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Can I talk about Mountain Bikes here?


airinpie

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I'm in the research phase of wanting a new mountain bike. My current bike is from 2000. Specialized Rockhopper. Back then, I had to go with a hardtail because I'm heavier and would bottom out a rear shock just by sitting on the bike. People tell me this won't happen with the new tech. How do I go about researching what can support me? 

Also, do I want 27.5 or 29?

Im riding rough trail, but not doing anything crazy. No big jumps and stuff (yet at least. I'm too chicken)

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Hey there! Welcome aboard!

I don't think you'll have that issue with the new suspensions. They have really come a long way.

I ride a fully rigid fat bike. And I covet probably every off-road bike @Dirtyhip possesses! ha!   If I had another off-road bike, I would definitely get a 27.5+. To me the 29'ers are too tall. Of course by the time the 26" wheel on my fattie is outfitted with the tire, I'm pretty much at a 29'er height. But if I had another off-road, it would be a 27.5+. I like the idea of a more nimble bike, and of course pretty much everything is more nimble than a fattie. Having said that, I think the reason I really like the fattie (Framed Minnesota 3.0 XWT) is for its stability. I have ridden road bikes for a while now, and this is my first off-road bike. I never rode off-road because those trees are awfully close and come up real fast. So this bike makes me feel better about surviving the ride! But my skills are getting better, and I'm riding faster when I want to. Usually, I like to explore; but a good downhill run is generally a good adrenaline rush!  I'm getting a little more sassy on my fat bike, but nothing compared to DH.

I'm sure DH will tell you a lot more about suspension bikes. And riding really fast. And schralping. And many other things that will make you pray before you attempt!  :D 

@bikeman564™ rides a fattie too. Even though he's a boy and a troll, he's still a good person to include in the off-road bike discussion. ;) 

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Structural weight limits are going to be around 240 for most of the mountain bikes. I am not sure of your scenario but a rear shock will sink if the rider has a weight higher than that. 

Another option for you is a plus bike. It's a hard tail that feels plush when you sit on it. The three inch tires are not as sluggish as the full fat bike tires. I was able to pedal my plus bike on a 1500 ft climbing ride and I did it in only 50 minutes. The plus bikes can really move if you want them to. 

There are a few bikes that have higher weight limits, but not the style you are looking for.

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11 minutes ago, airinpie said:

I've kind of been looking at the Liv Embolden and the Trek Fuel. I don't have the money right now for either, but I want to do the legwork now so I know what I want when it's time to shop. 

Trek also sells a Stache.  It's a plus bike HT, but it doesn't feel like a hard tail bike.   Three inch tires are plush.

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18 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Airin, how has the rear wheel held up on your rockhopper?  This is usually the biggest problem when a bike is used beyond it's structural limitation.  

No issues. I've been pretty hard in it and I've never even broken a spoke. There's nothing "wrong" with my bike, I just want to upgrade :)

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My Fuze is a 27.5, but can accommodate 3 inch tires. It has the ability to run 29'er rims as well.  A 27.5 with a plus tire is about as tall as a 29'er

I like 29ers, but I have moved down to a 650b.  The smaller wheel size corners very effectively.  However, it loses the rollover feel with that 650B.  29ers roll over stuff quite nicely.  Wheel size is very personal.  I will say with the weight questions on capacity, your stronger wheel will be a 650b.  The 29ers are not as strong, structurally.  

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4 minutes ago, airinpie said:

And I don't necessarily know if I NEED full suspension, I just want to look into it because that's what all the cool girls have :blink:

They are fun to ride.  At times, I don't need it, but it sure feels nice. 

Some trails it is a necessity.  If I am dropping off things bigger than 3 feet, I want some plush landings.

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2 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

They are fun to ride.  At times, I don't need it, but it sure feels nice. 

Some trails it is a necessity.  If I am dropping off things bigger than 3 feet, I want some plush landings.

I'm still a noob, so I haven't been dropping off anything yet, but I'd like to think I'll get there after riding some more. I've found a women's MTB group nearby so I've been going with them and learning the trails. Plus it's super fun!

