Proven aluminum hardtail mountain bike. With robust Shimano CUES U6000 2x10-speed drivetrain, powerful Shimano hydraulic disc brakes, and versatile Schwalbe Rocket Ron tires with excellent grip. The gateway to your MTB adventure. This versatile bike fulfills all your desires for challenging trails and relaxed gravel routes.
The Applebee is a hardtail mountain bike made of 6061 TB aluminium, and this material says a great deal about how it rides. With a 135 mm O.L.D., a 73 mm BSA bottom bracket, a high direct-mount front derailleur mount, internal gear cable routing, external brake cable routing and IS disc mounts, the frame is designed for the demands of off-road riding: it absorbs impacts without working against the braking, and it stays light at the same time. The luggage rack eyelets on the frame allow panniers or a rack to be fitted, which turns the trail bike into a machine for longer tours. At 13.1 kg in 27.5 inches and 13.4 kg in 29 inches it belongs to the lighter bikes in its class – a difference that shows every day when carrying it up steep passes or putting it away in the car. The frame sizes run from 16 inches for 27.5-inch wheels to 22 inches for 29-inch wheels, so the right wheel size is available for every body size. The colour Blue Grey combines a cool blue grey with dark elements and gives the bike a calm, technical appearance.
At the front, the SR Suntour Raidon XC RL-R Air works with 100 mm of travel and air suspension, fitted with a remote lockout. It is exactly this combination that makes the bike versatile: the remote lockout on the handlebar switches the suspension off for paved roads and city streets in seconds, and on forest trails, roots and rocks the air spring works with the same travel as a fully suspended machine. Because it runs on air, it can be adjusted to the rider's own body weight without any conversion. The tapered fork steerer from 1 1/8 to 1 1/2 inches and the headset with ZS44/28.6 on top and ZS55/40 at the bottom give the front wheel the stiffness needed for direct steering through bends and over roots.
The drivetrain is a Shimano CUES U6000 two-chainring system with 20 gears. The two-piece FC-U6000-2 crankset delivers 36 and 22 teeth, and front derailleur FD-U6000-D together with the 10-speed Shadow RD-U6020-10 SGS rear derailleur produce the 20 gears which, with the 10-speed CS-LG300-10 cassette from 11 to 39 teeth, deliver a total capacity of 44 teeth. That is the range that counts off-road: where a bike with steeper gears struggles, this one keeps its traction, and after a fast descent the chain stays calmly in the cassette. The CN-LG500 LINKGLIDE chain holds the connection even through mud and dust, and the SL-U6000-L and SL-U6000-10R shift levers sit within easy reach on the grip. Compared with the 22-gear drivetrains of the STEVENS CALETA 8.1 and AVIOLO 9.1, this is the reduced and, in return, uncomplicated variant.
The brakes work hydraulically: Shimano BR-MT410 at the front and rear, two pistons each, operated via the BL-MT401 aluminium levers with two-finger grip, work together with the Shimano SM-RT54 rotors – 180 mm at the front and 160 mm at the rear, both centre lock. The Oxygen RM-M19 rims in 19x584 for 27.5 inches and 19x622 for 29 inches sit on the Formula CL-51 front hub with QR5x100 mm axle and the CL-52 rear hub with QR5x135 mm axle. The Schwalbe Rocket Ron Performance tyres in 57-584 and 57-622 bring the full width of a mountain bike tyre with 57 mm: they grip on gravel, in the soil and on wet roots, while rolling more quietly than the narrow tyres of a city bike can, and they are foldable for transport. Added to this are the Oxygen Driver handlebar with 740 mm width, 9° backsweep and 25.4 mm rise, the Oxygen Driver stem at 6°, the Oxygen Havoc saddle, the Oxygen Driver seatpost with 350 mm length and 27.2 mm diameter, and the ATB Pro Reflex pedals. With a permitted total weight of 115 kg, the bike is designed for riders carrying luggage, a bidon and tour equipment.
The name of this bike is made up of two English words: "apple" – the apple – stands for freshness, fruitfulness and the lightness of setting off, and "bee" – the bee – for liveliness, diligence and an active, dynamic way of riding. Combined, this gives "Applebee", and this mixture is precisely what describes the idea behind the bike: a fresh, lively mountain bike. Unlike the AV IOLO, KALEA or CALETA lines, whose models are differentiated by numbers such as 6.1, 7.1 or 8.1 and frame codes such as HT and LT, the Applebee carries neither number nor suffix – it is an independent model name for an independent concept, an aluminium mountain bike with a 20-speed Shimano chain drivetrain and air suspension fork. The two variants differ exclusively in colour: Blue Grey and Galactic Black. On the product page the colour appears as the second element of the name, and it describes the appearance just as precisely as the racing bike does with "Blue Grey" and its black counterpart with "Galactic Black".
Within the mountain bike programme, the Applebee occupies a clearly defined position: it is the hardtail with the largest possible suspension travel at a weight of a good thirteen kilograms, and it consistently does without everything that would demand a higher price or more weight. In the range of STEVENS mountain bikes it therefore represents entry-level access with full cross-country capability. Compared with the CALETA 6.1 and the CALETA 8.1, which are conceived as city and touring bikes with 45 mm Schwalbe G-One Overland tyres, hub dynamo lighting and hydraulic disc brakes, the Applebee relies on the 57 mm wide Rocket Ron tyres, the 100 mm air suspension and the 20-speed Shimano drivetrain – in other words, on what makes the difference off-road. Compared with the E-LIVENZA 7.4.1 with Bosch Performance Line SX and 400 Wh battery, it remains a purely muscular bike: anyone who wants to ride without a motor gets a machine that keeps weight and price in the same range. Compared with the AVIOLO 9.1 with magnesium air suspension fork and Shimano CUES 8000 in 2x11, it stays the more honest, lighter choice for everyone who prefers to dose the power themselves.
The purpose of this bike is the classic cross-country and marathon season: forest trails, flow trails, gravel roads and the long loops that last a whole weekend. The remote lockout is the detail with the greatest effect here – it allows switching between fast asphalt sections and rough terrain without readjusting anything, so the bike is usable from the trail park to the alpine pass road. The 100 mm air suspension with adjustable pressure absorbs unevenness that would otherwise travel permanently into the arms, neck and back, and the 180 mm front rotor brakes safely even when wet clay or gravel makes the ground soft. The luggage rack eyelets open the way into a second role: with two small panniers, a bidon and spare material, the trail bike becomes a marathon and multi-day bike that still keeps its weight of 13.1 kg manageable to carry. In short: the Applebee is for everyone who wants a bike that works off-road and does not become a punishment on the long way home.
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