Which MTB

[Hanneke]

And why not a 29er? I ride and race a titanium 29er HT and it is ace! For everything I have thrown at it, or thrown it at rather... It has a short stem and is very nimble on techy stuff, yet fast and comfortable for long days in the saddle, XC racing and endurance racing. It has done the black DH trails here in South Wales as well and coped extremely well. I personally feel a 26 ins MTB is too small for me, being also tall and long limbed. A 29er just fits/suits me better.

Having said that, I hired a Trek Fuel EX8 full suss for the day when I was in Majorca and I loved it! It was very plush and comfy and practically rode itself over the techy rocky downhill stuff I encountered. I could see riding such a bike on a regular basis would make one lazy as to line choice and the like, but I did love it and if I had the money (and space to put another bike) I'd buy something like that! It was heavier than my 29er but not by much and it was nimble and still quite quick on the quick stuff, even though it didn't roll over roots and rocks uphill as well as my 29er does.

[that_fjell_guy]

http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbi...ke.html?b=2753

Does look nice that mind!

[ukhursty]

Definitely go German. Canyon, Rose or Focus.

Super bikes, super specs, super price.

You will not be disappointed!

[Flopsy]

And why not a 29er?

It was what I was originally thinking about (and certainly the shops seem to push) but quite a few people I spoke to seemed to think that unless you were very tall (I'm 5ft 10 so consider myself tall but not very tall) that it would not be benefical. Seem to be the opinion that 29'ers are better at fast XC than technical twisty stuff.

I want a more comfortable ride than my hard tail and both the 29'er and full sus would possibly give me that. I just want something that is a compromise bewteen XC and trails / downhill.

Started to wonder about CF now as it seems you need to put your money where your mouth is to get a quality CF and bad manufacture can cause failure of the CF epsically if you will do any jumping. But then again all the reports seem to conflict...

Having ridden a stumpy HT for many years I'm really not sure which are the best manufacturers out there anymore I know it's personal preference at the end of the day just wanting to be pished in a couple of liekly directions so I can test ride.

Head's spinning........

[dominion]

For the cash you're looking at you could get a seriously well specced ultra lightweight hardtail?

[Flopsy]

For the cash you're looking at you could get a seriously well specced ultra lightweight hardtail?

Can't see the point as there's nothing wrong with my hardtail, whihc I'll keep. Want a smoother ride.

[that_fjell_guy]

Like I say Flopsy its very tricky!!

The only thing I can suggest is decide your parameters a.) Price b.) Material c.)Weight d.) type of use. The manufacturers tend to group their bikes 'All-mountain', Cross-country', 'Play' etc etc e.) Amount of suspension i.e. Full or just front and amount of stroke. There are such a lot of manufacturuers these days! Good luck and as I said before, enjoy looking!!

[vespa]

scott fantastic mtb,s its a shame mine got stolen still dont get the speed out of my cannondale cx as i did with my scott scale 60 and they do a good selection

[Hanneke]

OK, well, my 29er is much more comfortable than my 26ins HT and it is also much more comfortable than the other 29er JT's I have tested, including some full carbon ones. This is not just because it has big wheels, but because of the frame material as well. Titanium is strong, light and forgiving. It isn't cheap, but I chose it over carbon as it takes the worry out of frame failure when crashing!

I understand you are after a bike that compliments your HT, so I would definitely look at full suspension then, if you feel a 29er is 'too big'. I personally think that is nonsense. I am far from tall at just under 5'10'' but the 29er suits me. I have also seen much shorter/smaller blokes and girls ride and race 29ers. I don't think it is a size issue. Maybe more to do with riding style. I came from a road and cyclocross background to MTB, so for me 29 ins wheels made sense. I felt like I was riding a kids bike on a 26er, even when the frame was the right size and the setup fitted me. I also find them harder work on technical terrain, interestingly, than the 29er and they are certainly less comfy.

But back to full suss: my personal experience is of a Specialized Stump jumper: very plush and easy ride and of the Trek Fuel ex8: plus and easy but also felt more agile and nimble and accelerated better than the Stumpy. I think what you should do is go and ride a few... get to your local bike shop or find a demo day nearby?

[Hanneke]

And with ride some I mean both 29ers and full sussers, just to get a comparison.

I know many serious riders and racers who have gone to 29ers now and they all love them and never look back. Only one person went back to a 26 ins HT because he could not get on with the 29er and found he was slower on it. Everyone else has said it was a major improvement...

I chose it myself because I don't have the money to buy multiple MTB's for different purposes so I looked for a bike that I could race on: XC (short, sharp and techy), endurance, as in 12 - 24 hour races as well as use for stage races, bike packing/trekking and generally to play on. It has been great for all of that