• Pinnacle Peak 4.0
• £499.99
• www.pinnacle-bikes.co.uk
• Budget lightweight
• Designed for the UK

Vital statistics

All dimensions based on Large (19in) frame

When we were scouting around for £550-ish bikes for this little clustering of tests, Pinnacle’s Peak 4.0 was listed at £599.99, a little over but, we decided, close enough. In the time it’s taken us to get around to writing it up the price has dropped to £499.99, so on average it’s been spot on…

Frame

Pinnacle makes much of its UK-specific design, and the Peak frame is certainly packed with pleasing touches. The aluminium tubeset eschewes the big’n’burly look for a more svelte appearance, but it’s decently chunky where it counts. The downtube does the horizontal flarey thing at the BB joint and there’s a box gusset at the opposite end. The head tube is a distinctive hourglass shape and takes an integrated headset.

The top tube is a kind of rounded Toblerone shape, with all the cables running underneath. The more overtly UKish features appear in the rear half of the frame, with the forward-facing seat tube slot and noticably slimline seat and chainstays offering healthy tyre clearance.

It’s not often that we feel moved to comment on the frame size sticker, but we like the fact that Pinnacle includes an approximate rider height range (in UK-specific feet and inches, too). And while rear rack mounts aren’t the most exciting addition, they’re rare enough on modern MTBs to be worth a mention – bikes in this price range are quite likely to be pressed into service as commuters or errand bikes.

Components

Unlike the commonplace RockShox Tora fork, the Peak features the lower-range Dart. On paper, this 100mm travel fork should be perfectly OK – chromed steel stanchions, useful damping, lockout lever – but there’s no getting away from the fact that next to the Tora it’s a bit undernourished. It’s a difference that you may not be troubled by, but if you’re heavier than average (or ride in a heavy fashion) then you probably will.

Elsewhere it’s pretty much Shimano Central, but saving a few pennies on the fork has let Pinnacle push the boat out in a few places. M485 discs are par for the course (160mm rotors both ends here), Deore shifters are pretty good for the money and there’s a rear mech upgrade to Deore LX. The wheel package stands out thanks to Mavic XM117 rims laced to the now-commonplace Shimano Centerlock hubs. They’re shod with 2.1in Conti Explorer tyres, which are mostly competent but perhaps a little skinny for some tastes.

Oversized bar, stem, lock-on grips (a nice touch) and seatpost are all Pinnacle-branded items, with the latter topped by a Selle San Marco Ischia saddle that attracted no comments and which we therefore deem to be entirely acceptable.

It’s certainly hard to fault Pinnacle for attention to detail – all the cables and hoses have rubber anti-abrasion sleeves to protect the paintwork, and you not only get a pair of Wellgo clipless pedals but also a spare replaceable derailleur hanger, which is a nice touch. Oh, and a bell. The whole package comes in at a (lighter than claimed) 13.1kg (28.8lb), which is pretty impressive for the money.

Ride

The Pinnacle’s relatively low weight makes for a sprightly feel out on the trail, with your efforts being rewarded with brisk acceleration and climbs being despatched with an ease not generally associated with budget bikes. It comes at a price, though. We alluded to the slightly spindly nature of the Dart fork earlier, and it’s not an item that lends itself to spirited riding. The actual springing-and-damping performance is OK, but press on and the fork’s reluctant to lead the way. One of our heavier volunteer testers found that the fork stopped working almost completely on descents, not because the innards gave up the ghost but because of the fork flexing and causing the stanchions and sliders to bind up.

In a vaguely similar way, the Conti Explorer tyres are just fine under “just riding along” conditions, but as your confidence grows and your line and speed choices become more adventurous you’ll probably find yourself wishing for something with a little more girth and knobble.

The good news is that fundamentally the Pinnacle is a sorted bike. It’s actually quite reassuring to come up against componentry limitations, because it means that the chassis has more to offer, and the Peak certainly does. The layout is long and low, surprisingly racey for a borderline entry-level bike but not alarmingly so. Stay within the capabilities of the fork and it’s a fine-handling mount.

Positives: Light, lively, decent value, well-designed frame

Negatives: Could take advantage of a better fork and meatier tyres

Verdict

At the original price of £599.99 the Peak 4.0 didn’t look like fantastic value. It’s now £499.99 and really pretty good for the money. It’s light and lively and handles well until you come up against the limitations of the fork and tyres. Many buyers won’t hit those limits for a while, though, and given the tidily-designed and versatile frame at the Peak’s heart it’d be worth hanging on to for a couple of component upgrades.

Performance 4/5
Value 4/5
Overall 4/5