Struggling to work out what to do bike wise.

Currently have 3 bikes in the MTB stable, 29er HT, a mega TR and a kona entourage.

Was going to write lots of boring words but the gist is –

Kona entourage (my dh bike) – mega fun, feels exactly how i want a bike to feel on the fun stuff (steep, loose, gaps, good turns)

Mega TR – entourage is highlighting how compromised it feels on the fun stuff, the 29er HT highlights how compromised it feels in terms of efficiency

29er HT – just isn’t fun, really efficient, love how fast it pedals, feels really delicate

Got me thinking, should i just combine the mega tr and the 29er HT? Get a capable short travel 29er instead?

Maybe, just built up something similar myself and it seems faster everywhere apart from real rugged stuff – but I’ve still got some dialling in to do.

Would be a good companion to a freeridey bike like your Kona, but slack 29ers have quite a planted feel (Process maybe more nippy?) – would that suit you?

Yes. And the answer is probably a banshee phantom.

Process 111 or Camber Evo. Can’t think of two better all-round bikes for UK riding.

Salsa Horsethief?

Having not tried a 650b bike I’m in no position to advise but its STW so no problem there 😉 so maybe that’s what you need to try: as fun as 26″ but with a feeling of more efficiency?

Fwiw I’m in a similar predicament and am torn between bikes like T129, 2014 Horsethief, stumpy fsr evo 29er or something like a banshee spitfire (650b).

Sorry for a bit of a hijack but you used to ride a Blender, right? I want a full sus equivalent (ie small, fun, versatile, flickable and all the other buzzwords), how do you think the Entourage would compare? So far the nearest I’ve found is the Scott Voltage and tbh may just go back to one of them but the Entourage has caught my eye as well.

I was kind of un-blown-away by the Whyte, it’s great on paper but I didn’t think it worked that well as a package, couldn’t really put my finger on why but I think it basically feels like the front end off a troublemaker and the back end off an xc bike. Not a bad bike at all but not as good as I’d hoped. Try before you buy…

Giant Anthem 29er with a good solid 120mm fork and a dropper post. Jack of all trades.

Tom, the best way i could describe the entourage is that it has confidence inspiring squidge and stiffness of a DH bike, but you can move it aroung like a big BMX.

Anthem x are brilliant. Very fast very fun.

Weapon?

Deanfbm, got the process 153 and it has that same confidence inspiring feel

CaptainFlashheart – Member
Weapon?

It’s the new steed.

Can a weapon be trusty like a steed can?

Horsethief is a good bike.
Solid and capable, but heavy and not a DH weapon.

I know, I have one and love it.
But it’s a compromise. All bikes are. I’m under no illusions about my bike.

You already have 3 distinct bikes, cutting it down to 1 is going backwards.

Only way you’ll get something significantly better is by dropping £4k+. In the sales. You ready to sell all those bikes and put that cash into a hi spec carbon 160mm, carbon wheels 1x whatevah pro machine?

Done the expensive one bike 6″ super bike thing, not for me, all you get is something significantly better at being compromised.

Plan is to keep the entourage, 3 bikes to 2. Keep the entourage for fun, get an efficient trail bike that can take a little. My current trail bike isn’t fun enough for the compromise in efficiency it gives, well that’s how it feels anyway.

I basically want a bike that isn’t going to be a hindrance in a distance/riding with xc people setting, whilst not shying away from properly steep stuff and a significant gap or two.

pyga oneten
devinci atlas
pivot 429??

What charliemort said, and throw in one of the rocky mountain 29ers for good measure. Either the instinct or the (I think) element seem to for that bill fairly well

Would seriously suggest looking at a Banshee Phantom if you are thinking along the lines of a process 111.

Have a look here (my comments on mine are under the same user name):

http://forums.mtbr.com/banshee-bikes/lets-speculate-about-new-banshee-29er-827786-25.html

If you are anywhere near Dundee and fancy a go on a large let me know.

My thoughts FWIW. I’ve got a similar stable of steeds/weapons/rigs (bicycles?) to the OP;
Intense 951 DH
Nicolai Helius AM 160mm
Curtis 29er HT

The DH rig allows me to do stuff I could not otherwise contemplate and simply don’t have the skills (or lack of mechanical sympathy) for on the AM bike. It’s staying.

The 29er is very, very swift and makes the climbs or transitions between singletrack sections more manageable, so you have more left for the fun parts. It does also cover terrain remarkably well and is bizzarely confidence inspiring. Only occasionally, on the tightest of between trees switchbacks, does it feel clown-footed.

It’s leaving me in a quandry with the 160mm bike. There are places I know I need the travel and also that a HT would not fit the bill, but I have two problems with it:
1. It is (for me) a bit confusing switching between 26″ and 29″ wheels – not for the DH bike, but for the trails type stuff where the AM and HT bike cross over.
2. I have a nagging suspicion that I have more confidence with the 29″ wheels on the steep, techy bits and that combining big wheels and full-suspension might just be the golden bullet.

