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Do You Mountain Bike?

cencalballer said:
Feedback on what they think of it. I'm gonna buy a new/used that class of bike in the next couple of months. I'm leaning towards the bronson. The lifetime warranty is big. I'm undecided on carbon v. al and don't really have a preference. Also peoples experiences with them. The canfield uses a double barrel which is more or less an ohlins unit. It makes mroe sense to me than a lot of other options.

I guess the wheels are spinning I think this is what I'm looking for. Really just a solid do it all bike. I think anthing beyond that travel wise would be overkill for me.
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I've ridden the '16 Bronson but not the Balance. I think it would be pretty hard to go wrong, but the new Balance looks to be more Nomad esqe than Bronson. The Nomad is overkill for the bay area unless you're a plow artist and need that 10% extra.

The modern 140-150mm bikes are super capable and retain more pedal-ability. I'd take a good look at the Norco Range, Giant Trance, and Yeti SB5C while you're at it. And no material should not be a selling point.
 
PhoS said:
I've ridden the '16 Bronson but not the Balance. I think it would be pretty hard to go wrong, but the new Balance looks to be more Nomad esqe than Bronson. The Nomad is overkill for the bay area unless you're a plow artist and need that 10% extra.

The modern 140-150mm bikes are super capable and retain more pedal-ability. I'd take a good look at the Norco Range, Giant Trance, and Yeti SB5C while you're at it. And no material should not be a selling point.
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All right, that confirms some of my thoughts. I'll be heading out of the bay area with it and I would probably go even smaller but I know eventually I'll over do it by accident.

That yeti looks nice and I've always liked them but fook are they expensive.

And thanks for the rental tip. Will do that in the enxt month or so.
 
Saratoga Gap (up hwy 9 & skyline) are some of the better MTB trails I have gone on.
Then, if you get sick of MTB'ing, the winding roads up there are great for your motorcycles! :D
 
J- said:
I haz a Range A. With a Pike, a CCDB shock, 1x11. Stupid playful bike.
Have done 5k ft. Days on it. It just works.:thumbup
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Yea, they definitely have them dialed in. I ended up getting a Meta AM v4 which I have been happy with but the Range was one of my top choices.
 
I want a Norco for obvious, but not good reasons.

I'm going to pick up a Cannondale FSI for next season. I'm getting a ridiculous price on it that I can't pass up. But I'll keep my Jamis as I love this bike. But at near 30 pounds it just isn't going to win Cat 2 races.
 
dking said:
Being semi-local, you can go down to the factory and test ride the Bronson anytime you want. They used to be free, but I think there's a small charge now. Not sure where you'll find a Canfield. You may want to try a more MTB specific forum like MTBR or PinkBike.
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I did this. Friend of mine rented a Bronson and I grabbed a 5010. They were the same size and we switched them back and forth.

They were both great bikes. However, on the University trails, I vastly preferred the 5010. A lot more nimble and fun on the tight and twisty single track. The extra suspension on the Bronson was wasted.

edit; and the factory demo was basically free. Think it was $20 but you got a nice t-shirt. Super hard to get weekend reservations though.
 
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Got a T275c :party
Selling my Norco Frame in Grab Bag if anyone is interested.
Obligatory New Bike/Frame Porn Pic Below:p
 

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One of my buddies had one for a while, fun bike. Keep an eye on the pivot bolts!
 
PhoS said:
One of my buddies had one for a while, fun bike. Keep an eye on the pivot bolts!
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One of my buddies had the loose pivot issue with his Nomad c..
My Demo has loosepivotitus too. :rant
 
j5m said:
I did this. Friend of mine rented a Bronson and I grabbed a 5010. They were the same size and we switched them back and forth.

They were both great bikes. However, on the University trails, I vastly preferred the 5010. A lot more nimble and fun on the tight and twisty single track. The extra suspension on the Bronson was wasted.

edit; and the factory demo was basically free. Think it was $20 but you got a nice t-shirt. Super hard to get weekend reservations though.
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Funny you mention that, I'm going in a few weeks. I would do the 5010 but I know at some point I'm gonna blast through it and need that little extra so I don;t hurt myself.
 
cencalballer said:
Funny you mention that, I'm going in a few weeks. I would do the 5010 but I know at some point I'm gonna blast through it and need that little extra so I don;t hurt myself.
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That argument is easy to make at any level of bike. Get a hardtail and work on improving your technique. You'll find that you don't need that extra inch after all.
 
It's all trade offs.

