The Mission 3 was the ATV of our lineup. This six-inch-travel, butted-aluminum rig is designed for big hits, and it comes with a parts spec that can survive abuse. Take the crankset, Truvativ's all-mountain-specific HammerSchmidt system, which, because it's essentially a two-ring crank crammed into a single internal gear, means no dropped chains or broken chainrings. But all of that comes with added heft that, for some of our testers, was a bit too much. "It handled surprisingly well at low speeds and took every rock I steered it toward," said one tester, "but it's a tank." An internal mechanism in the Diamondback's crankset delivers the benefits of two chainrings—a wide range between easy and hard gears—in a more durable and tidy package. It's heavy, but a boon in all-mountain and freeride applications, where dropped chains and broken parts are common.33.6 lbs (medium); diamondback.com
CLIMBING: 2.9/5 DESCENDING: 4.2/5 (ALL SCORES ARE OUT OF FIVE)
Diamondback Mission 3 Photographer: Photograph by Inga Hendrickson
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