MTB Direct have been selling the Solid Mission 9 for a few years now and has proven a very popular bike across UK and Europe.  I actually have one myself that you may have seen in all its orange on the forum and other SDH articles.  This year, Solid bikes have taken what they have learnt from the Mission 9 and produced a shorter travel version, the Mission 7, to suite the ‘Euro Freeriders’.  But, as seen with many bikes that have had the travel shortened in the past it could indeed be an extremely good UK downhill setup especially as this model I tested had the Truvative Hammerschmidt up front breaching out to show how much more you can do on one bike.

I only had this bike for about 5 runs at the UK bike park so I can’t tell you a great deal as it wasn’t quite set up for my weight etc.  The bike only comes in one size which has a top tube just 1mm shorter than a medium Mission 9 but it feels a lot smaller because the BB is lower and a couple of the angles are a little tighter.  All this makes the bike feel a lot more manageable in tight situations compared to the bigger rig and a little easier to flick around.  The bike on test was the top spec with full X0 along side the Hammerschmidt with Totem Solo Air forks, Avid codes and reverse finishing kit including a new rim from the company.

If you are a fan of the Mission 9 you might know that Col from Fli Distribution has managed to get Solid to produce some different travel plates which gives the opportunity to slacken and lower the bike, these can also be used on the Mission 7.  These also have bearings rather than bushings making them more robust.

The Hammerschmidt hasn’t really taken off that much yet, maybe its because it will set you back nearly 600 pounds but it’s a bit of kit that could really transform a lot of bikes.  Its works on giving the bike a wider range of gears whilst not having a front mech which causes problems with compatibility on full suspension frames and can be a headache to keep the chain on.  It’s designed to run along side an existing rear mech and gives two ratios up front helping you crawl up hills rather than just belt down them.  The chain is almost completely enclosed in a full bash guard and cannot fall off while being a lot more compact that a normal chain ring system giving more ground clearance.  To shift it you simply use an adapted X0 shifter which gives extremely clean and instant shifts while even coasting without drive on the cranks.

Full available specs on the bike will go live on Fli Distributions new website next week

www.flidistribution.co.uk

Frames start from £1699.99 with a Roco World Cup shock
or £1849.99 with the DHX 5.0

Full bikes start from £2049.99 with the top spec bike we rode at £3599.99

Frames and bikes are available from April, and pre-orders are being taken from dealers now.  So if anyone wants one, just get their local shop to contact us for a trade price list.

Discuss the bike on the new look SDH forum http://www.southerndownhill.com/forum/index.php/topic,190185.msg1598270.html#msg1598270

Rob Lewis