{"id":715610,"date":"2026-07-28T15:34:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T15:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/715610\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T15:34:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T15:34:21","slug":"jono-jones-saracen-ariel-60-for-ard-rock-enduro-shows-trend-setting-suspension-tech-isnt-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/715610\/","title":{"rendered":"Jono Jones&#8217; Saracen Ariel 60 for Ard Rock Enduro shows trend-setting suspension tech isn&#8217;t everything"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jono Jones won the Masters race at Ard Rock Enduro this weekend, riding his Saracen Ariel 60 and narrowly beating Adam Brayton with a time of 19:09.95.<\/p>\n<p>The time saw him finish in sixth place overall, with William Brodie winning after finishing nearly a minute faster in 18:15.76.<\/p>\n<p>Jones was aboard his Ariel 60 for the race instead of his signature Ariel 80, with the course seemingly not suited to the 180mm-travel bike.<\/p>\n<p>We caught up with him before the race to see what he was running.<\/p>\n<p>Jono Jones&#8217; Saracen Ariel 60<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC2053-Large.jpeg\" alt=\"Jono Jones with his Saracen Ariel 60\" class=\"wp-image-985947\"\/>Jones rides a size-large frame. Nick Clark \/ Our Media<\/p>\n<p>As the name suggests, Jones&#8217; Ariel 60 has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/advice\/buyers-guides\/how-much-suspension-travel-do-i-need-on-my-mountain-bike\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">160mm of rear-suspension travel<\/a>, although it shares the same basic frame as his signature Ariel 80 except for the linkage.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC2058-Large.jpeg\" alt=\"Jono Jones with his Saracen Ariel 60\" class=\"wp-image-985948\"\/>The decals on the Fox 38 are in keeping with the rest of the bike. Nick Clark \/ Our Media<\/p>\n<p>That number is matched up front, with Jones&#8217; bike featuring a relatively standard, Kashima-free <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/reviews\/components\/forks\/suspension-forks\/fox-38-performance-elite-suspension-fork-review\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fox 38 Performance Elite<\/a> with 160mm of travel.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC2065-Large.jpeg\" alt=\"Jono Jones with his Saracen Ariel 60\" class=\"wp-image-985949\"\/>Despite using a Performance Elite fork, it&#8217;s all Factory in the back. Nick Clark \/ Our Media<\/p>\n<p>Jones has a Factory DHX2 coil shock in the frame, making good use of the travel on offer.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC2068-Large.jpeg\" alt=\"Jono Jones with his Saracen Ariel 60\" class=\"wp-image-985950\"\/>Shimano&#8217;s XTR Di2 M9200 is fully wireless. Nick Clark \/ Our Media<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, Jones has specced Shimano&#8217;s wireless <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/reviews\/components\/groupsets\/groupset-mountain\/shimano-xtr-m9200-di2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">XTR Di2 M9200<\/a> groupset, including the brakes.<\/p>\n<p>The bike sits on DT Swiss EXC 1200 wheels, with Jones choosing Maxxis Minion DHR II tyres for the front and rear for the race.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC2079-Large.jpeg\" alt=\"Jono Jones with his Saracen Ariel 60\" class=\"wp-image-985961\"\/>The stanchion of the dropper is a nice change from the black we&#8217;ve become accustomed to. Nick Clark \/ Our Media<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, a PRO Tharsis 160mm dropper post sits in the frame, which features a brushed forged-aluminium finish.<\/p>\n<p>Jones also uses a PRO Tharsis stem, saddle and handlebar, with the latter featuring ODI grips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jono Jones won the Masters race at Ard Rock Enduro this weekend, riding his Saracen Ariel 60 and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":715611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-715610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}