Not totally convinced by 27.5″. I don’t think there’s anything ‘wrong’ with it (or 26″ for that matter), but I just thing 29″ might suit better.

I personally think the 3 bike stable is optimal. There’s a degree of redundancy between the HT and AM bike to allow for random mechanicals and in the worst of the winter slop, I reckon a HT can sometimes actually be more fun.

Fascinating question. Cutting those 3 bikes down to 2 should be possible. Whether it is desirable, of course, is another matter.

The obvious solution is to find something that sits between the trail bike and the XC bike i.e. a bit more fun than the XC bike and a bit faster than the trail bike, but I’m not sure that’s really what you are after. You mention that the trail bike “isn’t fun enough for the compromise in efficiency”. I think the problem here is that your reference point for fun is the DH bike and I wonder whether you’ll ever like a bike that is less fun than that.

So, I’d be tempted to forget the XC stuff and try to find something that is as much fun as the DH bike but efficient enough that you can ride it all day on XC trails.

I think you are on the right track with the big wheelers (to get a bit more XC efficiency), but suspect that you might need a properly slack and long bike to tick the fun boxes.

It might be worth considering an “all mountain” 29er (like the Alpine Five, Codeine etc). They should be a lot of fun on the way down, but still faster than your DH bike everywhere else.

A shorter travel version of these that retains the same hooligan angles could be an even better fit, but there are very few of these around. Most manufacturers seem to be nervous about making a properly slack short travel 29er. Maybe for good reasons, I don’t know.

The Orange Segment seems to have been designed for what you want, but since nobody has ridden one I guess that nobody can say whether it hits the mark or not. Wont stop some folk slagging it off though:-)

The new Works SCR version of the Whyte T129 might also be worth a look, but probably still a bit to XC focused for your needs.

Banshee Phantom looks close as does the Process 111 and I would have thought that Nicolai would do something that fitted to bill too.

Anyway, good luck. I look forward to hearing what you choose and how you get on with it.

I’m liking that Phantom a lot. If I was going back to FS trail bikes I’d be getting myself a ride on one.

Surely an arsenal not a stable?

roverpig – Member
The Orange Segment seems to have been designed for what you want, but since nobody has ridden one I guess that nobody can say whether it hits the mark or not. Wont stop some folk slagging it off though

I find myself looking at the Segment with an inexplicable amount of ‘want’. Would genuinely love to hear some sensible feedback on one.

FWIW to the OP, a mate just swapped from 26″ Orange Alpine 160, to a 29″ Specialized Enduro and is loving it and, by all accounts, absolutely smashing the trails too.

I think the problem here is that your reference point for fun is the DH bike and I wonder whether you’ll ever like a bike that is less fun than that

I find my trail bike annoying because it feels slow up and along, 95% of the time i ride the shocks in pedal mode, so the suspension feels wasted, then when i do fun stuff on it, this may seem petty, the standover is too high as well as the seat, this is with a 150mm dropper, to allow me to move on the bike how i want, i’m a life long BMXer who likes to whip, table etc. I’ve a trail bike because i want to do some miles and not chicken out of any big gaps along the way because i can use the bike as an excuse, my trail bike does the gaps without hesitation, just not in a fun manner and really compromised on th efficiency.

I’m thinking if i have a bike properly dedicated to efficiency, whilst still allowing me to do the odd big gap, going into it that it’s meant to be efficient and any fun is a bonus, not a must, that would be the way to go.

I do have a hankering for an orange segment, just seems too expensive for what it is, well atleast i wouldn’t have to worry about winter filth on it.

Im really lusting over the process 111.

get a better trail bike then. Starva says i’m faster everywhere on my 120mm trail bike as I was on my previous 160mm bike and unless it gets proper hairy/steep as fast as on a DH bike.

Process 111 certainly looks fun. wiggle had them at a good price. waiting for my LBS to get a demo in.

I have done this. Now ride a 29er ti on one (7 years old and revitalised with shorter stem/wider bars) for all the local south east stuff and a Turner Sultan as my “big bike” for away rides and when i fancy a change. Works for me.

(These are of course normal bikes and I exclude all of the Niche bikes in the garage Fatty, Singlespeed, 29er+ etc etc).

That Process looks ace 🙂

It sounds like you need to buy a 2014 Bandit 29 frame and Fox Floats.

Keep an eye on the classifieds.

oh missed an obvious one off my list:

niner rip

also intense carbine / spider

Ive just done exactly this – Went from two bikes to one and no regrets.

I had a Enduro s-works 2010 which i rode everywhere and had the thing for 4 years but i made the mistake of getting a 29er HT and loved the speed of the thing and how efficient it was just a shame it was so dull and not much fun.

I replaced both with a stumpy evo 29er and its pretty much the perfect bike.. Go test ride one, such a good bike.