I’ve finally decided that my recently purchased steel hardtail isn’t for me – my brain really likes the idea (& I like the look of it), but the 55 year old body has other ideas. So, I’ve started looking around for a shortish travel full sus. Ideally, I’d like something with around 100 rear, 120 front suspension, modern geometry and low maintenance i.e. single pivot, normal threaded bottom bracket etc.
I’ve had a couple of demo rides of an Orange Segment, and like the way it handled – perhaps not as ‘perky’ uphill as some full sus bikes I’ve ridden, but suspect that might have been down to heavy boggo wheelset and HR2 tyres front & rear. I also really like the simplicity of the single pivot frame design for cleaning and maintenance…..But, jeez what noisy bike. Reminded me of my old Orange Five with its cables rattling in the swing arm – I hadn’t appreciated how nice it is to have a quiet full sus bike. To get a Segment, I’d probably have to sell both my Solaris and my current full sus bike, and I’ve got a feeling the clattering racket of the Segment would hack me off.
(Oh dear, first world problems eh?!)
Are there any 29er single pivot alternatives out there?