Pinnacle Kapur 3 review

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.

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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 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.

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