Premium Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Been an avid mountain biker since high school (now 35). We are fortunate to have around 50 miles of singletrack within a 15 min drive of my house and many more within 45 minutes. I'm with many of you in that it has claimed a collar bone, in addition to a nose, two fingers, and two ribs. Of all the motorsports I do, somehow mountain biking has been the most dangerous for me. I do a race exhibition here and there, but I mainly ride for fun. I have a road bike as well but that mainly gets used for foundational zone2 endurance training both during and off-season on a bike trainer. Primary ride is a Devinci Troy Carbon 29. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racinfarmer Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 Anyone ride a enduro style bike all around in MN? Not finding a decent Polygon T8 in large right now, but found a Marin Alpine for a couple hundred more, but it is an enduro bike vs. trail bike. Also looking at various hardtails that meet the spec I'm after, used of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deephaven Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 My wife and I both have 5010c's which are halfway between trail and Enduro and I find them a perfect mix. Obviously only 130mm of rear travel no one would ever call it an Enduro bike, but as you know we have more trail than vertical so they work great. For me considering our trail system a playful rear with short stays was the most important and then enough squish to not hate the big stuff as I am no longer 20 and just don't feel like pounding a hard tail anymore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deephaven Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 Personally I would avoid a 29er for MN as well or at least have a 27.5" read tire so that the chain stays don't turn the bike into a truck. The older the bike the more important this is and shopping the used market here there are a lot of bikes for sale that do not have geometry I am a big fan of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 My troy is a 140 rear and 150 mm up front. Some versions come with an available 160mm fork. That would be way overkill for what I typically ride. Only occasionally do I miss 27.5 wheels...the 29 is just so much faster overall in my experience, even if it doesn't feel like it. Then when riding the extremely rocky terrain of north shore upper peninsula the monster truck tires come in quite handy too. All depends what/where/how you ride though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepybrew Posted April 24 Author Share Posted April 24 1 hour ago, Premium said: My troy is a 140 rear and 150 mm up front. Some versions come with an available 160mm fork. That would be way overkill for what I typically ride. Only occasionally do I miss 27.5 wheels...the 29 is just so much faster overall in my experience, even if it doesn't feel like it. Then when riding the extremely rocky terrain of north shore upper peninsula the monster truck tires come in quite handy too. All depends what/where/how you ride though. my bronson is 150/150. i probably don't use all of it but is a cushy bitch. 27.5 is good in our knarly , rocky terrain, but 29er rolls better. i removed a token from my fox 36 to make it even more supple. i can rebuild it myself when the time comes, as well as the rear. 400 psi of nitrogen in those little rear shocks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepybrew Posted April 24 Author Share Posted April 24 (edited) i do run the fattest tires i can, tubeless of course. my fat bike has studded tires, also tubeless. and a wren inverted fork that is pretty trick Edited April 24 by sleepybrew 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepybrew Posted April 24 Author Share Posted April 24 i'm surrounded by ebikes but i am holding out. we ride tonight at 7 , and when i ended up with 2 "acoustic" riders and 7 ebikes i stopped going every week. not feasible to ride together, i just started riding other times. well they figured it out , ebikes at 530 , and the rest of us at 7 as usual. maybe an ebike or 2 stays , but they ride our speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 (edited) I have a really hard time with ebikes. To me it defeats the purpose...exercise feels good and is good for you. If I want something motorized I'll grab my motorcycle. Edited April 24 by Premium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deephaven Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 I want an ebike...but not for riding on trails. Was going to build a 7000w full squish bike to cheat on our local transport trails so that I can ride 10mi to a restaurant at lunch faster than I could drive while getting fresh air and not sweating my ass off. Trail riding something nimble and light that is forgiving is what I want. ...and yes, I could just ride a motorcycle for the above but another toy sounds like a fun build and unlike a motorcycle I won't kill myself if I ride it to the bar. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 1 minute ago, Deephaven said: I want an ebike...but not for riding on trails. Was going to build a 7000w full squish bike to cheat on our local transport trails so that I can ride 10mi to a restaurant at lunch faster than I could drive while getting fresh air and not sweating my ass off. Trail riding something nimble and light that is forgiving is what I want. ...and yes, I could just ride a motorcycle for the above but another toy sounds like a fun build and unlike a motorcycle I won't kill myself if I ride it to the bar. That's fair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepybrew Posted April 24 Author Share Posted April 24 last year we were all hammering a long downhill. i was ahead of the ebikes but knew they were coming. i moved over and my handlebar hit a dead tree. i didn't realize the tree swayed and broke off on the way back. landed on my buddies neck as he went by at 25mph, and he went head on in to a tree. i thought he was dead. he was ok. they were like damn sleepy, trying to kill the man. that tree was like 20ft high and got him at the base of his neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racinfarmer Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 9 hours ago, Deephaven said: Personally I would avoid a 29er for MN as well or at least have a 27.5" read tire so that the chain stays don't turn the bike into a truck. The older the bike the more important this is and shopping the used market here there are a lot of bikes for sale that do not have geometry I am a big fan of. I liked the 29'er I had. I rolled through stuff way faster so I could hit shit and eat shit harder. It was a XC