Looks are subjective, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say the Contour is a bloody good looking bike. I’m a sucker for a steel frame, which probably helps; there's something about the simplicity and skinniness of the steel tubes, and I always like a straight line from the dropout to the head tube through the rear stays and top tube. It just looks right. It’s well proportioned and elegant to my eyes.The level of workmanship is very high, the frame is extraordinarily nicely made and packed with lovely details, showing a clear passion by Adrian for producing the finest possible product. The frame is TIG-welded, using Reynolds 853 for the down tube and top tube, and Reynolds 631 for the head tube and seat tube, while Dedacciai 25CrMo4 and 4130 CrMo plain gauge tubing are used for the chainstays and seatstays. The main pivot and linkage are made from aluminum and all the pivot hardware is stainless steel with 5mm hex bolts.Steel is of course known for its natural flex, which is one of the reasons why it’s still a popular choice for making bikes in the face of lighter and stiffer alternatives. Swarf has utilised this flex in the seat stays, flattened slightly along their length, to allow a small degree of vertical flex which eradicates the necessity for a dropout pivot, thus saving weight, cost and complexity.There are lots of sensible details. The bottom bracket is threaded and all cable routing is external apart from the stealth dropper port. The 44mm head tube is reinforced and the seat tube slot faces forward to minimize the ingress of mud. The rear dropout on this test bike is old-school 142x12mm, but production bikes will feature the wider 148x12mm Boost configuration, and there’s clearance for a 2.5” tire. The IS brake mount accommodates up to a 180mm disc rotor and up front, it’s designed around 1x only with a 32 or 34t chainring recommended. Frame weight is a claimed 3.2kg (7.0lb) without a shock.And most importantly of all in this era of hydration pack less riding, there’s space for one water bottle inside the main triangle.

Climbing



The most obvious downside with the Contour’s choice of steel tubing is the weight. Steel is never going to be as light as aluminum or carbon, but at 32lb it’s comparable to the similarly specced Cotic FlareMAX I tested last year. As with that bike, you notice the weight when you lift it off the car rack or over a gate, and it doesn’t speed up climbs with the same verve as lighter bikes, but it’s no slouch, and once you’re rolling it carries its weight very well. Maintaining momentum is key here, rather than the point-and-squirt nature of some lighter bikes. It's worth mentioning that the supplied demo bike has quite a sturdy build, so weight could be saved if you built it up with a lighter set of parts for a bit more focus on climbing efficiency.



When it comes to going up, the very stable suspension helps progress hugely. There's enough anti-squat to ensure that the shock isn't heavily influenced by manic pedalling or excessive body movements, and it remained composed on long climbs. The climb switch on the shock is useful just for firming it up a bit more. On nadgery climbs with lots of step-ups and obstacles, the geometry and suspension come together nicely to ensure you can weave the bike through, over and around technical hurdles.



You do feel the weight start to work against you when you’re heart rate is getting up into the upper echelons of your capabilities, and you’re never going to keep up with your mate on a carbon race bike (I tried; I failed) but adopt a more relaxed climbing approach and the Swarf is more in its element. On undulating trails the Swarf allows you to make speedy progress with a good deal of agility for twisting through tree-lined trails. There’s no issue getting the big wheels around tight bends and switchbacks, it’s pleasantly easy to maneuver and shuffle along a twisting trail.



Over rough ground, the Swarf feels a little more forgiving than some super stiff carbon bikes with a similar amount of travel that I’ve ridden, which I put down to that small amount of flex in the frame. I had to be careful of pedal strikes on some trails with exposed roots and pointy rocks but it never became a major issue.



