Genesis describe the Longitude as a "A mid-fat, expedition ready, fully rigid adventure machine," and while that does sum it up nicely, it perhaps doesn't hint at the fun element that a well designed 27.5"+ bike can bring to the party. With fully rigid forks, Shimano Deore 2x10 drivetrain and Deore brakes shifting things along and every pannier and rack mount you could desire built in, it is certainly specced as an adventure bike, with everything hung from a compliant steel frame.
It is immediately obvious this is a massively capable bike for loading up and disappearing down the road less travelled. An all-rigid setup has the potential to shake your teeth out offroad of course, but marry this with the huge 2.8" tyres and you have supple suspension built in - all without moving parts - and some astonishing grip over the mucky stuff. This wide contact patch also means the Longitude floats over soft ground with ease, opening up all sorts of avenues otherwise closed to heavily laden bikes.
Genesis even throw in a couple of Free Parable's excellent Gorilla cages, a kind of huge bottle cage that fits on either fork leg and can be used for carrying pretty much anything from 3 litre bottles to jackets, shopping and more. Another worthy nod to their bikepacking aspirations and capabilities of the Longitude.
All this is very good news of course, but what happens when you offload and just take it for a roasting around your local trails? After all most people just want one bike they can enjoy all their riding on. The good news is that it is fun - lots of fun. Those big tyres just grip everything, soak up roots and rocks and just make riding a laugh-a-minute experience.
All in a perfect bike for the long distance bikepacker, with all the pannier mounts and practicalities you would expect of an adventure bike combined with those capable and fun 27.5"+ wheels that just eat up technical and soft ground. Nice to know the Longitude can also lift its skirts and whoop up some laughs when offloaded too.
Specs
Weight
13.74kg
Frame
Genesis Mjölnir Seamless Double-Butted Cromoly
Fork
DB Cr-Mo unicrown rigid
Gears
Shimano Deore
Brakes
Shimano M395 180/160mm
Wheels
WTB Scraper i35 rims / Shimano Deore hubs
Finishing kit
Genesis Own Brand
