Mountain Biking

BaJ said:
What Giant do you have? What problems has it got?

The four bikes listed are very different – two Enduro bikes and two Trail bikes.
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2017 Trance 3. Had loads of problems with the front and rear derailleurs and the outer cables for them. The rims as well are pretty crappy as well for tubeless.

I do a mixture of enduro/trail riding so I'd prefer something that is capable of both, I have been swaying more towards the Santa Cruz if I'm honest. Specialized had a demo day at Glentress last month and had a go on the Enduro which was a brilliant bike.
 
I keep eyeballing new bikes after hitting some of the limitations of my Boardman in Andorra last month. The Santa Cruz 5010 sounds fantastic but is expensive for what components you get on it compared to a lot of the alternatives I've looked at from Canyon, Commencal, Giant.... Spoilt for choice with too many very good looking bikes available. How do people ever chose!
 
PinkFloyd said:
I keep eyeballing new bikes after hitting some of the limitations of my Boardman in Andorra last month. The Santa Cruz 5010 sounds fantastic but is expensive for what components you get on it compared to a lot of the alternatives I've looked at from Canyon, Commencal, Giant.... Spoilt for choice with too many very good looking bikes available. How do people ever chose!
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It's impossible, really theres far too much choice.

The new Pole 140 is lovely, but acctually getting one seems hard. Still two years till I'm back in the UK so plenty of time to think about what I want next. Most likely a 29, long, low and slack enduro machine thing.
 
I can't decide whether I want something more trail or enduro focussed :/
Whilst in Andorra we rode some really steep stuff that had me begging for something with a more enduro feel, especially in Vallnord. Slacker geometry would have undoubtedly been more comfortable and allowed me to go faster. But then I think about it, I don't do any races right now and fun is far more important. Would I have more fun purely because I could carry more speed over rough stuff? I'm not convinced. I'm worried that having a bike with a tonne of travel and really slack/long geometry could end up making it feel a bit boring to ride sometimes.

Really doesn't help when I read a review of a bike complaining that the head angle is far too steep and the bars are far too narrow... Only to compare to the current bike and see it's 1-2 degrees slacker and still 5cm wider than I'm used to! :p
 
PinkFloyd said:
I can't decide whether I want something more trail or enduro focussed :/
Whilst in Andorra we rode some really steep stuff that had me begging for something with a more enduro feel, especially in Vallnord. Slacker geometry would have undoubtedly been more comfortable and allowed me to go faster. But then I think about it, I don't do any races right now and fun is far more important. Would I have more fun purely because I could carry more speed over rough stuff? I'm not convinced. I'm worried that having a bike with a tonne of travel and really slack/long geometry could end up making it feel a bit boring to ride sometimes.

Really doesn't help when I read a review of a bike complaining that the head angle is far too steep and the bars are far too narrow... Only to compare to the current bike and see it's 1-2 degrees slacker and still 5cm wider than I'm used to! :p
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Find some demo days and go try different bikes.

Also Bird will let you try their bikes if you pop down. Albiet you may not want one, but they geo is similar to most enduro/AM bikes on the market.
 
PinkFloyd said:
I can't decide whether I want something more trail or enduro focussed :/
Whilst in Andorra we rode some really steep stuff that had me begging for something with a more enduro feel, especially in Vallnord. Slacker geometry would have undoubtedly been more comfortable and allowed me to go faster. But then I think about it, I don't do any races right now and fun is far more important. Would I have more fun purely because I could carry more speed over rough stuff? I'm not convinced. I'm worried that having a bike with a tonne of travel and really slack/long geometry could end up making it feel a bit boring to ride sometimes.

Really doesn't help when I read a review of a bike complaining that the head angle is far too steep and the bars are far too narrow... Only to compare to the current bike and see it's 1-2 degrees slacker and still 5cm wider than I'm used to! :p
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I've got 3 MTB's that cover the most applications:

Canyon LUX CF. Very XC oriented, light and fast with only 100mm travel front and rear. Weighs around 10.8kg

Scott 700 Genius. Bit of a jack of all trades, very light and capable. Can descend pretty hard with its 150mm travel front and rear. Also has 2 rear suspension positions which alters the head angle. Weighs around 11.5kg

YT Industries Capra CF. Enduro bike with 170mm. An absolute beast of a bike on the descents, I'm still trying to get used to the mental amount of grip it has. It does however take quite an effort on the accents weighing around 13.8kg

If I had to choose only one it would have to be the Scott as its great at so many things. It only struggles if you push too hard on really rough descents. Scott also do a 700 LT which might be worth a look.
 
Yeah that 2018 is stunning. I'm guessing its not going to be cheap.

Another bike thats getting great write ups is the Canyon Spectral EX. The end of season sales will soon be on too.
 
Superpatsy said:
2017 Trance 3. Had loads of problems with the front and rear derailleurs and the outer cables for them. The rims as well are pretty crappy as well for tubeless.

I do a mixture of enduro/trail riding so I'd prefer something that is capable of both, I have been swaying more towards the Santa Cruz if I'm honest. Specialized had a demo day at Glentress last month and had a go on the Enduro which was a brilliant bike.
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For trails and enduro then why not the YT Jeffsy instead of the Capra?

I was drooling over the Capra a couple years ago and kept looking at in since, but a month ago I pulled the trigger on a 650b Jeffsy. As I don't live near a chair/up lift I need to be able to get up the hills too, so felt the Capra would be more work for little more downhill gains. Plus, I'm not sure I'll ever have the balls to hit things that need 170mm travel. At the end of the day, within the UK, would 170mm travel on the Capra be all that much better than the 150 on the Jeffsy?!? I dunno, but that's what I thought. I went for the 650 instead of 29er as I already have a 650b so already have tyres and tubes, and tbh the 29er was out of stock with a couple months wait but the 650b was in my house a week after clicking buy. The 12sp Eagle groupset is great and means i can climb easier than my old Whyte T130, but (so far) the bike seems no less capable than my mate's Orange 5 so intend to take it to uplift days when i can get the time.

