First Look: Last Bikes Glen and Coal - One Platform, Two Bikes

Nov 28, 2023
by Matt Beer  
Last Bikes Glen

Last Bikes might be most recognizable for their extremely lightweight, yet expensive carbon frames, however, they also produce aluminum bikes that focus on workmanship and quality while maintaining a respectable weight.

The new aluminum Glen and Coal platforms are built with the same front and rear triangles, but use specific links to achieve 150 and 165mm rear wheel travel, respectively. This means that riders could theoretically switch between two styles of bikes by simply swapping the linkage and fork.

These frames weigh 3.1kg and are designed for aggressive trail and enduro riding. That’s about 1kg heavier than the Tarvo, which they claim to be the “lightest enduro bike in the world,” but it’s also about €2000 less.

Last also includes a personal and unique touch when purchasing their bikes that goes beyond choosing customizable parts. When collecting a bike from their German headquarters, an accompanied test ride is offered to fine-tune the setup and balance the suspension.

Last Bikes Glen
Glen Details
• Intended use: trail
• Aluminum frame
• Dual 29 or mixed wheels
• Single pivot, rate-controlled suspension
• Travel: 150 (r), 150 or 160mm (f)
• Sizes: 165, 175, 185, 195
• Weight: 13.7kg (30.2lb), as pictured (3.1kg frame)
• MSRP: €2,499 EUR (frame only)
last-bikes.com

Last Bikes Glen
Coal Details
• Intended use: enduro
• Aluminum frame
• Dual 29 or mixed wheels
• Single pivot, rate controlled suspension
• Travel: 165 (r), 170 or 180mm (f)
• Sizes: 165, 175, 185, 195
• Weight: 14.7kg, as pictured (3.1kg frame)
• MSRP: €2,499 EUR
last-bikes.com

Last Bikes Glen
Last Bikes Glen
Last Bikes Glen

Frame Details

Although Last builds all of its carbon frames in Germany, the aluminum frames are welded in Taiwan and then finished by a five-axis milling machine close to home.

Both Glen and Coal are rated for category five gravity riding and have been put through EFBE testing. This means that they receive a six-year warranty, three-year crash replacement and a 50% discount on any needed frame components.

The shorter travel Glen can be set up with a 150 or 160mm fork. All four frame sizes can be set up to function as a full 29er or run with a 27.5" wheel outback. As for the Coal, only the two larger-size frames can use a full 29” setup. The fourth can be sent to 170 or 180mm.

Last also look to have sorted out all of the finer details, such as the necessary down tube and rear triangle rubber protectors, A BSA bottom bracket with a clamped ISCG tab and captive washers on the trunnion pivot bolts.

In terms of colors, there is the industrial brushed raw aluminum and an anodized matte black finish as well as a dark blue powder coat option.

photo

photo
photo

Suspension Design

The Glen and Coal platforms run on a single pivot rear triangle, but a small push rod and rocker link control the leverage ratios.

Last does things a little differently by calculating the progression from the sag point to the end of the travel. They state that the Glen has a 19% progression that increases linearly whereas the Coal is slightly regressive at the start, giving an 18% overall progression.

Wheel size-specific links, allow for a choice of either the 27.5 or 29” rear wheel without changing the geometry or suspension kinematics by any significant degree.

Another interesting aspect is the rider-specific anti-rise that increases with each frame size. The anti-rise is tuned to 100% when resting at the 30% sag position.

photo
The Glen with 160 and 150mm forks,

photo
...and the Coal with 170 and 180mm forks.

Geometry

Each one of these frames has specific geometry that is tailored across the four sizes, which are aptly depicted by the riders’ height. This extends beyond balancing the reach and the chainstay length per size, but also the seat tube angles as well — the larger the frame, the steeper the tube angle gets in order to help prevent taller riders from ending up with their weight too far towards the back of the bike.

