So, I’m shopping around for a new full suspension mountain bike. Something in the $3-4k range; so, high end, but not HIGH END. This is worse than buying a car. Too much information. Too many variables. I have no idea what’s what.
4 inches? 5 inches? Is less more; or is more more, while less is less; and, more is less?
Single pivots? Horst Links? DW links? Virtual Pivot Points?
And, in the parking lot … they all ride more or less the same. On a real trail, I’m sure there are evident differences … but does anyone let Joe Schmoe demo a $4k bike on a real trail … if I were a retailer I don’t think I would.
I tried out a Specialized Epic something or other. Carbon frame (is this wise in a mtn bike) … 4 inches of travel. it seemed fine.
I also tried out a Pivot (who the hell are they) 29er FS … hated it. So that was easy. Felt like riding a high wheeler. the BSD (bike shop dude) said I would feel better on a 26 (er?) since I’m 5’9" (and a 1/2, thank you).
I tried a Santa Cruz Blur, which felt ‘squishy’. But the BSD said this was adjustable.
I want to try a Yeti, just because.
Buying a bike should be fun. This is not. Options paralysis. In road bikes, I know the geo I like. So that makes it pretty easy. Same for tri bikes. frickin FS mountain bikes are like calculus.
Maybe I should randomly pick one. Buy it. And decide it’s the best. tell everyone I meet on the trail this is the greatest fs mountain bike ever. Is that how it’s done??
If you’re looking for a good all 'rounder, then I recommend a mtn bie with 4" rear suspension and a 100mm front (also 4 "). I prefer the XC bikes vice the marathon or all-mtn bikes. The xc bikes have a steeper fork rake making them more maneuverable, less suspension, less pedal bob or brake jack typically depending on design of course. If you’re looking to spend that amount of money, there are a few bikes I recommend, like the Turner Flux, which uses bshings vice bearings, greatly reducing maintanance, the Ventana El Saltimontes, or try the trusty Trek and Specialized mtn bikes. While carbon is great for a road bike, I prefer aluminum for my mtn bikes because of how I transport and beat on mine.
Good luck!
Adam
What are you going to use it for?
Yeah … that probably matters. Mostly, front range single track. I prefer the climb to the descent; tight and twisty to wide open. I don’t race xc anymore (does anybody) but wouldn’t mind an occasional “race”. I’ve never done an xterra, but am curious. I can’t afford more than one FS bike … although I do have a really nice steel hardtail (Steelman … that I was pondering turning into a single speed …). I don’t ride the super gnarly stuff anymore because, at 35, I’m old, brittle and breakable.
Seriously, I’m beginning to think I prefer the old days … when all FS bikes bounced like pogo sticks and everybody who knew anything rode sweet hardtails.
Excuse me … I gotta go find a pair of those foamy things for the headphones on my walkman.
Agreed, it is quite tricky. I narrowed down my choice of FS bikes to the Intense Spider FRO, the Yeti ARS and the Santa Cruz Blur XC carbon.
Currently leaning towards the Santa Cruz Blur mostly for fit reasons.
‘‘Seriously, I’m beginning to think I prefer the old days … when all FS bikes bounced like pogo sticks and everybody who knew anything rode sweet hardtails’’
Try a 29er hardtail. You’re tall enough for a small or medium. You won’t regret it.
It sounds like you’d be better off with a true cross country bike. I lived in CO Springs and rode a lot in mountains. There was only one section of one trail where I wish I had more than the 4 inches of travel front and back. There’s been a lot of good suggestions so far…Intense, Yeti, etc. Don’t get too overwhelmed by the technology. With some reading and trial-and-error, setting up a FS bike is pretty easy. If you haven’t already, read some of the reviews on mtbr.com. They can be pretty helpful.
IMO, the new Epics are a bit overpriced. You may want to consider the Rocky Mountain Element 90 or 70. It’s reliable, well-spec’d and reasonably priced. Another option is the Giant Anthem X-1. The Maestro platform is really nice and, again, the Giants are well-spec’d and reasonable. The list will go on and on. I would stay away from carbon to keep the price down.
one more vote for the Rocky Mountain Elements, they build great bikes.
