VOODOO BIZANGO PRO
Since winning our 2022 Hardtail of the Year award, life has been good for the Voodoo Bizango Pro. So good, that the only thing that’s changed is the price has crept up by £25. Impressive, given that a bag of groceries has probably gone up by the same amount.
To improve the ride feel and save weight the alloy Bizango frame uses triple-butted tubes in the front triangle. The last round of revisions ushered in a longer reach and a slacker head angle, so the geometry is current, if not as progressive as the new Calibre Line T3-27.
All of the standards are bang-up-todate too. The head tube is tapered, the bottom bracket is threaded, the thruaxles are Boost and the cable routing includes a port for a stealth dropper post. And it’s the latter that we’d recommend pushing the budget a little higher to attain. We can’t stress how transformative having a dropper post is to the ride quality, not least because the seat clamp quickly gets gunked up with grit.
SUSPENSION
With a Rockshox Gold 35 leading the charge, the Voodoo easily has the best suspension fork on test.
With big 35mm upper tubes and a
15mm bolt-thru axle, it’s plenty stiff enough to hold a precise line without the steering ever feeling wayward or vague. Something that heavier, hard-charging riders will really appreciate.
The fork boasts 130mm travel, but delivers slightly less as it has a tendency to spike on bigger hits. There’s no faulting its performance off the top though. The Rockshox Gold 35 delivers a buttery smooth action, so traction and comfort are both first rate. There’s also plenty of support in the middle of the travel, so the Bizango Pro feels very stable and composed even when the trail turns rowdy.
COMPONENTS
While we can pick small holes in the performance of the fork, Voodoo has really delivered on the specification. Let’s start with the contact points. The lock-on grips are secure and comfortable. Saddle choice is personal, but everyone agreed that the profile of the WTB Volt makes for the perfect perch.
Rest your index finger on the slender Shimano MT401 brake levers, and you have the ability to modulate your speed with absolute ease and complete control, even with the modest 160mm rear rotor. You get a Shimano Deore 12speed drivetrain with a massive 51t rear cog that makes light work of even the steepest climbs. Shifting was swift and accurate and it never felt like something was going to break when we mashed down hard on the excellent two-piece cranks.
If there is one area where the build kit could be improved upon, it’s the tyres. The Maxxis Rekon rear tyre certainly keeps the tempo high, but traction in the wet – whether climbing or braking – was minimal and the skinny width did little to isolate us from bumps. You could improve matters by transferring the more aggressive front Maxxis High Roller II onto the rear and sticking a 2.5in tyre up front. With the bike in the workstand, we’d also recommend converting to tubeless, to save weight and help reduce pinch flats.
PERFORMANCE
If getting from point A to point B in the shortest time possible is your number one priority, then the Voodoo Bizango
Pro is the best option here. It has all of the efficiency of a high-end modern XC bike on the climbs, but slam the saddle and it feels composed and capable on the descents too. Not as capable or as playful as the Calibre though, and you’ll have to stop to adjust your saddle height.
With the high end specification, everything on the Bizango Pro works like a Swiss timepiece. It offers a blissfully quiet ride too, with no chain slap and cable rattle to distract you from the trail ahead. The wide bar and short stem make it easy to pick your line, the Rockshox 35 fork guaranteeing that you can stick to it. All that’s really missing is a fatter rear tyre to take the edge of the hits.