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A lot of you guys have some sick looking bikes.
Moto or mtb I love the feeling
Me racing last year on my Felt Nine 3. Snapped tib/fib at the bike park in March derailed plans of racing this year. Will be back at it in 2015
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DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
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Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
new sled…. bicycle prices are a real joke…. if you don't get a deal they cost as much as motorbike
Dont have a picture of it by itself but I love riding this thing even though it costs almost as much as my RMZ haha
I missed your last sentence where you said you're not into XC / trail riding. Then yeah, the Reign is a great option. Giant is a good value brand and this year I feel like their entire line really stepped it up.
Yeti has the new SB6 if you do want to break your bank account too - same category of bike and really awesome. 7k and its yours.
Can't go wrong with a Giant in my opinion, especially when you're really looking for a value-brand. I've had two Reigns and really liked them.
Boy, that SB6 looks bitchen but 7k is too rich for my blood. I'm trying to find a way to justify the $3400 Alu Reign price tag
Thanks again for the input.
Check out the Specialized Enduro 29. Serious. I ride a Yeti SB95 - it's a big-wheel ass-kicking machine, but still with a lot of travel. The bigger wheel totally plows through the rock gardens, and I honestly don't feel at a disadvantage downhill. And I love the downhill - with a moto background, it's my only shot to be "fast" around here.
I think people get too caught up in travel - unless you're shuttling or doing really gnarly rock drops, get a good RS Pike fork on any bike and you'll be set, big travel or not. For what its worth, guys on full XC carbon full-suspension bikes are at the top of the charts, both up and down. One of my last Fall rides, I was hauling ass down a nasty, rocky DH section after meeting up with a pro chic (yep, chic) at the top. She was on a carbon Scott Spark and was very, very close to me the whole way down (5 mile descent down the mountain). That thing has minimal travel and is all about speed on the climb, but she was seconds away from me, and kicks my ass anywhere else.
The Reign would be super fun - they look great. But 29 wheels are damn amazing if your area is rocky...or in a lot of other aspects too.
I guess I need to grow up. For some reason I'm living in a paradigm wherein I associate 29" bikes with spandex, water bottles, climbing, and a strava obsession (no offense). Did you post a pic of your bike? What page of this thread is it on? I need to have a look. Let the healing begin...
I dont like the idea of having my feet locked in and certainly dont buy into the clips helping pedaling on the up stroke.
What are your guys thoughts....clips or no clips?
I second that you give an Enduro 29 a shot. It's a great bike, if you aren't planning on doing downhill competition but still want to have a good time on descents, it's the one. Climbs very well for a longer travel bike. I say it's a better bike than the Specialized 650b Stumpumper FSR which just seems like a complete afterthought..The Enduro was a hit, and the Stumpy 650b a miss.
spent my money straight away and it would take a very very good bike to sway me away from my choice, speed in the rough (all that matters imo) and in corners is insane and grip.......wow.
don't believe the hype about big wheels being shit to manoeuvre either, ride one yourself on a trail and decide that way - my money says you will be converted.
Put a drop post on it, big tires, wide bars, 50mm stem and its a total rip machine.
My Yeti is on Page 8 at the top. I've since switched suspension (went to a RockShox Pike fork and a Rockshox Monarch Plus), but close enough. Like I said above (I think), next year I want to switch to a 25 lb. XC-oriented carbon machine to give that a try. I like to climb and get obsessed with my times. I'm one of those.
Pit Row
I like to talk about your kind at the pub after my rides hahaaa
so glad I bought the 29
I see 650b replacing the 26" dowhill/long travel bikes, not so much for the trail/xc crowd. At lot of effort went into making 29ers with 5" of travel handle well, and I personally don't see the advantage of stepping down for a smaller size. Carbon rims helped destroy the "slow and flexy" issues people would claim the 29ers suffered from. For smaller people the 650b is a great option that allows a better bike geometry.
a lot of my mates have Orange 5 and Santa Ccruz in 27.5 and they look and work great - the stumpy mid range is just weird.
The 27.5 feels lake it wants to accelerate faster than a 29er I was able to ride down the street make a 180 turn at about 4 MPH and went back up the hill and accelerated back up to 10MPH with minimal effort.
As for top speed I did manage to see 19MPH while not being in top gear on a slight downhill.
While the 27.has weaker brakes than the 29 they seemed to stop just as well elixer 3 vs elixer 5 Still planning on upgrading to SRAM Guide RS
I do miss the dropper seat post that the Giant came with as well as wider bars.
As for turning and such will have to hold off until i can put in more miles on trails that i am familiar with.
It felt good to get back out on the bike after being off of one since my Giant was stolen. Currently I am nursing a sore knee and quad on my right leg also my butt needs to get use to the new saddle.
you said you liked racing uphill, you referred to yourself as "one of those"
Being clipped in is a huge advantage everywhere, right up to the point where it suddenly is a disadvantage...LOL Seriously though, it absolutely is a benefit to be able to pull on the upstroke. Not so much from a performance or pure speed advantage but for gaining traction on steep, slippery climbs. We have a lot of hills around here that are hardpack with loose granite gravel on top. If you use flats and only push on the downstroke you get 2 huge pulses of power that break the tire loose. As you are pushing down it is raising your weight off the seat and making it worse. Clipped in you get a smooth steady flow of power and as you pull up it pulls your weight into the seat and increases traction even more. Clips also help maneuver the bike through technical sections and keep you attached to the bike on rough downhills.
For those of you that like Crank brothers mallets and their other pedals, they have a factory upgrade program. Get a nice discount for sending them any junk pair of clip pedals.
http://www.crankbrothers.com/upgrade/
Oh yeah, I usually wear spandex just because it is cooler and more comfortable. I don't give a crap what anywhere wears. Ride your bike and have fun. Don't get caught up in the particulars.
And strava is great. Again, as long as you don't take it too seriously and are still having fun. Join the Vital Team!!!
http://www.strava.com/clubs/vitalmx
Totally agree on the wheel debate - its about as pointless, and ironically very similar to the 4-stroke / 2-stroke thing. Same with flats VS clipless; I don't think any "science experiment" will really determine anything. I dig them; 'used to hate them. Now I won't ride without 'em.
Some a-hole tied me for my one and only DH KOM yesterday. Have to go hit that again to keep my "title" and the checks from Strava to keep rolling in.
I'm ordering one of these for him in the spring. They are just sick.
16' inch wheels btw.....
http://lilshredder.com/
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