Depending on the fork of choice, the head angle on the Glen is appropriately slack for a modern trail bike, at 64.4° with a 150 fork or 63.9° with a 160mm fork. The seat tube angles hover around 78° on average. As expected, the longer travel Coal’s angles are about 1° slacker with the longer 170 and 180mm forks, as are the seat tube angles.

The reach on the smallest Glen frame starts at 440mm. That number jumps up 30 mm per size except for the 195 frame size topping out at 535mm. As mentioned those chainstays vary across the size list. Starting at an quite short 430mm on the two smaller sizes, the rear centre length stretches out to 438 and 447mm on the larger frames.

One of the constraints with using the same front and rear triangles with different suspension components is that it often affects the reach. This is the case with the Coal as the reach is 10mm less per size than the Glen.

Tall riders have been asking for higher stack heights, and both of these frames see significant jumps as the frame size increases. The two larger sizes of the Glen are built with stack heights of 643 and 661mm. Those two numbers are further increased by 8mm on the Coal.


Last Bikes Glen
Last Glen - aggressive trail model: 150mm rear wheel travel, 29er or mixed wheels, 150-160mm fork

Last Bikes Glen
Last Coal - enduro model: 165mm rear wheel travel, 29er (frame size dependant) or mixed wheels, 170-180mm fork.


Pricing and Specs

Last is a smaller boutique operation that produces 500 frames per year and offers a semi-custom component list using its bike configurator. Suspension from Fox, Rockshock, EXT and Intend can be part of this package too.

Pricing starts at €2499 for the frame only but suspension and rolling chassis packages are available in addition to complete bikes.

We are looking forward to spending some time on Glen over the next few months and weighing in with our thoughts in a long-term review.

Author Info:
mattbeer avatar

Member since Mar 16, 2001
360 articles

114 Comments
  • 49 1
 Hoping that the geo for these frames sets a trend of making frames the actual correct size for the intended rider height. Bravo for getting the combination of steeper actual seat angle, longer chain stays, and higher stack right on the two biggest sizes!
  • 23 30
flag spicysparkes FL (Nov 28, 2023 at 8:46) (Below Threshold)
 Chainstays are too short on all sizes but s.
  • 3 1
 Is there a fork that can have it's travel adjusted by a service noob at home, without being sent away? That would suit the travel settings of both Glen and Coal?
  • 25 1
 @LemonadeMoney: Yeah the Mezzer is pretty easy to change travel of all I’ve changed and you don’t need several Airsprings
  • 9 0
 @LemonadeMoney: you can get Zeb shafts from 150-190mm according to the rockshox website. While not a 5 minute job, it's really not hard - if you can do a lowers service, you can change an air shaft
  • 11 4
 I think that 430mm chainstays are a little short for a bike with 465mm reach though
  • 9 1
 @LemonadeMoney:

Manitou Mezzer fits the bill.

Easy adjustment via travel spacers included in the box of course.

But if you leave the travel spacers at set to their max (180mm travel), you can actually adjust the travel by using a shock pump. If you connect the shock pump the fork it equalizes the positive and negative pressure chambers. Which means you can actually shrink the fork down in travel while the pump is attached, and then it keeps that ride height when you remove the pump.

