Pete checks in with his full review on how the hand-made Atherton Mullet machine, the S.150.2 has fared after a few months of a wet Scottish winter.
How does an Atherton 150mm Mullet bike run as a daily driver? The Atherton S.150.2 is light and capable enough for most duties.
Photos by Pete Scullion.
Key features:
- Rockshox Lyrik Ultimate 160mm fork
- Rockshox Super Deluxe Ultimate shock
- SRAM GX Eagle 12-speed drive
- Hayes Dominion A4 brakes
- Stans Flow mk4 wheels
- Fox Transfer Performance Elite dropper
- £5,499.00 RRP
- AthertonBikes.com
The Atherton S.150.2 is the mid spec of three builds on offer in this, the 150mm travel, Mullet-wheeled, all-alloy bike. Subtractive manufactured from 7075 double lap shear jointed lugs and tubes with a DW4 link. Rockshox Ultimate air units deal with the damping, SRAM GX Eagle on the go forward, Hayes Dominion A4s on the hold your horses. Wheels are Stands Flow MK4s with Conti Kryptotals.
Three complete bikes and a frameset are available. Build 3 kicks things off at £4,499, the bike you see here, the S.150.2 is £5,499.00, rising to the range topper Build 1 at £5,999. The frame with a Rockshox Super Deluxe air unit is £2,799.
Geometry
The Atherton S.150 is available in sizes 1 – 12.
Reach on the 6 is 465mm with a seat tube of 420mm. Head angle is 64.5 degrees with an effective seat tube angle of 78.5 degrees. Chainstays are 435mm with a wheelbase of 1230mm.
With a little bit of rear shock tweaking, mostly in the high speed compression end, the Atherton S.150.2 went from a comfy bike at speed to veritable rocketsled. Despite the Scottish winter grease, the S.150 helped me up my own game, helping me find gaps where I might have previously kept the wheels on the deck.
If you’ve the legs, the angles and gearing will see you up all but the most heinous climbs. Yes, there are lighter, more efficient machines, but you’ll sacrifice something somewhere down the line for outright climbing speed. The Atherton boffins have done well to create an alloy frame that doesn’t weigh a tonne too.
Whilst getting the DW6 on the A150 fine tuned, the DW4 is far easier to set up without a massive trade off in performance. The rear end tracks well, whilst also giving a fair amount of trail-smoothing goodness and plenty of grip too. The excellent Super Deluxe Ultimate being a key protagonist here too. It’s definitely one of the better small can air shocks out there.
On the downs, this bike just wants to go and will happily keep you right even if your exuberance gets the better of you. The stock tyres are excellent and more than up to the task but all but the slickest of trails. SRAM’s GX eagle is also a solid, reliable drive train that hasn’t missed a beat during the time I’ve had it. In fact, the bike has just plain worked for the duration.
If I’m being picky, which I am… Whilst the Hayes Dominion A4 brakes provide all the power even in when grip has left the chat, they are really for larger-handed riders. The reach adjust ends just about where I can comfortably reach, if they wound in a bit closer to the bar, then they would be one of the best brakes out there in my opinion.
Whilst the headtube cable routing would make sense if you ran your brakes Euro or had a wireless setup, the S.150 is crying out for an extra hole on the drive side as otherwise the cables around the front end of he bike struggle to make sense. The lower shock mount yoke is fairly well setup for catching water and dirt, as well as the lower link catching anything at that end of the rear wheel.
None of these things really detract from the fact that the S.150.2 is a cracking bike for anything from big days in the hills to bashing out laps of the woods. It’s safe to assume you might well clean the bike after using it, so the dirt build up shouldn’t be an insurmountable issue either.
What do we think?
We’re big fans of hard-charging, high spec alloy bikes here at Wideopenmag and the Atherton S.150.2 is at the sharp end of that pack. It also stands up well against the wince-inducing cost of other hand-made bikes or those made from fancy materials. The faster you go, the happier both you and the S.150 will be.
We love:
- Confidence-inspiring ride
- Sensible price for a hand-made bike
- Looks pretty good
Could do better:
- Headtube routing is a bit odd
- Brakes won’t suit everyone
