Watch: Guerrilla Gravity Pedalhead 27.5+ Review

Guerrilla Gravity is making quite the name for themselves with their hand-built mountain bike frames. Based in Denver, Colorado, only a short drive from some world class riding in the Front Range, a group or avid mountain bikers decided they couldn’t find the hardtail they wanted. They wished for a bike that could pedal uphill well but …

Guerrilla Gravity is making quite the name for themselves with their hand-built mountain bike frames. Based in Denver, Colorado, only a short drive from some world class riding in the Front Range, a group or avid mountain bikers decided they couldn’t find the hardtail they wanted. They wished for a bike that could pedal uphill well but was still slack enough to be considered an all mountain machine; thus the Pedalhead was born.

The Pedalhead is built right here in Denver, CO. It is designed with custom “smashmolly” square tubing, has a custom made S-shaped seat tube (with internal cable routing for droppers) for improved comfort in the saddle, and has a slack 65.5 degree head tube angle. Best of all, this setup can accommodate both 27.5+ tires (max 3.0″) and 29er tires (max 2.5″).

Initially I had some reservations about plus size tires. Some of the plus sized bikes I have been on feel sluggish and are a bit less playful than a normal mountain bike.  In my experience they can feel “glued” to the ground and can be more difficult to get airborne off small features. Not so with the Pedalhead! I was able to flick this rig off every little rock or root like any other mountain bike. The low bottom bracket and short chain stays (16.5″) really make for a fun ride. Those features paired with the super slack head tube make for a wild ride down.

Guerrilla Gravity offers some amazing customization options so you can really build a bike up exactly how you want. You can choose between SRAM or Shimano brakes, drivetrains, or other standard components; KS Lev or Race Face droppers; RockShox or Fox forks; and DT Swiss, Race Face, or–my personal favorite–Industry Nine wheelsets. You can even choose custom frame and decal colors. Head over their website to customize a rig of your own!

There are trails here in the Front Range of Denver I prefer to take my full squish bike out on because of the fun factor.  Some of the more rough, rocky trails can be a little daunting on a hardtail.  Not so with the Pedalhead.  I wanted to ride this bike every day no matter what trail I was off to.  The plus sized tires gripped extremely well even in the late season nasty dust that we are dealing with here in Colorado.  I was able to blast right through the tech sections with ease and could lock the front fork out to smash up the climbs.  This is one bike I could ride every single day!

It is going to be hard to find a slack hardtail to one up the Pedalhead.  In my mind, it is the perfect all-mountain hardtail machine.

MSRP: $2,000-$4,000

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