I did it for about 4 months on mine I bought at 180mm before I did the service to shrink it with travel spacers. Worked great other than it was more annoying to try to set the exact travel again every time you adjusted pressure on the fork.
  • 1 0
 @ocnlogan: Yeah but you change the ratio of neg to positive air spring volumes. I run a bigger negative by running 170mm without tokens - but I wouldn’t go much further it gets a little out of balance.
  • 9 0
 @LemonadeMoney: While it would not hold up to today's high standards for performance, the U-Turn system on RockShox forks was pretty neat back in the day. I was especially intrigued by the Boxxer U-Turn at the time.
  • 2 0
 @spicysparkes: and top tubes too!
  • 3 2
 @spicysparkes: 100% ! Coal in 185 size it should be at least 450mm to accommodate for the 490mm reach and 63HA.
  • 5 0
 @spicysparkes: that's funny for me the chainstays look dialed but the reach is a little too long on the larger sizes. Opinions you know
  • 10 0
 @bashhard: Disagree ride an Esker Rowl with a 470 reach and 425mm chainstays, love it. For trail riding shorter chainstays are the way.
  • 1 0
 @LemonadeMoney: intend forks can be adjusted in steps of 10mm - 5min job, if at all
  • 1 0
 @orcrash: Agree so hard. I am riding an El roy with 513 reach and short chain stays. 6' 0" rider. It feelz amazing compared to the large yeti sb6 i have with reach numbers in the 440s. My Next dually I will buy will have a long reach at least 460-490 in a size large (6'0" rider) when I buy. I feel Planted and inside the bike. Its not the only number to consider but a lot has changed since 2018 when it comes to frames. This Enduro Frame i am very interested in.
  • 2 0
 @ESKato: Honeslty, the more I play with my Mezzer, the more I love this damn thing. Comes out of the box at 180mm and can be adjusted FOR FREE in less than 10 minutes to 170, 160, 150 or 140mm. Weighs about the same as a 36 or Lyrik but is roughly as stiff as a Zeb or 38.
  • 2 0
 @drmccoypartyenabler69xl: I thought the same. I'm 6'1', average proportions and like my bikes between 475mm-485mm in reach. 485mm can feel long at times too.
  • 4 0
 @drmccoypartyenabler69xl: @drmccoypartyenabler69xl: Its the wheel base as well. 180mm fork with a 63 degree head angle means massive wheelbases. 1350wb on the xl with a 447 chainstay gives a 2.02 front centre to rear centre ratio which is crazy. IMO bikes handle much better around a 1.8 ratio with 1.9+ having heaps of understeer unless your chest is pretty much on the stem in corners.
  • 1 0
 Something I saw as well on the new YT Jeffsy, which I did not expect from a DTC brand - super nice to see this go to the masses!
  • 1 0
 @mountainsofsussex: similar story for fox forks. Just buy a new air shaft for the intended travel and service the lowers
  • 2 0
 @LemonadeMoney: The MRP Ribbon travel can be easily adjusted with plastic spacers. Easier than a lower leg service.
  • 1 0
 @Balgaroth: its good to have choice. Most brands are growing chainstays.

