JC Cyclists.
- Thread starter Pilotforhire587
- Start date
bike21
9-5 Ruins Lives
Hopefully going to demo one tomorrow. It has been an on-going conversation in our household. My first world problem of having two MTB bikes that neither do exactly what I want has been a conundrum of late. My fully rigid 29'er and 6" travel bike are obviously opposite ends of the spectrum. I've been riding the 29'er a lot more this year but damn does it beat me up. I could put a suspension fork on it of course, but that doesn't solve my desire to have a squishy yet efficient bike.
Thus the desire to grab a new ride. With the possibility of taking a pay cut (hopefully sooner than later) to move on to a legacy I can't justify spending thousands for a 3rd ride. I'm thinking of parting out both bikes to build up the SB95. Or converting my Intense to a 27.5 wheeled bike and putting a smaller travel fork on it, which wouldn't quite solve the efficiency dilemma. The Intense is/was my dream build, but I think perhaps a few years too late. I'm hesitant to go as big as I used to and I think an aggressive/squishy/efficient 29'er might fit the bill for 90% of the trails I ride.
Hmm....
Thus the desire to grab a new ride. With the possibility of taking a pay cut (hopefully sooner than later) to move on to a legacy I can't justify spending thousands for a 3rd ride. I'm thinking of parting out both bikes to build up the SB95. Or converting my Intense to a 27.5 wheeled bike and putting a smaller travel fork on it, which wouldn't quite solve the efficiency dilemma. The Intense is/was my dream build, but I think perhaps a few years too late. I'm hesitant to go as big as I used to and I think an aggressive/squishy/efficient 29'er might fit the bill for 90% of the trails I ride.
Hmm....
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
Before you pull the trigger, check out everything in the category. Make sure you check out a Tallboy LT, a Trek Remedy 29er, SB95, etc. There are tons of impressive bikes in this category of long travel trail/all mountain 29er right now, and while I'm sure the SB95 is an amazing bike, there are lots of options out there.
And with that, I know exactly what you mean. Right now this longerish travel hard tail 29er is working out for me, but in a few years when we move back west, I'll need more bike. But how many bikes remains to be the question.
And with that, I know exactly what you mean. Right now this longerish travel hard tail 29er is working out for me, but in a few years when we move back west, I'll need more bike. But how many bikes remains to be the question.
bike21
9-5 Ruins Lives
Demo'd the SB95 the last two days - in short I loved it. Did a bunch of climbing/descending/tech/flats/road on it and it shined in all regards. It was surprisingly flickable even with a 90mm stem on it. Of course, not as fun of a play bike as the 26" Tracer but it felt like a really solid all-arounder.
I'll probably hop on a Tallboy LT next week for good measure, my wife has a Tallboy and loves it. I've ridden her bike (same size frame I'd ride) and it is fun & efficient. I think the geometry of the Yeti will suit me more but we'll see. I've also ridden a Tracer 29 and that was a rad bike too. Although not as efficient as the Yeti and a little more burly. Decisions, decisions.
I'll probably hop on a Tallboy LT next week for good measure, my wife has a Tallboy and loves it. I've ridden her bike (same size frame I'd ride) and it is fun & efficient. I think the geometry of the Yeti will suit me more but we'll see. I've also ridden a Tracer 29 and that was a rad bike too. Although not as efficient as the Yeti and a little more burly. Decisions, decisions.
bike21
9-5 Ruins Lives
Yep, very hard decision and with the new 650b/27.5 revolution even harder. Kind of like computers, cameras and such there will always be the next/best thing out but you gotta choose and be happy with what you have sometimes. I had my old Tracer for nearly 10 years and this will be the 3rd bike in two years! I'm just trying to find a bike that matches most of the riding I do these days and I think I've found it. Sure, I can still out-descend most folks on my rigid (not trying to toot my own horn, but truth) but it beats the hell out of me and I pay for it later in the form of backaches & such. I can't out-climb very many so I might as well be good at something
Rides were in/near Boulder, last night were the trails we can easily ride to from the house. For the most part those trails are non-techy and fast with about 1,200' of climbing or so for 20 mile ride. We ride a mixture of pavement/dirt bike paths to get there so I wanted to see how it performed as compared to the hard tail.
This morning was up in Lyons just to the north on a trail called Picture Rock. Starts with about 45 minutes of climbing then you can do a fun loop up top. Most of the trail leans more toward tech with a lot of rocks so it was a great trail to test it on. I crashed on the descent after striking a pedal on a rock as I'm not used to the lower BB height. Probably shouldn't have been pushing it so hard at that spot, but wanted to compare it to the Tracer on that section.
Overall I spent about 4 hours on it and really dig it. Now I just have to run the numbers and sell my other two rides. Oh and convince the Mrs. I'm not crazy!
bike21
9-5 Ruins Lives
True that, but even wominz who ride bikes have their breaking points on bike expenditures
Pilotforhire587
Lycra Man
Sorry, haven't been on here in about a month. Aluminum has advanced to a point now where frame weight between Carbon and Aluminum is very similar. The difference is stiffness and ride quality. As I have said before, and other have said responding to your question go find a bike that is comfortable to you first. I don't know what your budget it but for me personally, if you can't go for a high end carbon frame I would avoid carbon and go for a high end aluminum frame instead. You will get more quality and more bang for your buck. One of the best Aluminum frames out there is the Specialized Allez, I think the Cannondale Caad 10 is a close second. Both of these companies have invest a lot of time and money into new ways to form and assemble their aluminum frames to make them lighter and improve ride quality.
