Our TOP Bikes of ’22

^{The upgrades never end.}

Before we even begin to talk about the kinds of bikes we want to ride, let’s ask a question first: is there really a pure DH track in the country? If you know of one, please do let us know. Most of what we’ve ridden so far — from Luzon to Mindanao, all have some form of pedaling part in it, and we love it, nothing wrong with that. But what we regularly ride should dictate the types of bikes we use, right? Yes and no.

We here believe that if you want it, can afford it, and can effectively enjoy it, go for that beast of a downhill bike. GO FOR IT. OWN IT. Because well, we definitely want one (or two, depending on who you ask on Sendr). And with that out of the way, let’s go, here are our TOP 5 bikes of 2022. Fight us.

Oh and rules are, we have to have ridden it, it doesn’t have to have been released in 2022 (but that helps) but it just has to make sense in 2022, AND we won’t go too techie as we’ll leave links to the official pages.

SPECIALIZED STATUS 160

Is it a trail bike? Freeride? What is it?

The Specialized Status 160 most definitely turned the most heads while we rode it down a bike park down South. Sporting Spez’s highly touted FSR Horst Link rear suspension design, mixed wheel setup, 160 (obviously) travel, all on an aluminum alloy frame that well, just screams FUN! And at just over 150,000PHP BUILT, you can’t ever go wrong with it.

As soon as you sit on the bike, you’ll realize one thing: it’s ready to go and go hard. It always feels in control and not too stiff, not too serious, and it always makes it past the big hits– 160mm of this kind of goodness is definitely more than enough. It’s one of those bikes that shouldn’t make sense but it just does, and it really really does.

CHECK IT OUT HERE: Specialized Status 160

SANTA CRUZ BRONSON

Hailed as the “king of corners” this year, it’s definitely more than just the badge.

Another mixed-wheel machine, Santa Cruz has always been associated with the word “TOP”, sparking debates and discussions from here to Rotorua. The Bronson however, ends speculation and all doubt– it’s actually that good. With 160 up front and 150 at the rear, it’s definitely on the “shorter” end of today’s travel pool, but the tech behind it more than makes up for whatever you think is missing (nothing is).

The most standout thing we noticed riding this bike is how dialed the measurements are, from the stand-over height all the way to the usual stuff we look for: reach, etc. It just felt right, and when it was time to shred, going full-speed on a bike that wasn’t even ours felt strangely familiar. That’s testament to Santa Cruz’s commitment to their R&D. But it goes without saying, this one’s pricey.

CHECK IT OUT HERE: Santa Cruz Bronson

POLYGON SISKIU T8

Hey man, we HAVE to include this underrated shredder of a trail bike.

I mean, how can we not? With probably the best bang-for-buck value ratio out there, Polygon really won with this one and it still stands true to this day. This is the perfect bike to take on a long trip with you, not knowing what’s going to be out there, and just hit as much as you can with ONE bike. This is THAT bike. Are we overstating stuff? Probably, but we love this bike. We do.

With its slacker-than-trail-usual head angle, the modern geometry of this bike is mint. The reach is great for going fast downhill while keeping stable, and is just as good for the pedal back up. The Polygon Siskiu T8 has been a part of A LOT of TOP whatever bike lists for the past couple of years and with good reason, built with Fox suspension out of the box, it’s kinda hard to argue with a ride this good.

CHECK IT OUT HERE: Polygon Siskiu T8

TRANSITION PATROL

Yes the Spire is sick and the Sentinel is steady, but the Patrol is both in one bike.

Transition really, REALLY showed up with their bikes this year– from the Scout to the Spire, all of them absolutely rip. In our crew, we have a Sentinel, a Patrol, and a Spire, so you can imagine that there MIGHT be a bit of bias going on. But these bikes are legit and the Patrol sits comfortably and perfectly in the middle of the emotional spectrum.

ANOTHER mixed wheel maniac, the Transition website declares the Patrol as a rowdy party animal and we wholeheartedly agree. With the awesome SBG (Speed Balanced Geometry) 100% nails weight distribution for any action you want to get in on and that updated geometry is definitely the “secret sauce” to riding all day and all night long.

CHECK IT OUT HERE: Transition Patrol

SPECIALIZED ENDURO

Yeah, we tried not to have two of the SAME brand, but the Spez Enduro is just…special.

The closest to perfect we’ve ridden so far, the Specialized Enduro is that — close to perfect. We won’t talk specs here, go to their website for more on that, but what we CAN talk about are the feelings riding it. It’s definitely fast, responsive and all those great marketing buzz words we like reading about bikes, but it’s more than that. It just feels right, Specialized has something amazing here.

It shares A LOT with its DH brother, the Demo, because it does take a lot from it, beyond the obvious geo. It always feels planted no matter what and climbing is just as good as ripping downward, which is a joy in itself. The amazing part of all this is that it’s a completely uncomplicated bike, which we feel is its best selling point. A reliable, ridiculously-fun, and breathtakingly brilliant bike.

CHECK IT OUT HERE: Specialized Enduro