Poland’s NS Bikes extends their range of rear-travel-designated Define mountain bikes up by a centimeter today with the new Define 170. As expected, the new aluminum ride has 170mm of rear travel with a burly 180mm 29er fork under the bars, and there’s a slightly smaller diameter wheel in the rear. This is the company’s second mixed-wheel platform, and we enjoyed testing the shorter travel Define Al 160 last season. This new Define uses a Horst link suspension platform like most of the brand’s full-suspension bikes.
The Define AL 170 looks like a fun lovin’ ride for the bike park or high alpine adventures where you want all the squish you can get. The 64° head tube angle is appropriate for a steep-n-deep ride like this, and the reach numbers all look poised for stable speed.
This big bike will be available in two different builds. The bling kit gets a Fox Float 38 Performance fork and X2 shock, SRAM GX and NX mixed drivetrain, Guide RE brakes with 200mm rotors front and rear, an X-Fusion Manic dropper, a pair of Maxxis High Roller II tires with a smartly-selected DH casing at the rear, and NS house brand finishing touches for a reasonable €4,499. Second-tier builds swap the fork for a RockShox ZEB and the shock for an X-Fusion Vector R coil, they pedal a full Shimano Deore 12-speed drivetrain apart from the Sun Race 11-51 cassette, and slow with a set of MT420 brakes with 200mm rotors for €3,399. That more affordable build rolls on Schwalbe Big Betty Bike Park tires, and paired with the coil it might be the more “freeride” oriented of the two options.
It’s refreshing to see builds and prices like these just a week after we reported on a new $15K bike build. We hope brands like NS can continue to produce quality bikes at prices that more riders can afford.
Fun fact: When Szymon Kobylinski started NS back in 2003 the company was originally named Northshore Extreme. Head to their website for additional info on the new Define Al 170.