I know Specialized does a demo bike program with certain LBS’s. At my LBS they had several for the last couple years in most models, leave them a credit card and take the bike out for a day on a real ride.
Go with the Blur. The virtual pivot point is the real deal and this years release fixes issues with the initial release.
Learn to recognize how much of a joke the mechanical design of some squish setups are and it narrows down the field considerably.
Or check out Ellsworth, equally good. I’m looking at that single speed Zorro from Castellano.
I experienced a similar problem making my decision last year— There is so much technology going on and it is almost impossible to do a proper test ride. I settled on an Ibis Mojo— Ibis dealers have Mojos available for extended demos. I paid $150 for a demo and they dialed in the shocks for me then let me keep it out for a full weekend including a 6-hour ride in Orange County. They then applied the $150 demo fee to the purchase price. I figured that even if I did not buy the Mojo, it was worth $150 to spend some real time on a full suspension bike. I wanted to try Cannondale, Specialized and Intense models but could not arrange a real demo over the month in which I was considering the decision. Even though the other models had different advantages on paper, I decided to go with the Ibis because of their demo and customer support policies.
I do not regret my decision— I’ve ridden the Mojo about 200 hours over the last year and like it more and more each day. It is well suited for the long and rocky rides I do in Southern California. It is not exactly a race bike and if I were way into races I would add a 29er hardtail to the stable. If I were a lighter, shorter guy and interested in racing I’d consider the Specialized Epic and maybe Cannondale hardtails.
All full suspension bikes are extremely sensitive to suspension tuning. A few clicks in rebound or compression damping or a few extra PSI in the shocks make big differences. A demo could be misleading if the bike was not set up for you properly.
I can recommend The Fix bike shop in Boulder, CO and Cal Coast Cycles in San Diego. Cal Coast is the Ibis dealer I used and they also offer free lifetime tune-ups.
i’ve got a Yeti Kokopelli which i love, but it’s not a nice light
race-ish FS MTB. i’d second the Blur which is available for ~$2k
at backcountry for ~$2000:
but i’d also go look into the Yeti ASR; light, climbs well,
descends smoothly and is highly rated in many places.
it is a bit pricey though, from ~$3400 to ~$5800.
another good option to look at is the Titus RacerX ~$3k-ish.
It climbed great and descending was so much better than with my hardtail. I had it down to 22.6 pounds even with 2.2 inch tires, disk brakes and a carbon riser.
That said I gave it to my riding buddy and ordered up a new carbon Blur. Should be here anyday now I hope.
At 37 I find I’m riding faster down gnarlier stuff than I did in the 90’s when I raced a lot.
Any opinions on how a hardtail like a Taurine would do vs. a Scalpel for XC? It’d be for someone who has the horsepower to hang with the top-tier guys, but whose tecnhical skills are virtually nil! Are the FS bikes more forgiving to a novice than a hardtail?
Was at the Fontana ProXCT race today and I want to get in the game…
‘‘Seriously, I’m beginning to think I prefer the old days … when all FS bikes bounced like pogo sticks and everybody who knew anything rode sweet hardtails’’
Try a 29er hardtail. You’re tall enough for a small or medium. You won’t regret it.
I mirror this comment…26 inch wheels are old technology, a bit like Scott bars. The bigger volume of the 29’er tyres remove many bumps experienced with 26’er tires.
i have to vote for the SC Blur. I have it and love it and wouldn’t trade it in for anything else. the VPP systems works great and i notice verly little to zero effect when climbing. I use it to race xc and Xterra events as well as just having a ton of fun in the woods on the weekends. At no point during a race or fun ride have i felt that the Blur has held me back; although the bike may feel like i hold it back sometimes.
Sports Garage in Boulder, right next door to Colorado Multisport, has demo mountain bikes that you can ride wherever you like. Plus they’re a dealer for Yeti, Santa Cruz, and Rocky Mountain. They also have the best mechanics in town, hands down.