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1 minute ago, airinpie said:

I'm still a noob, so I haven't been dropping off anything yet, but I'd like to think I'll get there after riding some more. I've found a women's MTB group nearby so I've been going with them and learning the trails. Plus it's super fun!

It is fun to ride with others sometimes.  It helps push your skill set, if you ride with people that are better.

I am dismayed by some of the people I have been riding with.  People have a problem with being late, and they don't want to try the more difficult lines that I like to ride.  This season will be more rides with my husband or just going alone. Less drama with riding alone.

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4 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

It is fun to ride with others sometimes.  It helps push your skill set, if you ride with people that are better.

I am dismayed by some of the people I have been riding with.  People have a problem with being late, and they don't want to try the more difficult lines that I like to ride.  This season will be more rides with my husband or just going alone. Less drama with riding alone.

These rides have been split into groups. Beginner, beginner +, intermediate, advanced. So you get to ride with your skill level. It's nice for me because my hubs works on Saturdays, and it's giving me a chance to make some new friends. The group is about an hour from me, but it's worth the drive because I don't have a lot of cycling friends where I live. Plus I don't know the trails, so this gives me some confidence to learn them and then go on my own. 

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6 hours ago, airinpie said:

These rides have been split into groups. Beginner, beginner +, intermediate, advanced. So you get to ride with your skill level. It's nice for me because my hubs works on Saturdays, and it's giving me a chance to make some new friends. The group is about an hour from me, but it's worth the drive because I don't have a lot of cycling friends where I live. Plus I don't know the trails, so this gives me some confidence to learn them and then go on my own. 

I like this a lot. I like the group levels. I don't mind the hour drive; that's how long it takes me to get to the Marquette trails. And as much as I like riding on my own, sometimes I would like to have someone else along to show me things I'm missing.  Sounds good!

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17 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

Trek also sells a Stache.  It's a plus bike HT, but it doesn't feel like a hard tail bike.   Three inch tires are plush.

I just was looking at one of my LBS (local ish) bike shop websites. They have a Stache, in my size, last years demo for $999 :whistle:

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55 minutes ago, airinpie said:

I just was looking at one of my LBS (local ish) bike shop websites. They have a Stache, in my size, last years demo for $999 :whistle:

I have heard positive things about this bike. It has decent stand over height for a big tire bike too. I would get one with a dropper post for sure.  Those really help your schralp.

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13 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

I have heard positive things about this bike. It has decent stand over height for a big tire bike too. I would get one with a dropper post for sure.  Those really help your schralp.

There's a decent chance that I'll be going by this store tomorrow for something else, but I'll definitely take a look. They also have a Superfly in my size that's a closeout. 

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4 hours ago, airinpie said:

There's a decent chance that I'll be going by this store tomorrow for something else, but I'll definitely take a look. They also have a Superfly in my size that's a closeout. 

Yay!!! I feel an n+1 coming on..... :D 

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Good luck on the bike search.  My $.02 is consider what type of riding you want to do on the trails you will ride the most.  Based on that consider a budget and then do your homework.  I ride a hard tail now and am looking (i'm always looking for my next bike...) for a DS mtn bike.  Here's my logic behind my bike search: I'm not a schralpy dude and don't plan to huck or get air.  Climbing efficiency is important to me as I live in a hilly area with many short steep climbs and the trails I ride are very tight and twisty.  So based on this I've been focusing on XC and trail bikes that are more XC oriented with 100 to 130 of travel.  Enduro bikes really are not what I need, the longer travel will not benefit me and bike's geometry is not conducive to my riding conditions and the way I'll ride it.  

So which bike?!?!  I've been looking at several different bikes that fit my need and budget but the next step will really be test riding and maybe even demoing a couple to get a good feel for them.  At this point I have several in mind that fit my needs and budget but am not leaning towards any one as it's just too early. 

Good luck, have fun with the search and let us know what you end up getting. 

