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eurgh i hate that label! unfortunately, i think its the kind of bike i need. ive tried to avoid the trend over the past few years by beefing up lighter bikes or hauling bigger bikes around, but ive come to the conclusion that the painfully on-trend 160mm, 66-67 deg head angle, 30-32lb bike is the one for me. but which one? from what i hear the nomad, alpine 160 and zesty are the pick of the crop but are there any others worth having a go on?
cheers all 😳
sounds to me like you should buy this months dirt mag they have a section on the best current trail bikes,should help you make a decision. i wouldnt discount bikes from last and cube as well as the usual suspects orange and lapierre.
'all mountain' in its truest sense, it'd have to be a bionicon, as it'll steepen up sufficiently to climb stupid ups, and then be able to slacken it back toward 'on trend' angles?
Nicolai AM
Hand made in Germany
5 year warranty
Rides amazingly well.....
ive had bikes from the 'trail' genre before and whilst great bikes they dont have sufficient skill compensation for the kind of riding i like to do.
bionicon? aesthetics aside, i dont want a bike that changes shape, be that with travel adjust forks, magic buttons or owt else. im sure some folks would love it but i like my bike to stay the same shape on all terrain,i feel moree 'in tune' that way. (gawd, another cliche!)
The new transition covert could go in as well, new enduro evo (2011), alpine 160, spicy, new santa cruz butcher. Loads of very good bikes out there at the minute both in the 140mm and 160mm market.
Which one is right for you depends on your requirements and preference, test ride as many as you can.
trek remedy or specialized enduro if they have "enough" travel. Higher end models were certainly light enough to ride all day as long as you weren't in a hurry.
Well I've just bought a Titus El Guapo for exactly the reasons you mentioned. Rode it today properly well leith hill atleast and it handles and rides as good as it looks, using FSR suspension. see my other threads for pics and let me know what you think. If you want a test ride and are local to Oxfordshire you are more than welcome. My main reason for buying btw is to try my hand at this gravity enduro shenanigans and maybe the mega next year
Cheers Mat
Is it the travel you really need or just something that is strong enough? The great thing is that there are a number of bikes around at the moment with 140-150mm of travel that also have the geometry you're looking for.
I'm personally riding a Nicolai Helius AM and I love it to bits; it's the bike I would choose again (ok maybe a Carbon Nomad) but I don't think it's the best for anyone other than me. The best is a very personal thing.
Devinci Hectic is a great bike and great value for money (Freeborn doing amazing deals on frames and forks at the moment).
Cube Fritzz?? Ive had mine blundering down the Alps, in my 'Blunderbuss' style...and also up and down the Yorkshire Dales. Its light enough for all day rides, but tough enough for anything that can be thrown at it (ive broken 3 bikes over the years..). I also have a Felt Virtue and a Scott Spark in the shed, and the Cube is the only one that has seen daylight for the last 6 months.
Spicy, Covert, Morewood Mbuzi, Yeti ASR-7? The monster's right though - our most popular demo bike is a Cube Fritzz.
Whack a set of Fox 36's on an Orange 5 (AM model). Problem solved.
About 30lb with a sensible build and capable of handling the Alps.
I build Rowan Sorrell's bikes, and he's just returned from a photo shoot in the Alps on his 2010 frame, before I swapped his components onto a 2011 frame.
He said he thought he should have taken his Alpine 160 on reflection, but his 5 coped so well, it didn't make that much difference apart from the 140mm fork.( he got these rebuilt with a tapered steer tube for the new frame when he got back)
He'd have prferred to be on a 160mm fork for that particular shoot.
The bike was in very good shape considering he'd thrashed it for 4 days, he'd only broken 1 spoke. The rest of the kit went straight on the new frame.
And let's face it, we're not going to give our bikes the same kind of beating ever!
It's all the bike I'll ever need, and I ride a bit of social DH, as wel a a bit of FR and trail/XC on mine.
It's never given me any cause for concern in any trail situation.
I guess you just need to get on with the single pivot design to make it work for you.
depends how you ride. for me a hardtail jumpbike is the best all round.
GTR - social DH? 😆
There's a bucket load out there to try. Go do that. Try as many as you can. Turner, Trek, Titus, Spesh, Marin, Orange, Ellsworth, Commencal, Lapierre, Giant, Canondale, Santa Cruz etc etc. I'll say a 5 Spot as I just love 'em, am on my second one and it's the easily the best bike I've owned. Just to add more confusion. 8)
There's a new Intense Tracer out for 2011 too.
It's certainly worth considering ..
Yep, I ride Rheola regularly with friends, I got nuthin to prove.
I wouldn't want to race a 5 on a dh track, I'd get a 224 for that.
I raced for 20 yrs from BMX & MX to DH. I'm gettin a bit old to go out breakin bones for fun now, it takes too long to heal buddy. 😉
There's also a new Alpine 160 out soon. It's going to be lighter and more responsive I've heard, 😉 😉
"depends how you ride. for me a hardtail jumpbike is the best all round."
Yup, ht jumpbikes are brilliant,even for mucking about town, makes just nipping to get a pint of milk into an adventure.
sorry GTR ,I was laughing at the "new niche" rather than what you ride. same here BTW!
