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Help me pick my next MTB
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Help me pick my next mountain bike! I'm trying not to get stuck three years from now with limited parts compatibility, as tends to happen in the MTB world.

My old bike (26", front/rear QR, 135mm rear spacing, 3x9) is giving up the ghost. I don't want to put a ton of money into upgrading individual obsolete parts. No room for argument here, I don't have any beef with 26", I just want to follow the market.

My trails (southeast US) are more XC than anything and have plenty of climbing. No such thing as an "easy" ride. If I ever race, it'll be XC-oriented or XTERRA tris.

Here's my main choices. I tried to pick similarly spec'd models:

1. Cannondale Habit SE 27.5" ($4,500) -- test rode this weekend, was a good ride, reasonably light and fast. Would be purchased at my long-time shop, and I would almost feel bad about NOT buying from here. Is 650B the future? Does it offer a big improvement over my 26" or should I go full wagon wheel?

2. Trek Fuel EX9 29" ($4,000) -- haven't ridden, but consistently praised as one of the best all-around bikes on the market. Is Boost the future or will it fizzle? I want choices when it's time to upgrade/replace. Also, free tune-ups at the Trek Store.

3. Rocky Mountain -- tested an Instinct BC edition, it was a little too much bike but thanks to the spec, it was still lighter and faster than I'm used to. No shop loyalty. Would look at other models too. I like the 29".
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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If your shop sells Cannondale, I'd take a look at the Scalpel.
It's a bit more race oriented, within the same price as some of the models you've looked at, and very highly reviewed.

Specialized Epic is also an exceptional choice. Can be had in the ~$4k range.
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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If you are coming from a 26, it may mean that you just have an old bike, or it may be that you are not super-tall. I suggest you choose 27.5 vs. 29 based on your height, not any sort of fad or marketing. I'm 6'2" and run the 29.

Also, in that price range is the Spesh Stump FSR in both 27.5 and 29. It's a bit beefier frame than the Epic, FWIW.
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [BubbaKardashian] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, "old bike" more describes it. I'm 5'9" -- not tall, not short. I felt comfy on the few 29ers I've ridden.

To the other reply -- to clarify, I'm not looking for an XC race bike, just something that could be raced very occasionally without handicapping me too much. So I've already ruled out the Scalpel; I'm looking for more modern geometry -- longer front-center, short stem/wide bars, ~120mm travel.

What if you like Specialized bikes, but aren't in love with the company or the local shops who sell them? Again, no personal beef -- I just like others better.
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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HardKnox wrote:
Help me pick my next mountain bike! I'm trying not to get stuck three years from now with limited parts compatibility, as tends to happen in the MTB world.

My old bike (26", front/rear QR, 135mm rear spacing, 3x9) is giving up the ghost. I don't want to put a ton of money into upgrading individual obsolete parts. No room for argument here, I don't have any beef with 26", I just want to follow the market.

My trails (southeast US) are more XC than anything and have plenty of climbing. No such thing as an "easy" ride. If I ever race, it'll be XC-oriented or XTERRA tris.

Here's my main choices. I tried to pick similarly spec'd models:

1. Cannondale Habit SE 27.5" ($4,500) -- test rode this weekend, was a good ride, reasonably light and fast. Would be purchased at my long-time shop, and I would almost feel bad about NOT buying from here. Is 650B the future? Does it offer a big improvement over my 26" or should I go full wagon wheel?

2. Trek Fuel EX9 29" ($4,000) -- haven't ridden, but consistently praised as one of the best all-around bikes on the market. Is Boost the future or will it fizzle? I want choices when it's time to upgrade/replace. Also, free tune-ups at the Trek Store.

3. Rocky Mountain -- tested an Instinct BC edition, it was a little too much bike but thanks to the spec, it was still lighter and faster than I'm used to. No shop loyalty. Would look at other models too. I like the 29".

