The Nukeproof Digger is, so they say, the gravel bike for mountain bikers. It’s a term we’ve heard before (namely about the Marin Gestalt we tested last month) but taking one look at the Digger with its 650B wheels, the chunky 47c tyres and 120mm dropper post and it rather tickles our fancy.
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Like the rest of the Nukeproof range, the Digger hasn’t changed all that much for 2019 aside from a colour change/upgrade and a couple of spec tweaks. We loved the look of the Digger last year, and are happy to say not much has changed there, this *buzz word alert* versatile bike is designed to be used by mountain bikers who need a do-it-all training bike, a commuter, an adventure bike and above all, a bike that is happy to razz down their local singletrack when the mood takes them.
Nukeproof says “the Digger is not designed as a gravel bike/CX/Adventure bike. It was originally conceived as an on-and-off-road capable winter training tool for our athletes, but it has become so much more and as a result, it is hard to pigeon hole. The Digger is essentially a super versatile alternative bike for Mountain Bikers; It wants to get you out exploring, regardless of the surface under your tyres.”
So, for 2019 the two model’s of Digger both get a colour makeover. The Pro model as you see here, gets this rather snazzy blue and bronze colourway and, love ’em or hate ’em, it’s hard to deny it looks great with these tan wall tyres and colour matched hubs. The Pro is the more expensive of the two bikes at £1,849. The Digger Comp comes in at £1,449 and is now a tasteful grey/black colour combo.
Back to the Pro model, it has a carbon fork and alloy frame which is 1 x specific and features a threaded bottom bracket, internal cable routing (inc for a dropper post), rack mounts, a removable seat stay bridge in order to mount full mudguards, 12 x 142mm rear axle spacing and 15 x 100 fork spacing. Lastly the frame and fork are compatible with these tyre and wheel combos; 700c x 45C, 27.5 x 2.3″ or 29 x 2.1″.
The Pro comes equipped with a SRAM Rival 11 speed groupset, including hydraulic flat mount brakes and 160mm rotors. The bike is 1 by only, the crankset uses 170mm cranks with a 40T chainring for each size bike. Elsewhere, as standard there are Nukeproof Horizon wheels, these are fitted with WTB Sendero 650 x 47c tyres with tan sidewalls, giving an insight to the wheel size that Nukeproof thinks works best with this bike.
The finishing kit is mostly Nukeproof; there’s an own brand saddle, unnamed (but also Nukeproof) 480/500mm bars and a Brand-X (Chain Reaction Rycles brand) 120mm dropper post at either 80 or 100mm length dependant on size of bike. The stem is a SRAM Zipp stem raging from 80 to100mm, also size dependent.
With the uber wide bars, decent sized rubber and the longest dropper post we’ve seen fitted as standard to a gravel bike yet, the Digger Pro looks like a very suitable contender for any mountain biker wanting to experiment in the realms of the ‘all-road’ or the gravel bike.
If the £1,499 Comp model is more in your price range then you’ll be pleased to know you still get a 1x drivetrain and hydro brakes, this time SRAM Apex gear. The wheels are WTB ST i23’s fitted with the same 27.5 Sendero tyres. The other big difference is that this model comes sans dropper post, aside from these changes the geometry and frame features are the same, there is still internal dropper post routing if the time comes to upgrade.
For even more lovely photos of this steed, scroll up to the top of the page and click through the gallery in the header image. You’ll be able to buy Digger from the 10th December 2018 – just in time to get yourself or a loved on a very exciting Christmas present – remember n+1 is the rule….
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