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Genesis Altitude 30

Genesis is the in-house brand of UK distributor Madison. Born out of the Ridgeback brand a few years ago, the Genesis range provides commonsense, good old fashioned, UK-proof hardtails - and they’ve really struck a cord with the nation’s mountain bikers. The Genesis range received a big brand shakeup for 2010, casting its Ridgeback-inspired looks aside for a new identity of its own. Is Genesis finally coming of age in 2010?

The Altitude is a staple of the Genesis range and is the name for their steel-framed xc/trail bikes. The Altitude is available in various grades of steel, starting with Reynolds 520 on the more entry level bikes, moving up to Reynolds 853 for the higher end units. The exception is the range topping ‘cold-drawn 3Al\2.5V’ titanium-framed Altitude Ti. The Altitude 30 tested here is the highest specced of the 853-framed bikes, and comes in at £1799.

Taking a look around the Altitude, the stylish and retro graphics are painted rather than stuck on, and compliment the old-school, skinny steel tubes. The finish is a vibrant and very sparkly metallic-red. It looks like a bike from the ‘good old days’, with only the slacker/higher front end, the disc brakes, and the purposeful looking suspension fork separating it from the steel bikes from back in the day. It’s a real looker and universally popular; the rebrand is a job well done!

the Altitude is every bit the contemporary trail hardtail...

Don’t be fooled though - look a little closer and the Altitude is every bit the contemporary trail hardtail. Genesis quote geometry in the brochure with the fork sagged, but when measured without rider sag, the head angle is a pretty slack, hard-hitting, and descent-friendly 68.5 degrees (manufacturers figures). There’s a long, sloping top tube giving plenty of breathing room, as well as good stand over clearance.

Wide, skinny, A-shaped stays give plenty of mud clearance and will swallow a 2.35 tyre with ease. The stays are finished with neat, classy-looking cowled drop-outs. And to cope with the demands of longer forks and harder riding, a gusset reinforces the frame where the headtube and downtube meet. Frame welds are small and tidy.  

Cable routing is via the downtube with as little cable housing as Genesis could get away with. This reduces shifting friction and gives water and grit less of a chance to sit in the cables and corrode them. But we found that the cables needed more regular, if less intensive, maintenance as a result. The frame also features crud-catcher bosses (and a free mudguard), twin bottle bosses and rack mounts, giving it touring, multi-day and bivvy potential.

Get on the Altitude and everything feels pretty innocuous and neutral. Steering is perfectly weighted and the riding position is neither head down or bolt upright. It should suit all manner of riders.

there’s no denying the lack of trail buzz and the general smooth ride you get with the Altitude...

Pedal away and the Genesis feels eager and sprightly. Weight is a pretty frisky 26.5lbs (with Shimano PD-520s) – it’s not stellar light but that’s not what the Altitude is about. And it could easily be built to a lighter, racier spec if you wanted. Acceleration is keen; kind of springy if not ultra-direct, but that’s what you’d expected with a steel frame.

Whether you buy into the ‘steel is real’ debate or not – there’s no denying the lack of trail buzz and the general smooth ride you get with the Altitude. And as you grind your way up technical climb after technical climb, the fatigue that comes from riding a hardtail all day is just that little less pronounced when riding the supple Genesis.

Given its light build, the Altitude makes short work of most climbs – the comfy steel frame is also a big help when it comes to just getting on with things. However, the front end can feel a little wayward when the gradient gets really steep. The long fork and short stem could possibly be the cause – but it’s not a big complaint.

Along flatter singletrack sections, the Altitude continues to just get on with things. There’s nothing extraordinary going on here – it just does exactly what you expect of it. The neutral, balanced and even weighted handling make for simple, elegant progress along the trails.

there’s a fluid, alive feeling to the way it descends – it seems to blend, fold and flow with the trail...

You could say at this point that the Altitude is pretty ‘ordinary’ - but that's where you’d be wrong. The Altitude’s party trick is in the joy of going back down the way you came.

