Just trying to work out what collection of bikes would best suit my needs.

Currently have –

.Hardtail – 29er, winter hack/for clocking up miles (dont really like it)
.Trail bike – 29er, 120mm, is fun and rapid, do definitely get it out of its depth at times
.”Freeride” bike – 180mm single crown, fun big bike, hardly gets ridden

Dilemma is i’ve got the hardtail, but do want something more fun, it would then get pretty close to my trail bike though. Then i have the fact my big bike hardly gets used combined with the fact i just end up riding my trail bike, hit jumps/gaps people typically only hit on enduro/DH bikes, really putting my trail bike at the edges of its limit, making me cringe.

So if i stuck with 3 bikes but got the hardtail that i wanted, and maybe a beefier trail bike, i’ve got lots of overlap. I could split it down to 2, a fun hardtail and a burly enduro bike, this would be the best option, right?

100mm xc fs “race” bike but just really my general xc machine now. Rock mountain element
160/140mm trail enduro am bike santa cruz blur ltc.
Commencal dh v2 I think 2010 dh bike.

Having all 3 means the blur can be a bit tougher built as I don’t race 4 day xc events on it anymore, but not so over built and abused as my old Heckler which I was racing dh on.

Whatever works for you. I’ve only got one bike (160mm/150mm) and most weeks I’ll do a 35 mile xc spin, along with a 12-15 mile “all mountain” ride which will encompass trails and DH tracks. If I’m lucky I’ll get another ride in there too.

The bike feels way better downhill than previous 180mm bikes I’ve owned, negating the need for anything burlier. I’ve often contemplated getting something like a 120mm trail bike for lighter duties but I’ve got a 36 talas which I run at 120mm anyway when doing more pedally riding so weight would really be the only difference. I am getting a second wheelset though.

Yt wicked
160mm travel f+r
built up strong but light(ish)

A simple change of tyres is all thats required.

Like you I like to ride everything. Work all the time, time is limited, bikes must fit the limited opportunities plus I enjoy it all:

22″ wheeled S&M ATF BMX as I’m 6’2″ and had lower back issues but love riding trails on a BMX.

Alloy SC tallboy 100mm. Great bike but starting to gather dust due to below.

Surly Krampus. Cannot get enough of it. So much faster than I thought it would be, rolls over everything. Good for school runs also with clip on seat.

Dirty Disco CX. Starting to hate it. The Krampus is somehow quicker on anything but pure road.

I think if I sold #1 and #3 and bought something like a Nomad then I’d be sorted. Anyone willing lend money at low interest?

Very similar to you OP.

Light but slack 29er HT – mainly for very local rides and XC races

Heavier mid-travel FS 29er – for bigger rides in the hills and mountains

Even heavier 26in freeride sled with 180mm both ends – actually I use this a lot with its AM wheelset for winch & plummet style rides. I only put the DH wheels on for rare uplift days.

Hardtail gets by far the least use and FS 29er the most FWIW.

If I was made of money I might have a 160mm 650b enduro machine too, but I don’t really feel like I’m missing much.

I’ve only got one bike. 170mm f/r travel but built on the lighter side with 1×10 (11-40) so comes in around 30lb.
For uplifts etc I’ll slap on some Deemax, road cassette and coil shock.
Ride a couple of times a week on the Malvern hills so some decent climbs too

2 main bikes.

160mm ‘enduro’ bike (Alpine 160 26). About 31lb. Gets ridden for most things – local 20km spins round the woods, Peaks/Lakes/Wales, trail centres, AS/BPW uplift days, the odd enduro, etc.

130mm HT (BFe). Gets a spin out when I fancy a change, or the Alpine is out of action.

Got other, even less used, bikes too. I guess the real answer to your question is ‘ you only really need one bike to cover all that as long as you can live with the compromises’.

