Freeride 26 in bike opinions for Michigan

[lpranger467]

I live in SE Michigan so I ride mainly XC trails. I like 26 in bikes but a HT feels short to me, and while a FS is longer, I dont believe I need FS in Michigan.

I'm looking at "Freeride" 26 in bikes like the Transition Trans Am or Santa Cruz Chameleon. Each has a longer wheelbase (about 44 inches) and a slacker headtube angle (68 degree).

I'm looking for opinions as to how this slack of HT will work for XC.

Thanks much

[MTBTrials]

Put simply it will make your steering slower. It will be less sensitive to turning but feel nice and controllable on descents. The wheel base will make your bike feel more stable at speed and might make it harder to flick around. To summarize, your bike wont be as nimble as a XC bike but those Freeride bikes can take some abuse with jumps n stuff.

FS is nice if you go that route, even in Michigan. Yeah its mostly smooth but IMO I think the benefits of a FS outweigh a hard tail. I'm not a racer BTW. Im from California living in west MI and my 2008 6.7in Giant reign X loves Michgan Trails. Every one around here rides hard tails very few FS, not sure why.

[pfox90]

I've owned several different slack hardtails now. Just don't throw on a fork that isn't ment for it and you won't have a problem with the steering. If you do there are so many things now a day that you can do for it (diff length stems, diff widths and the combo of the two). They are fun bikes and can make even XC more fun when you are hitting the downhills and corners harder.