The Atherton AM.130 has arrived at BikeRadar, but before it’s handed over to Luke Marshall for testing, let's take a closer look at the British brand’s short-travel bike.
With 130mm of rear-suspension travel matched up to a 140mm fork, the bike sits firmly in the trail bike segment.
It shares the same carbon-tubed, titanium-lugged design as the brand's downhill bikes and enduro bikes.
The DW6 suspension system is also carried over, which Atherton says makes the bike “light on the climbs but super-capable”.
Will it deliver on these claims? Keep an eye out for our full review, but for now, we’ll dig deeper into the details.
Lugged and loaded
The AM.130 features an unconventional frame construction more commonly associated with steel road bikes than mountain bikes.
Carbon fibre tubes are bonded into multi-jet-printed titanium lugs to construct the frame, with Atherton saying the AM.130 has been tested to downhill bike standard, passing the EFBE Cat 5 industry standard test with “flying colours”.
This means the bike is rated for use in bike parks and on downhill trails with extreme gradients.
The brand also says it has managed to reduce the wall thickness of its lugs by removing 0.25mm of material from the whole lug.
Atherton claims the lugs take around 16 hours to laser-print, with the bikes hand-crafted in the brand's Machynlleth facility.
A Dave Weagle designed six-bar linkage controls the bike's 130mm of rear travel, which Atherton says offers suppleness at the top of the stroke for outstanding small-bump sensitivity, while providing good mid-stroke support.
ABEC3 6903 LLU Max bearings are used in the linkage and are said to fend off water thanks to the use of marine-grade grease.
The bike rolls on 29in wheels, with no option for a mullet setup.
There is a frame protector on the down tube to fend off rock strikes and the bike features port-to-port internal cable routing, which the brand says eradicates rattling and makes maintenance as easy as an externally routed system.
Customisable geometry
Atherton offers the bike in 22 different sizes, all with different geometries, with reach measurements available in 10mm increments ranging from 410mm to 530mm.
Riders will also be able to choose whether the bike is Low, Regular, Tall, X-Tall or XX-Tall, depending on which reach measurement they decide on.
Head angle measurements remain the same throughout the size range at 65.5 degrees, while the effective seat tube angles range from 77 to 79 degrees.
Selectable spec
The Atherton AM.130.1 is specced with SRAM’s mechanical X01 Eagle groupset and is priced at £7,800 / $7,735 / €7,345 (US and Euro pricing doesn’t include import duties and taxes).
A RockShox Pike Ultimate fork supports the front of the bike, providing 140mm of travel, while a Super Deluxe Ultimate shock is nestled in the frame.
SRAM’s G2 RSC brakes are used in conjunction with the upgraded 180mm HS2 rotors to shed speed.
Straying away from a spec list dominated by SRAM Corp, a Fox Transfer dropper post sits in the seat tube.
The 29in Stan's Arch MK4 wheels feature front and rear, and are wrapped in Continental Xynotal Trail tyres.
FSA components are used for the cockpit, with a 50mm Gradient stem and a 25mm Gradient riser bar adorned with ODI Elite Flow grips completing the touch points.
