bike, with the cables running smoothly down the seat stays. It does put the gear cable in the firing line of the chain though. It’s also possible to run a remote lockout for the shock through the main frame. When not desired, the hole is plugged up with a small rubber piece.


The Mega frame uses a 160mm post mount rear brake and uses a standard adapter to increase the size up to its specced 183mm. There’s a threaded bottom bracket and standard size zero-stack headset allowing you to fit your own choice or even play with the angles or reach if you desire. Boost hub spacing and a 31.6mm diameter seat post round out the bike that just uses all the most common standards to make it easy to work on and find parts for.

Overall, the Mega now looks a lot more angled and edgy than its predecessors, and in my eyes is a good-looking bike, although that’s all subjective. But the bike design definitely seems to keep function in mind and doesn’t employ crazy sharp design lines or kinks right where you’re likely to bump into it with your legs or body.

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Geometry & Sizing

The 29” versions of the Mega come in M, L and XL sizes. Unfortunately, no S is available with it being tricky to have enough trouser clearance for smaller size riders with big wheels and big travel. There is, however, a size S available in the 27.5 version of the Mega.

There’s a 64.5° head angle, 76.75° effective seat angle, 450mm chain stays and 30mm BB drop. The size large that we tested has a 470mm reach, 630.5mm stack, 110mm head tube and 458mm seat tube length. There’s the same chain stay length for all sizes, which does work well for the bigger of the bikes, but could feel a bit too long on the smaller sizes.

Our L size bike fell nicely in line with the geometry that I personally prefer, but the shorter 110mm headtube does mean that adding stem spacers for steeper riding reduces that on paper reach. Long forking also reduces the reach, and alters the rest of the geometry too. The RS model, which sits above the Factory version does exactly this with its 180mm travel Lyrik. Just something to keep in mind before you purchase or want to change your fork travel.

The size gaps between bikes are a little odd, with the M size going down to 455mm reach and the XL jumping right up to 515mm, so it’s wise to check exactly which size would be the best fit and if you’d need to change any components or setup if you’re a bit in between sizes.

Our test bike had a slightly higher BB at 340mm compared to the quoted 336mm, chain stay length was a few millimeters longer too, at 454mm and actual seat angle was measured at 73°.

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Suspension Design


The Mega uses a four-bar system with a Horst pivot out near the drop out and a top mounted link on the top tube. The shock is mounted to the down tube, and is why the bottle cage is relegated to under the down tube. A bridge ties the two seat stay sides together and helps out the slim connection to the linkage.

It uses a 230 x 62.5mm shock and for our Fox equipped bike it used their bearing hardware at the link. All bikes in the line come specced with an air shock, and even the race bikes rarely see a coil shock being run.

The leverage ratio on the Mega 290 goes from 2.81 up to 2.84 and then falls to 1.98. From its highest point, at 23mm travel, it has 30% progression down to full travel.

Anti-squat in a 50T gear starts at 101% but quickly falls down to 68% at the end of travel, with around 92% at sag. Anti-squat then drops in each harder gear and in the 10T gear starts at 51% and drops to 23%. Anti-rise starts at 110% and falls to just 3%. All the curves are relatively smooth in their path, with only the leverage ratio having that hump at the beginning of travel.

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Suspension setup was also straightforward. Rear sag was set to 25%, or 15.6mm with 210psi, and I luckily already knew the setup for the Fox 36 from previous rides, and had 80psi and two tokens installed. Compression was set at 7 and 12 clicks for low and high-speed and 5 for both the low and high-speed rebound.

Nukeproof deliver the bike with two tokens installed in the shock, citing that it would the best option for more aggressive riders while one will be fine for most riders. Having the bike arrive with two also means you have a spare one for playing around with your setup if you desire.

For help with setup the Nukeproof website points you to the Fox setup page where you can get some information on initial suspension setup. I ended up running the shock pretty firm at 3 and 2 clicks from closed on the low-speed and high-speed compression respectively. Rebound was set at 10 clicks for low-speed and 5 clicks for high-speed.

Our L size came with 175mm dropper and could probably fit a longer drop post too with the current crop of shorter insert long drop posts.

