All mountain bike recommendation

[mbikes]

Need help finding my next bike. I have been riding the same bike for over 7+  (crazy) and the amount of options out there are overwhelming.  My current bike is a Kona Coiler. The bike does a decent job going down hill but up hill is very disappointing. I ride the trails of Santa Barbara and occasionally Mammoth Park.  I like technical trails, rock gardens particularly …not a big jumper or anything but really want to be able to pedal up anywhere I want and depend less on car shuttles.

I have tested a <span style=”line-height: 1.5;”>Giant Trance </span><span style=”line-height: 1.5;”>Advanced</span><span style=”line-height: 1.5;”> </span><span style=”line-height: 1.5;”> 27.5 2 a</span><span style=”line-height: 1.5;”>nd Stumpjumper FSR comp 650b.  I hear really good things about the Giant Reign Advanced 27.5 but haven’t found a shop where I can test one.  </span>

Thanks for your input.

[Aaron Chamberlain ✓ supporter]

I’ve got a Kona Process 153 and I love it. The Giants are good bikes. Any of the bikes you mentioned are going to climb better than your current ride. The Reign descends like a beast and will get up the hill eventually, but it’s not the bike’s forte. Its skill set skews towards going down. The Trance or Stumpjumper are going to be better all-around bikes. And you won’t lose too much on the descents. I would steer you towards one of those over the Reign.

I mean as much as I love my Kona, it’s overkill for 90% of the riding I do. The next bike I get will be more in the 140mm travel range and likely a 29er. But that’s because I like doing really big rides and you can’t beat a 29er for covering ground quickly.

Some other good bikes: Devinci Troy, Trek (either the new Fuel or Remedy), Rocky Mountain (Thunderbolt or Altitude), Commencal Meta V4

[John Fisch]

I agree with Aaron that the Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt looks like a good choice:

Final Review: Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt BC Edition

You might want to look into the Foes Mixer.  The Mixer Enduro will give you more capability, both downhill and uphill than your current rig.  It may be overkill for most of your rides, so you may want to check out the Enduro Trail which is a little less downhill oriented.  You can only get them from two places, one is an independent shop in Colorado and the other is direct from Foes, not so far from you in Santa Barbara.

Final Review: The Foes Mixer Enduro

 

 

 

 

[Hillside Cycling]

I’d recommend the Santa Cruz Nomad, it can do it all and climbs like a goat. The terrain I use it is also rocky and technical, both uphill and downhill. I built to replace my old AM-bike, which was a Santa Cruz Bullit. The Nomad is lighter and faster, the VPP suspension is a blast both when climbing and descending. It’s also a bike that might be too much, but as a “do-it-all” bike it’s out of this world. 🙂

http://www.hillsidecycling.com/custom-builds-en

 

 

[gar29]

Cool, I’ve got a Coiler also!  Like you said, great bike for going down hill, but not so much for going up!  I rode it for a lot of years as my primary bike and decided to get a hard tail 29er for the more cross country trails, where the Coiler is a bit of overkill.

[mbikes]

Thanks everyone for your comments!

[Author]

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