[ecwashere7]

Thanks for the feedback, Jeff. I ended up going with the Yeti. It was a ton of fun to ride and seemed to do everything that I wanted it to and more.

Now I just need to wait for it to arrive.

[ecwashere7]

"8valvegrowl" wrote

The pro that won last year’s Highland OverMountain Enduro was riding a Satori. That’s saying something.

I’ve always found Kona geo to be spot on for my style of riding. Tough, durable bikes.

That Satori is definitely growing on me. The 2013 is spec’d with some great additions from 2012 too (better Fox fork and shock, dropper seatpost, thru-axles…)

oooooooo baby

[ecwashere7]

"maddslacker" wrote

Why did you drop the Giant Trance 29er without trying it?

I didn’t. It just hasn’t been on the forefront of my mind because there isn’t a Giant dealer that is relatively close to me. I’m still welcoming any suggestions that people may have.

[ecwashere7]

So I did some test rides and discovered a few things. One, I am not really in the market for an enduro bike. I will be riding almost exclusivey XC, but I want something that will be fun on the way down. Two, I found that I really liked the feel of a 29er. Huh. So my list has been adjusted to say the least. I was able to test ride the Stumpy 29 and Tallboy on some very tame trails and I was able to take the Niner Jet 9, Yeti SB95 and Kona Satori around the block near a different shop. I really liked the slacker geometry of the Yeti and Kona but it wasn’t a trail test ride. Plus, the Yeti is out of my price range 😢 I found the Tallboy (at 100mm) to be a tad more enjoyable than the Stumpy. I’d really like to compare them to their slacker brethren (Tallboy can be adjusted to 120, Tallboy LT and the Stumpy EVO). I’d like to try out a Transition Bandit 29 at some point too. Is there anything else that you’d add to my list?

New list:
Stumpy Comp EVO 29
Tallboy (LT?)
Kona Satori – Any experience?? I really liked the geometry and it seemed to be spec’d well.

[ecwashere7]

"mtbgreg1" wrote

Yeah the stumpy is a better climber, but you said "do it all bike." I consider the Enduro a better all-around bike than the stumpy. The stumpy doesn’t have quite enough travel or aggressive components/geometry to really get into DH riding.

If you’re looking for more aggressive XC, then you should probably look at the "Trail" category of bikes, approx. 5 in. of travel.

True, true. I suppose the bike I’m looking for isn’t really a "do-it-all." I would love to go that route, but I’ll be doing around 90% XC. For the other 10% (DH), I guess I’ll demo a bike.

[ecwashere7]

"mtbgreg1" wrote

I was going to recommend the Specialized Enduro as an AMAZING do-everything bike (like seriously, it’s GREAT at everything), but the cheapest new model that I could find is an MSRP of $3500: http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/ … endurocomp If you could find a sale on one or last year’s model, though, this is a great rig!

I didn’t really consider the Enduro because I’d like a bike that is solid climber and that I would be able to keep up with my XC buddies. I figured the Stumpy would be a better climber and still give me enough squish.

I might be adding the Norco Sight Killer B into this list too.

[ecwashere7]

Thanks for all the great input! I agree with you completely mtbgreg. There are a TON of great bikes to choose from at this price point. It’s been really tough narrowing down my choices. It seems that each time I speak to someone new, I have another bike added to my list of contenders. Right now, here’s my list:

Spec. Stumpy Comp EVO
SC Blur LT
SC Tallboy and Tallboy LT
Transition Bandit
Yeti AS-R 5
Giant Trance X1

I’m still on the fence even about 29er vs. 26er vs. 650b. I was underwhelmed by the 29ers I’ve ridden in the past, but they were on the older side and not the most current tech.

Thanks again for the help.

[ecwashere7]

I would consider adding the Yeti SB-66 to your list of bikes to investigate. I am also looking at bikes in a similar category (maybe more in the direction of XC) and the SB-66 blew me away on a test ride. It climbed phenomenally well considering it has 6 inches of travel. Yeti’s Switch suspension is the real deal.

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