So if i stuck with 3 bikes but got the hardtail that i wanted, and maybe a beefier trail bike, i’ve got lots of overlap. I could split it down to 2, a fun hardtail and a burly enduro bike, this would be the best option, right?

In answer to this bit – maybe a beefy 26in enduro bike and your existing 29er FS bike?

I don’t know enough about your riding, but that’s a combination I’ve considered from time to time.

I used to have my GT Fury DH bike and a 140mm travel everything else bike. Decided to get a GT Force, 160mm slack Enduro bike, got rid of the other two now as this meets all my requirements. Climbs well, descends like it’s on rails and never fails to leave me with a smile.

a fun hardtail and a burly enduro bike, this would be the best option, right?

Based on how you described your riding needs I reckon so, but only really you can decide for sure…

N-1 probably feels like a “backwards step” but then owning and hardly using a bike is probably worse…

If it’s any consolation I have gone from a peak of owning four MTBs to just one HT inside of two years, and I don’t feel the overwhelming need to add another any time soon.
Going for a MTB ride is relatively simple now, only one bike to choose so it actually gets used, vs several bikes, a couple of which barely got touched because I didn’t really have the time to go driving to big hills or uplift land to get the most out of them…

Seriously considering selling the big bike (kona entourage) and getting a kona process 153 and sticking some new lyriks on it, 160mm for all round duties, bump up to 170mm and fit a -1.5* angleset for uplifts and abroad.

May as well sell the hardtail too.

Orange Alpine 5, did an XC race on it last month, Scottish Enduro races, EWS, uplift days, and French\Italian Alps.

Orange Alpine 160. I used to have several bikes but moved house and lost the space a barn gave for storage. Would love a 29er hard tail for XC but just took a pay cut to work nearer home and currently skint.

I think the other points are around where you live and how seriously you take the different aspects.

As good as a modern trail bike is I prefer my xc bike on day 3 of a race when I have 100km in my legs to my am bike. I also prefer the am bike when gravity comes into play. I’d did the middle ground wheel swap thing for too long….

Currently just a Mach6 but since I have beefed up the suspension to 170mm Fox 36’s I finding XC and long exercise climbs a chore so am now contemplating going N+1 with a hardtail.

Go rigid, 26″. Ditch the 29-er HT.

I’ve just got the one bike at the moment (a 26″ Ti HT with rigid forks at the moment), and in no rush to even put a fork on. Really enjoying riding rigid and think it should be encouraged!

Got a 26 soul ht with 140 forks and a banshee rune 650. I used the banshee for a 6500ft in 32 mile day out dyfi the other day and it was fine!

Those who ride everything, XC through to DH, what bike(s) do you have?

m360 – Member
Go rigid, 26″. Ditch the 29-er HT.

What dh tracks are you riding rigid?

Currently just a Mach6 but since I have beefed up the suspension to 170mm Fox 36’s I finding XC and long exercise climbs a chore

Hang on… You ruined a bike, so to fix it you’re buying another bike?

See my post rickon, I was sick of ruining/compromising bikes that I now have 3 each does something different. Each has its place and purpose, each gets used well.

Just the one mtb, a burly, fun 29er hardtail. Zealous Division with 120mm forks. It handles everything my skillset can, which extends to most stuff but big jumps and drops. It isn’t too much fun when it gets very rocky though.

at the moment i have a on one fatty full ridgid and a yeti sb66 160mm travel granted the fatty needs some suspension up front as its a bit crashy in the rocky stuff but both great fun

Cannondale f29 been up and down allsorts completely inappropriate bike for allot of what i do on it but it copes just fine. Didnt even die riding it in the alps, was almost too long for some of the uplifts and would try to self unload at the stations.

See my post rickon, I was sick of ruining/compromising bikes that I now have 3 each does something different. Each has its place and purpose, each gets used well.

Still confused, sticking a 170mm fork on a bike designed as a burly trail bike just feels wrong. Why do you need a 170mm fork? Especially when it ruins its climbing ability.

