Genesis are building a reputation for thoughtful and well designed bikes so it is fair to say that there had been a sense of expectation once we knew the Alpitude was winging its way to us. There has been much talk about the Alpitude and the clear design ethos behind it, which was to make a bike that you could… Well thought out geometry, good looks and great handling make the Genesis Core 26.4 stand out as a great bike at a good price. The correct tyre choice would also help calm the stiff and somewhat unforgiving rear end, it is not as harsh as many aluminium frames but taking the edge off it with some floaty rubber would help ease take some of the sting out of the trail. The first thing you notice is that the cockpit is comfortable, it just feels right. Not too long and well balanced with none of the ‘too much weight on the wrists’ feeling that sometimes comes on trail hardtails.
The Core range is based around a 6061 aluminium tube set that is butted where needed with some gentle manipulation to ovalise the down tube as it meets the seat tube at the bottom bracket shell. There are strengthening gussets where the down tube and top tube meet the tapered head tube and the seat stays are an old school wishbone style, the lack of a bridge gives ample mud clearance. Product PresentationFrom free-ride, long-travel mountain models to fun city bikes, the presentation is a key attractor on the sales floor.
Set up was simple, the bike did come with a whole bunch of spacers below the stem, after less than 30 seconds on the bike I had these shuffled to get the front as low as possible and it was off to the trails. The wheelset is lightweight with an internal rim width of 19mm that will take good sized rubber which means you could add some float to the ride with some high volume tyres. The Core 26.4 came fitted with 2.2 Mountain Kings, the originals not the much improved Mountain King II.
Due to its popularity, Genesis became a label in its own right in 2006. UK bike brand Genesis began in 2001 as a single bike – the Genesis Day One – and exploded in popularity. One year on Vin Cox set off from The Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.
Kit wise the Genesis is sensibly specced, Shimano Deore takes care of transmission duties with a SLX rear derailleur, brakes are Deore too. Genesis are a British brand that have been building decent bikes and a decent reputation so I was looking forward to a chance to see if the positive buzz about the company and their bikes was well earned. Singletrack uses affiliate services called Skimlinks and which means we may earn revenue if you buy a product after clicking a link to a retailer on our site. Check out our curated collection of the genesis bicycles very best road, mountain, and family rides in the area, complete with digital route maps.