Unless you follow the high-octane world of hard enduro motocross racing, you may not have heard of Manuel Lettenbichler.
But this German superstar of motor-powered, two-wheeled off-road antics is also ridiculously handy on a mountain bike.
So much so that he was offered a spot on Germany’s downhill team for the 2021 MTB World Championships and is a fully paid-up member of the YT Mob, adding to an enviable list of sponsors that also includes Red Bull and KTM.
What has Lettenbichler learned from racing motorbikes that has helped him transition so easily to mountain biking?
To find out, I headed to the Surrey Hills, where I found myself munching on one of Peaslake Village Stores’ legendary cheese straws as we set up a pair of YT’s new Decoy SN 29 ebikes.
Introductions all round
So, what is hard enduro? In many respects, it’s the motorbike version of MTB enduro racing – hard laps of the hills, woods and mountains (or sometimes quarries) ridden at breakneck speed, in mass-start races designed to test rider and bike to their limits.
Races can take hours, or they might be strung out over days.
Take the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo as a prime example of how tough the sport is. Five hundred riders start the day, and last year only 12 finished.
And guess who won? Our man, Mani.
He’s got far too many victories to his name to list, but his four World Championship titles probably give some indication of his calibre.
Week in, week out, he goes toe to toe with the UK’s biggest name in moto, Billy Bolt (a former featured rider in MBUK and soon to make an appearance on MBUK TV).
And the bike? The Decoy SN 29 is YT’s freshest eMTB, powered by Fazua’s RIDE 60 motor.
With 29in wheels and 140/160mm of travel, it shares its DNA with the brand’s ever-popular Jeffsy trail bike.
Oh, and then there’s me. I’m just a regular guy, stood in a car park with an ultra-capable bike and a dude in a Red Bull helmet, surrounded by some of the UK’s most iconic trails. Better crack on then, eh?
Let’s get planning
The Surrey Hills may not have the elevation of the Alps, but they make up for that with some sweet trail-bike tracks, plus a few tasty tech features, thanks to the likes of local-based MTB stars Brendan Fairclough and Olly Wilkins.
Mani had never ridden here before, but he was keen to scope out lines he’d seen on Instagram.
Our plan was to hit up a few spots that would test my skills and hopefully might make Mani stop and think.
Plus, my ulterior motive was to pick up a few riding tips. I was glad we had ebikes – one of the best things about them is the way you can explore new places without too much effort.
The root drop
With a little roaming about, we tracked down a drop over some exposed, overhanging roots.
From the last of the roots to the spot on the bank below where our tyres would next make contact with the earth was a solid 6ft.
I asked Mani if he could make it up the drop on his motorbike. “Yeah, for sure! It’s just a normal step for us [hard enduro riders] – hit that lump at the bottom, twist the throttle and we’d get up,” he replied.
Coming down would be no harder either, as evidenced by some of the videos I’ve watched of him.
Mani’s confidence in his KTM comes from it being “so rock-solid, so plush”, and this tallies with his enjoyment of the YT Decoy SN 29: “It almost feels like a non-ebike, but with this bit of extra weight, which gives that comfort and safety,” he says.
The drop was from head height, but should have been easily rollable, with a smooth run-in and landing.
It was only the trio of roots floating in mid-air that made me second-guess it – would they knock me off-line or buck me?
Mani had no such hesitation, whipping up the off-camber traverse to the top, sending the drop and throwing in a bar turn for photographer Steve Behr’s camera.
It was our first challenge so, wanting to save face, after a couple of peeks over the edge, I went for it too.
Off the brakes, look at the landing, and all of a sudden there I was, safely down to earth.
To prove (mostly to myself) this was no fluke and to ensure Steve and videographer Max had the footage they needed, Mani and I repeated it a few more times, each time going deeper – or in his case, with yet more style.
If anything, the dusty, off-camber climb was trickier than the way back down.
Chased by the Bull
First challenge ticked off, we searched for the next section to play on, and found ourselves at the top of some singletrack.
Mani suggested I take the lead. Now, I’m a capable bike rider for the most part, and definitely most at home on fast, snaking, wooded singletrack.
