Ended: Orange 329 ‘Peaty Replica’ + £500 cash!

Here we go! The current AstonMTB Bike of the Year competition is now live.

For all the info, check my Instagram posts since February and my Orange 329 playlist on youtube.

This bike has been tuned and tested for months. The beginning of its journey with me was pretty good, but there was plenty more potential to unlock. We did everything from coil-sprung suspension front and rear, tested multiple damping tunes in conjunction with NSR Racing – the global authority on RS suspension.

We also tuned the steering and handling with a Works angle headset, Spank 30mm stem, SQlab bars and shorter 46mm offset crowns. This bike also was the test bed for the Aenomaly SwitchGrade with another SQlab saddle on top of it. New wheels from DRC with custom engraved Acros hubs, AXS/MPM/Garabruk drivetrain and some solid Hope Cranks and an Ochain.

Don’t believe any negative hyperbole about single pivot bikes – this rig is one of the best handling bikes in the world from DH days to 50km enduro pedals as well as being the most reliable and simple bike we’ve had in 18 months. All the kinematics are dialled from progression to anti-squat and pedal kickback.

Then we went full Peaty! I never planned to make this a Peaty Replica, but the idea came to me one day by chance. We stripped the paint and slapped on a set of custom graphics from Slik. Exactly 20 years after the Sheffield legend took a silver medal in Kaprun on his 223, now you can win the ultimate post-modern MTB.

*Please note the frame has a very small crack – please see photo.