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Bronson, better than both my old capra and sb66 on even the techiest descents, and covers ground faster than my 29er spectral.
Fitted a 160 airshaft, luftkappe and changed tyres to Mary and slaughter.
Dream bike.
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Surely, your best bike will always be your current one, otherwise why ride it?
In my case my first bestest bike was stolen and it's replacement, my second bestest, broke. Also they were BMXs and there's no way you get me on a BMX these days 😆
If we're talking only mtb, my current RocketMax the best though i have a real soft spot for my old Commie Supreme.
My Trek Stache 29+.
The step up in enjoyment (and capability) from the previous bikes was the biggest increment I've done (and I've done a fair few).
Prior to that a 1998 Orange P7 painted metallic orange.
My Cotic Soul - its the bike that got me back into cycling after many years sat on the sofa. In some ways in been superceded by a more capable mountain bike , but this is the one that I can stare at for hours.
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Singular Hummingbird, as a rigid singlespeed 69er, like they're supposed to be and although I've got both steel and Ti versions, I think now that I prefer the steel frame.....
Probably the best handling bike that I've ever ridden, to be honest, and the most fun.
my latest bike is the best bike. it should be really as innovation in design moves on i guess but my pivot mach6 is amazing in all areas
I suppose consensus would say the Flare I had for a bit was the 'best' bike I've ever owned but the BFe 275 (on 26", obvs) I've got now is more fun so is therefore 'better'.
My Schwinn 4 banger from around 2000. Introduced me to full suspension, carbon and hydraulic brakes all for £750.
Took my mountain bike riding from fun to bloody brilliant in a month.
My BTR, it's not perfect, and not an all-rounder but it never fails to make me giggle like a schoolgirl whenever I ride it and normally gets me into a brown trousers moment on every ride as well by encouraging my stupidity...
Maybe not the best at any one thing, but the most fun bike I have owned, and still do, is my Evil Sov.
[url= https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8438/7776048542_8a4c27b8a0_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8438/7776048542_8a4c27b8a0_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/cR9hjs ]P1020898[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/warpcow/ ]Mike Jones[/url], on Flickr
Tough one this, as have had different tools for different jobs so it's more of a top 3.
1. Santa Cruz 5010 V1 declared it perfect 10 mins into a demo ride, still just as good 4 years on, will keep forever
2. Pivot Mach 429SL. XC race with just enough trail capability. Silly fast.
3 06 Demo 8. Mega capable bike combined with me being young and fearless meant I rode stuff that I wouldn't even consider now. 9th anniversary of its theft this week (crankworx whistler) 😥
Oh, and my next one obvs...
Probably my 2003/4 Marin Wildcat trail hardtail. Technically two bikes as the first one got nicked from uni halls after a few months. The bike that got me into mountain biking, not just cycling and ridiculous good fun. I think at the time it had pretty cutting edge geometry for a hardtail. It's been rebuilt and ridden with longer forks, as a single speed and it's been great every time.
Frames in the garage looking pretty tatty but I'm a bit tempted to rebuild it for the gf as a pub bike.
2006 Sunn Radical was my favourite bike I ever owned.
My sb6c comes close though and I'm considering fitting a dual crown fork to it for alpine and uplift work as I reckon it would give some of my DH race bikes from a decade ago a run for their money!
Has to be the current 601. It's a beast on fast, technical & rough stuff but will still climb better than my previous bikes (even with 180/190mm travel)
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Do it all bike: Alpine 160. Bought a V1, sold it, regretted it and built another in 2013. Just put a CCDB coil on it – a new lease of life.
Cove Stiffee for trail centre fun though. Gets you into all sort of trouble, but you still come out the other side!
On the latest/best thing I think that only really applies if you have a one bike for everything approach or you prize outright performance over other elements of ownership.
In my case it's the total versatility and reliability of the 456 that makes it "the best". The FS is a better bike for serious riding but the 456 is more "do anything" and "raw" it's those attributes I warm to about it.
My Alu Cannondale Rush 2006. So sorted and refined. As someone mentioned earlier, if only Cannondale did a 29er or even 650b version.
It just did everything well with no fuss.
If I'm looking back with sentimental eyes then my 1990 Fisher Celerity.
But being more realistic it would be my Surly Pugsley. Not only do I love how it rides (never had a bad ride on it), I love the look of it too. I truly don't know what I'd ever replace it with if something happened to it.
current one - transition suppressor. its not perfect but it gets me up the mountain and down faster, with more fun than previous bikes. There isn't anything on the bike that I would change until it wears out or stops working.
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[i] if only Cannondale did a 29er[/i]
Do you mean a Rush 29er? My mate was looking at them on eBay the other day. So they do (or should I say did!)
DezB - Member
if only Cannondale did a 29erDo you mean a Rush 29er? My mate was looking at them on eBay the other day. So they do (or should I say did!)
No. We are talking about the older frame design. The single pivot swing arm one.
Probably my 2006 Enduro, it's not as 'good' as my Cove G-Spot or my Tracer 275 that followed it, but for the time it was awesome. Ride it to work, ride it hills and dales, ride it DH it didn't care.
Rode it 2/3 times a week for 5 years.
The one bike for me that was the best bike Ive ever owned and massively regret selling was the Orange 5 29 that I bought off here.
Love my current T130C RS I've bonded with it in a way I haven't done since my old Mojo HD140, I don't think I could pick between them, I still regret selling the Mojo, if it was a Large and not a medium I'd probably still have it.
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T130C RS
Planet X XLS cx bike, I use it more than any other at the moment, mtb wise Giant 2011 trance.
kayla1 - MemberI suppose consensus would say the Flare I had for a bit was the 'best' bike I've ever owned but the BFe 275 (on 26", obvs) I've got now is more fun so is therefore 'better'.
