Sorry… it’s another boring “which bike?” post:

If I had to sum up the predominant feature of my riding in one word, it would be “rocks” (mostly granite moorland round here). In winter, though, these rocks mostly disappear into hub-deep peat-bog…

There’s more up and more down than there is level and most of my rides start with 45-ish minutes of climbing as I claw my way up from sea-level. I’m not at all averse to climbing (there’s something satisfying about having earned your descents), but I’m not as fit as I used to be, so I need all the help I can get! I’m not in a rush to get to the top, but it’s good to get there and still have some strength left for the rest of the ride… (must work on my fitness).

Having said that, pointing down is definitely more fun than pointing up, although my appetite for speed on the downs far outweighs my skills to deal with said speed (‘specially when it’s all baby-head rocks and unforgiving step-downs).

I guess I’m just a typical middle-aged guy, looking for a talent compensator.

Bikes I’ve idly drooled over include:
Santa Cruz Blur LT
Santa Cruz Nomad
Foes XCT or FSR
On-one 456 ti

Would love your thoughts on the above, or other suitable bikes.

Budget?

Chumba VF2 with CCDB. Buy a VF2 frame throughout this month and get the CCDB for just £150 upgrade charge, same with the XCL if your budget is smaller 🙂

http://www.progressive-bikes.co.uk

I've just got myself on 456(steal) and it is great, the most sure footed bike I have used in a long time. Gives me some more confidence on the down, not to bad a climbing though.

But never ridden the other bikes so can't comment on them.

Hope this helps.

I've just got myself on 456(steal)

Is that subliminal messaging or an indication of where you obtained yours!?

I'd avoid encouraging that sort of behaviour.

njee20 – no not me gov 😯

I've had my Blur LT2 for 2 years and can't fault it. My riding sounds pretty similar to yours. Local rides tend to be a climb of 300m or so followed by cross country then head back down. Do bigger rides every couple of weeks. Biggest day has been 55km and 1800m climbing. Also very rocky and boggy up here.

The Blur can easily handle 3ft drops and jumps all day (so the test riders say), so unless you need more than that the extra travel/weight/cash for the Nomad would be wasted

njee… the Nomad would be about the top of the budget. Depends on how good the bike is and what other stuff / cars / offspring I'm prepared to sell to fund it! I'm looking for the fabled "One bike to do everything (that I'm likely to do)" so want to find the right bike, then work out if / how I can afford it.

I ought to have said – I'm hoping to do the Passportes du Soleil next year (albeit at a gentle pace), so whatever I get will have to be up to that.

Jon from Singletrack did the Passportes du Soleil on our demo Chumba VF2 this year, look out for a review in STW at some point.

Whats your idea of "everything"?

Alot of people say they want one bike to do everything, yet all they actually mean is they want a bike to ride some trailcentres and some moderate downhill on.

If you want one bike for everything (xc, dh, dirt jumps, 4x etc) then a hardtail is your best choice, probably a cotic bfe

The PPdS isn't hugely demanding, some of your local trails are probably tougher. You'll be fine on any "trail" bike I'm sure.

I'm not just saying this because I own one, but the Lapierre Zesty may be worth a look.

It's light and climbs well, carries speed brilliantly, has a slack HA for very confident descending and generally just makes me keep riding as fast as I can until I collapse.

Most popular in our club are things like specialized stumpjumpers and trek fuel ex8.

Typically reasonably light full suss with 5" travel. I ride a steel 456 and spec stumpjumper elite. THe stumpy takes jumps and drops (the vertical wheels off the ground sort) well but nothing over 3ft on a regular basis more typically kerbs 😉 the 456 does the same.

the 456 is just as much fun but heavier and probably slower on both the ups and downs. When I do endurance racing or hard riding I take the stumpy. If you want skill compensation you want a full suss. Generic 5" will be fine if you want something more boutique then just pay the extra, the one's I've ridden never seem to be as good as the price makes out they should be.

davidtaylforth… "everything (that I'm likely to do)" is pretty much as per the original post:

DH? Nope
Dirt jumps? Not intentionally
4x? No
Trail centres? Too far away (I wouldn't rule out ever doing one – once – but it would be once-in-a-blue-moon)
Any form of racing? No.

Just slowly up some hills, along the top, and then down again as fast as I can.

Probably ought to say that I'm not very good at looking after my bike, either, so something that needs lots of love and care would probably suffer in my hands.

Re Zestys and Chumbas. Good call, should have thought of them. Anyone know anywhere in the (far) south west where I could sling a leg over one?

I can have word with Jon to see if he could let you use the VF2 they have on demo/test?

Probably ought to say that I'm not very good at looking after my bike, either, so something that needs lots of love and care would probably suffer in my hands.

Really obvious point, but a hardtail could be a good compromise on this basis – something with a fair amount of travel at the front that allows you to roll down the babyhead rocks on t'other side without too much difficulty. 456 could be it.

As per my earlier post, get your leg over a Blur LT. My riding has improved hugely since I bought it – just given me huge amounts more confidence both on the downhill bits and tricky climbs.

Personally don't get why some are recommending a HT as a do it all bike. Unless you race or do tricks and stuff a FS is more foregiving and does help a bit in the skills department

null

My Mountainbike, Nice and grippy on the climbs, Great fun descending and v. reliable design.

Nicolai Helius CC – on offer….
Not a looker perhaps but, given your riding terrain the 5 year warranty may be handy 😀

Intense Tracer – case closed. New models have grease ports too so maintenance is a doddle. I would've said Slopestyle (slacker and definitely my perfect do-it-all bike) but I realise that winching a coil sprung bike to the top may not be everyone's idea of fun (I love it 😛 )

Si…I've emailed you, let me know what you think.

Ta!

i've got a blur lt and i think it is a brilliant skills compensater, but i wouldn't be happy if i didn't have a hardtail stumpy too, as someone above posted if by everything you mean trail centre and moderate downhill then it's brilliant, but for big wide world riding or if you want one bike for everything can't beat a hardtail.

A friend's just suggested I look at a Ventana El Ciclon. The irrational snob in me likes the idea of a boutique bike, the rational side thinks "would I just be paying more for the sake of being different?"

Any thoughts (on the bike, not my snobbishness)??

Knolly endorphin. Simply superb.
http://www.mtbr.com/cat/bikes/allmtn-full-suspension/knolly/endorphin/PRD_416804_1547crx.aspx

PZ_steve–YGM

My Hemlock makes a good skill compensator but more importantly it's a big confidence booster, which tbh makes much more difference to my riding. It could be completely rubbish, and still be a great bike if it continued to make me feel like big laggan rocks won't kill me utterly.

I reckon skill is less important than most people think, it's the ability to put that skill into practice that I see getting riders down most. I guess that's just a skill too.