Last Glen long-term review – initial report

Two bikes in my long-term reviews history stand out.  

The Marin El Roy is a bike my colleagues are truly bored of hearing about – I mention it weekly. 

It was perhaps the rowdiest hardtail I’ll ever swing a leg over, and despite having no rear suspension, it was a rocket ship. 

The Merida One-Forty was another – much like the Marin, it propelled me down hills at speeds I often found uncomfortably fast. 

The common denominator of those two bikes? A 500mm reach and sub-64-degree head angle. 

Now, I would never say you should buy a bike on numbers alone, but my riding ability is very much psychological. 

Give me a bike I know will be good and I’ll ride better. And on a very basic level, I feel comfortable on bikes with a slightly silly reach length. 

The Glen has those numbers, but there’s more than that. 

It’s a looker in my eyes, comes with a plethora of optional extras and custom-build options (which is great for the customer), and the team at Last are anything but a faceless corporation. 

I knew I wanted a frame-only option and a little more travel than I’ve had before. 

So, the Glen should be a match made in heaven. 

Last Glen frame, suspension and specifications 

The Glen is a 150mm-travel all-mountain bike, with a simply designed single-pivot linkage-actuated design, which incorporates some user-friendly features. 

My test bike has come ready for a pair of 29in wheels. However, with a quick swap of a link, it can also be run as a mullet. 

The Last team have clearly put some thought into the frame’s features. 

Want to run an ISCG mount? There’s a slotted plate (€29.90) that slips over the bottom bracket shell ready to attach a bash guard to. 

Want to run none, one or two cables into the down tube’s cable port? A full set of guides are supplied to give the tidiest of looks. 

Pivots are all taken care of by the same size bolts and bearings throughout, with extra seals added to prevent dirt and water ingress. 

The brushed alloy frame I have looks fantastic in the flesh and should be easy to keep looking fresh – matt black and blue options are also offered. 

Rubber chainstay and down tube protection finishes the job nicely. 

It is worth adding that some items of frame hardware aren’t included for the base price – this includes the shock, seat clamp, ISCG05 tab and headset. However, these are all optional extras at the point of purchase. 

Last Glen suspension 

Although it looks marginally more complex than some, the suspension linkage is a single pivot, with a pair of links driving the shock. 

There’s the typical rocker link that drives the trunnion shock, but between that and the rear triangle is an additional link – this is the one that can be swapped for a longer link to run the Glen as a mullet bike, without altering the geometry. 

If you want even more travel, an additional link (and new fork) turns the Glen into a Coal (Last’s enduro model). 

The linkage gives 19 per cent progression, from the sag point to the end of its travel, so while I'm running an air shock in there, it should work well with a coil shock, too. 

Last Glen geometry 

Long, low and slack – it’s a cliché, but one that definitely applies to the Glen. 

Frame sizes are denoted by rider height, with my 182cm frame fitting the 185 size best (rather than the 175). 

The frame is long and low, with a 500mm reach, while the quoted head angle with a 160mm fork (the frame can take 150 or 160mm) sits at a slack 63.9 degrees. 

Further back, things aren’t quite as stretched. While the 165 and 175 sizes get a truly stubby 430mm chainstay length, my 185 (and the 195) size get 438mm and 447 chainstays respectively. 

From a seated position, there’s a 78-degree effective seat angle. This is steep, although some bikes go steeper still.  

Effective seat angles are very much dependent on the saddle height, but I’m happy to see that a) Last provides the saddle height for the effective seat angle, and b) it’s the same height I run mine at (with 175mm cranks). 

Last Glen initial setup

The photos in this review reveal that, even out of the box, this is a rather special build. 

But I promise this really is a spare-parts-bin build, other than the frame and wheels.  

The Fox 36 Factory fork was sent down by Alex from Scotland, once he’d finished testing them against the RockShox Lyrik. Yes, they’re gold, and yes, I think they look bloody great. 

The SRAM XX SL Eagle Transmission drivetrain is now on its third bike – testament to its reliability and durability. Even the chain and cassette are the originals. They’ve clocked up some serious miles and elevation, with barely any TLC, and they still shift tidily. 

I would have reused the XO crankset on the Yeti SB120 the drivetrain came from, but we all know how difficult SRAM DUB cranks can be to remove. After some leaning on my longest Allen key, I decided that the Race Face Era cranks I had knocking about would get a second lease of life. 

Formula’s Cura 4 brakes are a long-standing favourite of mine, as are the SRAM HS2 rotors, while the 35mm-long Race Face stem and OneUp carbon handlebar are my current favourites. The 210mm-drop OneUp seatpost is desperately in need of a service, though.  

The Race Face Era alloy wheels are another stalwart of my long-term bikes – currently 16 months old and mounted with some seriously chunky rubber to counteract the rain while I was building the bike up.  

Last Glen ride impressions

With deadlines looming and videos to film, I’m yet to properly sling a leg over the Glen. But I can talk about the build process. 

I’m not a man who enjoys spannering, but fortunately, with a host of modern parts and a clean frame, the build was mostly stress-free. 

SRAM’s Transmission groupsets really are a fit-and-forget system, once you’ve cut the chain to length, and sussed out how to mount the rear derailleur. 

The tyres popped onto the rims okay, and the wheels slid in nicely. Other than the aforementioned struggle to remove the SRAM DUB crank, the Race Face option was easy enough to fit.  

I even managed to bleed a pair of notoriously tricky brakes successfully the first time.  

However, the lack of internal cable guides caused some consternation. The rear brake hose enters a port above the bottom bracket, while the dropper cable has a tight right angle as it routes up the seat tube. I’ll admit it took a while.  

The rubber hosing Last provides to nullify any rattles was also tricky to navigate.  

Add in my potato hands (as digital editor Jack Luke loves to call them) and it’ll be a while until I offer up my brake and dropper-post testing services to senior tech editor Alex Evans.

However, the build is behind me now, so I’m in a position to take it to the trails.  

Last Glen plans

So what’s planned for this year? 

Well, there’s little in the calendar that’ll suit the Last so far, but it won’t stay that way for long. 

As MBUK TV’s presenter (you’ve checked out the channel, right?), I’m frequently hitting up the trails, shooting videos on long-termer bikes. So, keep an eye out on the channel for many appearances from the Glen.  

While I’m unlikely to sign myself up for any enduros this year, I’ll be making sure I get out weekly on the Glen to keep my skills in tip-top condition while having a laugh with my mates. 

I’d like to get some coaching this year so I can tick off a few weak points in my riding, and it makes sense to use my Glen for this. 

My only other commitment is my annual trip to the Alps – something I’ve done for the last 22 years, so I certainly won't be missing one in 2025. 

Judging by other reviews of this bike, steep Alpine tech is where the Glen should excel, so I’m chomping at the bit to get it out to the mountains.

Last Glen upgrades 

In terms of mechanical changes, time will tell...  

Shimano has announced new groupsets since I took delivery of the Glen – I wonder if I’ll be lucky enough to get a set?  

One thing I will be doing, though, is making use of that longer link in the suspension. 

I’ve spent little time on mullet bikes, but I’ve had fun when I have. 

As such, I foresee a smaller rear wheel making its way onto the Glen at some point this year.