Mountain Bikes!

You must be on a large frame then. I just checked my small and can’t imagine a shock hitting the bottle.

I’m with you on the kashima. Unfortunately it seems the fancy guts are only on the Factory now and there is no more DPS Elite.

 

My AXS is loud going down chunky downhill I’m reading the clutch is weaker so the motor doesn’t use as much battery. I can’t stand noisy bikes.

 

Going to check out some bikes this weekend. Revel is down in the Springs doing some demos, and I'm going to check out the Ibis Ripley and Transition Spur, too. The Spur is really speaking to me.

 

Yeah, Fox decided they didn't want people to get around their Kashima scam. Sad.
I do have a large, so two bottles inside the triangle on the downtube rather than one inside and one on the outside under the downtube.

 

The Spur is a great bike. It's a single pivot, so nothing fancy there, but they have done a really good job on the curve and shock tune.
My brother just picked one up a few weeks ago, and doing a couple ride-swaps, it has a very familiar feel to me. I believe they still have a small sale going on, grab one if you like it.

 

I like the aesthetics of the Spur better than the Ripley (or all Ibis bikes in general), the single line from "seat stay" to the top tube is visually appealing.

That said, both bikes are single water bottle only, which affects my buying decision personally. That "downcountry" segment has gotten very overcrowded now, much more bikes to pick from.

 

Hip pack with a bottle holder(s)! May or may not be a solution depending on the riding you do and what your preferences are. I have a Dakine that can hold 2 extra bottles very easily and out of the way.

 

I had the Kashima dropper and it was such a piece of shit. Never worked right from day one and always was sticking. Sold it and bought a crank brothers one and its been perfect.

 

Yeah, there are a lot of bikes in the class now. I completely agree with you on Ibis. I find all their bikes to be super fugly. I know DW-Link is supposed to be a great platform, but I'd rather just get a Giant with it's Maestro suspension and avoid the fugly top tube on an Ibis lol.

The Spur is sexy. Transition bikes also seem to hold their value super well.

I'm a hip pack and bladder guy lately, so the bottle thing isn't a big deal.

 

Yeah I know it's nothing fancy, but it seems like a well-thought out frame from a good company that gets rave reviews. The sale is tempting, but I also think the prices may come down a bit more later this year. Hard to say.

 

Gotta say, the Ranger is quite the looker too.

 

Have you seen the Scott Spark? I think that buried shock just looks super cool, like a trials bike almost. And also b/c it looks super different in a category that's experiencing convergence like no other.



It's sister bike, the Bold Linkin 135, is pretty neat too. Slightly different aesthetic.



The bike I was actually going to buy at one point was the YT Izzo. Cleaner aesthetic than the Spur imo, and much better priced.





Actual bike I ended up with though was this Kona Hei Hei. Still building it though (not my pic).

 

Aesthetically I do like the Spark and most Scott products in general. I always have - starting with their OG Addict road bike back in the early 200s. The integration they have terrifies me a bit, but I also don't do much work on my bikes outside of chain lube and replacing chains - the local shop's too inexpensive to justify doing it myself. I'd have to see where the nearest dealer is.

I love the Izzo too and that may be a better bike for the really chunky trails I have near me. I've just heard their CS isn't the best. Same deal I've heard with Canyon. Their Core3 build is fairly affordable, though, compared to what else I'm looking at.

 

Got some seat time on the Revel Ranger and Rascal.

Conditions were pretty shitty and I didn't know the trail system I was doing the demo on, but damn was the Ranger good. Super agile and capable for 120/115. CBF is the real deal. Thing climbed like a goat on rocky, wet and loose climbs. Stack height was maybe a tad low for my preferences but nothing a set of risers couldn't fix. Just felt fast everywhere and nothing felt like a slog.

I also rode AXS on the Ranger. Thought it was pretty cool but maybe not a groundbreaking feature. I'd probably take it over the carbon wheels I rode on the Rascal - I didn't feel much with those. I would prefer the buttons to be swapped. I'm sure that's doable on the software.

The Rascal was okay. Starting to think the bigger 140/130 trail sleds are just not for me. Not as agile as the Ranger by any means and a bit more of a slog on the uphills, but still had traction for days and a bottomless feel hitting little jumps.

Really wanted to hate the Ranger, but it really was incredible. The Revel rep said he found the Ranger to be a lot more fun than the Rascal for most trails.

 

I think electronic makes more sense on 2x bikes, where it can manage your front shifting too. I have 2x Di2 on my road bike, and it's nice to be able to just dump a ton of gears at once and not have to think about what ring I'm in. Gravel bike is also Di2 but 1x, works not as great as the new stuff, but still is good. Less of a "need" on the gravel bike for sure, that said, when I'm tired and can't think straight at all, the lack of force needed to shift is appreciated.

Not sure where you're located, Ranger geo looks similar to my Kona. I think 67.5 HTA should be a good east coast bike, the 66 deg bikes, I'd save for out West, where you have faster and wider trails.

 

I am actually out West near Colorado Springs. We do have some gnarly trails but many of the local systems are pretty tame with lots of pedaling. Cheyenne Canyon is probably the only area I ride where a 130+ travel bike is nice to have.

I probably won't make a buying decision until mid-season to get an idea of what other trails I might ride consistently.

 

I think I’m going to buy an e mountain bike this week. The Giant is on my list but there are like a dozen variations of that Trance one. Which did you get? Which was your old one? I think my short list is a Giant Trance X (700 wh), Specialized Turbo Levo (700wh) and Orbea Wild (625 wh). I Also like the Yamaha Morow Pro but after reading too much shit I’m confused why they don’t offer 29” wheels.

 

Super impressed with the quality of the Giant Ebikes, and the Yamaha mtoors...
the link i had earlier for the Giant Trance X i just got, expired.. here's a new link that should work. $9500 retail price, my buddy Dave McCenery that owns bikesport oldsmar can get ya a bit of a discount on it, and have it delivered right to ya. he's at the IOM TT right now but will be back next week. This bike is SWEET with the newer Yamaha 85nm motor, bigger battery, and Fox "live valve" suspension that adjusts automatically, 1000+ times a second. it's got 29" wheels which i will say, is better and rolls nicer than the 27.5"wheels on my older bike.
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/trance-x-advanced-eplus-0-20mph


The other bike i've had a few years is a Giant Trance E+sx 0 pro.. it was over $7000 new, but that was in 2019, seeing them new now for under $5k.
https://www.theproscloset.com/products/2019-giant-trance-sx-e-0-m?variant=40661625110720&b_adgroup=Bikes - Giant&b_adgroupid=1357898686043577&b_adid=84869096403069&b_campaign=US - Shopping - Standard - Bikes - Top Manufacturers&b_campaignid=530107089&b_isproduct=product&b_productid=shopify_US_6869778530496_40661625110720&b_term=default&b_termid=pla-4588468188768439&msclkid=360fa4b0d5b111fdbc33c0cebcd8fb6c&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=US - Shopping - Standard - Bikes - Top Manufacturers&utm_term=4588468188768439&utm_content=Bikes - Giant

 

E-bikes are the shit. Its getting where most of my buddies have them now haha! Seriously every ride we have is the best ride. Heading to Bentonville this weekend with the crew for some shenanigans and I can't wait.

 

Bummed.. I haven't been able to get out even once this year. With work, traveling, racing and getting ready for baby stuff I've been too busy. I planned on going this week, but on the way home from MotoA at Road America, by truck started making clunky noises during some stop and go. Just as I suspected I lost a rear drive shaft U-joint. So now I gatta fix that this week...

Hoping to hit some trails next week now. lol