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On 4/10/2017 at 9:57 AM, ChrisL said:

Good luck on the bike search.  My $.02 is consider what type of riding you want to do on the trails you will ride the most.  Based on that consider a budget and then do your homework.  I ride a hard tail now and am looking (i'm always looking for my next bike...) for a DS mtn bike.  Here's my logic behind my bike search: I'm not a schralpy dude and don't plan to huck or get air.  Climbing efficiency is important to me as I live in a hilly area with many short steep climbs and the trails I ride are very tight and twisty.  So based on this I've been focusing on XC and trail bikes that are more XC oriented with 100 to 130 of travel.  Enduro bikes really are not what I need, the longer travel will not benefit me and bike's geometry is not conducive to my riding conditions and the way I'll ride it.  

So which bike?!?!  I've been looking at several different bikes that fit my need and budget but the next step will really be test riding and maybe even demoing a couple to get a good feel for them.  At this point I have several in mind that fit my needs and budget but am not leaning towards any one as it's just too early. 

Good luck, have fun with the search and let us know what you end up getting. 

I haven't looked at mountain bikes for like 15 years. Everything is new to me. I haven't even gotten a handle on trail vs XC vs enduro. I've been looking mostly at trail. I don't really see me doing anything crazy as far as jumps. We have a lot of big rocks/roots and tight turns with trees everywhere. I almost endoed the other day because I tried to go over a big root and my bike said nope. And I'm in Tennessee so there's always climbing, and good descents. We have some awesome true downhill here too, but that doesn't appeal to me at this point. 

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On 4/12/2017 at 1:19 PM, airinpie said:

I haven't looked at mountain bikes for like 15 years. Everything is new to me. I haven't even gotten a handle on trail vs XC vs enduro. I've been looking mostly at trail. I don't really see me doing anything crazy as far as jumps. We have a lot of big rocks/roots and tight turns with trees everywhere. I almost endoed the other day because I tried to go over a big root and my bike said nope. And I'm in Tennessee so there's always climbing, and good descents. We have some awesome true downhill here too, but that doesn't appeal to me at this point. 

Not sure of the year of your bike but the bigger wheels on mtn bikes now have better roll over than the 26" wheels of the past.  I ride a 27.5 and the difference was noticeable over 26".  A quick guide is that the more travel in the suspension, the more the bike is designed to go down hill fast.  That means longer wheelbases and slacker angles for better control going downhill.  These bikes fall into the enduro and DH category and generally have more than 140 mm of travel.  Bikes with 100 to 130 mm travel are more all purpose made to go up and down and with geometry more suited to all purpose riding.  These fall into the XC 100-120 mm travel and Trail 120 to 130 mm.  These are very general guidelines and there is a lot of choices which makes it even more difficult to choose... 

I'd also guess a Trail bike would suit your needs but definitely demo some bikes if you can.      

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  • 1 month later...
1 hour ago, airinpie said:

@Dirtyhip @smudge @bikeman564™

 

What are are your thoughts on this bike? 

(Brief recap: I am heavy, riding all wooded trail with lots of rocks, roots and tight switchbacks)

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/trail/ruzecomp6fattie/107253

It looks like a good bike to me, and it's at a price point where you'll get good stuff. That bike should do well in your described terrain plus the 3" tires will do fine in a lot of conditions. The other two peeps mentioned are more well versed in the um, non-road category ;)

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It's a decent bike I think. Not sure about the fork, and I honestly don't know anything about the brakes. I will say I'm glad the brakes don't say Avid. (Never again...ugh)

It has a nice standover height (this from a person with a 28" inseam in a good day), and I like the shorter chainstays for maneuverability. 

I like the wider tires. I like super skinny tires on the road but chunkier tires off road. Then again I like hearty hiking boots rather than trail shoes when off road too.

I also like that it has a single chainring up front; I never use my big ring. I don't know how many teeth up front; my small ring has 28, and that serves me well. I like that the cassette goes up to 42.

That's what I got. 

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9 hours ago, smudge said:

honestly don't know anything about the brakes.

 

I also don't know TRP  brakes. My c'dale fat bike has sram guide r brakes. I had to get new levers thru a warranty claim after 15 months, so IMO sram brakes suck ass.I would not buy them.

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  • 1 month later...

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