Buying a FS 29er?

[cjw94xk]

I just need some help on making a decision. I am currently looking into buying a 29er full suspension. Now my typically rides include South Park, North Park, Settlers, Bavington etc. However, I would like to start riding some more technical trails such as Moraine or maybe Seven Springs this spring/summer. A lot of people say a full suspension is overkill for western Pa. Any thoughts?
Thanks

[PaMountianbiker]

you don't need no stinkin suspension .we all ride 29 hardtail singlespeeds. Why ride a 26-29 pound bike when you could be at 20-25 pounds ? I ride all the same places . the only place suspension would be nice is in the Laurel mountians.

[PaMountianbiker]

What are you looking to buy which brand?

[2002wranglerX]

you don't need no stinkin suspension .we all ride 29 hardtail singlespeeds. Why ride a 26-29 pound bike when you could be at 20-25 pounds ? I ride all the same places . the only place suspension would be nice is in the Laurel mountians.

Ya... If you're a 150 lb spinning machine maybe... Don't get me wrong, a full rigid ss 29er is a fun 2nd bike, but no way do I think he should use that as his primary. I've had a gf rig that I built starting with just the frame, and a Kona ss 29er. Both fun bikes, both now gone for a reason.

I also had an xl Gary fisher paragon. I had it to 23 lbs in riding trim. Everything was carbon, ac wheels, etc. That now is also gone. I HATE the head tube angle on the 29er xc bikes. The single pivot 29er fs bikes aren't much better. If I HAD to go 29er fs it'd be the inner WFO or similar.

My primary bike now is a specialized endure expert. 6" of travel, under 30 lbs, adjustable front shock with climb mode, adjustable head tube angle... Il take the extra 6 lbs ANY day over my ol 23 lb 29er... I believed the hype at first. I had 3 of em, and I just don't enjoy them. One day at moraine pretty much sealed that deal. I threw my 4000 dollar hard tail into the weeks and started walking I was so pissed lol.

[cjw94xk]

The bike I am looking at right now is the Giant Anthem 29er x. I currently have a 29er, and I gotta be honest, I haven't been on my 26" Cannondale since I bought it. I am 6'1" and for me, it just fits me better.
I think two things are pushing me towards one. First, I can get the 11 for 2k. Considering msrp is about 2350, I think I am doing ok.
Secondly, I got married last summer, and now we are starting to talk house, kids, you know the story. If I don't get one now, when in the hell am I? haha.
I have never owned a FS, that is why I am trying to figure out if I really need one. Too many damned decisions!

[2002wranglerX]

Why buy a 100 mm bike when you already have a xc oriented bike?

Personally I'd look for an all mountain 6" bike and use your xc bike for single track, and the 6" bike for everything else. Then you could do 7 springs when you wanted to.

There's a long travel 29 version of the gf Roscoe that's pretty hot if you're stuck on those big wheels...


Here's my old and gone money pit lol

[cjw94xk]

Well, that is something I was wondering about too. 6" puts you at a AM, right? Considering most of the time I ride xc, how would an AM handle that?
I gotta say, I like the looks of the money pit you have there. But sometimes they fit right, sometimes they don't... The only downfall for me on the 29er is I don't feel like it is as nimble in the corners as the smaller wheels.

[2002wranglerX]

Well, that is something I was wondering about too. 6" puts you at a AM, right? Considering most of the time I ride xc, how would an AM handle that?
I gotta say, I like the looks of the money pit you have there. But sometimes they fit right, sometimes they don't... The only downfall for me on the 29er is I don't feel like it is as nimble in the corners as the smaller wheels.

This is what I ride



It weighs in at 29.9 lbs with 2.5 front and 2.4 rear tires (not shown). The extra travel more than makes up for the smaller wheels. Plus roll a skinny (normal) 29er tire next to my 2.5 and they're almost the same diameter! I just find the extra head tube angle and suspension really make up for a lot.

Jeepnick is riding a gf Roscoe iii and its pretty hot. Nothing but good things to say.

If you're hung up on 29ers check out the rumble fish. You get 120mm which isn't bad for a 29er

[2002wranglerX]

If you wanna borrow my 6" bike you're more than welcome. God knows I'm not using it lately lol. Il warn you though, everyone that's ridden it has offered to buy it lol.

[ezman]

if you are looking for a fs am bike i'm thinking of selling my santa cruz heckler. it's probably heavier than what you're used to, but it's a solid bike. let me know if you are interested. i love the bike. i just have to fund the jeep build now.

[2002wranglerX]

Might be heavier but what a good base. You could always lighten it up later...

