Reply To: Short Travel 29er – Heavy XC/Light Trail Advice?

#519515

Compared to the bike you’ve been riding, any full-sus 29er with 130mm or less travel is going to be great. Bikes have gotten so good in the last couple years that you really can’t screw up.

In my opinion, the current best short-travel 29er is the Transition Spur. With a 66* HTA and 76* STA, the geometry is spot on perfect. The Spur is also very light and the tire spec is perfect. The Epic EVO is a close second but the tires are too XC-ish and would need replacing. With the Ripley coming in third because it is much heavier, especially in the cheaper builds.

The best budget short-travel 29er would be the $2250 2021 aluminum Giant Trance 29. With a Marzocchi fork and 1×12 Deore drivetrain, this bike has the best spec for the money. The 2021 Trance 29 is probably a better bike than the aluminum $3700 Trailbike I bought 3 years ago. Things have come a long way in 3 years.

You probably couldn’t go wrong with most 140f/130r travel Trailbikes like the Trek Fuel EX, 2021 Specialized Stumpjumper, or Canyon Neuron. However, I think that the Neuron comes up a little short when it comes to geometry, which is fairly XC-ish by modern standards. If you buy any of these bikes in aluminum, they are likely to weigh 33+ pounds.

Which bike I would buy would depend on how much I could spend?
$5000 Transition Spur
$4200 Specialized Epic EVO Comp
$4200 Ibis Ripley Deore
$3600 Specialized Epic EVO
$2250 Giant Trance 29 3 2021(not 2020 which isn’t as good spec-wise)