Pinnacle Kapur 3 review
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Pinnacle Kapur 3 review

Low price doesn’t result in poor performance

Our rating

4

641.00
625.00

Steve Behr / Our Media

Published: October 15, 2019 at 8:30 am

Our review
The Pinnacle would be a great first bike; it’s a hoot to ride and feels neither lazy nor nervous

Pros:

Nippy, agile and fun, the Kapur is an engaging ride; a great bike on which to develop your skills, and feels good on a range of trails; Recon RL is one of the best budget forks with decent adjustability and control

Cons:

2x9 drivetrain is noisier and less secure than 1x equivalents; not the best geometry for climbing

With its trail-friendly geometry, RockShox fork and Shimano brakes, the Kapur certainly looks the part. This wallet-friendly package is inspired by the pricier Pinnacle Iroko, so it should provide a decent platform from which to upgrade, too.

Pinnacle Kapur 3 frame

The Kapur has few bells and whistles, with external cable routing (save for the front mech), no seat tube port for a dropper post cable and a distinct lack of any fancily-hydroformed tubes. All the basics are there though, including two sets of bottle mounts, plus the tubing has double and triple butting for weight-saving and comfort.

While the geometry won’t turn heads, it’s very much a trail-rider-focused shape – not so conservative as to be nervous, or too slack, which would make it feel sluggish on mellow terrain.

The reach is pretty short, at 430mm on the large size, and the seat tube angle is a slack 72 degrees, but the 67-degree head angle is fairly relaxed, boosting stability at higher speeds. At 437mm the chainstays aren’t as short as some, and the 300mm bottom bracket height is low, further contributing to stability.

Pinnacle Kapur 3
Dual chainrings make gear changes less intuitive, but at least the side-swing front mech performs well, giving smooth and accurate shifting. Steve Behr

Pinnacle Kapur 3 kit

Despite the low price, Evans Cycles has plugged in a RockShox Recon RL fork with 120mm of travel – very much a spec highlight. The air-sprung fork has decent Motion Control damping, so the feel through the bar is top-notch, for this price point.

There’s a fairly broad range of rebound damping adjustment, although the stiff mechanism and flexy lever mean that getting the fork’s return speed perfect takes a careful hand. You also get a lockout for long, smooth climbs.

Shimano provides both the gears and the brakes. It has a 2x drivetrain, which provides a decent spread of gears, but the second chainring means you need a front mech, which is one more thing to adjust and makes for a rattlier ride.

The other downside seemed to be a little less gear security when back-pedalling between corners, where I lost the chain occasionally. Thankfully, Shimano’s front mechs are good, so shifting remained smooth.

Own-brand kit is bolted on elsewhere, with only the relatively flat bar proving a touch underwhelming – I couldn’t quite get on with the shape, which has very little sweep.

Pinnacle Kapur 3 ride impressions

In a word, fun. The Kapur isn’t the best when the trails are steep, but stick it on a flowy woodland route with plenty of berms, a few jumps to boost off and the odd flat corner, and I always came away with a smile on my face.

The bike feels small and nimble, rather than being a hard charger. It changes direction quickly, and feels perfectly happy picking up speed, thanks to the WTB Ranger tyres, which are fairly light and don’t drag too much on smooth trails.

male cyclist riding orange hardtail mountain bike in woods
While the WTB Ranger tyres aren’t mounted on the widest rims, they roll well and give reasonable grip. Steve Behr

They aren’t the best in soft conditions because they lack much of a defined shoulder tread, but in the dry or on trail-centre tracks, they perform well.

The Recon is a good fork for the price, with a well-controlled stroke and decent chassis – it’ll let you load the bike into the face of a jump and pop off the lip, or push it through a corner.

A slacker head angle would boost this confidence even more, but if you’re looking for an easy-riding all-rounder, which shouldn’t hold you back on too much terrain, the Pinnacle is worth considering.

When it comes to the climbs, the low weight and wide gear range certainly help. But the tyres don’t offer much grip on loose slopes and, particularly compared to bigger-wheeled bikes such as the Voodoo Bizango, the Kapur gets choked up on square-edged steps.

The short reach and stem also leave you feeling a touch cramped on prolonged climbs, while the slack seat angle can make the steepest ascents a little trickier, by placing your body weight further back than is ideal.

Overall, though, the Pinnacle is a bike that feels perfectly at home razzing around trail centres and riding less technical, but perfectly fun, woodland trails.

Pinnacle Kapur 3 geometry

  • Seat angle: 72 degrees
  • Head angle: 67 degrees
  • Chainstay: 17.2in / 43.7cm
  • Seat tube: 18.7in / 47.5cm
  • Top tube: 24.92in / 63.3cm
  • Bottom bracket height: 11.81in / 30cm
  • Wheelbase: 44.96in / 1,142mm

Product

Brand pinnacle
Price 625.00 GBP,641.00 USD
Weight 13.1600, KILOGRAM (L) - without pedals

Features

Fork RockShox Recon RL, 120mm (4.7in) travel
br_stem Pinnacle MTB, 45mm
br_chain KMC X9
br_frame Double and triple-butted 6061-T6 heat-treated aluminium alloy
Tyres WTB Ranger 27.5x2.25in
br_brakes Shimano MT400, 160mm
br_cranks Shimano MT210, 22/36t
br_saddle WTB Volt
br_wheels Double-walled aluminium, Alloy hubs
br_headset Semi-integrated
br_shifter Shimano Altus
br_cassette Shimano HG200, 11-34t
br_seatpost Pinnacle rigid
br_gripsTape WTB Waffle lock-on
br_handlebar Pinnacle MTB, 760mm
br_bottomBracket Promax external
br_availableSizes XS, S, M, L, XL
br_rearDerailleur Shimano Alivio (2x9)
br_frontDerailleur Shimano Alivio