HOPE HB916 £6,995

Hope has a lofty aim. It doesn’t just want to build bikes in the UK, it wants to make every single component right on its doorstep in Barnoldswick. So while other brands are happy to slap logos on existing components or outsource the process entirely, Hope wants to be involved every step of the way.

And it’s well on its way to realising that vision. The HB916 is Hope’s third full-suspension bike and it’s a bike designed for enduro racing. It has suspension components from Öhlins, tyres by Maxxis, and a SRAM 12-speed transmission, but virtually everything else carries the Hope logo. And while small components like CNC-machined hubs, stems, headsets and cranks are relatively straightforward for Hope to manufacture, it quickly realised that if it wanted to produce high-quality fullsuspension frames, it was going to need to learn to work with carbon, and learn quickly.

Hope’s ability to manufacture the carbon moulds in-house gives it a level of flexibility that few, if any, can rival. The prepreg carbon is made in the UK and stored