bike, so it steered like a road bike on the trails. Not good on the downhills at all. I'm leaning towards a Nukeproof Scout or Commencal of some kind if I go with a hardtail or a Polygon Siskiu T8 or T9 if I go full squish squish. Possibly a Commencal FS with the Ohlins too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnstang Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 I ride mountain bike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deephaven Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 14 hours ago, racinfarmer said: I liked the 29'er I had. I rolled through stuff way faster so I could hit shit and eat shit harder. It was a XC bike, so it steered like a road bike on the trails. Not good on the downhills at all. I'm leaning towards a Nukeproof Scout or Commencal of some kind if I go with a hardtail or a Polygon Siskiu T8 or T9 if I go full squish squish. Possibly a Commencal FS with the Ohlins too. I've ridden a bunch and the one benefit I see of the 29 is that it makes my xl or XXL frame look more to scale Outside of that the nimble feeling of a 27.5 wins every time. In every situation I've ridden a 29 I've felt slower and less confident. I am sure there are frame geometries that can change that, but I will also never buy a new bike as the value of a couple year old one is huge. The further in time you go back the worse the 29ers are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racinfarmer Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 13 hours ago, Deephaven said: I've ridden a bunch and the one benefit I see of the 29 is that it makes my xl or XXL frame look more to scale Outside of that the nimble feeling of a 27.5 wins every time. In every situation I've ridden a 29 I've felt slower and less confident. I am sure there are frame geometries that can change that, but I will also never buy a new bike as the value of a couple year old one is huge. The further in time you go back the worse the 29ers are For most mountain bikes, I need a large. Almost everything I've found that I've considered buying is either not a large, almost the same price as new, or sells right away. I can't just drop what I'm doing and drive 3 hours to the Cities to buy something. Maybe I need to be less picky? F it. If I'm spending this kind of money, I'm buying one I want and know I'll ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deephaven Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 53 minutes ago, racinfarmer said: For most mountain bikes, I need a large. Almost everything I've found that I've considered buying is either not a large, almost the same price as new, or sells right away. I can't just drop what I'm doing and drive 3 hours to the Cities to buy something. Maybe I need to be less picky? F it. If I'm spending this kind of money, I'm buying one I want and know I'll ride. Terrible time of year right now to buy. Bought my wives 5010 in October a couple years back. Few years old, 30% of new price. Mine was 1 year old at 50%. Depending on where in the cities I'd be glad to look at something for you. Can't tell fit obviously, but mechanically can check it out. Covid made things nuts but last fall there were a ton of deals. Almost upgraded my sons bike. Probably need to buy him a large here pretty quick as well as he is 14 and 5'10 so it won't be long that the medium isn't going to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not greg b Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 15 minutes ago, Deephaven said: Terrible time of year right now to buy. Bought my wives 5010 in October a couple years back. Few years old, 30% of new price. Mine was 1 year old at 50%. Depending on where in the cities I'd be glad to look at something for you. Can't tell fit obviously, but mechanically can check it out. Covid made things nuts but last fall there were a ton of deals. Almost upgraded my sons bike. Probably need to buy him a large here pretty quick as well as he is 14 and 5'10 so it won't be long that the medium isn't going to work. I recently said why can’t I mountain bike this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deephaven Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 2 minutes ago, Not greg b said: I recently said why can’t I mountain bike this? If it was an 858 you could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not greg b Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 Just now, Deephaven said: If it was an 858 you could. Maybe if it was Norman county approved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racinfarmer Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 18 hours ago, Deephaven said: Terrible time of year right now to buy. Bought my wives 5010 in October a couple years back. Few years old, 30% of new price. Mine was 1 year old at 50%. Depending on where in the cities I'd be glad to look at something for you. Can't tell fit obviously, but mechanically can check it out. Covid made things nuts but last fall there were a ton of deals. Almost upgraded my sons bike. Probably need to buy him a large here pretty quick as well as he is 14 and 5'10 so it won't be long that the medium isn't going to work. Found a Rocky Mountain I might try to make time to go look at tomorrow. Will probably be too wet to be in the fields. Don't have a ton of requirements. Fox fork and/or shock, Shimano 1x12, slacker headtube angle, modernish frame (2020 or newer ideal), sub-$2500. Seems like it would be easy(ish) to find, but not really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deephaven Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 Geometry is more important than year, I could care less how old something is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deephaven Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 Either way if you see something in particular in the western burbs I am glad to peak at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racinfarmer Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 1 hour ago, Deephaven said: Geometry is more important than year, I could care less how old something is I went from a Trek Session DH bike to a Cannondale XC bike of somekind to nothing. I think anything semi-modern is a big improvement from either of those for riding in western MN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deephaven Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 There is not a lot of stuff for sale in L right now...but this is a great bike https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1414389199210030/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A9486cc52-1854-445b-937d-b68f524385d4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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