NICK MILES OWNS AND RUNS RPM90 CYCLING ADVENTURES. IN SEPTEMBER 2019 HE BIKEPACKED ACROSS SLOVAKIA, PLAYING IN THE TATRAS MOUNTAIN RANGES ON AN ADVENTURE FINISHING AT THE POLISH BORDER. HERE ARE SOME OF HIS THOUGHTS AFTER THE TRIP.

Descending mountain trails, crossing farmed plateaus and working your way uphill through a forest on rooty singletrack on a fully ladened bike is never going to be effortless but the ISO is a game-changer in adventure biking.

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It is so capable of taking on everything that lies ahead of you that you can push yourself and your riding harder and explore what riding at the next level is all about. You can not only descend a mountain with bucket-fulls of confidence, you can pick the fun line, play with the terrain, pop over rocks, rail the banked corners and quite possibly forget that you have 10kgs worth of kit strapped to your bike.

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If you're looking at buying the ISO and unsure about performance side of taking it to an adventure race or off to your own multi-day adventure then there are further surprises that the bike revealed after back to back days in the big and varied terrain of Slovakia. 
 
Firstly, the energy you save due to the bike being able to handle the rough terrain makes a huge difference as the hours in the saddle tick by. Arms, hands and shoulders can relax on the rough terrain and legs don't need to act as suspension on a long rough descent.

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Secondly, the ISO is fast over smooth terrain too. Get the gearing right and you are going find yourself aboard a highly capable bike that can also eat up the road miles.  

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Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, the comfort over distance ratio is the best I have ridden. It's so easy to find a good position on the bike whether climbing, descending or riding hard in a twilight chain-gang that's trying to reach a hotel before the chef goes home. 

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The look and detailing of the frame has been so cleverly designed. The vast number of fixing points on the frame and forks means that there are endless possibilities for what you can carry and where that set up can take you.

This bike can make you dreamy with Adventure planning. Strip the bike bare of bags, racks and bottle cages and you have got yourself a bike you can play on down those local trails and for that quick off road loop after work. Dom has created a bike that has been something that I have probably wanted to ride for the last 30 years and he has nailed it.