I am a huge fan of the new model Spesh Camber, such a great bike that is actually good at XC and all around trail riding. I am about your same height and ride the medium frame 29er, I like the bigger wheel although to be honest I probably wouldn't notice if someone switched them out for the 27.5. I can't compare it to anything other than my Epic which is a great bike, I just wanted a little more travel and versatility. I originally came off of a Giant Trance X2 with 26" wheels and when I first rode the 29er it felt like I was cheating, FWIW I ride mainly XC and trails around the Atlanta area.
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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If you want good value for money, stay away from specialized. For your style riding I would recommend a 29er unless you are on the shorter side. I'm 5'6 and used to ride 29er but have recently made the switch to 27.5 and prefer it in tight technical stuff. If you don't want to spend too much money you could find a very nice spec 29er hardtail which would be suitable for most xc/xterra races. If you are going to go the full sus way you don't really want your travel over 100/110mm. Once over this the bike wont handle as fast and will be a lot heavier for racing. All the options you listed seem to fit in to this category of being more travel than you require for your style racing. The bikes I would recommend are: Giant Anthem, Trek Top Fuel, Rocky Mountain Element, Cannondale Scalpel, Specialized Epic.
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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I would go with 2. However if it was me I would get a 27.5+ bike. Really like the + for trail riding and if you want to do a xc race you can then stick a set of 29r wheels on it to race.
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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What about the Giant Anthem Advanced? Carbon frame and wheels, SRAM X1, and the SID fork with the RTC3 damper. You could probably haggle the dealer down a couple hundred below the $4,600msrp.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/anthem.x.advanced.29er/22200/84033/


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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [jpwiki] [ In reply to ]
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Good perspective. I'm also 5'6" and on the fence between updating my 29er (want to add a dropper seat post). Or just going for a new 27.5. I rented one on vacation that I loved. I feel for me the 29er is a little sub optimized. Vs my husband at 6'4" where is looks normal.

Will the shops let you demo? That's really the best way to decide.
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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Based on your stated usage I would almost say save a couple thousand and buy a hardtail. If you are really just climbing hard and XC racing I don't know that you need a full sus bike. Seems to me the 100-120mm bikes are kinda not really good at anything. A hardtail is lighter and faster, a bigger travel bike is better for enduro/trail.

I currently ride a hardtail 29'er, mostly because I can't afford the bike I want and because I want the best of both worlds. There are some places I ride where all you need is a hardtail, no real reason to drag around another shock. Then there are flow trails and enduro style riding where I wish I had a 27.5+ Scott Genius. The Genius is $4k and I am not going to drop that sort of money any time soon, I am about $800 into the hardtail 29'er and it works fine for everything. I actually broke the 29'er one day when we were shuttling downhill runs so I rented a carbon Pivot Mach 6 for the day. I set some good times on the flow trail with that bike, then two weeks later went back and beat those times on my hardtail. Was just more comfortable on my bike.

Whatever you do, leave room in the budget for a dropper post, single best thing you can do for a MTB.
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for suggestions everybody. I want to reiterate that I said "if I ever race" -- i.e. this is NOT going to be a race bike. This a "do anything" bike.

I've been mountain biking for 20+ years and only race maybe once a year. I'm not hucking off cliffs with regularity or racing enduro, but I do some moderate-sized drops and take trips to burlier terrain. And, having ridden both, I prefer full suspension for the type of riding I do.

I already have a previous-gen FS bike with 5.5" travel and a dropper post, but it's a pig. I'm looking to upgrade in weight, stiffness, geometry and wheel size. I want to future-proofing myself against changing standards.
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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I think a Hard Tail 29er would be the best for the type of riding that you are doing.

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http://www.instagram.com/cyclewise
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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If you are going to go with a Rocky Mountain, go with the Element over the the Instinct BC. The Instinct is an aggressive trail bike and way overbuilt for what you are describing as your use cases. You will be much happier climbing on it also. You could probably get away with a Vertex if you were willing to go hard tail and wanted to save some money and weight for comfort. After going to 29ers I don't ever want to step down even to 27.5. It is getting harder and harder to unload used 26ers, so if you are going to sell it better get on it soon.

