Short travel dual suspension frames for the modern huckwit

pink poodle

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Some of you may have heard, I have been coerced into buying a new bike. My beloved slope style and xxxx bike has been taken from me and they aren't easy to come by at the moment. So I'm giving some consideration to other short travel dual suspension frames that might suit? The leading contenders at the moment are Banshee Spitfire and Santa Cruz 5010. Both claim to be suitable for people like myself (you know...spend lots of time pretending to be an epic gravity rider), but are they? The end product will be used for my most regular ride which normally looks like:
- Ride 7km to trails, mostly up hill.
- Ride small/medium sized dirt jumps for an hour or two.
- Ride short smooth gravity trails with moderate sized obstacles, such as gap jumps up to 8m, drops up to 1.5m, log roll overs, railing berms (actually this should rate #1 for frequency), a little bit of wood, looking cool, and failing at impressing women.
- Ride home 7km.

As discussed elsewhere I'm not into pedalling up much or engaging in epic feats of endurance, I ride to have fun.

Some key must haves for me are:
- Manoeuvrability of the frame. If it doesn't like being thrown around I don't want it.
- Low stand over.
- Stiffness of frame. Ive had too many frames with flexible stays and don't enjoy the feeling or subsequent damage that comes from it.
- Threaded bottom bracket preferred.

There is probably other essentials that I can't think of just now. Anyway convince me that a Spitfire or 5010 are up to the task! Or that they aren't...either way. Also happy to hear other suggestions that are not 29ers, giant, or yeti.

Some pics for reference to what this bike will be doing.
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Mr Crudley

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
I think any bike can do the maneuver last shot. Great shot.

Spitfire or 5010 would be a good fit.
Can always check out an old Blur or Heckler if you don't want to throw too much $$$ at it.
 
Nambra

Nambra

Definitely should have gone to specsavers
Can see why you don't want another Giant. If Danny MacAskill can do what he does on a 5010 then it should be up to the task, although it's only the current version that's 1x only that has the brace between the seat and chain stay on the drive side of the rear triangle and probably be a bit stiffer than previous frames. Spitfires look great, maybe consider Transition Scout too - Merlin has a couple of L & XL frames going cheap at the moment.
 
Ultra Lord

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
Trek ticket s?
Keep it slopey.
Georgio Bushles rides trek too! Be like goerge poodle. Ride trek.

Commencal meta tr? The short travel one.

NS soda slope? 80-140mm fork, 100mm out back, 26” wheels. 4 left on crc. Do eeeeet.
 
G

goobags

Likes Dirt
Spitfire - stiff, can take a 26” wheel. Chainstays are quite wide though and I clip my right heel regularly.

If you fit a large you can have a go of mine.

On the other hand Santa 5010 is pretty schmik, although I reckon you could build a spitfire for the cost of a 5010 frame.


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Ultra Lord

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
God damn ^thats a good price! Even just buying it for the spec and doin a cheeky frame swap.
 
pink poodle

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
@Ultra Lord - ticket s was on my short list (3 friends have one) but I've been advised they aren't brought here anymore. Same with the transition triple (new version of the double) but it has the same fault (in my mind) as the NS soda - chain stay pivots on the bb. This makes for a chattery ride like any single pivot.

@Oddjob I do agree about the value that thing offers. It's been my go to recommendation to anyone wanting to buy a bike for a teenager for a while now. Depending how things play out I may grab one. It would require some make over magic though.

...and of course I've now been offered a secure parking space in the nearby secure area for bike riders at my employer. Hmmmmmmmmm.

@goobags I'd wager I would fit a large, being over 180cm. I'm also about 95kg...are these things able to resist that kind of downward pressure?
 
O

oliosky

Likes Bikes and Dirt
5010 with a 150mm fork is pretty much the perfect bike for a Novocastrian who doesn't like 29" wheels.
 
rangersac

rangersac

Medically diagnosed OMS
I'm close to 100kg kitted for riding, and despite being a hack at jumping my Spitty feels rock solid.
 
beeb

beeb

Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
If the highest priorities with what you're chasing is maneuverability and a bike that rails berms, the 5010 will make you a very happy man.

I have the V2 with one open-sided stay setup, and can't say I notice any flex in the stays (though I haven't ridden a great number of bikes to compare against, it was noticeably stiffer all round than the Ripmo). The 5010 is a really "tight" feeling bike - not harsh but very taut and responsive. Loves to change directions and do it fast and even on the flatter stuff stays playful rather than arduous. It's also very efficient on fire-road climbs, and moderately capable on more techy stuff (the low BB can be a real fecker though!).

I don't really do proper jumps so can't comment too much on that, but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work for you given you have the appropriate skills. The new ones have fractionally slacker geo numbers (0.5-1.0 deg slacker depending on geo setting, steeper seat-tube), which on paper would be better but the reach numbers were a no-mans land for me.

The Transition Scout look awesome too, but are horst-link and from memory that may annoy you.

FWIW - some of Zee Germans (and presumably the Yanks) have alloy 5010 framesets that may work out cheaper even with freight & customs if you don't mind a moderate weight penalty (bit of a lead time though currently...). ie:
https://www.bike-components.de/en/Santa-Cruz/5010-AL-27-5-Rahmenkit-Modell-2019-p66117/
 
smitho

smitho

Likes Bikes and Dirt
You haven’t mentioned budget so I’m going to suggest the current crop of Evils would fit squarely within your requirements. Shorter travel, slacker geo, designed with a focus on the descents.

The new Evil Offering would be ideal - 140mm 29er. Slack and low. Reviews suggest other models are ripping fun down hill, reasonable up, but pretty maintenance heavy.


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Oddjob

Oddjob

Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
smitho said:
You haven’t mentioned budget so I’m going to suggest the current crop of Evils would fit squarely within your requirements. Shorter travel, slacker geo, designed with a focus on the descents.

The new Evil Offering would be ideal - 140mm 29er. Slack and low. Reviews suggest other models are ripping fun down hill, reasonable up, but pretty maintenance heavy.


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Click to expand...
The maintenance aspect of Evil's weird me out. They're a glorified single pivot!

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pink poodle

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
smitho said:
29er
Click to expand...
Instant fail. While I appreciate the info you have provided and don't doubt that a lot of people are enjoying these bikes, I wont be buying a 29er. I also dont really like the look of the evil bikes and have a raging un-boner for elaborate suspension designs that are still single pivot by design. That fixed rear wheel arc doesn't get me flowing.
 
safreek

safreek

*******
I would look at something like this if you could find one, straight 6.
Main problem would be a junkie it retro fan knocking it off, much more stealable than modern pus
 
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