Trail, All mountain... help needed!

[katej]

Hi all

I am in the proccess of bike shopping and would love some advice. I am currently riding a hard tail xc bike, which I love and am about to spend the money to get my first dual suspension bike. I feel I am a fairly competent xc rider, and like downhill (which I ride with my brothers borrowed Norco which is way too big for me) but still take alot of the chicken tracks on the downhill runs as I have never been able to hit any jumps with confidence on a bike that fits me. I don't want three bikes, I just want something that will do everything - i.e. ride up and downhills. So, my question is... should I be looking at an all mountain bike or a trail bike? Will an all mountain bike with ~ 150 mm travel be a little too full on to take to the local xc track for a socail ride, or if I get a trail bike that is lighter and has a bit less travel will I end up destroying it after I build my confidence up trying to ride it downhills? I was looking at a Trek lush, but would love some advice, or some ideas od bikes that might suit me.

Thanks

Kate

 

[kgunzer]

Hello and welcome to Farkin/RotorBurn.

Since you're already an experienced rider, you may already have a fair idea of which bike would meet your riding style. Definitively, an AM bike wouldallow you to have a taste of each riding style and can further progress your skill. The key here is versatility to suit your riding activity.

Have you ever considered building your own custom bike from build kits? This allows you the flexibility to mix and match whatever component that'll work well with you. This however costs a little more than a packaged and fully built bike. Besides the flexibility of mixing and matching, you get to learn by heart the components of your ride and thus help in further improving your servicing skill.

You can pretty much approach this similarly when buying a packaged set. When you put on your customized option, you just end up having spares, still an expensive approach but you learn things along the way (e.g. bleeding the brakes).

 

[Katdog]

Hi Kate,

Any progress on the bike shopping?

I’d lean towards the all mountain side. You already have an xc bike for xc riding. I found getting a 160mm travel bike forgiving and confidence building and ended up riding better and harder on my hardtail because of it. And that was after already having a 140mm travel trail bike (Canondale Prophet) for a few years. The Prophet is a bit old but still pretty typical of a trail bike. It's great for xc, especially rougher, steeper (both up and down) tracks but it didn’t really do anything that different to my hardtail. And didn’t cut it for DH. It’s a bit light so I get thrown around too much in the rough stuff and I'm too scared to try jumps and drops bigger than 1/2m on it.

I don't want three bikes, I just want something that will do everything - i.e. ride up and downhills. So, my question is... should I be looking at an all mountain bike or a trail bike? Will an all mountain bike with ~ 150 mm travel be a little too full on to take to the local xc track for a socail ride, or if I get a trail bike that is lighter and has a bit less travel will I end up destroying it after I build my confidence up trying to ride it downhills?

There’s always going to be a trade-off between climbing and descending, but something like a Trek Slash, Giant Reign or Rocky Mountain Slayer look like they would pedal more than well enough, be pretty fun descending and can be done at around the 13kg mark. If you’re happy to compromise a bit more on the climbing for something bigger (160-170mm), heavier (15-16kg) and slacker (~65deg) that will *survive* the uphills, rail the downs and happily do some shuttles then bikes like the Kona Entourage and Scott Voltage are worth checking out.

There are tons of bikes out there to choose from. Looking at manufacturers websites is a good start. Most will have a dedicated all mountain or bigger travel trail bike. They will all claim that they can climb as well as a xc bike and descend as well as a downhill bike, but at least it gives you a starting list to work with so you can read reviews, compare weight/travel/geometry/$, and hopefully find a few suitable options.

As for getting a women’s specific bike, I wouldn’t limit your options and rule out getting non-women/standard/unisex/whatever, just keep in mind that standover height can become an issue with bigger travel bikes.

Good luck!

 

[katej]

Hi there

Thanks for the replies - haven't got a new bike yet, still pondering. I am getting the feeling though that an AM bike might be a bit more suitable for what I want to do. I would hate to spend the money, improve my skills and then realise that I had 'outgrown' my bike if it didn't allow me to do everything I was capable of. I will do a bit more research into getting a custom bike built, and also into the bikes that were recommended. I might have a look at second hand bikes on bikeexchange as well, at least that way if I do get something and change my mind later down the track it won't have cost as much!

Much appreciated

Kate

 

[kgunzer]

You're absolutely right about considering protecting your learning interest when buying an AM. Bikes do cost and an informed decision is a wise decision. Do note however that you only miss out in gaining speed against lighter bikes, and the choice of an extreme ride that are normally handled by FR or DH bikes. I believe almost everyone will agree that an AM bike offers the best versatility across all other bike types, and all that really matters isthat you enjoy the feeling of riding. Another train of thought is, its the rider[/] not the bike[/] that determines how to handle the terrain. The former is held in high regard by street riders.

 

[jill]

I have a Trek Fuel Ex5 as a compromise between AM-DH-XC. My background is DH but I wanted to ride uphills too and wanted a comfortable bike that I could ride anywhere all day and hit some rougher stuff if I came across it. It is proving to be very good. Cost $2000 - it is the bottom of the Fuel range - there are better models. I also went for the women's version as it had different women's specific suspension and a womens seat plus I liked the colour better!! I can also lock out the front and rear suspension if I want which is great for longer flatter riding and road riding. Just another thought to confuse you! BTW - it has 5 inches of suspension.

 

[katej]

Hi again

Thanks for giving me some more advice - still no new bike, you can't rush these things! Also we just moved, which always hurts financially...
I think the Trek Lush is the equivalent of the Womens Fuel EX, so it is interesting to read your comments about that bike, thanks Jill. I completely agree with your comments too kgunzer about the rider and the bike - as I am sure you know, riding is all a mind game! Once I get my head around what I want to do, it probably won't matter what bike I have so long as I have the confidence in myself (so long as I don't try to ride through rock gardens on a Big W bike...)

Kate