..
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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HardKnox wrote:
Help me pick my next mountain bike! I'm trying not to get stuck three years from now with limited parts compatibility, as tends to happen in the MTB world.

My old bike (26", front/rear QR, 135mm rear spacing, 3x9) is giving up the ghost. I don't want to put a ton of money into upgrading individual obsolete parts. No room for argument here, I don't have any beef with 26", I just want to follow the market.

My trails (southeast US) are more XC than anything and have plenty of climbing. No such thing as an "easy" ride. If I ever race, it'll be XC-oriented or XTERRA tris.

Here's my main choices. I tried to pick similarly spec'd models:

1. Cannondale Habit SE 27.5" ($4,500) -- test rode this weekend, was a good ride, reasonably light and fast. Would be purchased at my long-time shop, and I would almost feel bad about NOT buying from here. Is 650B the future? Does it offer a big improvement over my 26" or should I go full wagon wheel?

2. Trek Fuel EX9 29" ($4,000) -- haven't ridden, but consistently praised as one of the best all-around bikes on the market. Is Boost the future or will it fizzle? I want choices when it's time to upgrade/replace. Also, free tune-ups at the Trek Store.

3. Rocky Mountain -- tested an Instinct BC edition, it was a little too much bike but thanks to the spec, it was still lighter and faster than I'm used to. No shop loyalty. Would look at other models too. I like the 29".

I went with an Anthem 29er for off road tris, it's great for XC, Xterra and general XC trail riding - rolls better and is more forgiving over obstacles like tree roots/rocks etc - makes a difference when you then have to run 10k as well. Main oddity I've found with 29ers is it's not as fun/'flickable' through corners as smaller wheels are, the higher centre of gravity has them 'slide' and feel a little unpredictable when going fast downhill through corners compared to a 26er or 650B.
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [chunderfuzz] [ In reply to ]
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I just got an ibis ripley. best bike i've had. I prefer a great climbing bike, and my last several have been hard tails (one 26, two 29er), before that i rode 26 FS XC bikes. But now have some trails i want to tackle that beat me up on a hardtail (wanted some travel as I am getting older even for stuff i can do on the hardtail--2-3 hours on the hardtail takes a lot out of me).
the ripley climbs better than anything (scalpel, hardtails, epic, anthem, devinci troy are the comparisons)

ripley comes in 120mm travel and there is a 140 front too. It is definitely XC+ capable, light fast, not for huge drops or anything, but certainly sounds ideal to the trails you describe.

Anyway, I can't think of anything more fun than trying MTB bikes. I have heard good things about trek too, but i just don't like supporting trek (or really any huge brand). Another bike i tried and liked was intense, spider 29

jim
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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HardKnox wrote:
Thanks for suggestions everybody. I want to reiterate that I said "if I ever race" -- i.e. this is NOT going to be a race bike. This a "do anything" bike.

I've been mountain biking for 20+ years and only race maybe once a year. I'm not hucking off cliffs with regularity or racing enduro, but I do some moderate-sized drops and take trips to burlier terrain. And, having ridden both, I prefer full suspension for the type of riding I do.

I already have a previous-gen FS bike with 5.5" travel and a dropper post, but it's a pig. I'm looking to upgrade in weight, stiffness, geometry and wheel size. I want to future-proofing myself against changing standards.
I have a Scalpel as a race bike and wanted a more burly ''trail'' bike to play with and do some jumping. I love the Scalpel because it is light (23lbs in XL with XX1) and fast, but i have been putting a hurting on the Crest back wheel.
I went with the Habit SE, just waiting for it to arrive. I have a friend that has a whole fleet of bikes and he got the Habit above the SE....he said it is his favorite bike he's owned, so I went from his word.
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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Check out the Salsa Spearfish or Horsethief. Both are great at XC and trail riding. I just bought a Spearfish and can't say enough good things about it.
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [jimcav] [ In reply to ]
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I wondered how long it'd take for somebody to recommend the Ripley... ;)

It's a little outside my desired budget...but I've only heard great things. And if it climbs that well, then I'm in luck. I'll see if I can try one out.

