We've been keeping half an eye on Chumba Racing for a few years, and generally make a point of taking one of its bikes out for a spin at Outdoor Demo. This proved to be a particularly fruitful endeavour this year, as Chumba had its all-new VF2 on hand. It's a 120mm travel frame, with a four-bar/swing-link back end.
Even the most cursory inspection of the frame reveals that Chumba has stepped its manufacturing up a level with the VF2. Chumba bikes have always been well-made, but generally a little on the industrial side. The VF2 represents the company's first foray into both hydroforming and carbon fibre, with the main tubes benefitting from the former in the shape of mildly swoopy top tube and triangular down tube, and a single carbon fibre unit forming both seatstays. We don't know a frame weight, but the full demo bike was claimed to clock in at around the 25lb mark.
Out on the trails the VF2 is a proper hoot. It's a taut, snappy ride and the handling is pin-sharp. You'll need to be paying attention at speed, but effective suspension and straight tracking boost confidence. This is very much a rider's bike, and even at 120mm of travel you wouldn't feel ill-equipped on an XC race course.
Currently Chumba has no UK distributor, which is something of a shame - we reckon they'd do pretty well here. Chumba's going to send us one of these to test on domestic trails, so we can find out for certain...
www.chumbaracing.com
