MTB Bike Advice Needed

[love2fly]

I've done back to back tests with my Rockshock 30 Gold which I've extended to 120mm vs Fox 32 @100mm.

Many on here said the RS 30mm will be like spaghetti. Not so.

I have found zero difference  between the 2. I have a favourite section of fast downhill where I reach my max speed coming out of a corner and over a bridge. I achieve exactly the same max speed with each, the limit being skill and what the trail will allow. My RS is newer than my Fox so I have chosen to ride that.

[kerradoh]

23 hours ago, MDvdM said:

Hey there!

So I got back into Mountain Biking in Jan 2022 (haven't been on a bike in 7 years!) as purchased a very neat 2015 Silverback Sola 2 29er (Hardtail) with a RockShox Recon Gold fork (100mm Travel with 32mm Stanchions), XT 2x 10, etc. and I've racked up around 1000km on the bike here in the lovely Bottelary Hills MTB area and surrounds (in Cape Town) since then.

I then saw a very neat 2019 Scott Spark 970 here on Bike Hub which I bought from @The Bike Vendor. The bike arrived in one piece (thanks again Leon!) and it looks basically brand new.

The Scott came with a 1x 10 setup which consisted of a Deore M6000-SGS Rear derailleur and wide range Shimano CS-HG500-10 (11-42t) cassette and 32T ring up front on the stock Shimano Crankset, I then saw the 1x12 SLX kit on sale, but was disheartened when I realized it was only compatible with Microspline Freehubs, so I got a complete SRAM NX Eagle 1x 12 upgrade kit which was fitted this week when the bike was in for a major service (for peace of mind).

I only today realized the RockShox Judy Silver TK that came on the bike has 30mm Stanchions, and I'm not sure about the quality of the X-Fushion Pro O2 RL that came on the rear either, and I'm a bit concerned about the fact I'm going from 32mm to 30mm from the Recon to the Judy now.

So, cutting one short story long... on to my question.

I like riding stuff like Meerendal, Bottelary Hills MTB, etc, maybe trails a tad rougher down the line, would the Scott hold up with the thin stanchions and NX groupset, or would it be best to rather try sell the bike again and look for something a bit more beefy (at least SLX/GX groupset and 32mm stanchions)?

I really don't want to put wear on the bike only to find out it's not going to work for my needs, as I can rather sell it and look for something more suited for my needs, but I've not been into riding MTBs long enough to know what will work/last for my riding needs.

As for my build, I'm 1.81m tall (ride Large frames) and weigh around 76kg.

Hey Man, my 2 cents seem to be mirrored by the fine people above:
I was in a similar situation to you a few years back, and the advice I was given, and took, was just ride the bad boy you have until it cant anymore, then cross that bridge when you get there. The risk you run in selling now and getting something a bit beefier is that you just may find that that beefier is not beefy enough, next you'll want a fox 36 or a Pike and 150mm at the back, and carbon wheels and at least gx spec and a full face lid ect because that marketing machine really is a fine piece of work, you justify it because you hitting all the A lines and you've run out of bike to comfortably go faaaaast on. Or you decide, after hitting that A line a bit too fast for your skills and nursing some broken bits and bobs, that actually this isnt for me and a nice meander on the jeep track with some flowy single tracks is actually all you want in life.. Or you start to shave your legs, invest heavily in bum cream and knock out 600km a week and decide to ride a epic..You just dont know until you know, and ideally all these options require a different setup of "beefiness".

If i was you, i'd ride what you have now, (fit a dropper post though), fix what needs to be fixed when it breaks (i'll bet on that nx derailiur going first) and once you know where you want to progress too then consider your options.

That scott 970 is very capable as it is in its current form and you shouldn't be too worried about stantion size (thats what my wife says anyway :) is my opinion.

Unless of course the trust fund just kicked in, then completely ignore my 2 cents, pull into your local bike shop, and let the marketing machine work its magic.

good luck