AustinBike

OK. Bike decision has been made. More info next week once it all happens. No need to provide any additional input. This is how life should be.

One thing I will say about Time pedals is that they have different grades and the cheaper grades are not as worthwhile. I have the XC2 pedals on my urban commuter bike and they are fine for that, but I would not use them on the trail. For the trail I get the XC8's which are carbon and more durable. I have never tried the platforms, used to ride the Aliums and those were bombproof, but they were discontinued sadly. These pedals are really a case of getting what you paid for in terms of durability, it's not all about weight.

It is a medium. I am ~5' 10" and it fits me fine, with most other bikes I ride a large.

If you are looking to buy a hardtail, I have a Vassago Verhauen (Steel) hardtail that I will be selling soon. Chris King wheels, pike, lots of good stuff....

Yeah, I was interested in the Trail 429, but the entry point with the lowest build was over $6K. Yes, it has some better components and that adds up to ~$500 in price delta, leaving ~$1,300 still in pricing difference. All of the discounting in the world won't make that go away. I found this entire exercise interesting from a marketing perspective. There were a slew of bikes that all line up head to head that all have about the same components and all cost almost the identical $4,199. And the typical upsells were $4,499 and $4,899. So the price points were well established for a 130mm trail bike with SRAM components and a Fox fork. And then you had some outliers, like Pivot, that were way out of the park. And you try to figure out, is it REALLY that much better. And more importantly, would I ever REALLY notice the difference. Would love to have been in those marketing meetings.

I didn't see his comment because I have him on ignore. This thread is a pretty good example of actual input, actual information from others and (hopefully next week) actual purchase. Maybe he'll learn from...oh, wait a minute, never mind.

Maybe it is just the person but I seem to always break the left ones, I have a collection of leftover right ones. Should anyone else have the opposite problem, let's talk, we can make some pairs.

Big time user, for many years. Loved my SPDs because they were universal, still have some old 959’s. But they hurt my knees. Switched to Time and never had a problem since. Will probably have a pair you could try.

I am 90% sure that all of the bikes will feel pretty similar to me and all of them will feel very different from my current ride. And whatever I buy will be comfortable like a glove after a handful of rides. But, if you have the time and demos are available, it is worth taking a shot, what have I got to lose.

Broken frames were: Gary Fisher Sugar 3+ - ~2 years cracked rear triangle and front triangle (Blue pics below) Hammerhead 100 (Titus racer X modified) - ~4 years (silver pic below) Knolly Endorphin - ~2 years, went through 3 chainstays due to a design flaw (black pic below) I was anywhere from 180-200LBs during that time, so I was a lot heavier than I am now, but probably about average size for the typical central TX rider.

The Jet 9 RDO is in my range (price/specs/etc.) but with a recent bankruptcy and the value of the warranty is diminished. I would call them a back burner choice at this point. I have had 5 or 6 frame breaks in my life, so I am sensitive to the warranty piece.

Yes, I looking for carbon. The Carbon Ripmo is close to the price of a carbon Ripley, but I prefer ~130mm of travel, not 150 or 160. That is too much bike for my riding style.

Yup. It is boost. May ride brushy on sunday but not sure yet

Yeah, I wondered about that. I did some googling and they make ~$35M per quarter, 3-4x what many of the boutique guys are earning. Pretty confident they will be around for a while.

Yeah, most of the EB is managing to get by, not tackling the really technical. I'd almost recommend a light steel hardtail, but CP would really suck and so would Thumper. Everything else would be great.

No, between work, school and some other commitments it was gonna be too tight. Busy week this week, Bentonville the next, I just couldn't swing a second trip.

When I am done with all of this I'll be posting reviews of everything I ride.

I actually agree with this. I would not make the final purchase unless I had some saddle time, but in all honesty, the geometries of all of the bikes in my class are strikingly similar. As are the components. If you are spending in my budget, there is about a 90% chance I can tell you most of what you are going to buy, regardless of the manufacturer. More to the point, bodies adjust. I rented a canondale in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. For the first 10 miles I was all over the trail. But for the second 10 I had my brain dialed in and I rode it like it was mine. No matter what I buy it will be different from what I am riding now, so I am going to have to adjust. The first ride told me a half dozen things that I needed to know about these newfangled "modern geometry" bikes. Pretty sure that ride would be similar to all the others. The biggest thing for me is the checklist: XT brakes, 130mm fork (preferably 51mm offset - Fox is preferred), XT drivetrain but would settle for SRAM GX and decent wheels (DT Swiss is a leading contender). And with that being said, Santa Fe is off the agenda for this weekend and I might try to demo again. Stay tuned.

I love Yeti but HATE those little pistons on the SB4.5. Basically it is a.) a proprietary design, b.) probably a pain to service and c.) something that will have to be serviced. I want a bike with a rear shock, not 3, that is only going to bump up the service costs and make tuning it a pain. The SB100 looks more like my style, but that is only 120mm and configured bikes start ~$5100, so after discount it will probably still be $500-700 more than the competition. I'd get one in memory of Anthony (had a great demo the last time I saw him) but the premium is a bit steep.

Chuck, if you need to borrow one while you sort all of this out, I have one that is not installed right now. Won't need it for a week or two I believe.

Thanks, I was hoping you would weigh in, you've got a lot more experience in all of these brands than I do. Already in contact with Wes, that is what started all of this. Sounds like it needs to be on the demo list.

Interested to know your experiences, good and bad, with the company. My own (probably ignorant) perception is that Orbea is really a road company that happens to have mountain bikes but they do not seem to be their primary business. Whenever I see people on Orbea mountain bikes they tend to be racers, people that I think spend more time on pavement than dirt. Anyone have any better input on the company?

No, he lost it on Tuesday.

The Transition Smuggler would be more of what I am looking for. ~$4K, ~140mm, 29". Seems like there are a bunch of bikes in that range. STA is 75.8deg, so a bit steeper than I would like. Rode a Specialized Stumpjumper around the parking lot. That had the seat tube angle that I prefer. It had fallen off the list but is now in contention with the rest of them.

I'll be expecting you to buy my Chris King 135mm wheel set soon.