So when one stumbles across an undeniably unique, carbon fibre downhill race frame with some very interesting design cues, what does one do? Well, one rides it. Actually in most cases, people will want to know why it’s different, how it achieves what it claims to, and so forth. But all that is academic in the end, because as we all know, it’s only the ride that matters in the real world.

And here we have the Lahar DHV-M9. What’s it got that others don’t? Complex carbon fibre construction, claimed to be exceptionally strong and resistant to crash damage, as well as being unaffected by many of the issues that metal frames have to deal with, mainly metal fatigue and the issues commonly associated with weakening materials at the welds. Equally important to what the bike has, is perhaps what it doesn’t have - most notably, it lacks a conventional derailleur. Instead, a Rohloff 14 speed planetary-geared hub has been put to work inside the frame itself, used solely as a gearbox. With the purported strength of the frame considered alongside the removal of the derailleur, it becomes quite apparent that this bike was designed with reliability in mind. Without actually testing the thing to destruction or at least long-term, it’s impossible to comment on the durability, but Aaron at Lahar Bikes assures me it’s stood up to everything that anybody has managed to throw at it so far.

Mud, glorious mud...

But back again to the real world – what is the bike like when you’re actually aboard? The first thing you notice upon throwing a leg over and rolling around on it, is that it’s long. The chain stays are long once under sag, the top tube is reasonably long, and those two plus a slack head angle (somewhere around 64 to 65 degrees, going by feel, with 8” Fox 40s) give a long wheelbase (listed as 46.9”). At 6’2”, I found the reach to the bars to be quite comfortable, however given that the bikes are one-size-fits all, vertically challenged riders who are accustomed to short, dirt jump-style cockpits may find it a bit of a stretch. That’s not to say it’s extremely long, but it’s certainly closest to a size large when compared side by side to many other models of downhill bike. That does appear to be in the design brief of this bike though – everything is a bit longer than most other bikes. This is a downhill race bike first and foremost, and the geometry is clearly oriented towards that.

Doing all the usual bouncing up and down doesn’t yield anything unusual either – the bike simply feels much like anything else, with a nice ramp up at the end of the stroke (due in no small part to the DHX 5.0, no doubt). Point it down the trail however, and it’s surprising how it converts bumps that you’d usually expect to be a harsh kick in the feet to a dull knock without the usual associated hang-up over rough ground. Riders familiar with other high pivot, low-chain-extension bikes will appreciate this feeling and the noticeable lack of deceleration when the bike is mashed into rocks. Given the raw bump absorption ability of the rear end of the bike, it must be said that expectations weren’t high when it came to trying to finesse it smoothly through and over rocks. Nor did it immediately give off signs of being a particularly easy-to-jump bike.

And this is where the M9 really cranked up the heat. Most downhillers are familiar with the typical tradeoffs with bike suspension, where it’s either soft and smooth in the rough, or stiffer and good to jump off/over stuff. The Lahar strangely combines both of them in a delightful way - due to the rearwards axle path, the rear wheel takes up the bumps very nicely without having to resort to exceptionally soft spring rates which tend to compromise any bike’s manoeuvrability and hopping/jumping prowess. This is most apparent when unweighting the bike in order to roll over larger obstacles; both wheels will happily trace across the top of the rocks without ever feeling like the bike is catching on anything. The bike also seems well balanced with the Fox 40s up front, and very responsive whenever you want to make rapid movements up/around/over something.

Where the bike seems less responsive is trying to come too aggressively into tight, slow turns – whilst the feel of the M9 under braking is fine, the long and extending chain stays seem to like being set up in advance to follow a chosen line around corners, rather than just hammering in and squaring off as some bikes love to do. Getting off the brakes well before the corner lets the bike settle back in its travel more, which is something that seems less necessary on shorter bikes with more vertical/forwards axle paths. Whether this is a good or bad thing is hard to say, but it certainly requires a different riding style to most bikes in this respect.

In contrast however, the Lahar is nothing short of confidence-inspiring as soon as speeds pick up. Fast, rough terrain becomes just fast terrain, heavy braking in the rough is stable – more so than anything else I’ve ridden - and popping the bike off small lips and the like is very intuitive. High speed corners are great fun on the Lahar, with no feeling of instability or that worrying feeling that quickly changing direction will result in a huge tankslapper or the bike being thrown off line. The long stiff rear end also allows the back wheel to slide around without feeling unduly sketchy. That’s not to say that grip is lacking, as the bike tracks very nicely. The bottom bracket is at a good height, being low enough to corner well without being so low that the bike becomes impossible to pedal for fear of smacking the ground.

Pedalling feels strange compared to a conventional downhill bike; while there’s very little bobbing or movement under power, there is a slight but noticeable sensation of drag in the drive train, due to the added friction of a second chain and especially the Rohloff gearbox. It’s more noticeable in the lower 7 of the 14 gears, but it’s not a big problem at all. Speaking of which, having 14 gears is fantastic – there are gears low enough to pedal uphill (if you’re stubborn enough to try that on such a bike), whilst still retaining the absurdly high gears that you might spin out if you ever feel like pedalling straight down a steep ski run. Shifting is again different to a conventional bike, with the Rohloff twist shifter letting you easily grab 5 or 6 gears in whichever direction you like, and as an added bonus, you don’t have to be pedalling to shift, so you can shift in corners or whenever is convenient. Just like normal derailleurs though, you can’t smoothly shift under full power. Pedalling over rough ground is about as smooth as you could realistically hope for, and the M9 is at the least, on par with anything else in this regard. The combination of this pedalling ability with the fact that the Rohloff won’t ghost shift on you, and the excellent bump absorption makes you much more inclined to pedal through choppy ground that might otherwise just be rolled over. A nice touch is the lack of chain slap noise – just another minor detail that makes the ride that much more pleasant.

The Lahar is most definitely a very capable bike. It feels better and better the faster you go, and on top of being responsive, it also has all bases covered as far as outright technical performance goes. Durability is claimed to be exceptionally good, and I have no solid basis on which to question that claim. And on top of all of its evident race capabilities, it’s fun to ride too, as it’s a very lively bike whenever you want it to be. The only real downsides I could find in the bike were the slow-speed handling characteristics and the very slight pedalling drag – neither of which are even close to being enough to put me off considering one as my own next purchase. Whilst it’s always hard to judge how a bike performs based purely on the opinions and words of others, if the opportunity comes up, a test ride is very highly recommended!

For more details on the DHV-M9, http://www.laharbikes.com/ is the manufacturer’s website.

Thanks greatly to Aaron @ Lahar Bikes, Nick McMillan and Amy Laird for going out of their way to get me a ride on this bike – much appreciated.