Ancillotti Scarab Evo 29

The mtb equivalent of Savile Row, Ancillotti takes customisation a step further than most...

- Alan Muldoon

In a world where bikes tend to come from the same source and tick all the same boxes, it’s rare to find a modern enduro race bike with a USP… The Ancillotti Scarab Evo 29 has several.

To begin with, Ancillotti has no desire to be a mainstream brand. Producing between 35 to 40 bikes a year, Tomaso Ancillotti and his father source the raw aluminium tubing from Germany, then the tubes are formed, mitered and welded in Florence, Italy.

Because each frame is made to order, you can choose your preferred geometry and sizing. Need a shorter seat tube to fit a 170mm dropper? Not a problem. Longer chainstays to balance a long front end and slack head angle? That’s possible too. You can have whatever you want.

But rather than just fire off a random set of numbers via email, Tomaso encourages potential customers to visit him at his workshop in Valperga, Turin, in the foothills of the Alps.

You spend a full day riding different bikes, fine-tuning the set-up, and then the discussion begins in earnest to pin down the sizing, geometry and the build kit, if you’re buying a complete bike.

It is not just Ancillotti’s approach to customer service that’s sets it apart either; the bike is unique too. The main departure from convention being that the suspension uses bushings in the pivots rather than cartridge bearings. I’ve been testing bikes for long enough to know that while bushings are a better engineering solution in theory, bearings always win the day because ultimately they reduce friction. Well, the Scarab Evo 29 made me rethink that firmly held belief, because the rear end on the team bike that I rode in Valperga was completely free from stiction.