How on Earth do you buy a "trail" bike these days? There's so much choice and most get good reviews. Are there really no bad bikes any more? Every time I arbitrarily knock one off my short list, two more get added. It's quite a long list 😆
Ride a few and then pick the one that fits you best/like the look of.
ride a few
That's my intention, but how do people pick which ones to test ride? Colour? Availability? Warranty? Value? Last time I bought a full susser I knew what I wanted and the process of buying was fun. Now there's so many good bikes available I'm searching for reasons to limit the test rides to 2 or 3
Last two Ive bought in the last six years have been demo'ed Orange I got a five for the weekend, rode it back to back with my then existing bike.
The Specialized I went to a demo day and ride track Spesh, and Giant so Od keep a look out for demos mate that's the way to choose, but looks will play a big part too!! 😆
Just get the cheapest that has the bits on it that you want. There's no BAD bikes around any more.
For me that would be Rockshox forks, Deore drivetrain and a true 4-bar rear end. That's all I need. 🙂
I don't think it's so much whether there are no bad bikes out there, just that there is unlikely to be one that's significantly better than the rest.
People seem to get so hung up on finding "the best".
Cynic-al is spot on, you'll never find 'the best' from reading or listening to others opinions as most bikes are very good, you'll just end up with a huge list. There are however a few bikes out there that are ideal for your riding style and one of these needs to be found.
Figure our how you like to ride and where you'll be riding and be honest about it, you may dream of six foot gap jumps and Alpine adventures but if every weekend you pootle around your local trails with a total climb under 200m then a 160mm wonder bike might not be the most suitable choice...
Once you have the genre more or less sorted go test a few bikes, try different suspension systems and cockpit designs. Some bikes are long, some short. See what works and when you find something that 'clicks' you're there. I tested five and could have gone on but two of them where so good I decided to stop and focus on one of them. Any more and I'd have not slept for months.... It's great fun hunting and you know you've made the right choice 😀
Well I'm in the market for a new bike too and have sympathy with this dilemma. I've come to the conclusion that there are no bad bikes out there (within reason) so you start looking for the softer and less tangible things like aesthetics, colour and just a general feel about a bike or brand. One thing I'm after is a non mainstream brand and the most frustrating thing I find is the lack of places where you can test ride non-mainstream brands. But it's fun shopping around.
Went through the same dilemma myself earlier in the year.
Ended up choosing mainly on the basis of geometry, but also wanted carbon (but not stupid Santa Cruz-style prices), a certain amount of travel and a company with a good rep on warranty.
Didn't leave me many choices at all in the end. Be more fussy!
Having been involved in a sticky mud bath this weekend I reckon you want one with very simple hand down the back wheel mud clearance, I passed so many fancy yet totally clogged up bikes. er Yes they might have passed me on the roads 🙂
Its a bit like cars and most other consumable items, set a budget and most at that level are pretty much the same kinda performance/quality etc
With all this in mind, when do bike demo days start? I'm giving a Yeti ASR5 and an Orange 5 a spin next weekend, but it'd be good to try one of the big brands too. I'd like to try a Bandit, Zesty and Stumpy too. The Bandit sounds ace but if I'm honest I think I'll be better served with something Lighter that can do all day ups and downs rather than slog up, hoon down bikes.
EDIT On the subject of suspension, I'm not sure what I should be looking for. My last full susser was a Whyte 46 and I found the rear suspension just did its job up and down (pun intended) without character...which I liked.