Need a bit of good advice please. Will a modern 29er with 140/150 travel be too much bike for an all rounder. Riding tends to be a mixture of local flat-ish bridle ways with a bit of twisty single track to natural rough terrain ( lakes, Peak District) and trail centres like Whinlatter. Currently on old skool 26” Superlight but hired a 29er at Whinlatter-thanks to the guys at Cyclewise for their help-and loved how it rode, much more stable downhill without the feeling I was going to go OTB on the rougher sections. Climbed well with relatively slack geometry compared to my Superlight and handled uphill switchbacks better with no tucking in of the front. Just a bit worried a similar bike may be too much for my regular riding. I don’t vwant to have a separate bike for each discipline really. I am a light rider, about 65 kilos and 5’6”
It seems the boundary between trail and enduro is getting closer but modern design seems to make it workable.
Short answer - no.
Some people will be happy riding all that you describe on a hardtail.
Some will say that a shorter travel 29er will be ideal and you dont need more.
Others will sat they ride a 170/160mm enduro rig everywhere and never feel overbiked.
Someone may say they ride everything on a rigid singlespeed.
Everyone is different and there is no one right answer.
Try and get a demo or another rental and try it on some other terrain - if it makes you smile and you enjoy the riding - you've got your answer.
All the above is just my opinion though!
Si
Nope, go for it.
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Until a few weeks ago when I built my hardtail, this was my only mtb, did everything from towpath bimbling to proper Lakes/Scottish enduro stuff, and massive days in the hills.
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150mm rear coil, 160mm front 29er. Not super slack at 65.5 degrees though.
What is that bike? Not quite there yet but when I replace mine I fully intend to be massively overbiked.
Mine? YT Jeffsy, they're 150/150 as standard but take an extra 10mm on the front very well, and are well suited to a coil. Proper do it all, mini-enduro rig 😁
Don't rule out bikes like the Bird Aether 9, shorter travel just at competent as a big travel enduro bike. Or maybe the Deviate highlander, high pivot gives a lot better rear suspension so again it's more capable than the travel suggests.
Nowt in stock right now but haven’t experienced any downsides to long travel so plan on going even longer next time - maybe new Capra but really like the look of the Nukeproof Giga.
I ride a 160mm forked hardtail and a 160/140mm full suss. I ride that mix of trails
If I could only have one mtb if would be the full suss. I took my hardtail out for 30 miles in the peaks a couple of months ago and it gave me a right battering!
I ride the full suss on local flatter rides, but prefer the hardtail if there are very few rocks about.
I could live with either, I'd prefer the full suss.
I ride a 120 travel full Susser for everything now. Modern geometry means it's really capable on technical - obviously not as much as a 150 rig. I've got a longer travel bike as well and a super light hard tail - but basically I just use the one bike niw
I'd give one a go and decide whether you prefer that or longer travel.
... then again I don't do trail centres anymore so have less need for longer travel capability.
Too much? Probably not. Optimal? Possibly not. If I were in your shoes (and assuming you’re able to) I’d maybe try taking out something like a 140/150 and riding it back to back against something a little shorter and more trail / XCish like a 120/130 on similar stuff to the riding you describe. Anything like that will be more cable than your 26” hardtail due to geo etc.
Maybe look at 650b options too as they might suit your body type better.
Marin do the Rift Zone in a 27.5. Not sure on your budget or what spec you have in mind, but these guys have stock (I’m guessing at 5’6” you’d be looking at a Medium?)
https://deanforestcyclesshop.co.uk/marin-rift-zone-275-1---2021-289-p.asp
For a demonstration of how capable shorter travel bikes are, here’s Brendog ripping it up on a Scott Spark.
Work out what's more important - for me yes my FS bike is overkill for my local stuff and the nearby trail centres, but I wanted a bike that would be good for a weeks worth of big days in the Lakes, or Scotland.
I had a recent 5 day trip to the lakes, 92 miles and 14,000ft of climbing. A day and a half of Lakes jank and rock on my HT was enough to almost kill my legs, the other 3 days were on the FS bike and I tell you I was very glad to have the coil and 160mm up front!!
I think a 150/150 bike is quite a good all rounder but I’d also try something a little shorter travel too. ‘Down-country’ as a niche is probably worth a look.
Transition Spur / YT Izzo at the lighter end. Maybe a SC Tallboy and Aether 9C a little more burly. Nukeproof Reactor also probably worth a look etc
I’ve done the 170mm front / 160mm rear thing for 3 years and you can absolutely ride it for everything. Uplift, all day natural pedals, flatter trail centre etc. However I decided to try a 140mm front / 130mm rear trail bike (with daurkybrnduro style geometry - Bird Aether 7) and it’s better than the longer travel bike more of the time for me.
I do a bit of everything - trail centre reds and blues / some DH type runs / uplift days / natural bridleway rides etc.
Try and get a demo or another rental and try it on some other terrain – if it makes you smile and you enjoy the riding – you’ve got your answer.
Agree. All that matters is having the bike you enjoy riding. Forget whether it is better or worse here or there as all bikes will be.
It depends where you see your priorities. I'd be tempted to say buy the bike for the riding that you do, not the riding that you imagine yourself doing.
There's no reason you can't ride a 150mm bike on a towpath but it's a lot of extra bike to drag around. I've been looking at this from the other side. I would like a bike for lon, fast days out but capable when it gets a bit steeper. I've done plenty of the lakes classic stuff on a hardtail, it's just slower.
If you go shorter travel there are options beyond XC bikes.
The giant trance is shorter travel and still thought to be very capable.
Scott spark comes in a 120mm version, again, very capable.
There was a Whyte 120 but that seems to have disappeared.
Tyre clearance seems like a key factor. I'm currently on the Scandal and the difference in ride between a skinny xc tyre and big enduro tyre is massive. really changes the way the bike rides up and down. When it gets hard what makes the difference to me is grip and geometry as opposed to absolute travel.
A shock with a full lockout also helps my full suss feel less overkill on tame stuff/ canal paths.
As others say, it depends what you're after, if you are a strava person who is all about miles and timings, then yes, too much bike could cause you issues, but if you're just out for fun, being overbiked or underbiked is just the nature of every ride, i ride a 170/165 enduro as my full susser and to be honest, the moment i just stopped trying to see it as being capable of everything it worked better for me, so knowing it's a little slower on climbs, a little less capable of doing the same distances in a day as a XC bike was when it was easier to enjoy, and reality is it's main job is enduro style stuff, so doubles, gaps, jumps, etc.
The reality is we can do most stuff on a hardtail, but we use full sussers with long travel for a reason, you just have to accept the sacrifices early, same with everything on a bike, such as tyre choice, suspension, etc.
The Trance is the bike I really fancy but not sure about the Standard Trance or Trance X
The short travel is still more than my Santa Cruz so may be the sweet spot for me. The X is more like the bike I hired.