Trail/race bike?

JonF

Well-Known Member
Transition Spur seems to be the new reigning hotness for the lightweight downcountry quiver killer category.
 

mbruno

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
The reality is, DT has already made up his mind, and nothing anyone says here is going to change it. Plus, whatever he gets, he's going to sell in 9 months anyway. Why not buy a downhill bike, have your soigneur meet you at the top of every climb, then ride the DH bike down to your hardtail?
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
100mm? They're running 120mm in the World Cup now.

Only the Scott team. Which Nino won the world championship on.


Trek went less than 60 on the rear. Which Jolanda Neff and Evie Richards won on.


Half the World Cup field still won’t use a dropper because of the weight.

@Dave Taylor is this for a race bike or fun bike? If race, check the Scott spark or the SC Blur TR. they seem to fit the bill. But throwing a 120mm fork on a regular xc bike may be just as good and you can go back and forth when you need to.
After doing a longer ride on my trail bike (it’s much bigger than you would want to race with) and then doing a similar ride on my 100/100….. I’ll take light over more travel for a race.
 
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Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
The reality is, DT has already made up his mind, and nothing anyone says here is going to change it. Plus, whatever he gets, he's going to sell in 9 months anyway. Why not buy a downhill bike, have your soigneur meet you at the top of every climb, then ride the DH bike down to your hardtail?

Yup, so I say: lawnmower!
 

Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
Only the Scott team. Which Nino won the world championship on.


Trek went less than 60 on the rear. Which Jolanda Neff and Evie Richards won on.


Half the World Cup field still won’t use a dropper because of the weight.

@Dave Taylor is this for a race bike or fun bike? If race, check the Scott spark or the SC Blur TR. they seem to fit the bill. But throwing a 120mm fork on a regular xc bike may be just as good and you can go back and forth when you need to.
After doing a longer ride on my trail bike (it’s much bigger than you would want to race with) and then doing a similar ride on my 100/100….. I’ll take light over more travel for a race.
More a race bike that can overcome my downhill stickiness. Under 27lbs for an xl is a must. I’m not going to live near Hartshorne any longer so I want something that you would race or ride at say ringwood any day of the week.
 

Pearl

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
have you looked at one of these recently?
No photo description available.
 

UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I’d say marathon racing is more my thing and I got destroyed on the down hills this year running 100 mm sit ultimate.

So ok, I live close to wildcat and it has a number of downhills which I like to practice.....thus it means I can ride all 3 of my full suspension bikes and compare my times. Its rather surprising how little pedaling it takes to turn the advantage back towards the XC bike....and my scalpel has 1280grm podium wheels and shitty 2.2 racing ralphs on it...so I am not bashing it thru things like I can with my bronson with minions and tire inserts...... Granted, this is a segment, not an entire race.....But the factor in the advantage in uphill speed and ya, I just cant think of an XC style course...or longer... (NOT world cups which are nothing like our xc races) in which I want to lug around alot of weight. But 120mm, little bigger fork like a fox 34, etc....I can see it...Although if you want to really make it significantly faster than an XC bike downhill...you want better tires and that means heavier. Like, yes, my tallboy is better downhill than my scalpel (I have minions on it)...but if I put xc tires on it, that advantage gets smaller.

This is a silly conversation anyway....are you going to buy 1 bike? Than get something like @MadisonDan or @stb222 suggested.....they will be decent all around. Not really great at anything....but good. Moreso tho...how are YOU at riding downhill? Is the bike holding you back? or do you need to get faster DH?
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
More a race bike that can overcome my downhill stickiness. Under 27lbs for an xl is a must. I’m not going to live near Hartshorne any longer so I want something that you would race or ride at say ringwood any day of the week.

then I think the Blur, Scott, or any of the other “downcountry” bikes are what you want. 27lbs is definitely doable. But once you go more than 120/120 it’s gonna be hard to stay under 27.

And skip the electric shifting and dropper. Go with cables and save the weight.
 

Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
So ok, I live close to wildcat and it has a number of downhills which I like to practice.....thus it means I can ride all 3 of my full suspension bikes and compare my times. Its rather surprising how little pedaling it takes to turn the advantage back towards the XC bike....and my scalpel has 1280grm podium wheels and shitty 2.2 racing ralphs on it...so I am not bashing it thru things like I can with my bronson with minions and tire inserts...... Granted, this is a segment, not an entire race.....But the factor in the advantage in uphill speed and ya, I just cant think of an XC style course...or longer... (NOT world cups which are nothing like our xc races) in which I want to lug around alot of weight. But 120mm, little bigger fork like a fox 34, etc....I can see it...Although if you want to really make it significantly faster than an XC bike downhill...you want better tires and that means heavier. Like, yes, my tallboy is better downhill than my scalpel (I have minions on it)...but if I put xc tires on it, that advantage gets smaller.

This is a silly conversation anyway....are you going to buy 1 bike? Than get something like @MadisonDan or @stb222 suggested.....they will be decent all around. Not really great at anything....but good. Moreso tho...how are YOU at riding downhill? Is the bike holding you back? or do you need to get faster DH?
I don’t think I decent poorly but descending for 30 minutes on 2 piston brakes with 100mm brain for really fatigued me. Some of it may be core, some body position. I mean, in general I am top ten on plenty of local dh segments like Hartshorne and chimney rock but it’s all on xc bikes. Maybe I answered my own question and the newer 120 front/100 rear is the answer for races over 2 hours? The specialized epic evo did get great reviews, even better for climbing the the sworks epic as it does bot use the brain.
 

Joe J

Well-Known Member
Dave, You know 100s are not won on the DH they are won on the climbs and transitional stuff where pedaling efficiency is crucial. The DH are about using as little energy as possible, relaxing & picking smooth lines not sending anything. FWIW I’m building a new Epic.

?? Where you moving to??
 

Glenn Rides After 4 PM CST

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
How about a Spot Ryve
Should probably order now. 5-6 week delivery
 
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1speed

Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
I don’t think I decent poorly but descending for 30 minutes on 2 piston brakes with 100mm brain for really fatigued me. Some of it may be core, some body position. I mean, in general I am top ten on plenty of local dh segments like Hartshorne and chimney rock but it’s all on xc bikes. Maybe I answered my own question and the newer 120 front/100 rear is the answer for races over 2 hours? The specialized epic evo did get great reviews, even better for climbing the the sworks epic as it does bot use the brain.
Are you basing this on Chestnut off Reddish Knob? Because I don't think there are too many other 30 minute descents east of the Mississippi. And I wouldn't make any decision based on that descent because (1) you go into it fatigued enough from the previous 80 miles and the 25 mile climb you just did, and (2) the ground moves beneath you while you're descending a 30 degree pitch, which can be objectively terrifying enough to make you easily forget to switch positions frequently. It's not a "typical" descent for any XC or endurance race.

I know it's tough to demo anything right now, but I would say try some of the longer travel stuff out before you commit to it. Bikes are generally so well made today that most of the time they're more capable than the people riding them, which you may find you're not that excited about. You ride SS most of the time, so you are used to (and I can only assume enjoy) the challenge of navigating tech by thinking your way through it rather than just blazing over it. You may find that a longer travel bike takes that edge off of your riding. And I'm not trashing those bikes - I think they're amazing and whenever I ride with my buddy Zach (who is a freaking monster on any kind of tech), I just sit back and watch him float over stuff where I can't even see a trail with his 140mm of travel. I'm just saying make sure they're for you before you drop a bundle on one.
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
I don’t think I decent poorly but descending for 30 minutes on 2 piston brakes with 100mm brain for really fatigued me. Some of it may be core, some body position. I mean, in general I am top ten on plenty of local dh segments like Hartshorne and chimney rock but it’s all on xc bikes. Maybe I answered my own question and the newer 120 front/100 rear is the answer for races over 2 hours? The specialized epic evo did get great reviews, even better for climbing the the sworks epic as it does bot use the brain.
If you have Shimano brakes, 4 piston up front and keep the two in the rear. With Shimano you can just buy the caliper and use the same lever.
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
If you have Shimano brakes, 4 piston up front and keep the two in the rear. With Shimano you can just buy the caliper and use the same lever.
Or make sure you use the ice tech rotors and size up on the rotor.

I actually bought a Saint caliper but I’m going to see how much just the rotors help.
After using 4 piston on my occam, the 2 piston XTR seemed really weak.
 
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