Nordest Cycles Britango: Downcountry Hardtail

Inspired by the wild region of “Tras-os-Montes” in the northeast of Portugal, Nordest Cycles has been designing steel and titanium bikes since 2016. We first caught wind of Nordest when they announced a steel, plus-sized bikepacking rig, the Sardinha, which we wrote about here. Since then, we’ve seen a few new offerings to their lineup, including the recently announced Britango. Named after an Egyptian vulture recognized for its white and black plumage, yellow face and long tail, the Britango is offered in both 4130 Chromoly Steel and double-butted titanium, but only as frames at this point, so you’ll have to piece together your dream bike yourself.

Nordest claims the Britango’s ability to both climb and descend well comes down to a few key characteristics. To start, ultra-short chain stays (420mm) paired with 29er wheels and a 74° seat angle make for quick climbing. While the long top tube, 60mm stem, and 67° head tube (with a 120mm travel fork) mean descents and fun and lively. The Britango is also compatible with front suspension up to 140mm, as well as 27.5 x 3″ and 29 x 2.5″ tires. The frames feature externally routed dropper post mounts (the titanium frame has an option for internal routing), anything cage mounts under the downtube, and two standard bottle mounts in the main triangle. The Britango looks like it could be a great bikepacking platform for those seeking out as much technical singletrack as possible… something we can definitely appreciate.

The Nordest Britango is available now from NordestCycles.com, the steel frame is priced at €453 (~$511 USD) and the titanium frame comes in at €1,156 (~$1,305 USD) with shipping included within the EU.

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