[trailerrails]

I just got this, I have not had a chance to take it out yet. I swapped the wheels for some stans wheels. It is the fastest bike I have ever ridden.



Here is me on last years 29er on the dr J trail:



You can do anything you want on any bike. With that said 2002wranglerx has some good points. Some 26" wheel bikes have better geometry for aggressive riding. Although if you were to compare apples to apples you will find the 26" wheels bikes are more sketchy. The Paragon he had is a XC race hardtail, ride a 26" wheel XC race hardtail and it will feel even twitchier. The bike I ride (Specialized Epic 29er) is XC oriented but not quite as twitchy as a hardtail 29er. The Stumpjumper FSR 29er or Camber would be a little better for rough trail riding. Most of the areas you listed have fast flowy trails and the Epic would be a great bike for there. If you listed Moraine or the Laural Highlands as the places you ride a lot, I would have said get a bigger travel bike.
As far as the Giant goes, I have had a couple Giant full suspension bikes and the FSR rear suspension is a much better design.

[2002wranglerX]

I just got this, I have not had a chance to take it out yet. I swapped the wheels for some stans wheels. It is the fastest bike I have ever ridden.



Here is me on last years 29er on the dr J trail:



You can do anything you want on any bike. With that said 2002wranglerx has some good points. Some 26" wheel bikes have better geometry for aggressive riding. Although if you were to compare apples to apples you will find the 26" wheels bikes are more sketchy. The Paragon he had is a XC race hardtail, ride a 26" wheel XC race hardtail and it will feel even twitchier. The bike I ride (Specialized Epic 29er) is XC oriented but not quite as twitchy as a hardtail 29er. The Stumpjumper FSR 29er or Camber would be a little better for rough trail riding. Most of the areas you listed have fast flowy trails and the Epic would be a great bike for there. If you listed Moraine or the Laural Highlands as the places you ride a lot, I would have said get a bigger travel bike.
As far as the Giant goes, I have had a couple Giant full suspension bikes and the FSR rear suspension is a much better design.

I like the epic. That fsr platform is just awesome. I personally prefer a more slack head tube angle. That coupled with more travel tends to forgive my lack of skill lol. I'm not a technical rider and definitely not a precision rider. Log rides scare the sh!t out of me lol.

The slack head tube angle lends itself more to my riding style. I brake late and dive too deep into corners. I switched my rear shock position and shortened my fork tubes to set my enduro up for xc and hated it.

Sine he already has an xc bike, I simply thought it might be a good idea to buy a more all mountain oriented setup. Plus I like running wider more aggressive tires that are harder to come by on a 29er


What was your impression of the rumble fish? The Roscoe impressed the he'll outa me and the rumble fish is supposed to be it's 29er cousin.

And like I said before, any time you wanna borrow my enduro to try an all mountain bike let me know.

[PaMountianbiker]

I am far from a 150lb spinner .I weigh in at 210 and I love the simplicity of a single speed all the time .I've had plenty of 26 suspension bikes(turners) and they always have something about them (linkage;bushings;air pressure;etc. ) I've never had a suspension 29er .I like when I push pedal instant power .Maybe because I'm 6'1 29ers just fit better but all I ever ride is single track Morraine and laurel mtn only a couple times a year . Right now I have a Niner onenine and a Paragon 1 x 9 and I never ride the paragon .

[cjw94xk]

Well, today I did it. It's paid for and ordered. Should be here on Weds'ish. I am really excited about getting it... well, until a guy I know who helps run Trek up in Robinson text's me and let's me know he has a 09' KONA Hei HEi 29er for $1500.00 on clearance and a Hei Hei Ultra for $2100.00. That is when I started rethinking things for the fortieth time. WTF! lol. I can't go back on my order now, and the Anthem has 4" or travel were the Kona has 2.5" or 3.5", so I think I did ok.
If anyone is interested in that deal, let me know and I can give you his number. It will go on the floor tomorrow night and then it's up for grabs to anyone.

[2002wranglerX]

Well, today I did it. It's paid for and ordered. Should be here on Weds'ish. I am really excited about getting it... well, until a guy I know who helps run Trek up in Robinson text's me and let's me know he has a 09' KONA Hei HEi 29er for $1500.00 on clearance and a Hei Hei Ultra for $2100.00. That is when I started rethinking things for the fortieth time. WTF! lol. I can't go back on my order now, and the Anthem has 4" or travel were the Kona has 2.5" or 3.5", so I think I did ok.
If anyone is interested in that deal, let me know and I can give you his number. It will go on the floor tomorrow night and then it's up for grabs to anyone.

let me know if you want to ride next week. i have lights if we want to go after work. it'll be weather/trail condition dependent too i'm sure. congrats on the new bike! 29er or not, i think you did the right thing getting more travel.

