![]() Yes, we were part of this exclusive club, and had the chance to put the Yalla through its paces for the entire past season – for a whole 10 months to be exact! Moreover, the bike was put through the grinder by several racers during the past Downhill World Cup season and tested by a handful of selected riders, which all contributed to creating the final production bike. For starters, RAAW has gained tons of experience from developing other bikes, and secondly, they had almost a year to test and further develop the Yalla, which the German manufacturer did openly in the public eye. What about a sexy sports car with a sexy bike on the roof?įor Ruben Torenbeek, founder and engineer of RAAW, developing a downhill bike was always the ultimate dream, yet it took a fair amount of time before we were able to see the Yalla in the flesh and, finally, in RAAW’s online shop. It’s just like a rad sports car standing out from the crowd in the car park. But why? In a few words: technology, racing, prestige and, first and foremost, the insane amount of fun these things deliver on the toughest trails and gnarliest jump lines! We can’t help ourselves but stare at the bike every time we walk through our bike room, butterflies in the stomach, before we’re able to resume what we’re actually doing. For manufacturers, on the other hand, downhill bikes make up only a small portion of their sales revenues, and yet imagining the MTB sector without them is impossible. ![]() Buying a downhill bike isn’t the most rational thing to do these days, let alone developing one from scratch! Let’s be honest: if you think about how much use a DH bike realistically gets compared to a trail or enduro bike, you’ll quickly realise that it isn’t worth the trouble or money – unless you live right next to a bike park.
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