“Let’s rock”: the wet and muddy winter trails were considered to be just perfect by the testers of Mountainbike Rider to subject four enduro bikes with aluminum frames to a hardness test. The motto being: “Theory is good, practice is better” also STEVENS Sledge Max was extensively tested from suspension to disc brake.

The first reason for the test riders to be pleased was the long spring travel of 170 mm: “As soon as you acquire the taste of being able to ride any routes on this earth with one single bike, you will stick to long travel enduros forever”, editors were convinced.

With Sledge Max STEVENS had built a very well specced bike that leaves enduro riders with nothing to be desired. The high-quality Fox-Float suspension elements as well as Shimano’s brakes and the 1 x 11 gears made a positive mark just like the illustrious list of other parts made by Syntace, Race Face, DT, Schwalbe and Kind Shock. Mountainbike rider: “Even we do not have anything to criticize here, as the parts worked very well on the trail.”

Due to aforementioned 170 mm of spring travel at the front and 160 mm at the rear the bike had enough potential to “rock the trails”. The bike offered a lot of traction on downhill passages, the central center of gravity and the low bottom bracket provided for riding joy while the rider always felt safe on the bike.

“As if you’d been riding it for ages”
“After only a few minutes even demanding routes and maneuvers were rideable as if you’d been riding the bike for ages”, testers said about Sledge Max. Suspension was sensitive, efficient and gradually progressive giving the bike even more downhill character. On uphill passages the bike turned out not to be exactly “a mountain goat that climbs to the top by itself” and the rider was seated slightly too far back in order to bring full force to the pedals, but a little sweat uphill was appreciated and the fun while riding downhill more than offset the effort.

Mountainbike Rider also praised many other details like the chain guide, the internal cable routing and the brushed aluminum frame with decals matching the suspension parts.

A tester’s personal conclusion:
“I personally love long travel enduros. The downhill feeling kicked in almost immediately on the STEVENS bike while it remained a sufficiently smooth ride on uphill passages!“


The editors’ conclusion:
“The new Sledge Max is clearly made for riders looking for an all-terrain bike with high-quality specs at a very competitive price. Riders who don’t mind compromising a little on the uphill performance – be it because of riding a lot in bikeparks or having strong legs – can add the long travel enduro to their fleet with a good conscience."

STEVENS Sledge Max is available in sizes 16, 18, 20, 22“ at specialist STEVENS dealers.