[cjw94xk]

Thanks!
I definitely will. I was actually just playing on MTBR and google looking for some new trail networks in the Pittsburgh Areal. Hartwood looks like it could be a lot of fun and there is another network Yellow creek I wanna try too. We will see what the weather/ground conditions are in. What area are you from?

[2002wranglerX]

Thanks!
I definitely will. I was actually just playing on MTBR and google looking for some new trail networks in the Pittsburgh Areal. Hartwood looks like it could be a lot of fun and there is another network Yellow creek I wanna try too. We will see what the weather/ground conditions are in. What area are you from?

i'm in bradfordwoods, up off the wexford exit off 79. 15 mins north of the city. i know of a lot of trails we can ride in north park if they're muddy without destroying them (which is my primary concern).

hartwood is a BLAST when it's dry. there's a few trails on there that you just pedal hard and haul ass... of course, after not riding all winter i'm gonna be HURTIN my first time out lol.

i have an HID, LED, and a halogen light setup too, so we should be good on lights.

[PaMountianbiker]

How far are you guys from Bavington ? It's usually pretty good in the winter months not that muddy. We could go there some night.

[cjw94xk]

I was gonna pick up a Geo manager 900 until I found out the batteries were catching on fire when charging. I still need to pick something up bc I plan on commuting to work to get some conditioning. Anyhow, I could also do a weekday or a Sunday. Bavington or North hills could work for me.

[2002wranglerX]

I was gonna pick up a Geo manager 900 until I found out the batteries were catching on fire when charging. I still need to pick something up bc I plan on commuting to work to get some conditioning. Anyhow, I could also do a weekday or a Sunday. Bavington or North hills could work for me.

i have this:

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CDgQ8wIwBA#

and this:

http://www.cactusoutdoors.com/store/...Moab-Lith-Ion/

and my wife has a trail rat halogen that she uses when we ride at night

[trailerrails]

I like the epic. That fsr platform is just awesome. I personally prefer a more slack head tube angle. That coupled with more travel tends to forgive my lack of skill lol. I'm not a technical rider and definitely not a precision rider. Log rides scare the sh!t out of me lol.

The slack head tube angle lends itself more to my riding style. I brake late and dive too deep into corners. I switched my rear shock position and shortened my fork tubes to set my enduro up for xc and hated it.

Sine he already has an xc bike, I simply thought it might be a good idea to buy a more all mountain oriented setup. Plus I like running wider more aggressive tires that are harder to come by on a 29er


What was your impression of the rumble fish? The Roscoe impressed the he'll outa me and the rumble fish is supposed to be it's 29er cousin.

And like I said before, any time you wanna borrow my enduro to try an all mountain bike let me know.

If you like the Epic platform but want slacker geometry and longer travel, look at the stumpjumper (it still has the brain). I like the Camber 29er a lot also, it has 4" of travel like the epic but has the stumpjumper geometry (but it has no brain). I personally do not feel that longer travel is needed for most riding around here.

The way your paragon was setup is not a fair comparison. It was not built for your riding style. You had the AC wheels on there with skinny rims. If you were to run a wider rim like what is on your enduro with a 2.2 tire you would change your story a bit about 29ers. The enduro is still the correct bike for your riding style, but with wider rims, bigger tires, 100 or 120mm travel fork you would have a different opinion of 29ers.

The rumble fish is a cool bike, the Trek ABP rear end works well and is a good alternative to the FSR rear end. I still prefer the way a FSR rear end rides.

I like slack geometry too, the only reason I ride an epic is because I don't ride a whole lot anymore and I want something to help make up for my lack of fitness.

I have owned several enduros in the past (i think that is single model bike I owned the most models of). I have owned 3 epics, so that bike is gaining. I have had 4 enduros, from the 5" travel comp model from about 7 years ago with the itch switch rear end to the 6" travel s-works carbon (24lb 6" travel bike was awesome) from a few years ago. If my fitness was better I would be riding one now.

[Sycotik Skier]

This is all really interesting. I am kinda sorta in the market for a new bike. Right now I'm on a fisher hoo koo e koo that was recently converted to rigid and single speed. I haven't really ridden it too much yet due to the weather but I like it so far. I also just ordered a 26" muni.

[88wd21]

I ride this POS


and even the little bit the full suspension works on it is not even needed for the lame riding I do...

[cjw94xk]

Keep your eye on craigslist if you're looking for a better bike. I seem them on there all the time cheap, just not what I was looking for.
This weather is awesome! Anyone been out on the trails to see if they're dry or not?