Cornering is quick and precise with rear wheel drift easily attainable. Genesis are a British brand that have been building decent bikes and a decent reputation so I was looking forward to a chance to see if the positive buzz about the company and their bikes was well earned. Our bikes will take you to those places, fulfill your curiosities and make you remember why going for a ride is one of life’s most brilliant experiences.
With the right maintenance and professional assembly from a company like National Assemblers, you can enjoy your genesis mountain bike for years to come. Here at National Assemblers, we understand that assembling a bike can be a daunting task. With testing complete, we release two bikes built for adventure – the Datum (faster, lighter Croix) and Vagabond (the Croix’s mad aunt). There’s also room for a new mountain bike that takes 27.5 plus tyres, or regular 29ers. We’ve partnered with Freewheel as a solution to offer Genesis bikes online whilst supporting local bike shops at the same time. Each online sale supports the selected bike shop with a percentage of your sale, whether you choose to click & collect or get it delivered straight to your door.
The Datum comes with 32c tyres, which is a bit closer to the ‘road’ end of the spectrum. But there is clearance for up to 38c, so if the conditions require it, this bike is able to handle the rougher stuff. Some adventures are about taking your time and drinking in your surroundings, others are about getting there fast.
The wheelset is lightweight with an internal rim width of 19mm that will take good sized rubber which means you could add some float to the ride with some high volume tyres. The Core 26.4 came fitted with 2.2 Mountain Kings, the originals not the much improved Mountain King II. Over ten years the range expanded beyond commuter bikes to include road, mountain, cyclo-cross, gravel, kids and fat bikes.
There has been much talk about the Alpitude and the clear design ethos behind it, which was to make a bike that you could… An impressive fork at this price point and sensible kit are great and the wheels finish the package off nicely but the main attraction genesis mountain bike here is the geometry. Once rolling the true nature of the Genesis started to shine through, a lively agile ride that encourages you to push on and flick the bike through singletrack whilst looking for roots and rocks to bunny hop and pop off.
The frame is fully carbon and the cables are integrated into the frame for a cleaner look and better aerodynamics. As the name suggests, these are bikes that are designed for the explicit purpose of riding on the road. Some are more race oriented, meaning mudguard and pannier mounts are forgone and the geometry is longer and lower. Others have more of an endurance focus, better suited to long rides and have all the mounts you need for light cycle-touring.
Tyre clearance is increase to 38c, there are discrete mudguard and pannier mounts and an extra set of bottle bosses is present on the downtube. Ostensibly, this is a more budget-oriented version of the Vapour Carbon. Disc brakes remain present, but they have been changed to mechanical rather than hydraulic. The drivetrain is still a performance oriented 1×11 set up and, in all, this is still a competitive racing machine. With a 2×9 Shimano Sora groupset and mechanical disc brakes, there are notable differences to the higher end Croix de Fer. But these won’t present an impediment to getting out and using the frame for the huge variety of applications it has the capability for.