More suspensions, slacker head tube, longer wheel base. Going to be faster and more stable blasting down a gnarly and fast trail.

On the other hand, that setup is going to wallow like a pig on a tight, twisty, trail that's going up and down. And heaven forbid you try and climb with it.
 
j5m said:
It's all trade offs.

More suspensions, slacker head tube, longer wheel base. Going to be faster and more stable blasting down a gnarly and fast trail.

On the other hand, that setup is going to wallow like a pig on a tight, twisty, trail that's going up and down. And heaven forbid you try and climb with it.
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Exaggerating a bit there. I ride 150mm bike with a 66deg HTA and it does everything quite well though still mostly overkill. Suspension has gotten really good, I hardly feel the need to ever reach for a lever. (pike/debonair on my ride) I ride anything up and down from XC loops in Redwood, to DH shuttling in SC.

The 130mm category is pretty ideal in the bay area for 99% of riders. That extra inch, and head angle is only going to come into play at the extreme limits where most people aren't even riding at. Also thinking that little extra is going to be more safe is an delusion since you'll be going even faster than your skill level permits which will result in even bigger crashes when SHTF.
 
I opted to ride the FSi at my last 12 hour knowing that the course wasn't going to be extremely rough. Really frustrating when flying down the rough section, and you get hung up behind someone on a FS bike with dropper post :D

My every day bike is 130mm. I did a demo recently at my local MTB trails. I took out a CX bike first and had a blast. Then I took out a DH bike and thought "nope, not for me". I'm definitely a pedaler so I don't ever see myself owning something with a coil spring. And with the limited jumping I do, I think even a 150 bike might be over kill for me. 130mm handles the 3' or so of air I get (feels like more, but I know it isn't.
 
PhoS said:
That argument is easy to make at any level of bike. Get a hardtail and work on improving your technique. You'll find that you don't need that extra inch after all.
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Already have one and I can ride it pretty well. It beats me up where I like to ride though.

PhoS said:
Exaggerating a bit there. I ride 150mm bike with a 66deg HTA and it does everything quite well though still mostly overkill. Suspension has gotten really good, I hardly feel the need to ever reach for a lever. (pike/debonair on my ride) I ride anything up and down from XC loops in Redwood, to DH shuttling in SC.

The 130mm category is pretty ideal in the bay area for 99% of riders. That extra inch, and head angle is only going to come into play at the extreme limits where most people aren't even riding at. Also thinking that little extra is going to be more safe is an delusion since you'll be going even faster than your skill level permits which will result in even bigger crashes when SHTF.
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I have an air pike on my hardtail and its nice but extremely harsh. No amount of tuning has taken that out either. Does well with big hits though.

Maybe. I like to go fast, and desceding at pace is my favorite part of it all. I used to race DH a little but that was 8 years ago. Pretty much trying to condense everything into 1 bike and live with some of the compromises. I think that setup wil do it but I have to ride a few more to figure it out.
 
cencalballer said:
Already have one and I can ride it pretty well. It beats me up where I like to ride though.



I have an air pike on my hardtail and its nice but extremely harsh. No amount of tuning has taken that out either. Does well with big hits though.

Maybe. I like to go fast, and desceding at pace is my favorite part of it all. I used to race DH a little but that was 8 years ago. Pretty much trying to condense everything into 1 bike and live with some of the compromises. I think that setup wil do it but I have to ride a few more to figure it out.
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Which pike? I have the RCT3 and it's definitely on the harsher side in "trail" mode the compromise was to run 3 volume spacers in it and leave it in descend mode 24/7. I like to go fast and hit big kickers too so don't confuse me for some mtbr fred. If I was going to go with a single bike it would probably be something with dual travel like a Scott Genius, enduro bikes are lack luster at best when you're talking all day rides.
 
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PhoS said:
Which pike? I have the RCT3 and it's definitely on the harsher side in "trail" mode the compromise was to run 3 volume spacers in it and leave it in descend mode 24/7. I like to go fast and hit big kickers too so don't confuse me for some mtbr fred. If I was going to go with a single bike it would probably be something with dual travel like a Scott Genius, enduro bikes are lack luster at best when you're talking all day rides.
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It's a 454 from 07 ish. ITs a pretty good fork but harsh. All the vibrations come through and its garbage over small bumps generally.

I don't really do all day rides. Most is generally half a day unless Im going down only. Even when Iw as racing the longest race I eve did was 5 mins maybe.

Will look into that genius though. There's a scott dealer nearby and it looks pretty good.
 
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