But I promise you, there’s a bucketload of pressure when a Red Bull-helmeted rider drops in behind you.
Riding blind, I opened the taps as best I could, trying to remember all the hints and tips I’ve picked up from the amazing riders I’ve had the opportunity to ride with in the past.
Mani was right on my tail, as you would expect, but he wasn’t exerting any unfair pressure, just having a good time on great trails in the sun.
Towards the bottom, we came across a huge tree dissecting the trail with some jumps built around it.
This would be a challenge, but first there was a set of steep switchbacks to test our climbing skills on.
In motocross, it seems the climbs are as much, if not more, fun than the descents – a squirt of throttle, dirt spraying from the rear wheel and pinpoint accuracy as the rider threads the needle through tight gaps, twisty corners and over loose surfaces.
But would Mani handle them as well with a 450W electric motor as he does a 293cc two-stroke engine with tons of low-down torque?
This challenge, I hoped, would put him to the test. The lower corner of the uphill S-bend had roots spread across it, which had been nicely polished by thousands of tyres passing over them.
A bike-length later, there was another corner – steeper and with a step straight after it, before a second, larger step immediately after, over a log.
Switchback switcheroo
While Mani’s KTM would have seen this climb off with zero effort, we agreed at the bottom that the Decoy SN 29’s Fazua motor was going to have to be in its top Rocket mode to get us up.
Mani admitted to being slightly nervous – the pitch was fairly steep, the line anything but smooth and there was a solid bit of commitment needed to get over the log at the top.
We took the lower corner wide, front wheel skirting its outer edge, with the rear taking a more inside line, scrabbling for grip.
With a little body language thrown in, we both made it through. From there, it was a proverbial squirt of the leg-based throttle to get up the steps.
Mani popped his front wheel over the second one, hopped his rear wheel up and put in a strong pedal stroke to propel him to safety.
I gave it my best, and if it weren’t for my slight lack of commitment at the last minute, I think I would’ve made it, but alas, I wobbled a little too much as my front wheel crested the log.
Clearly, Mani needed more of a challenge, so I redirected him to a higher part of the log. “You guys just want to see me fail,” he laughed.
Fail he did not. He had to put in a proper hop, though, and the torque he put down caused the rear wheel to scrabble over the log, spitting out chunks of bark.
“Go on Tom, don’t be shit!” was the ‘encouraging’ shout from Mani as I limbered up for another shot.
I gave it a few more goes, but ultimately failed at the final hurdle, via a rather embarrassing couple of ‘stranded turtle’ moments on my back, as I looped out on the steep incline. One for another day, perhaps.
Let’s fly
Jumps aren’t my natural habitat. If you've read my account of being coached by Bernard Kerr, you’ll know this.
So, I wasn’t looking forward to the next challenge. The tree that crossed the trail lower down had a booter built up to its edge.
Now, in photos, this looks innocuous enough – barely there, in fact.
However, I assure you that the magic of photography was working against me.
Not only was there a gap of 8ft to 9ft to clear, but completing the jump with a modicum of style would require – in my eyes – the bending of physics, in order to turn in mid-air.
Mani showed his class, cruising into the lip, twisting his bar as he took off and laying his Decoy pretty darn flat, before schralping through the next corner.
I rolled in, enjoying the fast, flowy, rough and rooty run-in, then slowed to a stop – I’m a big believer in having a sighting run.
It seemed eminently doable. So, with Mani, ever the gentleman, rolling in ahead of me to help me gauge the speed, I hit the lip, floated over the gap and landed smoothly – no bother. As we pulled up, Mani was hollering.
I was a bit surprised – sure, I’d made a meal of the build-up, but it wasn’t the biggest obstacle ever.
It turned out he thought I’d binned the landing, given the sound of all the undergrowth grabbing at my wheels once I was back on terra firma. As I said, I can’t defy physics and turn in mid-air!
Mini Rampage
At this point, we decided Mani needed to be challenged.
We had a scout around and found a sandy area with some much larger drops. Not only were the hits bigger, but the run-in was far sketchier.
Loose, tumbling, gravelly sand isn’t a place to try to regulate your speed before a drop onto dirt.
