Atherton Bikes (United Kingdom) - Press Release: Our amazing new AM.200M the much requested mullet downhill bike, is almost ready to launch!

The AM.200M (AM for Additive Manufacturing, 200 for the travel and M for mullet!) replaces the 29" DH bike and will be spec’ed and priced in line with the current model, details of which can be seen on our website.

We hope you’ll all watch the Continental Atherton team put our new bike to the ultimate test at the Leogang World Cup this weekend (big shout out to Charlie Hatton for an 8th place qualifier!) but this model is as at home in the Bikepark as it is on the track.

The mullet builds upon the World Cup winning AM.200 but it was designed from the ground up with no compromise on the kinematic. It was developed over two years of testing at Dyfi and on World Cup tracks around the globe, with intensive feedback from the Athertons and four of the world’s fastest riders from our race team. Here’s just a few of the things they had to say …

Rachel at her World Cup practise runs, Fort William, May 2022:

"Last time I raced here I won - the first win on the Atherton bike!! In 2019 I was riding the full 29 downhill bike, the first iteration of our prototype, it was an amazing thing to win at home on that bike so early on.

This year it felt awesome to feel the difference between that 29er and this new mullet version I am riding now, a slightly stiffer rear end and that smaller rear wheel really allowed me to throw the bike around those tight loose turns at Fort Bill, the mullet just gave me a more nimble feeling, nippy in the turns and tech and allowing me to be a bit more active, but with the 29er still up front it still gives me that “charging bull” feeling that I love, where I can just attack and let the bike eat up the massive holes and rocks.

This mullet is so good and stable it gave me the confidence those first few runs to just ride what I saw and let the bike do the work, I felt like I had never been away! So much fun!”

Charlie had a break-through ride at this year’s Fort William race, qualifying 2nd.

“It's a massive mental advantage knowing the bike is working well underneath you.

It was a wet race so traction was a big thing, especially in the woods. The way that the bike tracks the ground meant I could open up some more creative lines and the progressive nature of the DW6 system kept me from getting so beaten up on the way down!“

Team rider Andreas Kolb missed Fort William due to an elbow injury.

“Leaning into the corners on this bike is so nice, you never get that feeling that the bike wants to go somewhere else. Specially on techy off-camber sections it feels like I have more control. And one of the biggest things for me, away from the racetrack and in the Bikepark, it’s simply more fun.”

We’ll launch to the general public later this month with all the usual new imagery and PR and we’ll be showcasing the new bike at the National Cycle Show at the NEC in Birmingham on the 18th and 19th June. But before we make the AM.200M available for sale through the website we wanted to offer our subscribers, our "extended family” a big thanks for all your support (and reading these letters!) with a chance to beat the crowd to the next batch of build slots.