I hear you on the big brand thing. I'll still take Trek over Spesh, but I'd really love an Evil Following. However, the frameset alone is about as much as the Fuel EX9....
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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I'll add one general observation, I still ride a 26 and got a nice high end felt edict with rear suspension. I ride rough and rooty trails in the northeast and the bike is wonderful. BUT

a) It's often wet here and the suspension bushings wear out quickly, like once or more per season and it's something of a chore to replace them, but not brutal. I wonder if I'll still be finding these parts for my 2010 bike next year

b) I have broken the frame twice from crashing in the woods. It's not too expensive to repair, but still it gives me pause about buying another carbon bike

c) It's another shock you need to have serviced every year for $150

I bought a singlespeeder Surly 1x1 and have to say I'm really enjoying the bike I may put a suspension fork on it and use it for racing and general riding and leave the trophy wife carbon bike hanging in the garage
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [jroden] [ In reply to ]
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I must be really incredibly lucky (or just not ride enough) because I've never had those issues. I got one of the "good" sets of Avid brakes when everybody else's were failing; the bearings on my FS bike have never even needed servicing; my suspension has always performed consistently with one exception to my rear shock.

Instead, my front hub is failing and I can't find replacement parts, and my rear wheel breaks a spoke about once a month now. And I'm not going to buy a nice 26" wheelset for a bike that's worth $500..but I'm also not going to put another cheap wheelset on it either. Not to mention I can't find CenterLock rotors on old-stock 26" wheels anyway, and I'm DEFINITELY not buying new rotors too.

Singlespeed / 650+ / hardtail would all be intriguing as a second mountain bike, but not as my only ride. I'm at the G-1 limit now, where G=girlfriend will dump me
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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GreenPlease wrote:
What about the Giant Anthem Advanced? Carbon frame and wheels, SRAM X1, and the SID fork with the RTC3 damper. You could probably haggle the dealer down a couple hundred below the $4,600msrp.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/anthem.x.advanced.29er/22200/84033/


x2 This is a killer value
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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also want to add all my mtb except the very 1st 2 i bought used (that was 1993 and 1996). definitely buy in person unless you can get an idea of what the seller has (pinkbike has seller past sales listed; and you can email direct with those sellers and eventually call, of course ebay sides with buyers on disputes) mostly i use craigslist and work takes me about 200 miles from home a few times a year so that expands my range. no issues with any of them, but i really look at everything.
folks also say pivot bikes climb well mach429 is probably the FS for XC/XC+
jim
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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Look at the Lynskey MT 29.. Build to order or get what they spec. It is a great bike at a great value. Nothing beat Ti.
Last edited by: tjs: Feb 14, 16 17:39
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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Hardtail 29er for sure

This is mighty nice from a great US company versus the ubiquitous Trek, Specialized, Canonndale, Giants of the world.

http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en/us/highball-29

____________________________________
Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD
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Re: Help me pick my next MTB [HardKnox] [ In reply to ]
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Something to think about are the new breed of 27.5+ bikes that are 'semi-fat' with the ability to run 3" tires. I rode for years in VA, MD & West VA and traction is key across that rooty stuff, climbing out of stream gullies, etc...

The beauty of the + size is that you can change the character of the bike tremendously with a set of tires. A burly set for back-country days, with lighter tires / wheels for racing / riding with fast buddies.

The Santa Cruz Hightower ( http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en/us/hightower ) is one great example, but there are others out there. Most of the 27.5+ bikes allow you to run 29" wheels with up to 2.2 tires as well for a real change of pace...

" I take my gear out of my car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of of their lives shocks me. "
(opening lines from Tim Krabbe's The Rider , 1978
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