Any mountain bikers out there? My wife made the mistake of telling me to go buy a bike for my bday this year. I have a P2 for Multisport, Warbird for gravel and road, and fat bike for riding in the winter so my first thought was a mountain bike. I try to do something that scares me every year. A few years back it was IM, last year was Michigan Coast 2 Coast (210 miles on gravel), this year is The Crusher (225 miles of “enhanced” gravel from Copper Harbor to Marquette, MI). It’s becoming difficult to go longer, so I thought I would try mountain biking in addition to my gravel. I should warn you up front that I am a terrible mountain biker, but I make up for my lack of skill with enthusiasm. I am thinking of a dirty century like Lumberjack and then following it up with Marji in the fall next year. The only problem is that mountain bikes are crazy complicated compared to gravel or Tri. I think I’ve narrowed it down to a full suspension and something in the trail or XC category. I have discounts on Salsa, Cannondale, and now Pivot so I’m obviously partial to those brands. The new Spearfish looks interesting but only at the mid-level alloy version.
Any thoughts and/or recommendations? Are there things I should be looking for or staying away from in terms of components, frames, etc?
I’m leaning towards either an alloy Spearfish if I decide to stick in the mid $2’s (which I should after going overboard with my new gravel wheelset) or the Pivot Trail 429 if I want to go all out. And yes, I am fully prepared to be the mountain bike equivalent of the dentist rolling up on a high end bike for his 7 hour IM split if I go with a Pivot.
Any thoughts and/or recommendations? Are there things I should be looking for or staying away from in terms of components, frames, etc?
I’m leaning towards either an alloy Spearfish if I decide to stick in the mid $2’s (which I should after going overboard with my new gravel wheelset) or the Pivot Trail 429 if I want to go all out. And yes, I am fully prepared to be the mountain bike equivalent of the dentist rolling up on a high end bike for his 7 hour IM split if I go with a Pivot.