Afaik the Capra is pretty much enduro focused, the 29er Jeffsy is 140mm travel trails bike, but the 27 Jeffsy is bordering trail and enduro (according to yt's site anyway).
 
Hi guys, can someone who knows about parts do me a quick favour?

I am going to buy a Boardman Mountain Bike Team 29er, but Halfords sell a red one, which I think is the latest model and the 2016 blue one for the same price. I can get an extra 10% off the current sale price of £670 from £800 through work, so for a shade over £600 they look good value.

Thing is that there are variations between the two on the specs. Here is the comparison table - http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes?brand=Boardman#compare=1173803|1327826

You need to open the 'details specs'. Which one is better specced or are they a much of a muchness? The 2016 model is well reviewed, but not much on the newer red one.

Thanks.
 
PapaLazaru said:
Hi guys, can someone who knows about parts do me a quick favour?

I am going to buy a Boardman Mountain Bike Team 29er, but Halfords sell a red one, which I think is the latest model and the 2016 blue one for the same price. I can get an extra 10% off the current sale price of £670 from £800 through work, so for a shade over £600 they look good value.

Thing is that there are variations between the two on the specs. Here is the comparison table - http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes?brand=Boardman#compare=1173803|1327826

You need to open the 'details specs'. Which one is better specced or are they a much of a muchness? The 2016 model is well reviewed, but not much on the newer red one.

Thanks.
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Their pretty much identical.

The 2017 model has GX and the 16 has NX. By the looks of it, the 17 has an 11-42T cassettee and the 16 has a 10-42. Which would/could mean the 16 has a XD driver and the NX doesn't.

Theres not much of a difference I think? If any at all. SRAM NX is newer, but maybe built a little cheaper than the GX hence why they've used the 11-42 cassette.
 
Yeh I think GX is a model up from NX.
But which exact bikes are you looking at, the link doesn't make it clear, if it's these, they both look identical spec and same price at £680

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...goryId=165499&productId=1327826&storeId=10001




http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/boardman-mountain-bike-team-29er-2016

The red one says GX in the description but NX in the spec, so I'd probably clarify that, probably a typo.

But as above not really anything in it.
 
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Thanks chaps, I was going to get the blue 2016 model purely for the GX over the NX, but if the 2017 comes with it I will go go for that.

I think I will go to a shop which has both in stock and check with my own eyes and make a decision then.
 
Given that the detailed specification says NX on the 2017, I'd guess that's right, NX is newer than GX, but as mentioned above, it's slightly cheaper and sits one notch below GX on the product hierarchy.
 
PinkFloyd said:
I can't decide whether I want something more trail or enduro focussed :/
Whilst in Andorra we rode some really steep stuff that had me begging for something with a more enduro feel, especially in Vallnord. Slacker geometry would have undoubtedly been more comfortable and allowed me to go faster. But then I think about it, I don't do any races right now and fun is far more important. Would I have more fun purely because I could carry more speed over rough stuff? I'm not convinced. I'm worried that having a bike with a tonne of travel and really slack/long geometry could end up making it feel a bit boring to ride sometimes.

Really doesn't help when I read a review of a bike complaining that the head angle is far too steep and the bars are far too narrow... Only to compare to the current bike and see it's 1-2 degrees slacker and still 5cm wider than I'm used to! :p
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What boardman do you have?

I just took the Pro FS to BC and loved how competent it was. Bike is too small for me but they are really well balanced for a trail bike for UK riding.

As you have rightly identified, I think it is important to try and avoid overbiking for the UK it just makes things dull.

Ive had an enduro 29, habit se, boardman pro fs and the boardman is my favourite. The enduro 29 was great for riding things blind but ruined home trails. I've done some extensive riding on a transition scout and a 5010 too. The 5010 was just about perfect but soooooooooooo expensive.
 
PapaLazaru said:
Thanks chaps, I was going to get the blue 2016 model purely for the GX over the NX, but if the 2017 comes with it I will go go for that.

I think I will go to a shop which has both in stock and check with my own eyes and make a decision then.
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I think I'd go for the one with the XD driver, a 42-10 will give you more range than a 42-11 albiet not by much. I can't imagine much more of a difference. It will restrict if you ever want to change over to shimano though.
 
Snax said:
What boardman do you have?

I just took the Pro FS to BC and loved how competent it was. Bike is too small for me but they are really well balanced for a trail bike for UK riding.

As you have rightly identified, I think it is important to try and avoid overbiking for the UK it just makes things dull.

Ive had an enduro 29, habit se, boardman pro fs and the boardman is my favourite. The enduro 29 was great for riding things blind but ruined home trails. I've done some extensive riding on a transition scout and a 5010 too. The 5010 was just about perfect but soooooooooooo expensive.
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I've got the 2014 version, but with a few tweaks from standard. Somehow I ended up with a free upgrade to Guide brakes rather than the problematic Avid Elixers, added a dropper post, better rubber all around and removed the front derailleur to try 1x10 to see if I miss out on the range much. I'd say BPW is the only place I've ever came close to the bike's limits in the UK, and that was more down to just feeling really worn out over bumpy terrain rather than really struggling like I was in places in Vallnord!

The 5010 hugely catches my eye, but like you say - hugely expensive. Plus I'd potentially miss having that extra travel if I was to do a big bike park day again! :p

Evidently the answer is multiple bikes :D
 
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