Mountain Bike for long climbs - full suspension

[Forbeckj]

I am restarting mountain biking after many years following injury. I've been hiking and climbing instead. I'm ready! Here is what I like to do (after much training):

- 2 to 3 mile climbs usually around 1k to 1.5k vertical feet
- Desert trails maintained
- Some loose rock
- Full suspension
- $3000 or less
- Prefer new but will go used if weight is issue

Thanks in advance!

Jeff

[Jerome]

Based on your budget, I'd go with a used (but not abused) bike. Do you really want/need an AM bike (i.e. 6"+ travel) for the kind of riding you do? Would a trail bike not be a better fit? Anyway, if you do want to go the AM route, I'd suggest a used Ibis Mojo/Mojo HD, which is a tremendous do-it-all bike and can be setup pretty light (Mojo SL/SRL @ around 25 lb with durable components). Look on the Buy/Sell section of Pinkbike.com Lots of nice Mojos for sale.

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

If the trails aren't too rough and if you don't do much jumping I'd go with an XC frame. Sticking with a 120-140mm full suspension would still give you a soft ride on the downhills, but give you better pedaling efficiency on the uphills. Also try to demo some 100-120mm travel 29ers. I've found them to be very "sticky" on the climbs, especially on loose soil and gravel. The tradeoff is that every one I've tried has been slower handling than comparable 26" FS bikes. On my trails, that's a deal breaker due to tight technical riding, but it may not be the case for your area.

Bottom line: try the bikes out, because $3k is too much to spend on a guess.


The Santa Cruz Blur TRa is a nice "happy medium" type bike that due to the lower head tube angles descends really well for a 130mm travel bike: Santa Cruz Bicycles BLURTR
$3099 MSRP for the RXC kit, but you could probably get it for a few hundred less.

The Specialzied Camber Comp 29 is also one of those in-between type bikes and leaves a few hundred left over at $2600 MSRP: Specialized Bicycle Components

And of course the venerable Trek Fuel EX8 is a great all-rounder at 130mm: Fuel EX 8 - Trek Bicycle


I have no complaints about my Blur LT, and it truly is a do-it-all type of bike. It would be overkill for mostly hardpack, smooth trails though.

[fsrxc]

What bikes has your LBS suggested?

[John Kuhl]

+1 on the Trek Fuel EX8. These are wonderful all
around bikes.

[nauc]

Trek Fuel EX8

[potte137]

I have been looking to buy a fuel ex 7 for a good all around bike to learn on. Is it worth it to put even more money into it and upgrade to the 8?

[Max24]

I will also recommend the Fuel EX8, it will be perfect for you..

[Jrsandiego]

Ibis Mojo SL Special Blend..

[Salespunk]

Mojo SL Special Blend, hard to go wrong with that bike. If used go for an AL Yeti SB66 or Mojo HD. You will not lose anything climbing vs the SL, but they will descend better.

[Forbeckj]

Thank you everyone for your responses. Im clearly behind the times on the technology and acronyms. I will have to do some research on the lingo.

I have been looking at the Trek Fuel EX 8 and Santa Cruz blur. I didn't want to bias the responses so I didn't mention it in original post. I will look at all the other recommendations...great stuff.

Question: Will the EX 8 be too heavy for long climbs? I'm over 40 now, and could use any advantage. Thanks again!

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

The Fuel EX is a great bike for all around trail riding, and wouldn't be too heavy at all for the climbs. Even a 20# bike is still hard to take up the hill if you're not riding much, but that will all go away once you start riding 2-3 times a week.

If you really want to go crazy about the weight, you can swap to a 1x10 drive train, light wheelset and tires.

[mnigro]

I'm not sure that you are ready to start asking people for recommendations. You need to get out and test ride some bikes, especially 29ers if you are a tall/er person and maybe a 650b, even more so if you've been out of the scene for a long time.

if you are in AZ then you should have a TON of options as far as test riding different brands, suspension designs, etc. Don't worry too much about the specs of the bike. At this point you need to focus on bike geometry, wheel siz & amount of travel. Once you narrow down those variables then you can start looking harder at bikes you liked and at bikes with similar features that you liked. The component levels, bike weight, etc. comes last.

Like I said, I think you are at a point where you don't know what you don't know. Not a good place to be when asking for bike advice. All you will get is people telling you what bikes THEY like...

[Forbeckj]

I'm not sure that you are ready to start asking people for recommendations. You need to get out and test ride some bikes, especially 29ers if you are a tall/er person and maybe a 650b, even more so if you've been out of the scene for a long time.

if you are in AZ then you should have a TON of options as far as test riding different brands, suspension designs, etc. Don't worry too much about the specs of the bike. At this point you need to focus on bike geometry, wheel siz & amount of travel. Once you narrow down those variables then you can start looking harder at bikes you liked and at bikes with similar features that you liked. The component levels, bike weight, etc. comes last.