I have two bikes currently, both around 500mm reach. One has 440mm stays, the other 445mm. I can totally tell the difference both in stability and cornering. I prefer the 440mm…
  • 1 0
 @LemonadeMoney: CC Helm Air is easily adjustable by a home mechanic, open it and change the amount of spacers on the spring side. 10mm increments. It's 120-160 though so only covers the Glen 150-160 in this case. Waiting for them to do a 150-180 fork.
  • 21 1
 This might be the Last bike you own.
  • 4 0
 Last pun, I guess too.
  • 1 0
 Nah, that would be the Tarvo model.
  • 19 2
 Massive respect for getting decently long reach mixed with decently short seat tubes - geo costs nothing, amazing how many are *still* getting this wrong!
  • 16 0
 Watch any of the Huck to Flat videos and you'll see why short seat tubes aren't always an option. It's not an oversight as many would believe but more of a compromise.
  • 2 0
 agreed. the short seat tube only works if the tube is also straight, which this appears to be. progress!
  • 3 0
 Long torso short legs ape here, my groin hurts just looking at those 440+ STs. One reason I won't ride a V10
  • 5 1
 @Tmackstab: I don't think I'm following you. I'm having a hard time visualizing how a longer seat tube plays a role in hucking to flat / bottoming out... Could you link to a video, or describe what you're seeing?
  • 8 0
 @DavidMaxW: seat —> tyre
  • 2 0
 @twonsarelli: straight seat tubes are underrated
  • 2 0
 @twonsarelli: straight seat tubes only work when they aren’t pierced by the rocker axle like this one is
  • 1 0
 Yeah so true I've got a commencal meta tr large 490mm reach 440mm seat tube I'm 174cm long reach is so sick I just can make it with a 150mm dropper a little more drop would be nice but. Short stays as well 435 I think works for me. Was looking at a nicolai but this geo was good to try on a way less expensive frame.
  • 2 0
 @2444666668888888: I assumed they’re using two bolts rather than a single axle all the way through. If they aren’t, you’re totally right and it would be laughably short insertion
  • 1 0
 @twonsarelli: there are two separate bolts, dropper is going way deeper than bolts
  • 1 0
 @Ridemoreworkless: are you sure about this? My armchair-engineer alarm bells are going off… the high forces going through that rocker would necessitate an through axle right?
  • 3 0
 @knightmarerider: I'm in the same boat, and still rocking my first gen Last Coal.
Love the short seat tube.
Their obsessive focus on frame alignment means my frame bearings, from 2017, are still in good condition, I've only had to regrease them a few times.
When I retire that frame, I'm probably getting a Glen, I have fallen completely in love with Last.
It's really impressive how much abuse it have withstood, at such a low frame weight, many heavier carbon frames would have given out at this point.
  • 2 0
 @2444666668888888: I'm 100 % sure, I've seen them from up close in person.
All the bolts, for the rocker and link, are the same 8 pieces. It means also all the bearings are the same. Just shock bolts, upper and lower are different.
Have a good look at the website, theres photo of all the hardware for the frame
  • 18 0
 So this what a Knolly looks like before it's linkage growth spurt.
  • 3 0
 Before Knolly started taking the HGH. lol
  • 6 0
 Really like the 2 bikes in one idea. It's a shame GG is out of business, because that was a compelling feature imo. Being able to change rear travel with links and shocks is a no-brainer, given the similarities between geo and linkages of all 150mm+ trail bikes. ("all mountain", "enduro", "super enduro", blah blah) It sounds minor, but adding 20mm of travel at the rear and swapping a 160 Lyrik for a 180 Zeb really transforms a bike into a different beast. It'd also be great great for trips that require a plane ride where you want to ride park and trail.
  • 7 0
 I hope Coal bikes call their new hardtail the “Last” so the confusion can go full circle.
  • 3 0
 Seat tube lengths are indeed perfect. BTW - they massively changed the kinematics. Look how the little dogbone is angled in relation to the rocker arm. Way different. Leverage ratio progression was around 40% on the previous model. Now they went down to about 25%
  • 8 5
 More travel from less stroke is not an improvement. Nor does the fact that the V4 frame now costs 500 euros more than the V3. Man, for the price of the Coal V4 frame without shock I can import an AirDrop MX V4 frame with shock from England and still save money. Both are made in Taiwan. That's absurd.
  • 4 0
 There is a significant quality difference between those two options. But if that isn't important to you, great, save the money. It's nice to have the choice.
  • 4 0
 @the00: can you be specific about what you mean please? I'm curious. I thought airdrop looked decent and last does too.
  • 1 0
 @the00: is there? Not seen any issues with airdrops, or any complaints. See quite a few at local trails (im in the uk though) and everyone who has one says they're great.
  • 1 0
 @the00:

Please tell us more about the differences in quality. Both made in Taiwan, both made of aluminum, both sensibly mounted. But the Coal without shock costs 1000 euros more than the Edit with shock. 500 euros more if you include customs/import to Europe for the Edit.
  • 1 2
 Ha, airdrops look like they’ve been welded by my mom
  • 2 0
 @the00: shenanigans. I am currently thinking you have some affiliation to Last.
  • 1 1
 @rich-2000: nowt wrong with how the welds look pal
  • 3 0
 Serious question: how can Last get an alloy bike with 150mm of travel down to 30.2lbs when most carbon trail bikes ion the same travel weigh 1-2lbs more? I'm seriously impressed if that claimed weight turns out to be reality. The build on the bike pictured isn't even a weight weeny spec.
  • 4 0
 simply very good engineers who have perfected aluminum construction. One of the owners teaches mechanical engineering at a university. Almost everyone else deployed all the ressources for carbon and stopped putting efforts into aluminium frames. The durability of the Last bikes is excellent.
  • 2 0
 Even outside the weight weeny spectrum, smart component choices can save several kilograms. E.g Superdeluxe vs Fox X2, Bikeyoke vs Reverb, XX1 vs Transmission, Cockpit by Newmen vs Renthal, the list is pretty long.
  • 14 12
 They slackend the head angle by one degree and added 5mm of reach and 11mm of stack - which means the wheelbase is getting 25mm long - yet they sticked to the same chainstay length of 438mm which was already somewhat short with the old geo numbers WTF - what a pitty. Such a beautiful, lightweight frame. But this is off balance (judged from personal experience)
  • 8 6
 agreed! the 495mm reach frame would probably be great with the 447mm (or longer) chainstay
  • 1 0
 Is that because they moved the main pivot and have one backend on all bikes?
  • 2 1
 Agreed. Chainstays are not a deal breaker, but its a bummer to see them on the shorter side given all the thought that went into the rest of the bike.
  • 1 6
flag VtVolk (Nov 28, 2023 at 11:22) (Below Threshold)
 Yes, chainstay length should be exactly the same as reach, as it is on the size S. Looking forward to finally getting a bike with proper 490 chainstays in my size! Imagine the stability. All bikes need to have this.
  • 9 1
 Short chainstays are where it’s at. Long chainstay bikes feel dead and are great going straight.
  • 1 0
 @dualsuspensiondave: agree. 500mm reach with 438-442mm is super fun, which is the intention of these bikes. Not everyone whats a barge that rips in a straight line…
  • 7 1
 Plz make the chainstays longer on bikes with 495mm reach /3
  • 1 1
 Please keep them at around 440. Its nice to have choice. Not everyone wants 455mm chainstays / barge like handling.
  • 2 0
 Damn the Coal is such a sexy piece of metal. But it's not just the good looks. I'm seriously impressed that they got a level 5 rating from EFBE at only 3,1 kg of weight. Impressively light for that level of stength. Achieved via the virtues of superior engineering I guess. Great to see what's possible when a bike company is run by engineers instead of accountants and marketing people.
  • 2 0
 Ah the one that got away. Ordered a Glen frame last year, thanks to our fabulous postal service, it didn't clear customs and was returned. The carbon frames are stunning in the flesh.
  • 1 0
 Do you know excatly why/what happened?
  • 1 0
 How do bike manufacturers decide on how to measure the "effective" seat angle? I have a Banshee Spitfire V2. Measuring with a digital angle gauge...measuring at the top of the seat tube. I get 71 degrees. Banshee says 74 in the low position and 75 in high for the eSTA. This bike with a 77 eSTA has an actual STA of 71 degrees. Am I measuring wrong?
  • 4 0
 There is no universal answer. It also depends a little on what you consider "actual" and "effective" angles. Since most bikes have the seat tube offset forward, the thing you can measure with your digital gauge will be slacker than what an old school hardtail would measure without a bent or offset seat tube. Most brands will pick a height from the BB, or maybe just level with the top of the head tube, and the angle of that line from the BB is considered a seat tube angle, even though you can't directly measure it. There is a huge difference in what that angle would be depending on how high of a point you pick, and how far offset the seat tube is from the center of the BB.
  • 1 0
 Seems like they fixed the cable routing from their previous version, which I very much appreciate. On the old one it was very annoying to get the cables from the front into the rear triangle. Also the new chainslap protection looks nice, although my Glen isn't too loud. Also love the concept of one frame being effectively two bikes. While the Glen did well in the Swiss alps, a bit more travel is always nice for the days in the mountains.
  • 1 0
 I think only a very small proportion of buyers will regularly convert the bike, but a large proportion of buyers of the Coal now have the limitation of the shorter shock stroke of the Glen.
  • 1 0
 Maybe it’s just me but I think it’s crazy the prices for a good frame have gone through the roof with all manufacturers across the board you can’t touch one for under $3000 anymore.
  • 4 1
 Very clean looking. Great pricing for the spec as well. A light enduro sled. Well done!
  • 1 0
 They still offer previous generation Glen and Coal on their website, the framesets cost 1399 Euro! Weight is 2.9kg which is about the same as Santa Cruz frame with comparable travel (but for more than a double price).