All that being said the biggest difference you are going to notice between carbon and aluminum is that aluminum doesn't absorb bumps in the road nearly as well as carbon so you will feel everything, this will lead to fatigue quicker than a GOOD carbon frame.
With components make sure you have at least 105's if you are riding Shimano, I don't have a lot of experience with Sram but I would go for Rival components or better.
Good luck in your hunt. Let us know if you have any other questions.
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
bike21
9-5 Ruins Lives
What a stage today! The whole bus being stuck under the finish line saga was hilarious. Was hoping Cav would have grabbed a yellow jersey but no dice.
I rode my roadie for perhaps the second time this year since the trails were muddy and figured might as well honor the Tour.
I rode my roadie for perhaps the second time this year since the trails were muddy and figured might as well honor the Tour.
Pilotforhire587
Lycra Man
What a shake up in the tour in the first 3 stages....
SteveCostello
My member is well-known.
I made the switch to road bikes about 5 years ago after riding MTB for 20 years. I kept the mountain bike thinking I would still occasionally ride it. It's got 5 years of dust on it right now. I just have too much fun going WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! on the Scott CR1 I have. Just came back from a trip to Napa where I took my bike (thanks for being AWESOME when it comes to bike transport, Southwest!). I hit 46 mph on one of the downhills. Of course... it took 2 hours to climb that hill and 5 minutes to go down, but still... WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
Pilotforhire587
Lycra Man
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! WARNING: to much WEEEEEEEEEEEE can lead to broken clavicles and death. 
but still WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
but still WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
SteveCostello
My member is well-known.
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! WARNING: to much WEEEEEEEEEEEE can lead to broken clavicles and death.
No doubt. I think I halved my brakes' lifespan on that hill. Fortunately the road itself was in decent (descent? HAHAHAH!!!) shape. I've been on some downhills that would have been a lot of fun, but the road surface was definitely something to be wary of.
BEEF SUPREME
Well-Known Member
Which routes did you try out?
SteveCostello
My member is well-known.
We did all sorts of fun stuff. Here are three of the rides we did:
http://app.strava.com/activities/60754283 - Our first ride. Was supposed to be relatively easy. It wasn't. But it sure was fun.
http://app.strava.com/activities/60947624 - An easy ride we did from Napa about halfway to Calistoga and back. (We stayed in Calistoga the last time we did Napa, and did a bunch of riding then, too.)
http://app.strava.com/activities/61768560 - Easily the most grueling ride. 30.2 miles, 2900 feet of climbing, almost all of it in the last 8 miles. My sister-in-law's family has property up there. Beautiful area. It was nearly wiped out in the massive fires there several years ago.
We did some other rides, as well, but those are the notable ones, and the ones I have in Strava.
SteveCostello
My member is well-known.
Sidenote: One of the most memorable parts of biking on this vacation didn't even happen on the bike. In fact, it happened in the SFO terminal on our way home. I was using one of these to transport my bike (not me in the photo):
Again, major props to SWA for having an excellent bike transport program. $75 each way, bike case is excluded from their dimensional limitations, and a 100lb. limit. Awesome. Anyway, I packed the case a little differently for the way home... namely, I put all the dirty laundry and such in it. Apparently, I had a little too much weight toward the top, as it was sometimes difficult to stand the box on end and have it stay up. In the SFO terminal, while waiting for an elevator, I thought I had the box stabilized on end while I readjusted my back pack. All I felt was the slightest brush of the box past my arm as it fell toward the tile floor.
ka BAAAAMMMMM!!!
Now, I knew what was about to happen because I felt it go past my arm. The rest of the terminal? Yeah... I'm surprised I did not get to spend some quality time in some unknown room in some unknown corner in some unknown wing of that terminal, because it caused several dozen people to scream and pee in their pants a little. It was frightening how loud it was, and, upon reflection, pretty damn hilarious at the screams of all the people that thought a bomb had gone off. The people immediately around us knew what happened, because they were looking right at us, but the sound echoed around the terminal so much I'm not sure if anyone else knew where it came from.
Again, major props to SWA for having an excellent bike transport program. $75 each way, bike case is excluded from their dimensional limitations, and a 100lb. limit. Awesome. Anyway, I packed the case a little differently for the way home... namely, I put all the dirty laundry and such in it. Apparently, I had a little too much weight toward the top, as it was sometimes difficult to stand the box on end and have it stay up. In the SFO terminal, while waiting for an elevator, I thought I had the box stabilized on end while I readjusted my back pack. All I felt was the slightest brush of the box past my arm as it fell toward the tile floor.
ka BAAAAMMMMM!!!
Now, I knew what was about to happen because I felt it go past my arm. The rest of the terminal? Yeah... I'm surprised I did not get to spend some quality time in some unknown room in some unknown corner in some unknown wing of that terminal, because it caused several dozen people to scream and pee in their pants a little. It was frightening how loud it was, and, upon reflection, pretty damn hilarious at the screams of all the people that thought a bomb had gone off. The people immediately around us knew what happened, because they were looking right at us, but the sound echoed around the terminal so much I'm not sure if anyone else knew where it came from.