13 Mountain Bikes that We Punished Over the Long Term in 2015

Trail Zen TRAIL Frame When Aaron saw the Zen TRAIL frame at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, it was love at first sight. The Portland-based handwrought bike emphasizes long, low, and slack geometry coupled with a clean simplicity only a steel hardtail can offer, and begs to be built up and put through the wringer–specifically, Aaron’s 7,000 feet of …

Trail

DSC_8470
photo: Aaron Chamberlain

Zen TRAIL Frame

When Aaron saw the Zen TRAIL frame at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, it was love at first sight. The Portland-based handwrought bike emphasizes long, low, and slack geometry coupled with a clean simplicity only a steel hardtail can offer, and begs to be built up and put through the wringer–specifically, Aaron’s 7,000 feet of climbing over 40 miles on the #BrutalLoop.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the Zen TRAIL has the best ride feel of any hardtail I’ve ever ridden. For real. No bullshit. It’s just good old chromoly steel. Steel, in this case, is real.” -Aaron Chamberlain

Read Aaron’s final review:  Zen TRAIL Frame

MSRP: $1299, frame only