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Mountain Bike - Hard tail

Discussion in 'General' started by Game, Jun 8, 2011.

  1. Senna

    Senna Well-Known Member

    Really just depends on location and where/how you ride. It's not necessary where I'm at - I bought it just to fuck with it some. But even the XC pros are adding droppers to their rigs now.
     
  2. sharky nrk

    sharky nrk Rubber Side Up

    After spending some time the other day riding a modern trail bike I am making some adjustments to my bike - specifically with the bars, stem, and adding a dropper - the more modern position is simply more comfortable over singletrack terrain
     
  3. RndHoleSqPeg

    RndHoleSqPeg Well-Known Member

    I can't imagine riding without a dropper on any of my bikes, but it does matter where and what you are riding. If you are flatlander that rides XC terrarium trails then it probably makes no sense. The constant switches between pedal/roller/tech chunder would make life unbearable with either having a seat shoved up in my ass or down the entire time when I ride even my hardtail. The 1 lb penalty is more than made up for the amount of fun that can be had without having a seat in the way at least for me
     
    TurboBlew likes this.
  4. Kris87

    Kris87 Friendly Smartass

    I think I'm actually going to ditch my dropper and just save the little weight it adds. I'm riding piedmont region of GA. Rode 15 miles last night on my normal trail. It only has 1200 ft of elevation gain in that span of mileage. I just don't see the need for one.
     
  5. brex

    brex Well-Known Member

    With the right dropper, we're talking closer to half pound. I put the KS Lev CI on my son's new XC race bike. All in, it's ~220 g heavier than his carbon post.
     
  6. Bloodhound

    Bloodhound Well-Known Member

    Going shopping & test riding the next few days. Before I go I was wondering if anyone had had issues with 29" wheels from a heavier rider (currently 225lbs). Initially my gut instinct has been shop for 27.5 or 27.5+ and bypass 29ers altogether due to my current weight. Bike will serve as (hopefully) 50/50 between bike path/gravel and proper trail riding.

    Do I need worry about 29" wheel durability?
     
  7. RichB

    RichB Well-Known Member

    In short, no. Even dh bikes these days are 29, just don't expect a pair of cheap and light xc wheels to survive a plough through approach.
     
    TurboBlew and Bloodhound like this.
  8. Bloodhound

    Bloodhound Well-Known Member

    I had read mixed reviews but seems as though quite a few larger riders prefer 29ers over the 27.5+ due to sidewall flex.
     
  9. RichB

    RichB Well-Known Member

    That's interesting, don't know about it myself. I still run old skool 27.5. the 27.5+ makes little sense except for maybe ebikes.
     
  10. TurboBlew

    TurboBlew Registers Abusers

    Id opt for 35mm or larger rim width if possible. Gives a better tire profile in a tubeless setup.
     
    Bloodhound likes this.
  11. shakazulu12

    shakazulu12 Well-Known Member

    Possibly dumb question, there is a DJ/Pump track at a park two minutes from me. Can I just ride it with my hardtail until such time I get a DJ bike?
     
  12. Bloodhound

    Bloodhound Well-Known Member

    I don't see why not... What HT did you end up with?
     
  13. shakazulu12

    shakazulu12 Well-Known Member

    I bought a Vitus Sentier VRS. It's more on the burley side of things, which is what I wanted. I don't actually ride real cross country. We have tons of flow and jump systems around here that are a blast. Figured was better to learn on a hardtail than jumping in to full suspension. So far, I definitely am nowhere near outriding the bike and having a blast.
     
    Bloodhound likes this.
  14. Bloodhound

    Bloodhound Well-Known Member

    I have looked at them but I wanted to be able to swing a leg over one before pulling the trigger... As of now, I'm debating between a 2020 Fuse 27.5+ or a Stache 29er...or a Stumpjumper ST 29 and just going whole hog F/S...
     
  15. shakazulu12

    shakazulu12 Well-Known Member

    I figured I was new enough that it wouldn't matter honestly. So then it came down to component quality for the price. I've let a few people ride it, one of them got online and bought a NukeProof Mega immediately (sister company), mainly because he had heard of them but was leery of ordering overseas. Mine got to my house in 5 days. I get the impression from just messing around that there aren't really any bad bikes out there. I'll learn what I can from this one for the next year or so. I'm already making plans to race the local Enduro and Super D races. I may never ride a motorcycle again in all honesty.
     
  16. Bloodhound

    Bloodhound Well-Known Member

    Everytime I looked at Nukeproof I thought they were sold out... You still happy with 27.5 or wishing you went 29? Also, did you get yours from Chain Reaction?
     
  17. shakazulu12

    shakazulu12 Well-Known Member

    Yeah, Nukeproof sells out fast. I will likely get a Mega for an enduro rig just based on my purchase experience from Chain Reaction. Obviously the prices are amazing. The 2020 models are supposed to be announced in October according to their IG. Chain Reaction was great. What I wasn't expecting was the shipping to be so fast and customer service answering an email within about five minutes. Plus the bike was pre-tuned. I mounted the bars and the front wheel, then broke out the torque wrench to check everything. Everything was exactly to spec as per the manual and gears were bang on.

    As far as 27.5, I purposely went with that for the fun factor. I absolutely know that a 29er is faster, easier over obstacles etc. But I could feel a tangible difference in playfulness when demoing the different sizes. Given that this bike was intentionally meant as a training and fun tool to get me into the sport, and not really to set any KOM's, I went 27.5 with 2.6's. But again, I'm a newbie, I haven't ridden a bike I didn't like yet. I just noticed the difference in characteristics and figured this is isn't the only bike I'll own forever. The FS rig will likely be a 29er.

    Timberline has a new downhill park that is newb friendly, likely headed there Friday for some fun.
     
  18. shakazulu12

    shakazulu12 Well-Known Member

    renegade17 likes this.
  19. rk97

    rk97 Well-Known Member

    I have always sworn off the expense and complexity of rear suspension, but i’m Starting to think a short-travel full squish may allow me to ride for longer, if not faster.

    Will try to talk myself out of that costly attitude after work today. Planning 10-20 miles of single track on my rigid fat tire. Just to sweat outside and smile a lot. Which i should do more of.
     
  20. brex

    brex Well-Known Member

    No way, go all in on a lightweight 120 front/rear rocketship like I did for my son's XC race machine.
     

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