Opinions?

Has anyone tried these back – to – back? I want something which will climb steep technical trails without spinning out the back wheel or waving the front wheel around ineffectually. So is there any major difference in how these bikes suspension works?

Does anyone of these bikes have a problem with suspension bob?

I test rode on Iron Horse MkIII which had a DW link and was very impressed. The Giant’s suspension looks like a variation of this…

Oh, if this has been done before, please feel free to point me in the right direction! 😕

Demo them back-to-back? One of the bigger bike chains might have all three or at least two.

Back wheel spin-out and front wheel lift are largely caused by poor weight distribution or the wrong bike set-up (i.e. stem length, bar rise etc).

I’ve not ridden a new Stumpy but my 2007 one did bob on climbs with the shock fully open, but was much better with propedal switched on.

I’ve had a trance and then upgraded to a fuel. The trance felt very good for descending for its little suspension travel but the trek is far better at pedalling and overall feels better balanced.

I swapped my 4″ Trance for a 5″ Fuel Ex earlier this year. Fuel Ex is slightly lighter in spite of the travel, but then again my trance was the first MY and frames were lightened since. I find the Trek’s front end a bit easier to keep down on climbs (I had of course made the change everyone makes on trances and added 20mm to the front sus compared to the stock fork); having a U-turn Rev 100-130 on the Fuel makes it even better if I can be arsed to wind it down for longer climbs.
Neither felt like they had anything like 4+” of travel at the rear when climbing, just superb compliance and traction.

Both are excellent bikes, and I’d say you can’t go wrong with either, but of course try them. I’ve never ridden a Spesh FS though.

How about what a few folks I know have done. get 2 mates of similar build as you to take all three out on the same day and do a half day ride swapping over every now and then, see which one you all rate

How about what a few folks I know have done. get 2 mates of similar build as you to take all three out on the same day and do a half day ride swapping over every now and then, see which one you all rate

Lol – Does anyone know where I can find a couple more 200lb, 6’5″ blokes with short legs and long backs in Vancouver?

Will try riding some demo bikes once I’ve got my short list but I doubt I’ll be able to try the ‘correct’ size

Oh yeah, this year, the Trance is 5″ and the Trek is 130mm so I doubt the 5mm difference will be noticeable to me!

The biggest difference would appear to be the rear suspension layout and Rock Shox Recon on the Trek v Fox Floats 130RL of the Giant

I have tried a stumpy and a trance x back to back. The stumpy climbed better, felt very eager, though I never tried anything really technical. The trance was more fun coming down though.

I can only comment on the Trance as I have one myself.Mine hardly bobs at all when pedalling & I “only” have the float r shock so no propedal/lockout settings.It seems a great characteristic of the Maestro system that it hardly bobs at all.As above,I have also made the switch to a longer travel fork than the 100mm it came with,I now run mine at 115mm most of the time which seems to suit the bike better.Fantastic downhill & it feels like there is much more than the 4.2″ of travel on the back end.