Recommend me a bike for the missus - XC, dually, 29'er

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climberman

Likes Dirt
So the +1 went down to CBR last weekend for a girls camp and ride with a mate.

She has returned with the need for a new bike to replace her old 26" HT entry level giant. She's tall and will easily fit a 'mens' frame in medium rather than a women's specific rig.

She reckons that a 29" XC-oriented dually will pretty much cover all her singletrack needs.... and I reckon a happy riding missus is a good thing.

I'd like to buy this by trawling the S/H market for a while, but have not too much idea what to look for in mid-range brands and models in this style.

Any suggestions on what I should look for?
 
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Clyde Dave

Likes Dirt
The Scott Spark has a reversible chip to slacken or steepen the head angle which makes for a very versatile bike. Similarly, the Cannondale has a spacer you can move from the top of the head tube to the bottom to do the same.
Both these bikes are 100mm of travel so are efficient in either setting.
 
JTmofo

JTmofo

XC Enthusiast
That Tallboy is a cracking bike.
I'd be looking at a Trek Superfly, Giant Anthem, specialized Epic.
 
link1896

link1896

Mr Greenfield
JTmofo said:
That Tallboy is a cracking bike.
I'd be looking at a Trek Superfly, Giant Anthem, specialized Epic.
Click to expand...

Epic is high maintenance and delicate, expensive to maintain. As an owner of an Epic, I couldn't recommend one to a casual rider. I'd vote for the Anthem, be a sheep and join the herd.
 
Knuckles

Knuckles

Lives under a bridge
+1 on the tallboy.

Benefits are sure to extend to the boudoir.

Recently rode a 3hr with eastie and his missus, who has one, and it's a awesome rig. She out rode both of us.








Although to be fair, that's probably more to do with us than her bike..........
 
C

climberman

Likes Dirt
Cheers folks. Tallboy looks fantastic, a bit over her/our spend for this rig, especially w/o wheels.

Have seen a few superflys about, do like. Quite a few anthems around. Is the frame cracking reaalllllllyy common, or only when used 'beyond xc'?

Any other suggestions?
 
moorey

moorey

call me Mia
climberman said:
Cheers folks. Tallboy looks fantastic, a bit over her/our spend for this rig, especially w/o wheels.

Have seen a few superflys about, do like. Quite a few anthems around. Is the frame cracking reaalllllllyy common, or only when used 'beyond xc'?

Any other suggestions?
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I suggest you tell us your budget.
 
pharmaboy

pharmaboy

Eats Squid
climberman said:
Cheers folks. Tallboy looks fantastic, a bit over her/our spend for this rig, especially w/o wheels.

Have seen a few superflys about, do like. Quite a few anthems around. Is the frame cracking reaalllllllyy common, or only when used 'beyond xc'?

Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
No cracking on the 27.5s, on the 29er aluminium anthems, it's nearly always the large ( lots of seatpost) and fairly big Km bikes
 
B

Boxer

Likes Dirt
climberman said:
Cheers folks. Tallboy looks fantastic, a bit over her/our spend for this rig, especially w/o wheels.

Have seen a few superflys about, do like. Quite a few anthems around. Is the frame cracking reaalllllllyy common, or only when used 'beyond xc'?

Any other suggestions?
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"buy right, buy once" applies here.

Carbon vs Alu, VPP suspension vs Maestro, SC vs Giant etc. And it will be a lot lighter for a female rider to handle

Someone had some Roval 29'er wheels for sale the other day in the wheels section - $400....Done
http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/showthread.php?293510-Roval-29-quot-Control-Wheelset

throw an offer
 
silentbutdeadly

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
climberman said:
Quite a few anthems around. Is the frame cracking reaalllllllyy common, or only when used 'beyond xc'?
Click to expand...
It's not common...but it isn't uncommon either. The main drama is that they've sold thousands upon thousands of the damn things...at even at a 2 to 5% failure rate, that's an awful lot of frames.

Basically, to be safe, don't look at any alloy Anthem 29er prior to 2014 in medium or above. And be wary of even the small ones.

My own is a large 2011 and it has just failed at the lower shock mounts and deformed at the seat tube/top tube join - pure XC riding and not a massive amount of kays at that. I'm beginning to suspect that the failure is propagated out of the interaction between the BB shell, seat tube and the upper rear pivot point rather than the "large rider on a long seat post" scenario. Basically a too small top tube/seat tube join allows the entire seat tube to deflect over time and work harden the stress points along the seat tube (at the BB, pivot and TT/ST join). That's opinion rather than knowledge though...

Tallboy is where I'd look too...but there are still many other options besides. Scott Spark comes to mind...as does BMC Four Stroke
 
C

climberman

Likes Dirt
Cheers for the summary sbd.



silentbutdeadly said:
It's not common...but it isn't uncommon either. The main drama is that they've sold thousands upon thousands of the damn things...at even at a 2 to 5% failure rate, that's an awful lot of frames.

Basically, to be safe, don't look at any alloy Anthem 29er prior to 2014 in medium or above. And be wary of even the small ones.

My own is a large 2011 and it has just failed at the lower shock mounts and deformed at the seat tube/top tube join - pure XC riding and not a massive amount of kays at that. I'm beginning to suspect that the failure is propagated out of the interaction between the BB shell, seat tube and the upper rear pivot point rather than the "large rider on a long seat post" scenario. Basically a too small top tube/seat tube join allows the entire seat tube to deflect over time and work harden the stress points along the seat tube (at the BB, pivot and TT/ST join). That's opinion rather than knowledge though...

Tallboy is where I'd look too...but there are still many other options besides. Scott Spark comes to mind...as does BMC Four Stroke
Click to expand...
 
M

mick4130

Squid
Plenty of near new, low km bikes out there in your price range. I'm sure an internet search would throw up a few options.
 
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climberman

Likes Dirt
yeah cheers mick, I think that's the way we'll go. Just interested to get an idea of what 'burners reccomend as models to look for.
 
pharmaboy

pharmaboy

Eats Squid
Call me crazy, ever thought of having a conversation with the wife?

What a bunch of blokes have in mind for a bike, completely and utterly misses the mark for women. Things like second hand - would your wife accept a second hand diamond ring for instance? Most women will not see value In one brand versus another, but they might value an attractive looking bike ( in their eyes) or nice colour etc
 
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climberman

Likes Dirt
pharmaboy said:
Call me crazy, ever thought of having a conversation with the wife?

What a bunch of blokes have in mind for a bike, completely and utterly misses the mark for women. Things like second hand - would your wife accept a second hand diamond ring for instance? Most women will not see value In one brand versus another, but they might value an attractive looking bike ( in their eyes) or nice colour etc
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Completely mate. I just think it's worth discussing it here as another place for info on what's up in the market as I do't know. Nothing will be bought she don't like :)

We buy a heap of our gear for sports s/hand - the modern internet market is just too unreal for this!
 
The Duckmeister

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
climberman said:
Quite a few anthems around. Is the frame cracking reaalllllllyy common, or only when used 'beyond xc'?
Click to expand...
The most common pattern seems to be large-ish riders, at the tall end of the height spectrum for a given frame size, so have a lot of seatpost out, which exerts leverage on the crucial joint, and tend to not get their arse off it through the rough stuff. And given the fundamental physiology that taller riders are generally going to be heavier, frame failures are more common in larger frame sizes.

Yes it's been a fairly well-known problem, but as has been pointed out above, the sheer volume of production would mean that there are very many more perfectly fine frames around.
 
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