Even though I have no rep with MTBR I thought I would share my experience with the Felt Nine Elite. I have been a recreational trail rider for about 15 years almost always on FS XC bikes.
The Good:
Being my first 29" bike I had big expectations after reading all the hoopla on this board and talking to local riders....I was not disappointed. It really did roll faster and over obstacles easier than my other bike. I found the gearing to be set up fine for my style of riding and trails (very recreational/slug ride). I am 5'8" with a 29.5" inseam and chose a 15.5" frame which turned out to work great with a couple of exceptions (see bad). The Juicy 3 brakes stopped well and never seem to have me wanting more power. I am used to Magura HS33 hydraulic rim brakes that have also been more than adequate, so that's my reference point.
My ride was done in mucho decomposed granite mixed with some sand. After a bit of rain it's like sandpaper, unfortunately it hadn't rained so it was very loose and dusty. The Maxxis Ignitors worked great on this terrain. There was no crazy rocks to climb on this loop, but what was there was cleared without issue. I did find the steering to grip very well, but it was a bit too quick for me.
Lastly, coming from an old school Amp B5 I was expecting to have to have my colon looked at, my teeth repaired and my spine realigned after my first ride...WOW was I wrong. I'm guessing that that mass of air in a 29" tire really REALLY does wonders for absorbing shock.
The weight was high on the scale (27# ride ready) but unnoticeable once on the trail. It felt fairly light and nimble while climbing.
The Bad:
Hopefully this doesn't come off as too critical. I understand that this is not an expensive bike and was built with certain compromises, but here is what I didn't like.
The seat is reminiscent of a bike I had in the '70s that had a bright blue banana seat. This thing is crazy long and way uncomfortable for someone used to using their seat for sitting. This didn't even make it on the ride as I found out how horrible this was while making adjustments riding up and down my street. I put on a cheap, but new Titec Pluto on it and all those problems were solved. While not as fancy (or brand popular) as a Selle Italia, my butt couldn't make out the difference at this point. The seatpost is about .5" past it's limit, so a 400mm post has been ordered to make it a bit safer.
Handlebars were way too narrow for someone with normally proportioned arms. 580mm is just ridiculous. Then, there's the stem. The 90mm length is the primary cause of the lightning fast steering, but it's just too fast for me. I have already ordered longer bars and a longer stem to remedy this. I think these bars and stem are only spec'd on the 15.5, so the larger frames may not have this same deal.
This next one is just weird. It has an XT rear derailleur and Deore shifters. I have an XT derailleur on my other bike and don't have this same complaint. This thing shifts SOOOO slow. I don't know if it's the shifter or whether a 29" wheel turns a lower RPM causing the shifting to feel slow. It didn'nt cause any issues, just more of an observation.
Overall experience:
Love it. There's some amount of "new toy" that needs to be factored in to my review, but there's also a great deal of well designed/good functioning toy too. I've made/am making a bunch of adjustments to make this frame feel longer (longer stem, moving seat back on post, longer post) which might have you thinking that I have too small a frame. I tried a bunch of 17-18" frames and I couldn't deal with the standover heights. So I think after some tweaking this will make for a very fun (and hopefully long lasting) HT.
The Good:
Being my first 29" bike I had big expectations after reading all the hoopla on this board and talking to local riders....I was not disappointed. It really did roll faster and over obstacles easier than my other bike. I found the gearing to be set up fine for my style of riding and trails (very recreational/slug ride). I am 5'8" with a 29.5" inseam and chose a 15.5" frame which turned out to work great with a couple of exceptions (see bad). The Juicy 3 brakes stopped well and never seem to have me wanting more power. I am used to Magura HS33 hydraulic rim brakes that have also been more than adequate, so that's my reference point.
My ride was done in mucho decomposed granite mixed with some sand. After a bit of rain it's like sandpaper, unfortunately it hadn't rained so it was very loose and dusty. The Maxxis Ignitors worked great on this terrain. There was no crazy rocks to climb on this loop, but what was there was cleared without issue. I did find the steering to grip very well, but it was a bit too quick for me.
Lastly, coming from an old school Amp B5 I was expecting to have to have my colon looked at, my teeth repaired and my spine realigned after my first ride...WOW was I wrong. I'm guessing that that mass of air in a 29" tire really REALLY does wonders for absorbing shock.
The weight was high on the scale (27# ride ready) but unnoticeable once on the trail. It felt fairly light and nimble while climbing.
The Bad:
Hopefully this doesn't come off as too critical. I understand that this is not an expensive bike and was built with certain compromises, but here is what I didn't like.
The seat is reminiscent of a bike I had in the '70s that had a bright blue banana seat. This thing is crazy long and way uncomfortable for someone used to using their seat for sitting. This didn't even make it on the ride as I found out how horrible this was while making adjustments riding up and down my street. I put on a cheap, but new Titec Pluto on it and all those problems were solved. While not as fancy (or brand popular) as a Selle Italia, my butt couldn't make out the difference at this point. The seatpost is about .5" past it's limit, so a 400mm post has been ordered to make it a bit safer.
Handlebars were way too narrow for someone with normally proportioned arms. 580mm is just ridiculous. Then, there's the stem. The 90mm length is the primary cause of the lightning fast steering, but it's just too fast for me. I have already ordered longer bars and a longer stem to remedy this. I think these bars and stem are only spec'd on the 15.5, so the larger frames may not have this same deal.
This next one is just weird. It has an XT rear derailleur and Deore shifters. I have an XT derailleur on my other bike and don't have this same complaint. This thing shifts SOOOO slow. I don't know if it's the shifter or whether a 29" wheel turns a lower RPM causing the shifting to feel slow. It didn'nt cause any issues, just more of an observation.
Overall experience:
Love it. There's some amount of "new toy" that needs to be factored in to my review, but there's also a great deal of well designed/good functioning toy too. I've made/am making a bunch of adjustments to make this frame feel longer (longer stem, moving seat back on post, longer post) which might have you thinking that I have too small a frame. I tried a bunch of 17-18" frames and I couldn't deal with the standover heights. So I think after some tweaking this will make for a very fun (and hopefully long lasting) HT.