Putting a high fork on a high quality bike to make it better dh is exactly what I was talking about. You want to make part of it better then. Compromise, honestly it’s nice to have the 3 bikes and not stress about making a bike better, they are all great at what they do.

YT Tues for uplift/push up days.
A Canfield Balance for everything else.
I dont really do xc type rides any more and tbh the canfield would have been enough for everything, but I feel safer & faster on the tues.

One bike. 160(r), 180(f), 650B, X01.

Use it for local blasts, big xc rides, uplift days, messing round in the woods and of course trips abroad to ride and race.

The modern “enduro” category, born out of actual racing, has given us bikes that really can do it all. OK, its not as fast on an xc course as a carbon ht or 100mm thing, but means even on xc rides I can hunt out new lines.

Weird thing I’d Andy on my 100mm xc bike I’m nicking some good times from my am bike too, very capable these 29rs

Whyte 901 I’ve upgraded to 1×10 with expander, dropper, wider bars XT brakes for trail use and I’ve got a rigid all carbon On One Whippet for other uses.

Norco Sight 140mm trail bike for the local beer league XC racing and big mountain riding and I’d race Enduro on it to if I was so inclined. Saracen Myst for DH duties and DH only. It’s easier when you live in Whistler though as there’s very little ‘easy’ xc riding that would justify an 100mm hardtail and there’s the bike park to justify having a proper DH bike.

got a cube ltd 29er hardtail for general riding on and off road.
also got a enduro 29er for lakes and other steep rocky stuuff, but i keep thinking about selling it.

done loads of uplift days on a old 160mm forked 456. reckon my enduro will be good for such stuff.

I ride everything (natural XC, natural technical trails, trail centres, DH centres, and jumpy stuff in local woods) on my Transition Covert 29 with 150 forks upfront. Been a great bike so far. Sometimes i wish it was lighter, sometimes wish it was burlier, but that is to be expected for a do-it-all bike, it will be compromised some of the time. However its still more than enough bike for me.

Whyte G150 150mm travel front and rear for both full peak thrashing and and long day in the saddle Xcing

Beyond tempted to five an Alpine five to take its place

I’ve a DMR Trailstar with 130mm forks and a Specialized Pitch for bigger stuff. That does me very nicely and both of these bikes came up several times in the recent thread ‘What’s your fave 26″ bike’ recently (or whatever it was called)

I’ve just dragged the Pitch round Newnham Park for the Bontrager event, I should have taken the DMR as the 24/12 is about as XC as it gets but I do like the dropper post on the Pitch.

I’ve a slackish hardtail with adjustable forks (456 SS with 36 Talas) and a robust 150mm FS bike (Stumpy Evo). Both can do all day xc or DH and anything in between. Both are compromised at the extreme ends of the spectrum, but not enough to worry about. Either would do if i was only allowed one bike (though i’d change the HT for something more modern/exotic if that was the case).

DH – Morewood Makulu
4x/Jump – Morewood 4x Proto
XC – Solaris (although needs building up)
Trail/Enduro – Trance

Means there is a bike for pretty much all mtb occasions. I reckon I could combine the dh bike and trance into a slack enduro bike (reign, etc) but for the trips to the alps and dh venues, the dh bike gets used a fair bit.

DH – Morewood Makulu (like all right thinking people)
XC – Soul with 140 forks
Everything else – Ion 16

Ion;m more than capable at the DH end…. but its nice to have a DH bike.

YT Capra Comp would be my choice if I had a gun to my head for a do it all bike.
I’ve got one and in previous years rode a 26er Giant Anthem throughout the summer and owned a 2006 Giant Reign then a 2007 Reign X (which I selectively chose for chunkier duties )but the point being I haven’t touched it this year as I grab the Capra without thinking 🙂

I live in the mud infested claggy land of Kent so nothing will replace my 2004 £400 deore equipped hardtail for winter duties though…..unless it actually breaks.