Wow!
  • 6 3
 reach too long, cs too short, classic...
  • 2 0
 So good to see Last back in front of the masses. Wanted one of their Herbs badly back in the day.
  • 3 0
 Too bad they won't ship to the US....
  • 1 0
 2.499 € w/o shock - really?

>3.000 € with Rock Shox Ultimate Deluxe. Almost on level with Raaw Madonna V3.

What happened to the bike industry?!
  • 3 0
 Beautiful bikes!
  • 6 3
 I’d roll that coal
  • 2 1
 This would be the "Last" bike i would consider but do people actually ride these?
  • 1 0
 they dont currently ship to the US so I'd be pretty shocked to see one here
  • 1 0
 More companies need to do stripped down photos like they did here. That makes the nerd crowd happy.
  • 1 0
 Definitely. Where do they hide those 10 bearings though?
  • 2 0
 ''...simply swap the linkage and fork". Aye, more trail side faff.
  • 2 0
 you go glen coal coal
  • 1 0
 Worth noting is that LAST will not sell bikes to the USA.
  • 2 0
 Won't ship to the USA?
  • 8 1
 @AndrewFleming: Won't deliver, or allow you to have one delivered, to the USA. Also, no warranty support. Nice bikes but unless you want to spend $4.5K on a frameset with no warranty or parts availability, better look elsewhere.
I tried pretty good to get a hold of an Asco frame but in the end, they were honest with me that I'd be on my own. Something to do with insurance and litigious America I believe.
As a result, I ended up with a new Smuggler frame for 65% of the money, and truthfully, I think I have a much better product thanks to them.
  • 2 0
 @SunsPSD: Damn, some good looking bikes and I like single-pivot designs.
  • 2 1
 @SunsPSD: well of course it’s better, a decent suspension system is gonna perform better than a single pivot unless you’re running a gearbox.

If only Transition made some frames in the USA … they’re certainly charging enough now Wink
  • 1 2
 @sanchofula: Transition uses a Horst-link which is damn close to a single-pivot when it comes down to it. And single-pivot designs are so good with modern shocks and 1x drivetrain. I honestly don’t understand why virtual pivot points are still selling.
  • 4 0
 @SunsPSD: Judging from the not even lukewarm review for the smuggler on here recently, I doubt the “much better product” claim. There are a few other bikes out there who might fit that criteria, though.
  • 1 0
 got one, cant fault it. waiting on a Fazua or similar equipped version.
  • 2 1
 Cool, but a bit too slack up front and steep STA for a trail bike.
  • 1 0
 Nah, these ‘short travel enduro geometry’ are super fun for steep loamy trails
  • 1 0
 I wonder if Knolly will sue based on that pushlink
  • 1 0
 Quite different systems.
The only similarity is the looks around the seat tube.
One is a single pivot with a transfer bar to a rocker, the other is a horst link with more steps.
And why would they even bother to sue someone not selling to burgerland?
  • 1 0
 @Losvar: it was a joke
  • 2 0
 I like alloy bikes Smile
  • 1 0
 Don't we all? Especially the raw, unpainted ones Smile
  • 1 0
 glad Annie Last has a bike company
  • 1 0
 Nice.
  • 1 0
 Squish video...
  • 1 0
 Damn that looks good
  • 1 0
 Are U 4 By 4 ???
  • 1 0
 At Last...
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