BMC Trailfox 01

The Trailfox is appropriately named. This bike lives for trails. I don’t say that because it has knobby tires, and 140mm of suspension travel, I say that because this is a bike that is at home on the trail. It has an active suspension, without feeling bouncy. I didn’t bother using ProPedal at all, and felt no real ill-effects. If I was faced with a very long climb, I would probably use it, but only to try to eke out every last bit of efficiency. This bike carves the corners and flies up hills. Taking corners I felt very confident leaning into the turns, the frame is quite stiff and allowed me to really push the bike and try to squeeze out as much speed as I could muster down the trail. Climbing was a point-and-shoot kind of affair, with the suspension actively hunting for traction without an annoying bob.
Descending was very smooth. While the trails I rode lacked in a slow technical descent, there are a few fast, rough hills that let me test the bike’s lofting capability, and I found the Trailfox to be very responsive to steering inputs and weight transfers, allowing me to loft the front wheel over rough sections quite easily, which made it able for me to place the front wheel wherever it needed to be in order to continue along with my chosen line.
I did notice that the bike didn’t behave well in the air. The rear suspension would kick off the trail and send the rear wheel higher than the front. It wasn’t difficult to control in the air, but it is a bit frightening to have the rear wheel kick up when you’re not expecting it. This may have been due to my suspension set up, or to my technique, but it would be something to keep in mind as you set out on the trail.
Overall I found the Trailfox to be a very capable bike. It made me feel faster on the trail without feeling fragile like a race bike can. The rear suspension soaked up bumps quite effectively and still allowed me to put power down either in the seat or standing up. This is a bike that is definitely at home on dirt.