If the 20% is the most enjoyable bit then this can be tolerated

Both trimix of this parish and I ride 30+lb 160mm 26″ full sussers.

trimix is demo-ing bikes, and the shop guy suggested he take a light weight XC FS as that’s most suited to most of his local riding.

I am of the opposite opinion to the shop guy – I can ride my beefy-build Alpine 160 anywhere and have fun, including the local Chilterns- but I want it to excel on the sort of big rides and trips that I’ll remember in 1, 2 or 5 years time (I’ve reviewed Verbier, Turkey and Kerala on here).

If you can afford multiple bikes then you haven’t bought the wrong bike, you’ve bought the right bike for some of your riding. or in summary

Rather than the wrong bike scenario, it sounds like a perfect n+1 opportunity

molgrips – Member
Let me know if you fancy a post-work spin, I’m riding through it three days a week currently. Working and staying nearby.

weeksy – Member
I’m there tomorrow Mol, getting there about 3.30-3.45, another mate arriving about half 4, so could fit a pre-ride with you in and if you want to stay afterwards that’s cool, it’s just me and him and he’s friendly enough

Can’t do Wednesdays (unless there’s no wind at all) as I’m off boat racing. Tuesdays and Thursdays I’m always meaning to go down to Farnbrough and join in with the Trolls but never seem to be out of work on time. OTOH if you want a lift down there then the commitment might give me a kick up the arse to get going!

p.s. Fat bike means I’m lapping at around 1h40, depends how fast you want to go.

Crikey, ton. After your first thread in the enduro I was quite tempted and even demoed one. I liked it but felt unnecessary for most of my riding, but was certainly tempted as such fun to blast.

Went for my first idea which was the camber evo. Five rides in and love it despite DH face plant in Saturday afternoon!

I liked the Dirt review of the enduro 29, can’t remember the exact phrasing but it was along the lines of “practically nobody will ever use this bike to its limits”. Seems fair. Mitch Gruffalo keeps taking it to world cups.

In my garage is always a big bike and a middle bike, and sometimes also a little bike. They’re all good at stuff and bad at stuff. There’s no such thing as a do-it-all, that’s something only people who don’t do it all say, sometimes the right tool is the bike that does hardly anything. Basically as long as you’re OK with that, it’s all fine.

Northwind, I read that report, and thought it was just sales guff….but seriously I now would agree. not that I am a aggressive skillfull rider, but as a heavy rider, who likes downhills it still feels too much.

wrong thread!

Seeing as you’ve already bought it Ton you’ll lose a lot on resale value so why don’t you just use it for places where you know you’ll enjoy it & get something else for the other stuff?
I had something similar with my first F/S a 2005 Enduro, good fun but a bit heavy & if anything so good at most stuff I did that I had to push my limits more than I wanted so that I felt I was using the bike. Great bike in the Alps though, so it ended up gathering dust. I built it up again the other month as I’m going to Les Arcs in a few weeks & it’ll do the job for me.

Been down this one myself and concluded there was no such thing as a perfect bike. You do need at least 2. I bought a Trance 29er which is great for a lot of things but not long xc trips. Luckily I also had a soul so job done. They both get used, neither stand unused for longer than a week.

I believe Dirt also buggered about with stems and went as far as shortening the shock to get their Enduro-29er working as they wanted.

Great bike downhill no doubt but someone else on here reviewed one a while ago and said it was a pig to get through switchbacks on uphill sections of the trail etc.

I’d have one but not as a daily rider, I’d crack it out for uplift days, the odd Enduro race etc…,I’d have something with 120-140mm of rear travel for general trail duties.

Isn’t the problem not so much the travel but the combination of that and 29er? I recently got a 160mm travel bike and I love it so much I can’t believe, and that includes for normal trail riding. It is just as good on technical single track as my previous bike, just as good uphill but when you point it downhill and get airborne it gets even better. Strictly speaking the amount of travel is major overkill for what I need but in practice it is awesome. I can imagine that a 29er version would lose a lot of the fun factor, without any real benefit apart from if you plan to race.

I can imagine that a 29er version would lose a lot of the fun factor, without any real benefit apart from if you plan to race.

This.

Spesh have effectively built a formidable race bike, if you’re not racing then it must feel like a caged animal!….ride faster!….seriously though, the difference between what you want and what you need can be huge.

I lust over the Enduro-29er too but I have also demoed an Orange Segment and for me on normal trails just riding for fun the Segment takes it every time.

It’s why I went for a Trance over a Reign, why I previously owned the 140mm Ariel over the 160mm version etc….if you’re not pushing these big bikes to their limits they can feel…boring.

I know fans of 29ers love the ground crushing ability but IMO it does take something away from the ride, best way I can describe it is as feeling like a passenger on a long travel 29er with me just steering the bars where I want to go and not a lot else, it never feels like I’m ‘riding’ the bike as it does when I get back on a smaller wheeled machine with less travel.
Main reason I keep a hardtail too, I don’t ever want to lose that ability to read the trail and have to pick a line.

Two pages of discussion can be summarised thus:-

n+1

. I can imagine that a 29er version would lose a lot of the fun factor, without any real benefit apart from if you plan to race.

or if you are 6ft 5” and built like a barn………… 🙄

I suspect it’s too much bike for your skill level (no offence intended) and what you want to achieve from biking.

I just need to ride more challenging terrain on it I think

Do you want to or are you quite happy enjoying the terrain you ride now?

I’ve tried a couple of longer travel 29ers round where I live and whilst they were brilliant for outright speed and flattening trails, for me, they took an element of the fun away. Same applied when I had a go on a mate’s 26 inch Evil and 27.5 inch YT before the 29er naysayers roll in. I like that feeling of being on the limit and in my case a hardtail allows me to get that with the added bonus of also going slower down the trails so when it does go wrong the crashing effects seem less dramatic. If you want a full sus then a Banshee Phantom may be more up your street. Or in the hardtail line then the 2Souls Quarterhorse is an absolutely fantastic frame and works brilliantly for me. Both built strong too.

I can imagine that a 29er version would loose a lot of the fun factor, without any real benefit apart from if you plan to race.

The enduro 29er is certainly a whole load of fun, one of the best bikes I’ve owned, but needs to be ridden quite hard to get to the fun zone. For some, they may not have the fitness or skill to do this and I guess this may equate to a feeling of being over biked.

I’ve owned a turner Sultan just over two years now and I have found its just too damn competent on my local trails. It’s basically become my big mountain and away day bike.

For blasting around locally, I’m greatly enjoying my 29er hard tail, a 2souls Quarterhorse. I have no intention of shifting the Sultan any time soon, since it’s a great bike, but I’ve found a slow reclassification of what bike I use where has occurred.