Since winning our 2022 Hardtail of the Year award, life has been good for the Voodoo Bizango Pro. So good, that the only thing that’s changed is the price has crept up by £25. Impressive, given that a bag of groceries has probably gone up by the same amount. Best hardtail mountain bikes: reviewed and rated by experts To improve the ride feel and save weight the alloy Bizango frame uses triple butted tubes in the front triangle. The last round of revisions ushered in a longer reach and a slacker head angle so the geometry is current, if not as progressive as the new Calibre Line-T3 27.  All of the standards are bang-up-to-date too. The head tube is tapered, the bottom bracket is threaded, the thru-axles are the up-to-date Boost standard and the cable routing includes a port for a stealth dropper post. And it’s the latter that we’d recommend pushing the budget a little higher to attain. Best dropper seatposts: reliable game-changers We can’t stress how transformative having a dropper post is to the ride quality, not least because the seat clamp quickly gets gunked up with grit. Suspension With a RockShox Gold 35 leading the charge, the Voodoo easily has the best suspension fork on test. With big 35mm upper tubes and a 15mm bolt-through axle, it’s plenty stiff enough to hold a precise line without the steering ever feeling wayward or vague. Something heavier, hard charging riders will really appreciate. The fork boasts 130mm travel, but delivers slightly less as it has a tendency to spike on bigger hits. There’s no faulting its performance off the top though. The RockShox Gold 35 delivers a buttery smooth action, so traction and comfort are both first rate. There’s also plenty of support in the middle of the travel, so the Bizango Pro feels very stable and composed even when the trail turns rowdy. Components While we can pick small holes in the performance of the fork, Voodoo has really delivered on the specification. Let’s start with the contact points. The lock-on grips are secure and comfortable. Saddle choice is personal, but everyone agreed that the profile of the WTB Volt makes for the perfect perch. Rest your index finger on the slender Shimano MT401 brake levers, and you have the ability to modulate your speed with absolute ease and complete control, even with the smaller 160mm rear rotor. You get a Shimano Deore 12 speed drivetrain with a massive 51t rear cog that makes light work of even the steepest climbs. Shifting was swift and accurate and it never felt like something was going to break when we mashed down hard on the excellent two-piece cranks. If there is one area where the build kit could be improved upon, it’s the tyres. The Maxxis Rekon rear tyre certainly keeps the tempo high, but traction in the wet – whether climbing or braking – was minimal and the skinny width did little to isolate us from bumps. You could …Continue reading »

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The Voodoo Braag is lan exercise in seeing how low you can go with price while still ticking sufficient ‘proper mountain bike’ boxes.

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Top performance at a bargain price. It's not without flaws, but at this price the Bizango is hard to beat

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