Short Travel Trail Bike

[gummibear]

Gosh, that Anthem SX is another contender...

Has a RS Pike on it[emoji106][emoji106]

 

Test bike I had only had around 1500km and seat post was already giving problems.

 

Canyon have better specced parts though and handling was awesome.

[droo]

Try a Banshee Phantom if you think you could fit on a L. We've got a demo in the shop if you'd like to try it out.

 

Here's a review if you'd like to check it out.

 

29 or 27.5+, 105 rear wheel travel and 130mm at the front, adjustable geometry, and rides like an overgrown BMX.

 

 

[Jewbacca]

I suppose the point is, one cannot have it all without some sort of sacrifice...

 

Personally, I have days where I feel like I should put my training wheels on and stick to the gravel road and other days I will throw myself down drops and over rocks with reckless abandon. 

 

I am no longer competitive at all and riding is purely for my enjoyment (except for EA next week... Then it is rest for my feet).

 

I still think a Camber, the Jeffsy or the new Scott 940 are the answers to the 1 bike do it all question... Although Neither are as pluch going down as the 5010 nor as racey as the Epic.

 

I would choose the Jeffsy over pretty much anything these days. Wagon wheels and all. With the snap pivots it seems to have the right sort of diversity the OP is looking for.

 

Slack and low BB for trail days, higher BB and snappy handling for your 'race' days.... win win 

[T-Bob]

What you boys got? Also, if it helps, I'm 1.89m & weigh around 90kg....weight is not a factor I'm too concerned about.

 

That phantom is suppose to be awesome. 

 

Another review: 

 

 

Might be worth seeing if Droo' has a Tranny Smuggler to compare and one of the Kona's as well. Modern short travel 29'rs are really good. 

 

Smuggler: 

 

 

If Droo can't hook you up a test you can always take a spin on mine but it's a M. 

[BaGearA]

Hehe, you make a very valid point. This is why I ask the question, you read reviews & you never know how to take them or what the context is in terms of ride ability or trail or preference, etc.

 

I am not as experienced a rider as many of you on this forum & I'm not really a race snake. I'm a competitive s**t, I like a challenge, so I really enjoy technical stuff. I love ascents as much as descents....IMHO, I don't enjoy the down as much unless I earned it by getting to the top myself on my bike (crazy I know).

 

I currently have a very short travel marathon dual suss (100mm) & it's pretty stiff in comparison. For me it is a fantastic bike, but not the type of fun I'm after. I'm close enough to 40 that I'm not going to be making a breakthrough career in any discipline of the sport & I don't have the time that some to train. So yes, I want plush & squishy & forgiving & to be able to lock out & have it pedal well. Even if it's overkill for what we have around here. I tried the marathon bike, now I want to try the trail bike setup...

 

I'd like a 29er trail bike with decent travel that performs well going up, going down, etchnical or no. We don't have hectically steep or super technical trails (yet), but we have enough of them that they can be more fun with the right bike. I don't have cash to burn, so I'd like to choose something that's going to give me that all round experience. I figure that's a 29er trail bike. Absolute max budget 50K.....

 

What you boys got? Also, if it helps, I'm 1.89m & weigh around 90kg....weight is not a factor I'm too concerned about.

Cotic Flare MAX

[droo]

That phantom is suppose to be awesome. 

 

Another review: 

 

 

Might be worth seeing if Droo' has a Tranny Smuggler to compare and one of the Kona's as well. Modern short travel 29'rs are really good. 

 

Smuggler: 

 

 

If Droo can't hook you up a test you can always take a spin on mine but it's a M. 

 

There are L and XL demo Smugglers in town for the next week...

[MuddyMike]

Going go out on a limb here......How about a Stumpy 650+ and buy a set of 29er wheels. Two bikes right there.

 

The 650+ is a fab trail bike full of fun and when you need to do a stage race or a fast marathon, pop on the 29er wheels and presto.

 

No worries about any changes to the geometry.

[Hairy]

Test both. 

 

FWIW - I'm 1.8 on the dot, and I tested an XL Banshee Spitfire at Paarl the other day. The bike was AMAZING. The only reason I wouldn't be able to get along with it was because the seat tube was too long, resulting in the saddle being sliiiightly too high at full drop (used with a dropper)

 

So - let that be your guideline. If you're running a 150mm dropper, and it can fit both the XL AND L, then you're golden. If the XL restricts you to a 125mm dropper, then you have a bit more to think about. 

 

Go in to Stoke, speak to Haylett (the ginger-bearded lady) and he'll walk you through everything. If Savage (the baby-faced assassin) is in the shop, then all the better. They're both solid blokes, and can advise you properly. 

