[Closed] New bike day!

So, this is the tale of how I saved the expense and hassle of owning a FS bike by building two hard tails....

I had been hanging on to my first "real" mountain bike (an old Specialized Hardrock), telling myself I was keeping it for wet and muddy days. Well, one ride cured me of that, as I quickly learned bikes have come a long way while it had been hanging in the attic, and I managed to sell it. This "funded" a new Stanton Switchback build - a bike I am delighted with now I've got it up to spec. I built this as a cheap way to muck around on steeper local trails, and for BPW.

Then I started eyeing up my FS - a 2009 Trek Fuel EX9 I bought second-hand. It was a very capable, lightweight, and comfortable bike, although its "All Mountain" marketing at the time is now more like "moderate XC". Anyway, I decided it was time to move on - I was finding its limits, and didn't want to deal with the future maintenance, especially as it has a lot of specialist and older parts, and I felt bad dragging it through the South Wales grit and slop.

One stealth STW ad later, and I had a re-painted Cotic SolarisMAX frame on its way. I built it up with 140mm Pikes, and recently took it out for a longish ride to find out exactly what I had done with my all-HT bike strategy. I wanted something that would do longer days, get me up any climb I have the legs for, and also be fine with more technical descents. On balance, I'm pretty happy so far - given the requirements, the SolarisMAX seems to hit a decent compromise. Looking forward to trying it out on other local routes, will be taking it around White's Level at Glyncorrwg this week.

I ran out of legs on the climb, but the bike had no issues getting me back down.

The previous owner said he found it "too fast", and now I see what he means. It builds up a lot of speed in a straight line, and if you're not careful, you can end up having to hurriedly scrub off speed and then wrestle it through corners. My main point of contention is the head angle - it seems a bit excessive at 65.5 degrees. Dropping the fork to 130 or 120 would add up to half a degree, but not sure how much difference that would make (especially as I like the travel at 140). Maybe an angle-adjusting headset? But then again, maybe the HT angle is intrinsic to other good aspects of the bike, and also I've just spent plenty on the Hope headset.

Yes, I could have bought a trail / enduro FS with the money. I tell myself that maintaining two hard tails is easier than one FS, and that I have two purpose-built bikes that will serve better than one general-purpose bike, despite lack of rear suspension. Also, I have two bikes. Winner.