Getting the itch for a new MTB… something nice

[TronnyJenkins]

Appreciate all the responses so far. I will chew on these the rest of day in my mind.

I won't obsess over weight for sure. I just don't want a tank of a bike and I don't mind shelling out some extra for carbon wheels, etc. I had a 2021 Trance 29 and the thing was just too heavy for me to enjoy riding it which is why I am riding the Anthem for the moment. I would 100% agree with those who say my geo is ancient- lol. I agree and it always cracks my friends up. But (probably no surprise) when I was still getting my lean the heck back technique nailed down, I did a couple of ENDO falls and that is not cool. I told my wife I need a new bike for safety reasons!!!

[HowardCosellsPR]

I ride an Element. It had the geo I wanted and a reputable suspension design. Built it up from the frame. After some tinkering it's amazing. That said, Im sure I'd say the same thing if I had chosen a Blur, or a Spur, or a Ripley, or Epic Evo, or a Stumpy, or.... or... or....

Maybe I'm in the minority... but... modern xc and trail bikes are so good that it's really hard to get a bad one unless you really try. The hard part is just setting them up well (suspension settings, tire choice, and tire pressure) for your use case. But, that's just fun.

As such, just go ride/demo some bikes. See which ones just feel right to you out of the gate and remember... and find one that's on sale so you have so extra cash to swap tires/wheels. They'll all be amazing once you make it yours.

Case in point. I borrowed my buddy's Tallboy before I picked up my Element. First couple rides, I hated it.... but when he gave me permission to swap my wheels/tires onto it (more xc/trail) and tweak the suspensions settings it came alive. I loved it! Only reason I didn't go with Tallboy was it wasn't on sale.

[jimcav]

Or even a 140 as it will let you expand the trail you can tackle ( with a bigger safety margin)
My son has a tall boy. The other has a trance. My Evil the offering climbs better than either. My Revel rascal even more so, I’d give the overall nod to the Evil as it is a bit more responsive handling for me. But both those bikes trumped the other bikes I’ve had: ibis ripely, evil the following, yeti sb4.5c. I’d have kept the Evil the following (V1) but had more pedal strikes on that bike than any other.

My advice is always the same. Go try some, then find your bike as a demo sale: chili pepper (Moab)and the various OTE shops have great demo bikes. My family has had 5 over the years —all great. 3 are still with us
Shops in flagstaff, Sedona, and Taos also have demo bike sales, just not as regular as OTE and chili pepper.

Have fun!

[sfscott]

Another vote for Pivot. I have the lightweight Shuttle SL e-bike. Very stable and predictable and rides like a non-e-bike despite its higher weight. The Fazua motor is well integrated and is great to have in the mountains of Utah.

I find myself trying to rationalize keeping my Ibis Mojo 3 into which I have poured a lot of money on upgrades. It's a 27.5 and is a different animal than the Pivot.

Pivot is just solid and runs well on DH lift served trails despite being a trail bike.

I am not sure I would buy anything without an e-bike capability anyone. As a big guy not built for climbing, it really changes the sport.

[trener1]

I'd have a close look at the Rocky Mountain element (as others have already mentioned), I demo'd one last year and it rode really great both on the climbs and the descents.

[Faucet]

Originally Posted by EB

One bike that I think you should strongly consider - assuming you want to stick with 29ers - is the Transition Spur, which is a 120/120 bike on a Horst link platform that comes in a 27.1 pounds fully built up. That bike is probably the most fun and capable in this travel bracket that I know that fits your weight requirement. Despite being a 4 year old platform, Transition have kept it fresh with new Fox suspension and a UDH rear triangle - still going strong.

My only hesitation on Transition is that they sometimes have QC issues and the paint isn't very durable, but you can mitigate the QC issues by doing a full tear-down and reassembly on your brand new bike and putting grease in all the places they forgot to put it (yes, including the pivots and the headset). Ridewrap also recommended and can help with the fragile paint.

Bikers Edge has a good review here of the refreshed version: https://bebikes.com/the-hub/2024-tra...n-spur-review/

Normally my go-to recommendation for this is the Santa Cruz Tallboy, but it doesn't meet your weight requirement as the fancy builds come in at 29 pounds or so.

+1 to the Transition Spur. I went through the downcountry trifecta (Tallboy, Epic Evo, Spur) and was always impressed at how capable the Spur is. The Tallboy is definitely a mini-enduro bike and the Epic Evo was most pedalable (not a word but I didn't want to call it most XC) back when it was 120/110 with the Spur being the quintessential downcountry bike

[Andy sti]

I've had a Spur for a few years but I don't think we ever really got on that well. Yes, it's a great bike and while I liked it I never really loved it. I decided to get a Cervelo ZFS-5 120 this summer. Blowout pricing and more XC focused bike sold it for me. It's essentially a Blur TR (the layup is different) and I've been meshing really well with it. I've had some great days on the Spur and it is extremely capable. It's now my son's.

[.RJ]

I've heard a few good things to say about the Cervelo, and they're 30-40% off everywhere.

I just picked up a Trek Top Fuel frame & fork for a very good price, should serve me well as a ride everywhere bike.