I even got the chance to run the Mega for a portion of testing with a 180mm fork, which upped the amount of party at the front but did bring some setup quirks which we go into later. The reach change with the longer fork was noticeable, but the rest of the geometry changes weren’t so much as to be detrimental to the feel of the bike.

Climbing

Immediately from the initial setup the Mega felt comfy. It was easy to just get on and go and felt similar to my personal bikes. There was no need to really shunt the seat forwards to achieve a good position or adopt an obscure setup quirk to make the bike feel right.

When climbing, the suspension does bob a bit, and you can benefit from the lockout lever, even though ours felt like it added only a slight support compared to other shocks. Technical climbing actually felt best with the shock open rather than in the climb mode as there was a bit of give when going over roots and rocks while still having some support.

On smooth tarmac roads and even with very smooth pedalling there’s still a bit of suspension compression, but not a huge amount that feels like you’re pedalling through glue.


The Mega 290 Factory comes with 170mm cranks, which felt like a nice balance of length for producing torque while not whacking into things on miss-timed pedals. The 30T chainring did mean that for all but the absolute steepest slogs of climbs I wasn’t in the easiest cassette gear. But chain ring size is a personal choice and can be easily and inexpensively swapped out if required.

The 25mm rise bars with no spacers felt good for climbing, with only some extreme body language needed on the steepest of climbs to keep the front end from feeling like it was lifting. Going higher with the bars did make this feeling a little worse, but made the descending position more comfortable, and I eventually settled with 15mm of spacers under the stem, which was the maximum possible.

The Mega isn’t the spriteliest of big enduro bikes when climbing, and there are others that feel a touch more supported and direct. But Big Blue always got to the top with no fuss and was actually a lot comfier than some of the other bikes recently tested in the same category.

Descending

When the terrain points the other way the Mega wants to go fast. At slow and medium speeds, the Mega feels like a big bike. Not cumbersome, but you feel that it’s a big 29er with big travel and aggressive geometry. Other bikes at these speeds were a bit easier to throw around, despite being heavier or even longer on paper. It’s more than manageable at these speeds, but just lacking the fizz that some other bikes have at non- breakneck speeds. After all, we’re not doing those speeds all the time on every ride.

But once you really go for it the Mega does comes more alive. It just wants to go fast everywhere. It has a comfortable descending position, with my hands and feet feeling like they were in the right zone. This was without any weird setup points or changes. From that easy initial setup, the bike felt very comfortable and easy to get along with.


The Mega’s suspension also felt predictable, despite the Float X2’s quirks. Once you got it going it is a fun bike and not hard at all to get in that zone, but it does feel like it generates that fun from the thrill of just going fast everywhere rather than an underlying playful nature.

That MY20 Float X2’s characteristic of holding and then letting go can leave you a bit choppered out in some situations. The vert berms of Morgins were a place where you could really get it to happen regularly. Running the compression nearly fully closed does help the matter, but it never completely gets rid of the problem. Riding with the longer 180mm travel fork is just enough of a subtle weight shift to make the problem arise more often. Running the fork slightly softer in damping helped - the idea was to dynamically keep more weight over the front and reduce the number of times the fall through happened.

The newer 2021 Fox shocks don’t have this characteristic, so it’s something that can be remedied and not an inherent problem of the suspension.

With all that compression damping the bike can be a touch harsher when landing into rough sections from zero travel. The Mega does have a bit of a regressive hump at the beginning of travel in the leverage ratio which can add to this subtle harshness off the top.

When riding full speed in Morgins chasing downhill bike I felt like I was close to finding the limit of the bike. It’s not a like you cross a knife edge and the bike wants to throw you off, more that the conversation you’re having with the bike changes. Other bikes at this very extreme do have just a fraction more composure and egg you on to try and get away with murder again and again. But the Mega does quietly tell you that you’re probably pushing your luck a bit, however this is very much the last few percent.

Maintenance

The Mega uses a mix of very standard bearing sizes and some odd ones with extended races, although Nukeproof do provide all the bearing codes on the website making it easy to order replacements. There are double row bearings at Horst pivot with a washer between.

