Made in The USA goodness
Climbing is off the hook
Descending, even more so
Custom color options
Custom Build Options

This bike covers all of my needs, so it makes the excuse of needing other bikes sound pretty pathetic
Killed my MTB quiver
My wife won't let me have more than one

Let me make one thing clear- I hate this bike. I hate how an aluminum, slack-ass trail carver puts my old carbon 29er to shame. I hate how this steed looks like it would take a country mile to turn, but pushes through switchbacks more ferociously than I am comfortable with at times. I hate a rear suspension design that lets me pedal faster up climbs than I ever have before. I hate how my face hurts after two hours of smiling like a one year old after their first taste of cake. I hate how line choice is pretty much out the window; it’s all just point and shoot from here on out. I hate this bike- and you can’t go buy one, because I don’t want my ass kicked by everyone else shredding a Made-in-the-USA, 29er death machine- this ‘Trail pistol’.

Set-up
I wanted to order a black bike. I wanted matte black-black on black. Darker than black- Yeah, that’s what the cool kids run. I wanted to email Guerrilla Gravity and ask if their printer could muster up decals that wouldn’t let light escape they’re so dark. Except, when it came time to order, I clicked on the drop-down menu and chose “Pepto Shred-All”, with white decals. Maybe I was feeling extra cheery that day. Maybe I saw it as a sly tongue-in-cheek to all of the comments on a certain website that didn’t appreciate the owner’s dry humor of BS naming-logic of established technologies… Maybe all I wanted was a wolf in sheep’s clothing- and that’s exactly what I got. Being brought on as a BAMF (Brand Ambassador and Motivated Free-seller), I was told to make my bike a color that stands out. Oh boy, does she stand out.
Riding The Weapon
This bike wants to be pushed, so much so that while it never felt harsh backing off the gas for a while, you could just feel that the Trail Pistol wanted to move faster. And when you pushed yourself to go faster, The Trail Pistol delivered unholy amounts of traction coupled with even more unholy amounts of speed. I’m not one to try and pick the preferred line as it is, but the bike allowed me throw any thought of lines out the window and say “We’re gonna smash off this rock- and that rock- and that one! We will ride all of the rocks!
To say that the Trail Pistol was comfortable with descents would be a disservice, I never once felt my any hesitation or anxiety when I plowed my way downhill. And this bike has the numbers that would lead you to believe that you’re investing in a frame without enough travel, that is going to be stable on high speed tracks, and steer like a pig everywhere else. You would be wrong. I easily obliterated switchbacks and tight sections of singletrack- if I trusted the front wheel and kept my weight forward, I was rewarded by gobs of traction. I do credit the Bontrager SE4, and i9 Enduro 305 wheels a bit for this, but a lot has to do with how this bike is set-up. On more than one occasion, I noticed that I had used all of the travel on the rear shock (I am a heavy rider, so I’ll be adding a volume spacer inside the air can), but never experienced any harsh bottom-outs. When riding the downs, I felt like I had more than 120mm of travel-and while I didn’t ride in actual mountains during my time, I wasn’t left wanting more in the squish department.
The biggest surprise that the Trail Pistol delivered to me? It can climb like a beast as well. With the lever on the shock in full open, the Trail Pistol was able to confidently scramble its way up any technical incline. We have a number of loose rock climbs combined with rock shelves that absolutely require you to keep up your momentum, and the rear wheel never hung up on me once while pedaling in the saddle. Flip the lever on the shock into trail, and your effort is rewarded with even quicker climbing. If I could help it, I did leave the shock in the full open setting, and climbed away, with the lever only being used when I was already starting to feel fatigued. With the ridiculously steep seat angle, I was able to just lay down the hammer, and pedal over any obstacle- the Trail Pistol delivered great mid-stroke support, and never beat me up- even after hours of riding.

My Verdict
All in all, the Guerrilla Gravity Trail Pistol is a well thought-out design. The construction and welding on this frame display some serious skills as well (Bonus points that I hear the fabricator also works in NASCAR). Sure, the technology isn’t revolutionary- or even a completely ground-breaking design, but it’s one that doesn’t have to be. Execution is the key here, and I feel the team in Denver did their homework-and made a truly great bike. I tend to be the type of rider that doesn’t linger on one bike too long, but with the Trail Pistol, I may have already chosen my weapon. Do I still hate this bike? Nah… How can you hate something this fun?