Fortunately, Mani’s control, borrowed from his immense skills on the moto, came into play.
We scoped a few lines, picked a spot that’d look great in photos, stamped down the landing a little to ensure his front wheel wasn’t going to disappear into the soft stuff and – no surprise – he absolutely stomped it.
There are a few lines in the Surrey Hills that stand out.
The Mini Rampage area is one of those, featuring in many video edits from the likes of Fairclough and Wilkins, Sam Reynolds and Daryl Brown, so it was no wonder Mani wanted to test his mettle there.
We found a technical line, comprising a nadgery roll-in over some roots and into a chute, before a double drop with barely a bike’s length between them – off a rock, land, then straight into a step-down, with no chance to check speed beforehand.
I had no interest in throwing myself off there. Even Mani was looking a bit worried.
We skirted round it for a while, pointing out potential lines, but in the end sense prevailed.
Mani had a full season of hard enduro to compete in, and we didn’t want to pressure him into riding a line that was marginal at best.
It was this dedication to the sport that prevented him from taking up the opportunity to represent Germany at the DH Worlds.
The risk of getting injured and writing off his hard enduro season was too great – imagine that conversation with KTM!
Videographer Max and I continued scouting out a final challenge, finding a steep ridgeline that was perfect to finish our grand day out. All of a sudden, there was a “F*ck, yeah!” and a flash of Mani’s kit down below us.
He’d picked a quiet minute, with no spectators, and sent the line we all thought he’d written off.
It was a serious challenge and potentially very dangerous, but he’s a man well-accustomed to high-stakes games, and that itch needed scratching.
Fortunately, for MBUK’s YouTube channel, he’s a proper pro, and turned his GoPro on for the run.
Final fling
Mani was understandably stoked on hitting his Mini Rampage line, but there was still time for one more challenge – the ridge.
This was right up my street – steep, rooty, loose and fun.
There was a straight-line option over a ton of matted roots, which were just aching to grab the front wheel.
Alternatively, we could twist and turn around the trees, taking a less direct but perhaps smoother path, which would require precision to hit the turns at the right time.
Both led into a couple of rooty steps. Mani went straight, barely bothering to squeeze his brakes.
I swear he reached warp speed as the ground levelled out at the bottom.
I took the more circuitous route, got pushed wider than my ideal line but, with a little luck, managed to pull it off and was left with my front wheel teetering on top of the first root step, at 90° to the rest of my bike.
There was no way of stepping off, so I had to commit, let off the front brake and hope the bike would save me.
Thankfully, the wheel straightened, the suspension ate up the hits and in a flash I was down at the bottom.
All that was left was a singletrack sprint to the car park. Following Mani through the whoops and berms of the final trail was the icing on the cake of an awesome day out.
It just goes to show that whether you’re a Red Bull athlete or a regular rider, you can have a blast together.
Moto meets MTB: what you can learn from Mani’s riding
Coming from the rugged world of hard enduro, Mani is happy to fling himself down some seriously technical terrain. Many of the tips he gave Tom focused on trusting his bike.
Let it flow
Modern MTBs are seriously capable. Letting your bike flow over the terrain, and in the case of an ebike, using its weight to deliver grip and stability, allows you to look further down the trail and not focus on the small details that rarely matter.
By looking up, you’re more prepared for upcoming features and obstacles, and can pick better lines.
Climb smart
On climbs, remember your rear wheel will take a more inside line than the front.
As such, when planning your line through a techy turn, you’ve got to consider where the rear wheel will go, too – is it going to hit a root, will it get banged off-line?
You might need to adjust where your front wheel goes to make allowances for the rear.
Also, an ebike may give a boost on the climbs, but you’ve got to keep that power under control and shift your weight to keep the rear wheel gripping.
Speed is your friend
If in doubt, go flat out! A slack head angle, long wheelbase and a bit of suspension travel will see you through some surprisingly precarious situations.
Obviously, don’t take on a death-defying drop if you’ve never hopped off a kerb, but assuming a line is within your capability, all you have to do is commit. Or, in Mani’s words, “Don’t be shit!”
