Mo Awesome's 6 Favorite Bikes of 2025! (Bikes of the Year 2026)

What a year of testing bikes! There has never been a better time to be a mountain biker and 2025 proved that bikes are so good right now and somehow only getting better! In our second year of Awesome MTB I had a chance to test a ton of bikes that ranged from gravel to XC to enduro to E-mtb! What were my favorites and what are the best bikes of the year as we head into 2026?

I tested 50+ bikes this year and here are my 6 favorites:

Best XC Bike: Cannondale Scalpel with Lefty and Fox Neo

With a very capable geo the Scalpel was already one of the best XC bikes on the market! What happens when you take that capable geo and add an insane suspension combo of the Lefty Ocho and Fox Neo Float X? A bike that is very fast both uphill and downhill! https://www.cannondale.com/en/bikes/mountain/cross-country/scalpel

Best Light Weight E-Bike: Yeti MTe

What happens when you take one of the best suspension designs on the market and put it on a lightweight e-bike? Then what happens when you give that bike an insanely fun geo? Well you would get the Yeti Cycles MTe which quickly became one of my favorite light weight e-bikes on the year! https://yeticycles.com/en-us/bikes/mte

Best Gravel Bike: ARI Shafer 3.0

ARI might have cracked the code on the new Shafer 3.0 and are heading into 2026 with in my opinion the best gravel bike of 2026! The tire clearance is insane and so is the confident geo and when you pair it with a RockShox Rudy XL you get the ultimate adventure bike! Sell the rest of your quiver, if you can only have one bike this is the one! https://aribikes.com/products/shafer

Best Short Travel Trail Bike: Transition Smuggler

What happens when you keep things simple? Things get very fun! The Transition Smuggler was one of the best short travel trail bikes I have ever tested and the amount of fun you can have on this 130mm travel rig is mind blowing! https://www.transitionbikes.com/Bikes/Smuggler

Best Enduro Bike: Evil Offering V4

Need one bike to do everything? The Evil Offering was one of the best enduro bikes of the year for me! With plenty of travel and a mind blowingly fun geo, the Evil Offering is a bike that makes every trail a blast! Never failing to put a smile on my face, I am looking forward to spending a lot more time on the Offering in 2026! https://evil-bikes.com/collections/bikes/products/offering-v4

Best Full Power E-MTB: Pivot Shuttle AM

Pivot Cycles doesn't just make bikes, the make bikes perfect! Something that I love about the brand is how they are never satisfied with just good enough and are continously trying to make their bikes better! The lattest Shuttle AM made me realize how much expereince Pivot has with e-bikes and I never thought an all mountain e-bike could be so fun to rip on the trails!

Excited for another year of Awesome MTB! See you in 2026!

-Mo Awesome