Reactor – All New Trail Bike From Nukeproof
Thu 12th Sep, 2019 @ 9:30 am
Another day, another bike launch, this time it’s Nukeproof’s turn with their new Reactor aggressive trail bike. Available in both alloy and carbon flavours as well as prices from £2749 through to £5399, there should be a model available to suit most budgets and styles and we think it looks rather nice! Here’s the full low-down from Nukeproof:
Introducing the all new Nukeproof Reactor: an old school name with a very new school look. Although it takes its name from the original 1996 Nukeproof Reactor trail frame, a lot has changed in the last 23 years as it uses an all new trail focused platform.
From concept through to design, the kinematics, the geometry and specification; the Reactor is designed from the ground up to be the ultimate aggressive trail bike. At home on technical climbs, but happiest when thrashing the most technical trails you can point it at.
To ensure the bike could climb as well as it descends, we designed the 4 bar horst linkage to have higher levels of anti-squat for climbing gears, but lower levels when you drop down the cassette. This means that the bike can behave itself on the climbs but when you get it up to speed, it turns into a trail hooligan. The combination of low anti-squat and progressive rate give ultimate small bump compliance (removes rough trail and root chatter) with good mid stroke support for cornering/pumping and end stroke progression for aggressive riding. Balanced anti-rise figures allow the Reactor some squat when braking hard, maintaining rider position and providing a good amount of pressure through the tyre to ensure traction. The Reactor is designed to reward the rider and ensure you get that stoke factor in on any ride.
For the first time, Nukeproof offer riders a full UD woven carbon frame in 27.5” & 29” wheel size options. In addition to this, there are 27.5” & 29” aluminium frame options which feature carbon seat stays to help reduce the unsprung weight.
The 27.5” bike combines 150mm of travel up front and 140mm out back whereas the 29” has 140mm up front and 130mm out back. This is true for all models except the RS; the full hooligan spec option with +10mm Lyric Ultimate RCT3 forks (160mm 27.5”/ 150mm 29”) up front.
All Reactor frames feature a “flip chip” to adjust the geometry from “Trail” to “Rail mode”.
Trail – As the name suggests, this setting is best suited for trail riding. It is for riders who get as much enjoyment from the climb as the descents.
Rail – The Rail setting turns the Reactor into a corner shredder, dropping the bottom bracket 6mm and slackening the head angle by half a degree. It is there to maximise the descending capabilities for big days on the uplift, in the bike park when required where railing turns and stability at speed are your prime motivation.
With 6 specification levels taking in the latest components from Shimano, SRAM, Rockshox and Fox, there are options for everyone no matter your preferences. All spec levels are available in both 27.5” or 29” frames.
Key figures:
- 27.5 or 29” wheel size
- Head angle: 66 degree in Trail / 65.5 degree in Rail
- Travel:
- Front: 27.5” 150mm / 29” 140mm
- Rear: 27.5” 140mm / 29” 130mm
- Seat angle: 75.5 Trail / 75 Rail
- Sizes:
- 275: S, M, L, XL
- 290: M, L, XL
- Alloy Options: Comp, Expert
- Carbon Options: Elite, Pro, Factory and RS
- Prices from £2745.00
- In stores late October 2019