I'm seriously contemplating ditching my Soul (27.5") and my Zesty (26") in favour of a flare, but I just can't quite bring myself to do it yet somehow, I want the comfort of the full sus as local woods are pretty rooty and bumpy, but keep thinking I'll be wanting another hardtail straight away............
'Best' bike I've ever owned in reality was probbaly my old 26" Soul - Hope wheels, remote dropper, dual air reba forks, 1x10. But the bike I realistically did the most miles on and enjoyed was the Genesis Core that I had before with most of those bits on, that's what really got me started.
Couldn't possibly choose one MTB.
But my Scott CR1 SL is just perfect for me as a road bike, can't think of any way to improve it (aside from more blingy parts)...
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Well for me it may have been my Muddyfox Courier.... It was the first affordable (for me) mountain bike in the UK really.
I only got the same feeling that the Muddyfox gave me when I got my Pugsley.... The Pug wins it for me.
Difficult when you've had so many. But maybe this one
[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/199/505671930_52b0d3775f_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/199/505671930_52b0d3775f_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/LFGDy ]DMR Switchback - Sep 05 - Dec 06[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexleigh/ ]Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr
First bike I rode away from my home trails. And learned to jump on at Chicksands. Did so many iconic rides on this bike, it sticks in the memory. Only got this photo of it from 2004!
The Mojo3 is the best bike I've ever owned in terms of being brilliant at everything and my SolarisMax is the most fun in woody singletrack, but the Switchback was the gateway drug to a whole new type or riding. So I'm choosing that.
My 2011 Scott Addict R2 - I originally went to test ride a CR1, but when i rode the Addict I knew it was the one for me.
We've been together for 10,000mi so far and have had adventures in Alps, Pyrenees, Dolomites and Corsica.
Depends on your definition of 'best'. Best performing would probably be what I'm riding now as bikes have undoubtedly got better and better (although I'm still stuck at peak 26" with a Stanton Slackline). But 'best' bike for it's time and for the amount of fun times I had on it over 13 years of hammer without anything going wrong with the frame would be my 2001 Turner RFX.
MTB: Mk1 Solaris - struggle to see my way to N+1 because of it.
Road: Handbuilt Reynolds 531 frame with full 105 groupset. (built by Brucie's Bikes in Kendal)
[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3688/13540250913_fae21a6cee_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3688/13540250913_fae21a6cee_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/mCvjRX ]Liteville 301[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/66452821@N00/ ]ritcheyp20[/url], on Flickr
I'm going for my current bike. Easily the most capable bike I've ever owned, but still pedals exceptionally well.
The Yeti ASR5C that I killed is worth a mention, beautiful bike, light, stiff and fast.
Jones, without a doubt, although the speedball is rapidly joining it in the "bikes I'll never sell" category
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My Pivot Mach 429c, love it, genuinely the best all-round most capable bike I've ever owned.
Still have a soft spot for my 26" Soul though, the frame is still hung up in the garage and will be built up again before long I expect.
My 16" 853 inbred. Loved that bike. Bent chainstay saw the frame retired to to a cardboard box in the garage. the Blue Pig that replaced it was almost as good, but not quite.
RIP the dead 'bred 🙁
MTB: Mk1 Solaris - struggle to see my way to N+1 because of it.
Almost choose my Solaris mk2 - it's so nice to ride and so versatile that I can't see myself wanting another HT for years.
my Intense tracer 2
26"
pikes
ccdb coil
absolute riot of a bike.
Many come and go. It still enjoy my 2003 enduro sx
Not the most capable bike but always makes me smile
I've got one of those, as well as an S-Works Enduro and an Epic of similar vintage. Of all the bikes I've had that Epic (one of the first ones) is still my favourite bike and still the most used of my mountain bikes. It has had a lot of upgrades over the years though. 2nd place would probably go to either the S-Works Enduro or a Mk1 Soul, which I also still have and use a fair bit.
My 1990 Yeti FRO. It's owned me for 25+ years.
Difficult to answer as for once im happy with both of my steeds, Ive had a few bikes, but I would have to say my Whyte 160rs comes very close to brilliant every time I ride it im left smiling like a fool as was I with my alpine five.
BUT
My Nocro torrent is just fabulous at everything it does , happy as a mile muncher ,commute bike ,local trail bike and hardcore hardtail when I want it to be, two wheel sets 27.5 fat and 29 mean its all things to all weathers. The hardest thing is the Whyte doesn't get a look in unless its a big lakes weekend ,seems almost daft having that much bike sat in the wings waiting ...."first world problems I guess "
For me it is the bike I ride most at the moment which is a Pivot 429sl with 120mm Fox34, Carbon rims and Eagle gearing. It has seen this slow old plodder around some tough courses and keeps coming back for more.
I also have a Specialised Camber Evo from 2015 which has been through a lot, has been neglected of late, needs some serious maintenance but is a great bike too.
It's quite a subjective question with several different answers depending on perspective. My 2004 Enduro was ridden all over the country, I have some good memories of that bike and the frame design is stunning in a way that modern bikes aren't. The frame still hangs on the wall in my front room.
However, compared with the Camber which replaced it, it was flexy, steep, prone to suspension sag when pedalling and the mech hanger mounts were made of cheese. Every now and again, I think about pulling it down, fitting a set of old skool Pikes and a spare set of 26" wheels but common sense always wins the day in the end. Plus, from what I've been told by other '04 Enduro owners, a great many were killed by the chainstays snapping and they're quite rare these days. It'll stay on the wall for a long time yet.
specialized turbo levo expert; it's just so so so so so so so much fun