Review
S.200 + S.150: Finn's Ride-or-Die Duo
23 September 2025 / Words: Gill Harris
Finn Tennant is Reverse Components’ Product Manager. He needed to build a long-term enduro and DH testing platform, creating a consistent and reliable ride that could remain unchanged over multi-year projects to compare results and have a clear benchmark for testing. These bikes will get many hours of serious abuse, so they need to be super-tough. But away from the workplace, these bikes are also Finn’s ride for the foreseeable future – he’s no slouch on two wheels so they need to be fast and they need to be fun – and to achieve that, Finn’s looking for a bike that’s consistent, predictable and makes him feel safe to push on harder. Finn runs us through the thought process that led to choosing two S-range frames, and what the life of these bikes might look like.
FT: I chose the Atherton S.200 and S.150, and I couldn’t be more stoked with them. I raced Nationals growing up – a year above Charlie before I jumped to EWS for five years or so, but lately I've pulled back a bit from racing – my favourite day’s riding is chasing Jim Monro and the rest of the Dig Crew down Dyfi Bike Park.
Over the years, I’ve had about 30 different frames and chassis – some are great in one way, some in another … the consistency is paramount for me, and durability. All Reverse component testing is filtered through me, and a huge goal is consistency – it’s a pain when you have to swap a bike and then spend 3-4 months optimising the set-up.
These bikes will get many hours of abuse, so they need to be tough. Rock strikes are a big deal for us. Noramlly an alloy bike is cooked in a year so for example if you’re testing wheels they can feel can feel very different in January to the next December… that’s an issue.
Our test bikes also need geometry and a suspension platform that doesn’t have any unusual handling characteristics or require an irregular riding position – I tailor our products to work best with that bike so I needed predictable high performance, that’s built to last. The test-bikes have to represent the whole mtb industry and product development needs to work for everyone so any weirdness is going to skew thinks in a really unhelpful way.
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DW Linkage
So when I came to choose 2025 bikes, after racing and riding nearly every type of suspension linkage out there, I knew right away where I would start, a DW link! We call it the Goldilocks linkage... its not too progressive, not too linear.
The DW splits conventional and high pivot bikes down the middle and it’s just right, not too soft, not too stiff. Over multiple generations of bike, it’s proved to be the best all-round package with no big compromises. It’s still compliant under braking and eliminates a great deal of the dreaded brake-jack like a high pivot does, whilst retaining the composure and ability to pump and accelerate like a traditional suspension layout.
So knowing what link I wanted, I was drawn to the Atherton S range by two things; a combination of good geometry which promotes a good riding position, and a knowledge of the impressive qualities of 7 series alloys.
These alloys offer huge improvements in fatigue life cycles over weldable alternatives. So, bikes made from 7 series alloys will retain their original stiffness far longer than welded alloy alternatives. This is so important to me because I want the impact resistance of alloy for my test bikes, but under the extreme use of our testing programs a normal welded alloy bike will feel flexy and totally different within 1 year.
Atherton’s CNC lugs and tube construction means the strength is exactly where it needs to be, the weight is where you want it, and the tolerances can be much more accurately controlled, giving better frame alignment and therefore improved shock performance and longer bearing life. I was already pretty sold on the S -Range by this point but the cherry on top was the fact this is a DW4 linkage, the iconic version of the DW link that dominated World Cups for so many years, any bike nerd has got to appreciate that!
I knew I wanted the S.200 as the main DH and bike park test machine. Then, after some test rides, the S.150 stood out as the best all-rounder for everything from jump lines to enduro and trail riding. I think it is the toughest trail bike on the market. It’s way more confidence-inspiring on the gnarly descents than any of the 170mm enduro bikes I raced in EWS over the years. Yet coupled with Reverse’s new Seatswitch, I’ve been flying up climbs so steep I’d never manage them on a bigger travel enduro rig.
A Perfect Fit
During my career, I’ve tried every reach number between 450 and 515mm, and I often end up between sizes, using reach-adjust headsets which alter the bike's geometry in all sorts of unintended ways, like slacker head angles and higher BBs. So, the 10mm increments in size offered for the S-Range were another big draw and after demo rides, I found a dialled fit.
I’m 6ft 2inches or 188cm and I’ve chosen an S7 S.200 with 470mm reach (same as Gee himself) and an S6 S.150 with 465mm reach - both are slightly down-sized to keep the bike nice and playful.
A smaller bike means I’ve adapted my riding style, more emphasis on the legs, more supple on my arms (think Sam Hill!), it just feels more relaxed with all the impacts being soaked up by the bigger muscles in my legs. I’ve built both bikes on EXT suspension, their high-quality and performance-driven products suit both the Atherton ethos and the prototypes I’m developing at Reverse.
These prototypes I’m working on are usually multi-year projects, sometimes logging over 100,000 vertical meters of descent each year for a specific product. Whether that’s hunting the worst conditions to try and damage bearings or endlessly riding the roughest lines at Dyfi Bike Park and Le Pleney to test grip and measure forearm fatigue.
I am constantly putting these bikes into the toughest situations. Between all the different projects, they will get an absolute thrashing each year. But with their future-proofed kinematics coupled with the lugs and tubes method and 7 series alloy strength, the plan is to hammer these bikes for many years to come! Once the bikes have taken a real thrashing, I’ll check back in to Atherton HQ to share how they’ve held up and how I’ve dialled in my components’ specs over time. But for now, I’m just enjoying the ride… It’s a confidence-inspiring bike – both of them are.
Recently, I was on the S.150 filming some rough chutes, actually halfway down I realised “This is not bad! The S.150 took everything in its stride. It’s such fun, same with the S.200 – you’ll notice immediately that you are boosting off the lips. I reckon that or an amateur, the biggest fun is if they can clear the jumps, these bikes are like a couple of secret coaching sessions! Get on the S.200 after a regular DH bike, and it will make you jump 20-30% further every time. For better or worse, these bikes make me feel invincible!