Editors Choice: The most beautiful mountain bikes in the world?! Part 1
We asked ourselves, what are the most beautiful bikes in the world? First we wanted to ask the big names in the scene, then professional bikers and designers, but it soon became clear. Everyone is biased and has obligations to their employers and sponsors. It was almost impossible to get an honest assessment. One or two professional bikers and designers named a different model, but didn't want to put their name to it.
>> The most beautiful mountain bikes - Part 2
>> The 6 most expensive production mountain bikes in 2025: a lot of money for a bike - ouch!
>> BIKE readers' dream bikes: the 6 most coveted bikes in the 2023 test
So we do it - the BIKE editorial team. Each editor names their favourite bike. The conditions: It should be a production bike that is currently on the market, or at least was recently, or will be soon.
But isn't beauty always subjective? From a philosophical point of view, beauty is one of the oldest and most controversial topics in the history of ideas. It is less about "being pretty" in the everyday sense, and more about questions such as: What makes something beautiful? Does beauty exist objectively or only in our perception? Why does it touch us? Whether it relates to a person, landscape, architecture or even mountain bikes, the topic is the same. Some well-known philosophers have said or written clever sentences about this.
Plato: Beauty as an idea. For Plato, beauty is something objective and absolute. It exists independently of our perception - as an "idea" in its own right.
"Beauty is the radiance of the true." - Plato
Aristotle saw beauty more in the concrete characteristics of things. For him, something is beautiful if it has a harmonious structure and is organised in a meaningful way:
"Beauty lies in size and order."
Immanuel Kant: disinterested pleasure. Kant sees beauty as neither purely subjective nor objective - but as subjectively universal. Beauty pleases us "disinterestedly", i.e. without benefit or purpose.
"What is beautiful is what is generally pleasing without a term."
The most beautiful bikes in the world - Part 1
Steel Buddy | Starling Mega Murmur | Enduro | 170/165 mm | 2555 Euro (frame)
For me, the UK steel bike is the Lada Niva of the mountain bike world: while big brands chase after the zeitgeist at all costs, Starling gives the design monotony the middle finger with the simplest of means. Timeless design language, purist single-pivot rear triangle, externally routed cables - no frills, easy to maintain and brutally good-looking. Just like a Lada. In an era in which carbon chassis are becoming ever more voluminous and rear triangle designs are dripping with complexity, the slim steel frame unfolds its very own charm. The Reynolds 853 tubes lovingly welded together have an almost decelerating effect. My personal highlight: cut-out miniature bars adorn the castings on the head tube and rear triangle. And custom paintwork is also possible. It doesn't get much more individual and unusual than this!
Max Fuchs, BIKE editor
No frills | Last Cinto V2 | All Mountain | 150/145 or 160/145 mm | from 6244 euros
A bike that looks like an abstract work of art? No thanks! I can't do anything with overly wacky designs. And anyway, what's the point of analysing the look of every bike first? I'm not a fashion journalist. But of course a really cool bike also has to look good. So here we go: With its elegant but simple appearance, Last is exactly to my taste. Clean lines, few frills. The matt metallic paintwork adds just the right accent. If I had a customised Cinto in my garage, it would definitely make my heart beat faster every time I drove it. The eye simply goes with you! Incidentally, for me the Cinto frame is a perfect example of how a classic cable routing can still look clean. This is another point where Last hits the mark for me personally. Incidentally, with the Enduro Tarvo and the Asco trail bike, Last has two very similar beauties in other suspension travel classes. Unfortunately, they are all expensive!
Florentin Vesenbeckh, Deputy Editor-in-Chief BIKE
Highlight: Deviate Highlander II | All-Mountain | 160/145 mm | approx. 9000 Euro
The Deviate Highlander is a mountain bike that stands out from the crowd - with an extreme interpretation of the high pivot and extravagantly low shock. A little eccentric and yet with a clearly recognisable, functionally grounded design language. The carbon frame, which appears to be made from a single piece, combines sharp lines with flowing transitions, so that technical precision and aesthetic calm combine to form a sculptural unit. Every contour follows one idea: maximum stability combined with high dynamics.
Behind this bike is a company that was itself born out of a kind of creative necessity. Deviate Cycles was founded by two Scottish mountain bike guides who had been riding conventional bikes for years and at some point decided to turn their experience into their own designs. Their philosophy: only use innovation when it actually benefits the rider. No end in itself, no fads - but technology that creates real added value.
The result is a bike that convinces even sceptics like me. Not because it confirms my preferences, but because it consistently follows an idea - in design, in technology and in the philosophy of its manufacturer. The Highlander is a radical bike, but one that knows exactly why it is the way it is. And perhaps that is precisely what makes it so fascinating.
Josh Welz, BIKE Editor-in-Chief
Eye Candy: Unno Burn | Enduro | 170/160 mm | from 7895 Euro
Unno creator Cesar Rojo not only sits smoothly on the bike, but has also made a name for himself as a designer and developer beyond the bike industry. The unmistakable design language with straight lines and an extremely compact main frame runs through almost all five models in the Unno line-up. The Enduro Burn also stands out provocatively from the crowd with its unusual details such as the striking, flat seat tube and the shock positioned low in the frame. Companies such as Mondraker and Intense also rely on the expertise and signature of Cesar Rojo.
Peter Nilges, BIKE Test Manager
Florentin Vesenbeckh
Editor CvD
