Looking for some Reach opinions (for a 190cm rider)

Shredden

Knows his goats
After a few weeks spent looking for a used enduro bike, I think I've decided I'm going to bite the bullet and buy a brand newie (I'm temporarily feeling rich because it's uni holidays). I've got $3500 to $4000 to spend, and I've narrowed it down to:

Canyon Spectral AL 6.0 (great spec, but I'd like to look at one IRL before buying which doesn't seem possible).
Giant Reign SX1 (probably too burly for what I want to do, and I don't love Giants).
Trek Remedy 8 (I get the impression these are a little more trail oriented? Maybe because of the lack of a piggyback on the rear shock).
Kona Process DL 153 27.5 (my favourite of the bunch I think).

My riding will be a bit of shuttles, a bit of bike park and a bit of more classic enduro riding with big ole pedals up followed by gnarly descents.

So the Process at $3700 is the current winner in my mind, and I'm thinking of driving an hour each way to look at/buy one tomorrow. However, I'm not sure about the Reach measurement. On paper, the Process appears huge. I'm 190cm/6'2. This usually puts me fairly clearly on an XL. The XL Process has a reach of 510mm. The XL sizes of the other 3 bikes have an average reach of 483mm, giving a difference of 27mm or so, which seems fairly significant.

I know that bikes are trending towards longer reaches (and I'm coming off 2012 downhill bike with a reach close to 400mm), but 510mm still seems to be on the extreme end. Is anyone on here around my height riding an XL Process, or a similarly sized bike? Are there any aspects to riding a longer reach bike that wouldn't be obvious on the quick pedal around the bike shop carpark?

Thanks heaps guys, keen to hear some feedback on this one.
 

moorey

call me Mia
Felixs Process is medium, and pretty bang on for a medium. 1” longer reach than previous medium, but it always felt short to me.
 

The Reverend

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Great choices to have.
I've actually got the Remedy in XL and am 193cms, so similar in height to you and I needed a 60mm stem to make it fit nicely. With reach at 480mm or so it seemed great but needed a tweak to fit me.

Don't fixate on reach alone as the ETT as well as rear centre / CS are influential on how the bike rides.

Definitely take the time to read owner reviews on sites like MTBR as that cuts through the hype from magazine / site reviews.
 

born-again-biker

Is looking for a 16" bar
Any reason you posted in Parts n Stuff ?

@gillyske The Meta's actually have pretty conservative reach numbers for an "edgy" zero-fucks-given brand. They are more Trek/Giant/Spec in the geo numbers than they are Pole/Kona/Transition etc.

I have a 2019 Process XL 29.
I am about 6'3" and around 100kgs with all the gear on & a full camelback.
I seriously spent over 1 billion hours (no exaggeration...;-)) analysing geo numbers across dozens of manufacturers before I finally chose the Kona.

These are my random thoughts in no particular order.....
I cannot explain in words how much I love the bike. It's so good when the trail is fast/gnarly/steep.
They used 4 metric tonnes of aluminium in the frame - it does not flex. Ever. Period.
Yes it's a farken heavy bike....but I deserve all the pain on the climbs because I don't take my fitness as seriously as I should/could.
Don't be scared by the big reach number, it fits really well. My bike came with a super short stem so the bar is right there on the fork.
You have room between your knees and the bar ends at all times (unlike my previous XL bike). Long stems are not the way forward IMO.
The frame stack height is a little lower than I think it needs....but adjustable with spacers (up to a point) and after that you just adjust your riding style a little. Or you could fit 30-40 rise bars...
There are others on this forum that are pretty dismissive of the reach number as anything meaningful. Fair enough. They've prolly owned more bikes than me. But all I can say is that my 510mm reach bike doesn't feel huge or weird or sluggish. It just feels comfortable. And when it's steep and gnarly I always feel like the bars are just at the right distance out in front. My old 'XL' bike felt scary in the steeps because my head & chest felt like it was always going out & over the bars.
IMO ETT is a good number for seated riding, but reach is the one that counts when you're standing up & your only contact points are the pedals and the bars (which, surprise, surprise...is the reach measurement)

Is it too much bike on smooth, green trails? Definitely. But that's what n+1 is for.
And the nice thing about the Process is that compared to some of the really aggressive 160/170/180mm enduro sleds, it's closer to the trail bike end of the enduro spectrum with "only" 153mm frame travel & really short chain stays which help it feel more nimble & poppy than you would think.

I'm actually helping a mate choose his first dually this week. The Remedy is top of his list. I think from internets and looking at the geo numbers the Remedy would be at the burlier end of the "trail" bike market. It's reach is longer than a Norco Sight. In the low frame flip-chip setting I think the HA is 66? The frame is really solid looking too. By all accounts it punches above it's label by a fair margin.
 

Shredden

Knows his goats
Thanks for that mate, it's definitely reassuring to see that you love yours, everything you said makes me even more keen on the Process to be honest. Feeling better about the scary 510mm reach now. I'm not fully sure why I chucked this in parts n stuff, guess I judged it to be more of a tech question than a general MTB one.
 

gillyske

Likes Dirt
Ahh, my bad, I didn't know it was that much. I thought they maxed out at about 480...
Fully corrected :oops:
Yeah for some reason when they released the Meta 29 in an XL the reach was 480mm .... then maybe 2 months later commencal changed the figure to 491mm (after I had bought it haha). Also for some reason the HTA on a S/M/L is 65.5 but on the XL its listed as 66.

I could measure the reach figure on my XL if anyone is curious. No idea how to measure the HTA, but apparently that shit can change depending on the tyres you run.
 
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LPG

likes thicc birds
Don't be scared of the long reach. I'm 179 cm/5'11" and my new bike has a 475mm reach for the size between medium and large. In my case it didn't make the bike feel too long at all even if tge reach matches many XLs
 

Shredden

Knows his goats
I haven't hit any real MTB trails on it yet (maiden voyage is on Friday). But from hitting some little senders in the park and a quick pedal down the creek it feels way more natural than I was expecting, I really don't think I will have any trouble adapting to it. I'll update once I've had my first proper ride!
 
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