Next year will be the first that Ghost have used anything but 26in wheels on their full sus bikes. While they’ve gone for 650b on the all-mountain 155mm travel Cagua, the more trail-oriented AMR 2955 gets 29in hoops. So how does their first effort stack up?
Ride & handling: Good for covering rough ground fast
The suspension is configured to deliver a fairly linear feel through the stroke, so the Ghost uses a high proportion of the available travel a lot of the time – and thus feels less like a short travel bike.
Usefully, it manages to do that without exhibiting much in the way of mid-stroke wallow, and there’s the Fox CTD lever to help hold it up should you feel the need. The downside is that the end of the travel arrives quite abruptly if you push a bit hard, and it’s so capable that you’re quite likely to do just that.
The geometry, which is relaxed and low-slung, also makes it feel more capable than its travel would suggest. While the head tube isn’t particularly short, Ghost have specced a flat bar to corrrect the weight distribution, and unusually short (by 29er standards) chainstays make for a more loftable front end.
Mix all that with good overall chassis stiffness (helped by thru-axles at both ends), high-volume yet fast-rolling tyres and a low overall weight and you get a properly capable and fun bike. It’s light and short enough to chuck around, but low and laid back enough to blat through some surprising terrain.
In all sorts of ways, Ghost aren’t typical European manufacturers. Whether it’s the understated graphics, the suspension feel or the geometry, the AMR 2955 is more in tune with UK tastes and riding styles than a lot of continental bikes. It’s well worth a look.
Frame & equipment: Impressively light with effective suspension
With its satin silver finish, graceful curves and subtle graphics, the AMR 2955 is a fine looking bike. It’s all gentle arcs and strokeable tube profiles, while still managing to look like a bike rather than an aluminium-shaping showcase.
While Ghost have cranked the seat tube forward for wheel clearance, they’ve kept the curve low down so there’s a healthy length of straight tube to drop the seatpost into. Sensibly, it takes a 31.6mm post, so there are plenty of dropper post options, and the AMR wears all its cables on the outside, with full-length housings for the gear cables.
The rear shock is a Fox CTD unit, but Ghost have gone for a RockShox Reba up front with 110mm of travel. We like the Reba – it’s light without being floppy and the damping is well controlled. And there’s a remote lockout lever, which you might find useful.
A Shimano Deore group (with upgrades to SLX for the front mech and XT for the rear) is almost the definition of function before flash, although it’s handsome enough stuff.
The Shimano theme continues to the SLX hubs, conventional at the rear and 15mm at the front. Slender 1.8mm spokes trim off a bit of weight, and the shallow-tread Rocket Ron tyres are capable across a range of conditions. You get Deore brakes, which punch above their weight, with tiny levers accessing strong power and controllability.
This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.