 

They're also now Kona dealers... That's another option! Oh - and don't discount the Spitfire. OMG. That thing is.... yeah. It's just so darn tight, and fun, and sharp and had me whooping the whole way down Paarl (on both the medium and XL - I'd be a large)

 

On the face of it you'd be comfortable on both. Large with a longer stem and XL with a shorter stem. But test. Test, please. And take it somewhere where you'll test it properly. Jonkers. Pat's Track on Signal Hill. Steilte. Tokai... 

I am 1.78 and fit well on the Large Spitty and either a 45mm or 50mm stem.

 

140mm rear and 160mm up front......and the only time I ever drop the rear can into pedal or "lock out" mode is when I have had to commute to work and back (SS being stuck in the bike doctors office). All in, this is a bike I will be on for a long time still.

 

This is the first bike that feels as good "for me" since the good old Morewood Shova I used to have.

 

Actually, the PYGA 110 with a 140mm fork was also a good ride for the short test period I had one.

 

Either or ... both the PYGA and the BANSHEE's are through STOKE which = Excellent back up and support with honest no bull poopoo sales talk.

[Pikey]

Yip , we all the same but different ... different skill levels , ages , terain we ride perception of affordability and fun .

Life is great !! :-)

This completely ^^^^.

I love my tb and ride it in most places I am brave or stupid enough to take it. BUT I want more comfort & don't want to ride it on the edge of my capability . Where I make a mistake and it costs me in either in $ or claret.

 

Hence the longer travel to make up for my mistakes that I can get away with. And I'll happily suffer the consequences for the longer rides. Never gonna win ought anyway so might as well do it in comfort.

[BaGearA]

 

 

.....

 

It is the very definition of fun.

 

.......

Steel hardtails ^^

[Grease_Monkey]

Going go out on a limb here......How about a Stumpy 650+ and buy a set of 29er wheels. Two bikes right there.

 

The 650+ is a fab trail bike full of fun and when you need to do a stage race or a fast marathon, pop on the 29er wheels and presto.

 

No worries about any changes to the geometry.

Exactly what I did - best move I've ever made!

 

Of course this applies to any boost bike! 29er or 27.5+. All of their wheels are interchangeable. And thag change makes a massive difference to the ride!

[Reden]

Steel hardtails ^^

I'll all for this if I only can get someone to add disk brake lugs to my old Giant Sedona SE frame.

Sort of a Old School bike. Magura Louise brakes and 3x9 X0.

[Eddy Gordo]

I'll all for this if I only can get someone to add disk brake lugs to my old Giant Sedona SE frame.

Sort of a Old School bike. Magura Louise brakes and 3x9 X0.

what about something like this

[BaGearA]

what about something like this

That looks more sketchy than Trump on A uni-cycle 

[Eddy Gordo]

all i know is, they work

[rudi-h]

I really want to understand the definition of 'doesn't descend well' and 'not as fun' etc. 

 

I am not trying to be a **** but I don't really understand the concept. I get bike speccing if you are hitting all the road gaps and drops on a big DH line, but the reality is we don't have super steep general trails in SA.

 

Besides, one really shouldn't ride a marathon on a DH bike. However, one can comfortably ride most SA trails really well on say, a Camber or a steel hardtail with decent travel. When does a bike stop being 'fun'?

 

If I bomb say 'The Plumber' in Jonkers top to bottom on my 68' Head angle steel hardtail 29er with 140mm forks I love every second of it.

 

It is the very definition of fun.

 

I have also ridden it on a 160mm trail bike and it was faster...... Faster, more stable.. even easier... but less fun.

 

I know owning rad bikes with travel and plushness and and and is awesome, but lets get the reasoning right.... fun? Less fun? What about less work? Easier? More plush? More stable? 

 

I dunno.... implying that getting down a trail can be less fun just seems like technology is sucking not only the skill but the enjoyment out of riding bikes

 

(Not wanting to start a flame up... just wondering that's all)

 

 

to me...  it's all about the head angle (and maybe dropper post) and not so much the mm's of suspension travel.  I have ridden many marathon bikes before and I just can't get enough weight away from the front to hop stuff, manuel through a river crossing or prevent being "nose heavy" in a steep rocky descent etc.  You need to be very, and I mean very good to hop a spez epic, scott spark or similar marathon racer over a 30cm treestump or rock in the trail, which is quite easy to do for us mortals on a bike with slacker geometry.

 

I've never been on a tallboy, but I own a 5010.  If the tallboy geometry is more like a marathon racer then I can vouch that a less aggressive geometry bike will be a lot more "capable" and "fun", purely because I can ride a slack geometry bike at the limit of my skills ability.

 

so in short:  slack geometry gives you control, control gives you confidence, confidence gives you speed and speed gives you fun!  and IMO choosing the right bike gives you speed whist also reducing your risk of going down.