Edinburgh Bicycle Coop put out some nice urban bikes - like the Courier Nexus - under their Revolution label. They do mountain bikes too, mostly aimed at the entry-level buyer, and this Cuillin Disc shares the Courier's understated black look.
Apart from the disc mounts and rear dropouts, it looks to be much the same 7005-series aluminium frame - same tube profiles, same frame fitments and the same gusset under the oversized down tube. You might spot that there's a bit of fl ex in the rear triangle and the bottom bracket is a shade low, but it's the front end that you notice. While all four bikes have a 100mm fork, here the bars sit higher even with the stem flipped. A fl at bar would help bring the ride height down.
On the trails it climbs okay because the fork has a mechanical lockout. Lean steering through twisty singletrack is hampered slightly by the higher front end and the consequent lighter weighting on the front wheel. But to be honest, this pales beside the problems with the fork. Like most bikes at this price, the fork has a fierce rebound and it's forever topping out. Single hits are okay, but on corrugated descents the front end shudders and kicks unnervingly.
Aside from the obvious problems with the fork, the spec is actually pretty good. Shimano disc brakes, centre-lock rotors and hubs offer reliability - you can even replace the rear hub's Freehub body when it wears. The 24-speed Alivio/Acera drivetrain works as well as anything here. Continental's Explorer tyres sound a bit town-and- trail, but in fact offer good, all-round grip in anything but greasy mud. It's not a bad bike, but its fork slows it down and dilutes any off-road adrenaline.