All pivot bolts have very long threads and come built with lots of thread lock from the factory, which is nice to see. The single shear pivots do feel noticeably less stiff compared to the double shear pivots and do put a lot of stress on the bolt. But we experienced no failures or problems during the entirety of the test. The top tube pivot on our test bike, however, was a bit narrow and meant that when tightened the link squashed and added some friction to the pivot.

You don’t need any proprietary tools to work on the Mega with all the pivots using standard size hex keys. Although you do need an array of sizes for the entire bike. The whole bike is simple to strip down, especially with the external routing on the rear. You can easily do a whole bike service without disconnecting the brake or gear lines or having half the rear triangle dangling from them.

The bike is also easy to clean with only a few pockets and areas to make sure to blast to get the mud out. After an unseasonably dry spring we were met with copious amounts of peanut butter clinging to the bike after every ride, highlighting the little pockets at the chain stay bridge and inside the drop outs. Be careful to empty the bike out after washing as it can have a tendency to hold the water inside the main frame and rear triangle.

How Does It Compare?


The RAAW Madonna V2 is a bike I’ve ridden a lot, and can use as an ideal comparison due to the identical amount of front and rear travel, spec and overall bike intentions. Comparing geometry, The Mega is a bit shorter at the front and longer at the rear, with a bit higher BB.

In climbing, the Madonna has a bit more of a comfortable position and more support. The Mega is comfortable, but it’s when you go back to back that the small differences in seated position and climbing support do come through. The Madonna is one of those bikes that has a bit more of a direct feel to its climbing. The Madonna is also one of the bikes that’s more alive at slow and medium speeds. Just a touch more fun when you’re not wanting to risk life and limb and ride a bit more mellow.

And at the absolute limit, that last few percent, the Madonna really has your back with more of that go-on then feeling, more of that invitation to try it a notch faster or pull a bit harder. But, again, the two are very close. It’s like the equalizer dials have just been nudged up one little bit more on the Madonna and the sound that emerges is just that bit cleaner and crisper and doesn’t quite push it right into the red.

Both bikes can do all the same rides and go at the same speeds, but if it was only a choice between the two then I’d side with the Madonna. But if the choice were a broader one, I’d happily grab the Mega over many of the other big enduro bikes out there available today. And this was often the case while the Mega was being tested in parallel to other upcoming review bikes.

Technical Report

Fox Suspension: Overall feels great, despite its quirks in the shock. The newer generation shocks would easily fix that, and be a step forwards in overall performance. The 36 in this MY20 guise is also a great performer and the new version is also a further step forwards in performance.

Shimano XT Brakes: It’s a similar story again. The feel is brilliant but there is still a changing bite point. Modulation and feel around the bit point are superb, but the bite point is often all over the place, and seemingly unrelated to brake heat or braking time. In longer sections of braking bumps, for example, the kind where you get a good body vibration going, the bite point pumps up to give almost no lever throw with it then changing next time you pull the brake. The 180mm rear rotor is too small for the Alps, with a 203mm being better. But for a lot of places the smaller rotor will work just fine.

Shimano XT Drivetrain: The work horse of the Shimano range. Dependable, spot on range for many people's needs and brilliant value vs performance. Perhaps our test bike was getting a little tired towards the end of the testing with an occasionally sticky derailleur, but a bit of lube worked a treat and it just keeps shifting nicely.

Nukeproof Components: Solid, dependable and well-engineered. They never skipped a beat and I actually use some Nukeproof components on some of my own bikes, which can’t always be said for house brands. The saddle is comfy, the bars have good angles and dimensions and the stem just quietly goes about doing its job. The grips have a good shape and compound, just a touch too big for my hands.

Michelin Tires: I’d found the Michelin Wild Enduro tires hard to get on with in the Tuscan loose over hardpack trails, but even back in the Alps and in softer ground the issue still remained. There are always fans of parts that others don’t enjoy, but I had the same feedback from other riders as well.

DT Swiss Wheelset: Another solid and dependable part on the Mega. They’re easy to mount tires on, easy to maintain and put simply, just work. They’re still as true as when I got the bike and I haven’t needed to touch them once.

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Pinkbike's Take

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Reviews and Tech Reviews Enduro Bikes Nukeproof Nukeproof Mega