It really shines on fast, twisty, sinuous singletrack. There’s a fluid, alive feeling to the way it descends – it seems to blend, fold and flow with the trail and in high-speed, bermed corners, you can almost feel the compression in the frame under load. The Altitude feels a little flexy, but only in the right directions. Instead of being pinged offline by repeated trail hits, it sort of just floats through and it always holds the line you choose. And the best thing is, the harder and faster you ride it, and the more you batter it into the trail – the more pronounced the effect, and the more alive it feels. It’s one of those bikes that responds really well to a firm hand!

There’s a real riotous and hardcore streak to the Altitude, and it doesn’t even mind a bit of wheels-out-sideways and even off-the-ground action! It might look like an old fashioned cross-country bike, but it’s so much more versatile than that. It’s light enough and comfy enough to be ridden all day, and at some pace too! But there’s no need to back out of anything gnarly you find out on the trails. We had it out with some pretty big full sussers at times and it more than held it’s own.

Part of this is down to the 120mm Maxle Lite Reba Race fork. It’s such a capable fork, and yet so light for what it’s able to handle. And the Maxle Lite lowers just add to the straight tracking and impeccably well-mannered handling.

full XT would have been nice, but you do get the XT cranks and brakes...

Moving on kit-wise, the Genesis takes full advantage of the fact that Shimano is also distributed by parent company Madison. The bike has a smattering of Shimano componentry, split between XT and SLX. Full XT would have been nice, but you do get the XT cranks and brakes. You also get the derailleurs but we would have preferred to down grade these to get the XT shifters. The XT brakes are a little weighty but you get a sensible 180mm front rotor and they're superbly powerful.

Rather than picking a Shimano factory wheelset – Genesis have gone for SLX hubs, with stainless spokes, laced to DT Swiss X430 single-eyelet rims. Given the commonsense, dependable nature of the bike, and the riding in the wild ideals – it’s nice to see such easy to maintain wheels specced. And while the cup and cone hub bearings require a touch more maintenance than sealed cartridge bearings, they are a doddle to look after. Rubber comes in the form the ubiquitous Continental Mountain Kings in 2.2s – we’re normally a bit lukewarm on these but credit to the Altitude as it seemed to get quite a bit out of them – in fact we even enjoyed them for change!

Finishing kit is Genesis-branded in-house stuff. It looks nice enough with only the handlebar feeling a little on the cheap side. We really liked Genesis’ take on the horizontal-bolt seatpost head though! It admittedly slipped once, five minutes into the first ride, but it never budged after that. Genesis do throw in some Shimano PD-520 clipless pedals which is nice!  

would be just as happy loaded up with a rack and bivvy kit, as it would lining up on the start line for a 24-hour marathon...

The Altitude is pretty middle of the road value wise - you get a reasonable amount of kit for the money, all bolted to a really tidy frame. It’s been cleverly specced to maximise the budget, and the money has been spent where it counts. And what it doesn’t have in an exotic kit list, it more than makes up for in its character and ride quality.

The Altitude definitely falls into that ‘if you could only have one bike’ category. It’s a well-executed, modern take on the good old fashioned cross-country mountain bike. It’s light, versatile and comfortable, and would be just as happy loaded up with a rack and bivvy kit, as it would lining up on the start line for a 24-hour marathon. But in addition to this, it’s been injected with the bolshie trail manners you’d expect from a longer travel full susser and is great for lobbing yourself around trail centres.

At a penny under £1800, it’s not cheap. And at this price it’s going to face stiff competition from more boutiquey options such as the Cotic Soul, or the heritage-laden Orange R8. But the Altitude can stand proud in that company because the ride and character you’d expect from these sorts of bikes is there. But it can also stand proud because the Genesis brand is no longer the slightly less dorky, younger brother of Ridgeback – it’s now a cool, funky British brand that’s going places. Has Genesis come of age in 2010? If the Altitude 30 is anything to go by, that’s a yes!

Light-weight, impeccably well-mannered, versatile XC bike with trail bike attitude.

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