2025 DOWNHILL BIKE GROUP REVIEW

WHICH DH BIKE IS BEST?

Photos by Dusten Ryen | Video by Brian Niles

Our entire staff love downhill bikes more than anything else. Sadly though, they’re the bikes with the most limited season and so we don’t get to ride them nearly enough. But every time we do, we’re reminded why they are the best bikes. Nothing beats the feeling and sound of letting a dual-crown-equipped downhill bike attack chunky terrain at full speed. For gravity-biased riders like us, downhill bikes are the pinnacle of performance: the Formula 1 or MotoGP of our world. Unlike those other pinnacle race disciplines however, consumers like us can buy nearly identical machines to what the world’s best are racing, without spending hundreds of thousands or even millions.

Whether you’re a freerider; “Park” rider who sticks to the jump and flow trails; downhill racer; or a rider simply looking for a bike to boost your confidence and stability as you tackle gnarly downhills, it’s hard to deny that downhill bikes leave a strong impression. Give a downhill bike worthy terrain, and the potential for fun is almost limitless.

This year, we were lucky enough to get five bikes together for a late summer test period that had us riding Whistler Bike Park and Mt. Bachelor Bike Park in Bend, OR. Over the months-long test period, we had six riders put time aboard these bikes, who took their impressions, notes and times down. With only five bikes available to us this year, we opted not to call this a DH Bike Shootout, as we really strive to have much larger test pools for such titles. However, we still hope that the group of downhill bikes reviewed here will offer some insight as we count down the days until next year’s bike park season.

We’d like to extend a big thank you to those who made this series possible. Without their support, we wouldn’t be able to make these videos or features happen.

• Schwalbe Tires helped us level the playing field, by equipping all test bikes with the same Super DH casing Magic Mary tires in their Ultra Soft compound.
• Mt Bachelor was the official host park of our test. It’s our home bike park, and we love testing bikes on the challenging conditions their trails provide.
• Loam Pass is like a season pass to a collective bike park network all around North America. If you purchase a Loam Pass, you’ll have access to ride over 40 awesome destinations with the purchase of your pass.

Both Schwalbe Tires and Loam Pass have offered our community members discounts, which you can find by joining our member’s portal here.

ARI SUPERIOR PEAK | ELITE

In the few months since the Superior Peak has been released, Ari athletes have had podium success at North American DH races and flown through the air at major freeride events. Kyle Strait even piloted his Superior Peak at Red Bull Rampage, and came away unscathed.

The Ari Superior Peak is an incredibly versatile downhill bike, and can be set up as a more DH-race focused bike or an incredibly fun park/jump bike. The frame has a number of adjustable points from geometry to suspension, which allow the rider to tune it for their needs. We’d highly recommend the O-Chain upgrade for the more race or speed-minded consumer, as it really takes this bike to the next level. Two of our testers said this was their favorite cornering bike, and we all agreed this was one of the most fun, lively and playful bikes in the test.

Price: $6,499
Website: Aribikes.com

GT FURY | CUSTOM

The latest generation GT Fury has had some very impressive results this year. From World Cup downhill races, national gravity events, and a podium at Red Bull Rampage, we’ve been asked about this downhill bike more than just about any other downhill bike.

Our testers had a great time aboard the GT Fury, and many felt that it would be high on their list if they were looking to pick a race machine. The ride characteristics just begged our testers to go faster and faster. It’s not a perfect bike though, and we do have a couple nitpicks about it. But quirks aside, this bike is definitely a contender, and one we’d recommend to downhillers looking for a beautifully fast DH bike.

Price: $2,600 (Frame Only) | $8,200 est. as tested
Website: GTbicycles.com

POLYGON COLLOSUS DH | R

The Polygon Collosus DH9 was supposed to be released at the end of 2024. However, the date was pushed back to early 2025 just before publishing this review. Luckily, that shouldn’t affect too many potential buyers, as we’re in the thick of winter and most bike parks are now closed for the season.

Without a doubt, the Polygon Collosus DH bike is the best value to performance DH bike in our test, and we plan on keeping ours for lots more riding next year. If you value a plush, buttery smooth suspension platform, and want a bike that will be comfortable but also allow you to push hard and ride fast, then the Polygon Collosus is worth a look. In fact, Drew said this would be the bike he would buy without hesitation. While it may not be the jumper or park rider’s pick, for the general rider who wants a DH bike to handle chunk, go fast and enhance confidence – and at an incredible price – this is the bike for you.

Price: $4,999
Website: Polygonbikes.com | Bikesonline.com

TREK SESSION | 8

We reviewed the higher model Trek Session when it first came out, and we really enjoyed it. The results of this bike’s capabilities cannot be denied, as it’s a constant contender at World Cups and DH races around the world. This lower-spec’d Trek Session 8 showed the same potential for speed and greatness; however, the spec’s performance and value proposition held the Session back on the mountain.

The Trek Session has some great features. Our favorite is the full-length downtube protector: amazingly, the only one featured in the group. With external or internal cable routing options; adjustable suspension progression, and the ability to switch wheel sizes, Trek has packed the Session with excellent customization options.

The Trek Session’s high pivot suspension platform works quite well at plowing over rough and chunky terrain. It doesn’t suffer some of the potential high pivot drawbacks though, as it doesn’t have a radically changing wheelbase or extremely rearward axle path either. Though the more mid-tier suspension units weren’t quite as flashy, we felt they did a fine job on the trail. The weakest link in the spec that did inhibit our riding was the brake spec however, which we touch on more in our review. With a price tag that’s considerably higher for the spec compared to other bikes in this test, consumers will have to ask if the value of a dealer support network is worth the price premium for this machine.

Price: $5,499
Website: Trekbikes.com

YT TUES MK4 | CORE 4

An impressive machine all around, the YT Tues MK4 is a DH bike that our entire crew had a lot of fun testing. In fact, one of our guys ended up buying this bike to replace his previous generation Tues. His first time riding down a track he rides regularly, he took 17 seconds off his PR time compared to his personal bike. Needless to say, he was stoked on the speed and feel of the new version Tues.

For some riders, the rear suspension took a bit of time to tune. We had some instances where the bike would unexpectedly buck when hitting unseen obstacles or when braking hard into big compressions. This could of course have been a tuning issue, but we weren’t able to find a solution that covered all trail scenarios.

Our only other nitpick was the paint finish and frame protection. On this white frame, rub marks were easily shown and the clear protective film quickly yellowed, taking away from the otherwise beautiful looks. On trail, the YT offered a stiff, precise feel that playful and confident riders will enjoy greatly. For some it could potentially be a drawback, but there’s no denying that when you’re feeling inspired, this bike is a certified ripper! Fun in the air and on smaller features yet ready to charge fast, the YT Tues MK4 is a solid downhill bike.

Price: $5,999
Website: YT-Industries.com

The Wolf’s Final Thoughts

Thanks for joining us for another fun and challenging group test. As always, our goal is to bring you the most honest information possible as you evaluate which bike would best suit your terrain, riding style and needs. Whether you’re a life-long gravity fiend like us, or you’re considering your first DH bike, our advice would be to step back from the trends and find a bike that will compliment what you like most about riding. As you can see from our own internal conversation, even our own staff would choose to own different bikes based on their styles of riding and what aspects they prioritize.

In closing, we’d like to say that downhill bikes are the best! Nothing beats the feeling of charging over the roughest terrain at speed and letting 200mm of travel work beneath you. We are thankful for the opportunity to test these bikes, and hope we get even more time aboard more downhill bikes next season. Let us know if you’d like to see more DH content down below, and we hope to see you in the lift lines next summer. 

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