I’ve got a Virtue 2 and it’s an absolutely outstanding overall bike. If what you want is a bike that can go endurance and still race I think it’s a heck of a good mix. With that said, if what you’re looking for is Xtera race only, I agree with a lot of the other folks, go 29er. It gives you a lot of the benefits of a dual 26er without the complications and some of them are getting pretty light.
A Felt Nine Race would make for a heck of a fast ride. The 29er will be more forgiving as you’re learning but is still fast enough that once you get more comfortable on trails it will keep up with you unless you take up downhilling.
Racing? Especially Xterra? Hard tail 29er in some kind of agressive geometry. Period. Progress no further. Wish I had been that smart.
Second choice would be something in the Scott Spark realm.
Third choice, which would be first if it included general trail riding and you like a little bit of comfort, would be something in the Felt Virtue range. Great bikes. At that configuration and price though they’re all surprisingly similar and people will argue the benefits of their favorite brands suspension geometry and component choice to the death. Get what fits you and allows you to feel comfortable bombing down a hill.
Between the Felt and the Scott? I like Felt’s Equilink suspension but the Scott does have a pretty slick setup that is quite different than most… and they are a fair bit more expensive, right? I’d take the Felt.
4" of travel is plenty for most anything. Especially racing.
My first mtb was one of the first to come w/ standard a front susp fork, the Specialized ‘Future Shock’ (a re-branded RockShox) - I think it had just over 1" of travel…
Most folks I know who have gone w/ 29’ers really dig 'em - I guess it’s kinda like skiers trying snowboarding, they rarely if ever go back.
(I am one of the exceptions that proves the rule to that second part. I’ve never tried a 29’er - yet.)
I prefer a less-slack setup, since I come from an XC racing background, so that’s always my preference.
Have got my bike setup in more of a trail riding mode now, and I don’t like it as much that way. Handling is sluggish.
Having done the hardtail thing (since that’s pretty much all that existed back in the day) I much prefer full suspension. You take less of a beating overall, and can usually ride more technical terrain more easily. I don’t think I’d ever go hardtail again, in spite of the (minor) weight and complexity savings.
I’ll pile on with the 29’er comments. Made the switch a couple of years ago from a full suspension Santa Cruz Superlight and have had a blast every time I hit the trails. Check and see when/if Trisports is having the Felt or Scott demo van in town and ride everything. And I did hear Felt is coming out with a carbon full suspension this summer. If you go to their website and click on the blog there’s a short clip about ‘four inches never looked so good’
Thanks everyone for the input.
Yes Kurt, you might see me at an Xterra event. I’ll be the guy who goes from way off the front exiting the water to way off the back starting the run. It’ll be awesome for everyone passing me.
In the end I special ordered the Scott Spark 20. Looking forward to getting it in built and riding it a bit. Hoping my above average road bike handling skills have some carry over.
In the one mtn bike race I did a few years ago, I did great on the uphills and slower speed stuff rolling over roots, rocks etc, it’s the downhills where I sucked ass.
The biggest mistake people make on mountain bikes is dodging small obstacles…which gets you off line and
smack into the big one.
Modern suspension will take you over almost anything smaller than the height of your front axle. Learn to pick your best
line and ride over stuff. I went for a 4 hour trail ride this morning and I am always amazed at what the bike will handle
if I don’t wimp out.
The biggest mistake people make on mountain bikes is dodging small obstacles…which gets you off line and
smack into the big one.
Modern suspension will take you over almost anything smaller than the height of your front axle. Learn to pick your best
line and ride over stuff. I went for a 4 hour trail ride this morning and I am always amazed at what the bike will handle
if I don’t wimp out.
.
What TDD said. Well that, and maybe you could grow a set? Huevos help a lot while descending.
I still remember racing at Mt. Snow back in the day (when it was a huge NORBA event, and all the US and Euro Pros were there), and while descending, having some local doode yell at me, “just let it flow!” as I was pinballing down one of the numerous root and rock garden descents.
And he was right, you just have to let the bike do its thing underneath you, while keeping your upper body as loose and relaxed as possible.
Think mogul skiing.
You want to look well ahead at where you want to go, and NOT at whatever you don’t want to hit. If you look at the obstacle rather than the line, you’ll get target fixation and invariably hit the obstacle.
If you death-grip the bars, then you will get bounced all over the place, and make you think you just need to grab 'em HARDER, which only makes it worse.
Umm, well I don’t ski, but I’m pretty ballsy at least descending on a road bike.
I’ve done 1 mtn bike race, the uphills went well or mtn bikers can’t climb, the flats ok about even with everyone else, the downhills, well lets just say I’m glad the course had about a 1mile climb up to the finish so I could take back 10 spots that passed me going downhill.
