Blog - 13 February 2025
Our NEW S.200 Aluminium Bike survived Hardline (of course!)
S.200 Coming Soon...
Red Bull Hardline, the clue is in the title … but this year’s race in Tasmania was longer and gnarlier than ever with huge new jumps, changes to some the massive drops and dust-filled turns the like of which have never been seen in Wales.
Speeds were high… 80km through the speed trap and racing was super tight, with Jackson Goldstone taking the win by the smallest margin in Hardline history. Gee and the S.200 were well up to pace, especially in the rapid bottom sector of the track just 1.05 off Asa Vermette’s fastest 4th sector time.
In the lead up to the race there we saw loads of comments on Pinkbike and socials about how risky it was to unveil a new bike at the toughest race in the world, streamed live to a huge audience across the globe, but since the very start of Atherton Bikes strength has been an absolute priority and our lug and tube construction has proved itself again and again. We never had a doubt …
“I’m absolutely blown away by how the S.200 handled the Red Bull Hardline course, the bike felt very strong on the big jumps, it was predictable, I felt I could be quite brave on it, it gave me a lot of confidence…not only down to the ride-feel and how it handled but also knowing how strong the bike is. That was important, especially with so many bikes and bodies getting broken around me. If there were any doubt in my mind as to whether the S.200 would survive, I wouldn’t have ridden; you can’t put yourself in that position it would be too dangerous. But the question of whether my bike will be strong enough? Since the very start of Atherton Bikes, it’s never crossed my mind.
On track, the S.200 ate up the big hits very well and offered a lot of support. With DW4, the suspension kinematic is similar to the DW6 on my A.200. Overall, it seemed like the tech took a lot of that course in its stride. I was impressed with the depth of the adjustability the bike had, Really soon it felt like we had our set – up dialled within a couple of % of where we wanted it to be. I was impressed with its adaptability; that was something I noticed from the start, it worked well on the dusty flat turns but it still took the sensitive, rooty, rock sections well, and was still very capable in the big gaps, drops and creek jumps.
I think the S.200 has a really good balance of stability on the fast, high-speed downhill stuff while still being sensitive enough to be able to take the technical side well. It felt like a really good all-round bike, there was no area that let it down, and I think that racing Hardline tests that better than anywhere, if there was going to be one area where the bike was lacking it would quickly become quite apparent but I was impressed and I think that showed up in its ability to be within a couple of % of a scorching pace." Gee Atherton
To support the S.200’s brutal testing in the field we also work with EFBE the world-leading bicycle test laboratory based in Germany. Their Tri-tests already far exceed any international standards but for us, they devised a special set of tests, cherry-picking all the most rigorous elements from Cat 4 Enduro and Cat 5 Downhill for a combined “super-test.” Naturally the S.200 has passed those tests with flying colours. Full steam ahead to full production…