Long Termers

Countless hours on the trails make this the ultimate test of performance as well as reliability

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INTRODUCING

BEN’S NS SYNONYM TR 2

£4,199.99 / 29in / hotlines-uk.com

MONTH 1: Fresh from his tenure with the Mega, Ben swaps big hits for more zip

I first set eyes on the NS Synonym at Eurobike this summer, the bike standing out because as I’ve always associated NS with dirt jumpers and the more extreme end of mountain biking. Initially struck by the smooth, clean lines of the carbon frame, I got more drawn in by the intriguing geometry of the first hardcore XC bike from NS. Numbers that revealed a bang up-to-date 490mm reach on the size large. The head angle is progressively slack too at 66°. Sounds more like an enduro bike, right?

Upon closer inspection of the specification, it’s clear that this bike is targeted at aggressive XC, or dare I say it, the ‘down-country’ category. Call it what you want, the Synonym TR 2 seems like the perfect antidote to the burly smash-fest that the Nukeproof Mega provided as my previous long-termer.

I’ve had a couple of rides on the bike already and first impressions, although brief, are positive. The progressive geometry inspires confidence and even though the relatively narrow 760mm bar and rangy 60mm stem look somewhat retro, all seems good so far with the fit of the cockpit.

Granted, there’s more clutter on the handlebar than I am accustomed to, and after changing the grips to my favorite DMR Deathgrips, I have messed around with the positions of the controls quite a bit. There’s a left-hand overbar dropper remote for the X-Fusion Manic Seatpost, which I have mounted as close to the grip as possible, making it easy to locate.