Insurgent / AXS I9 Hydra

On an MTB, the speed score centers on rolling efficiency when you're pedaling, especially on easier terrain. Over longer efforts, it prioritizes confidence and everyday riding over outright pace. A few practical factors stand out: typical trail-width tires, wheel momentum that helps it carry speed between pedal strokes, mid-size wheels that balance agility and momentum, and a basic drivetrain spec that...

How it climbs: 9.3/10. Within Mountain bikes, it lands near the top. When it gets steep, the gearing feels very easy. In numbers, the low gear is roughly 16.2 gear inches. On the ‘easier low gear’ scale, it sits around ~93% versus similar bikes. “Gear inches” sounds nerdy, but it’s just a quick way to describe how easy your lowest gear is to turn uphill. Lower usually means easier. You’ll be able to keep a steady spin even when it gets steep. Build kits can differ by size and spec level, and not every detail is published by every brand, so use this as a practical guideline.

Suspension capability comes out at 9/10. Bucket: “Extreme rough-terrain ready”. That’s built for big impacts and very rough terrain, where keeping wheels tracking matters most. With suspension in the front and rear, the bike can stay more settled through repeated bumps. It’s tuned for steep, rough terrain where keeping the wheels tracking under hard hits is the priority.

Balanced fit - a middle ground between comfort and speed. You get this posture because the cockpit sits 27 mm below the saddle (a very small drop), and the cockpit stretches you forward by ~646 mm (extreme). Plan for roughly 25 degrees of lean.

Fit adjustability is shaped by a few key choices: This front-end is not locked into a one-piece system, which helps adjustability. At the same time, Cable routing is on the simpler side, which helps adjustability. That is why we tag it Moderately Adjustable.

Ride comfort is 6.4/10 — on a real ride it feels nicely smooth. That’s the reason it lands as Race-Stiff. The posture is forward, attacking (posture 7/10), which puts you in an attack stance, which can feel more intense on long, rough descents.

This setup suits steeper, rockier terrain and harder hits. Suspension travel is unknown in this entry, so the surface range uses the clearest available signals. Overall, the setup matches this surface range well.