Like I said, I think you are at a point where you don't know what you don't know. Not a good place to be when asking for bike advice. All you will get is people telling you what bikes THEY like...

I appreciate your advice. I went to couple stores and did some research online. The options seem endless. There many more bikes to choose from than 20 years ago. I think all the replies have helped!

[mnigro]

Yes, The options are nearly endless. Best to see if you can demo a 29er and 26er from the same brands to see how the big wheels compare. Try that with at least 2 different brands. Should give you a good idea of wheel size vs suspension design.

As for suspension design, there are basically 3 different styles (many versions though); single pivot (trek, some Santa Cruz or Yeti, Ventana, etc), multi/mini link (giant, Santa Cruz, Niner, turner, etc) and Horst Link. There are others but these would be easiest to find. Demo a couple different versions and see where your tastes lie.

Doing all of this you should be able to find a few bikes that you like. In the end, there are very few bikes that these days which suck. Once you narrow down to 2 or 3, come back to see what others' opinions are.

[lazarus2405]

A buddy of mine rides a Fuel EX8. Actually, a number of my friends and acquaintances have owned recent Fuels. The bottom line is that they're great all-around bikes, especially if you don't actually know what you want. Decent parts, middle of the road geometry, predictable handling. They're a very good safe choice.

That said, I ride an Ibis Mojo (first an SL, now an HD). My buddy on the EX8 has borrowed it a number of times, and he's been converted, mostly because of the climbing efficiency. The Fuels use Trek's ABP, which is a (refined) single-pivot, while the Ibis uses the dw-link. For the long climbs, that efficiency really does help. That friend has since moved out west to the real mountains with real climbs, and he's shopping for a dw-link bike now.

So my recommendation (beyond demoing, renting, or borrowing any bike you can get your hands on) is a Mojo. The SL special blend is about 2750, the HD special blend is about 3700 (perhaps you can stretch your budget). Shops sell off their demo fleets, too, usually at around 40% off of MSRP, and they're an excellent deal too (though it's probably too late in the year to snag one). Used bikes are also a good option to fit a higher-end ride into your budget. Quality components these days last a pretty long time if maintained (and not destroyed in unplanned impacts).

Lastly, once you decide on the right frame for you, to make those climbs easier, your priorities should be low rolling resistance tires, lightweight wheels and tires, and overall bike+rider+gear weight reduction, in that order. By that I mean, use the lowest rolling resistance tires that make sense for your riding without giving up necessary traction and durability. If you have wiggle room in the budget, a lighter, stiffer wheelset (as long as it makes sense for the riding you do) is always a good investment. And weight everywhere else doesn't make as much of a difference as the first two.

[le_buzz]

+1 on the Trek Fuel EX8. These are wonderful all
around bikes.

Specialized > Trek

[le_buzz]

Dont buy a Trek, youllregtet it. It feels like a SP over the bumps

[jayy]

I would not reccommend a trek fuel ex8 for long climbs, I've borrowed one once and it felt a bit slow and ineficient for the climbs. On the other side, it was pretty stable on the DH section but I did not really liked the feeling of it, that might be different for you.

Note that most bike I tried were more XC oriented so that might be the case for all trail or all-mountain bike.

[Fuglio]

I just demoed a rocky mountain instinct.... Its a 29er with 5" of travel. Climbs like the dickens amd halls balls down hill. If you like climbing that bikes for you.. if you like jumps and drops stick to 26"

[lazarus2405]

Dont buy a Trek, youllregtet it. It feels like a SP over the bumps

Trek's ABP linkage is a single pivot, with significantly-reduced brake jack.

[dirkdaddy]

Giant Trance X1. Those who ride them swear by them for XC and some AM, I love mine but have not ridden tons of other bikes. They climb well, you can reach down and flick it to lock (well, you can do that with most bikes..), love mine.

[007]

I am restarting mountain biking after many years following injury. I've been hiking and climbing instead. I'm ready! Here is what I like to do (after much training):

- 2 to 3 mile climbs usually around 1k to 1.5k vertical feet
- Desert trails maintained
- Some loose rock
- Full suspension
- $3000 or less
- Prefer new but will go used if weight is issue

Thanks in advance!

Jeff

Based on what you've described here, it sounds to me like a Santa Cruz Tallboy might be an excellent bike for you. It's definitely a FS frame and a very capable bike (particularly in regard to climbing) with a proven design for all around riding if you plan to keep the wheels on the ground. And even better, right now you can get an aluminum frame with shock for $900 (Santa Cruz Bicycles) direct from Santa Cruz. You could VERY easily put together a nice build (or have a shop build if you buy the parts from them) for under $3K.

You mention the Blur . . . I ride a Blur LT and it too is a great bike. I regularly ride 7 mile/2K foot climbs (but my buddy who rides a tallboy always smokes me up to the top).