It's all good mate. 
We're all just mountainbikers in my book. 😉
I get your thinkin on Jump style HT too. I've been riding a 4X HT for 10yrs, doin trials, trails, street and commuting on it. But it's just not as fast on the rough stuff we got round these parts. That's where the 5 kicks in.
I love speed me!
My classic Mini 1300 is ****in fast. I'd like a scooby, but it won't keep up with the mini round here, it's too tight and twisty. Catch my drift? 8)
Nomad and the Intense Tracer are my two fav's...although as above the Nicolai AM is pretty good.....be building one of these three again early next year. 🙂
Skyline - just going to take issue with your comment about Rowan giving his bikes more of a beating than the rest of us.
Sorry mate but I've seen him ride and there's no way he gives his bikes a harder time.
Apart from weighing the square root of **** all, he's soooooo smooth. I doubt very much that he comes up short on jumps, crashes clumsily through rocks, stacks it on wet roots or just plain falls off and chucks his bike down the side of the track, which is pretty much what the majority of us do 😆
I'd back your point up though in all seriousness; it's well made as is the Orange Five.
any hardtail that fits you properly, you don't really need to sit on a mobile sofa
any hardtail that fits you properly, you don't really need to sit on a mobile sofa
+1
+1 for the Cube Fritzz. I built one up for a friend recently (taking it for a few test-rides first, obviously 😀 ) and they're lovely. Like the other's have said, it's light enough for all day but will gladly be pushed hard.
Well maybe you should stop believing the hype and the crap spouted on mags. You don't need 16mm travel. 120 to 140 will be plenty enough depending on your weight and riding style. Plus do you really need a AM bike? If you're not in scotland/northen england you could just use a HT or a XC FS bike? And maybe you should ask a professional his/her opinion. LBS are a very good and very valuable source of knowledge/advice.
But if you want my opinion:
if you like going down: commencal meta 5
if you like going up a lot scott genius
if you like bit of both Orange 5, Kona cadrabra 2011 (2010 is to steep from the head or you need 160 mm fork but that's a bit overkill)
A hardtail would be fine.
"All mountain" is a made up cycling discipline created to sell expensive, long travel bikes to people who think they need them but actually dont.
If you dont ride World Cup downhill tracks on a regular basis then why would you need 170mm of travel?
Oh god here we go. Every one pull up a soap box and start to tell the OP what he really needs because of course he can't possibly make up his own mind!
If you dont ride World Cup downhill tracks on a regular basis then why would you need 170mm of travel?
to ride non WC DH tracks. 😛
There's only one WC track in the UK (rode it yesterday as it happens) but it's by no means the gnarliest track I ride.
[i]eurgh i hate that label! unfortunately, i think its the kind of bike i need. ive tried to avoid the trend over the past few years by beefing up lighter bikes or hauling bigger bikes around, but ive come to the conclusion that the painfully on-trend 160mm, 66-67 deg head angle, 30-32lb bike is the one for me. but which one? from what i hear the nomad, alpine 160 and zesty are the pick of the crop but are there any others worth having a go on?[/i]
I thought the same a few years ago, and bought a F0x 36'd Enduro S-Works. I was wrong. Now far happier on a 140mm Ti HT.
[i]he can't possibly make up his own mind[/i]
isn't this why the OP started the thread though?
He's asking for our opinion on an AM bike, not for us to proselytise about what sort of bike he should be riding.
I'm going to test ride the new Cannondale Jekyll when they land on our shores, if it's as good as the initial reviews suggest then it should be ideal for next years UK enduro series and the mega avalanche.
It's not all-mountain though it's [b]over-mountain (ffs)[/b] so it will be no good for the all mountain type of bike your looking for!
lol juan, i wondered how long it would be before someone told me i didnt need 160mm of travel! the reason i chose this level of travel is that forks and frames are suitably stiff for the kind of riding i do which is basically dh but riding back to the top (apart from the occasional forum peaks ride which are a bit more gentle).
i dont want a full on dh bike because they are too specific to one purpose and cost a fortune.
i dont want a trail bike because, as mentioned above, i dont have the skillz to pilot one down a dh track without breaking it or dying.
Ive been to my lbs (already!) and had a go on a nomad, alpine 160, scratch, spicy and a couple of others. it really is between the nomad (carbon, obviously), alpine 160 or the spicy.
my heart is saying nomad, though the alpine 160 would be good for me as ive had a 5 and a patriot 66 before and loved them both.
however, ive just pushed the button on a spicy 316 at a silly cheap sale price plus a load of bits and bobs to make it 'mine'. i went for this over the 516 cos i dont need a travel adjust fork and for the price difference ive gone 1x10, upgraded the wheels and the cockpit too. cant wait! (its quite pretty, ive never had such a colour coordinated bike before!)
hmmm i think 'skyline' comment just about sums it up !
my son is is about to test 3 bikes out soon..this week the 2011 orange five pro, then the Alpine 160 , then the five AM..so will get some feedback hopefully soon.
Skyline-GTR : any suggestions choosing from the 'five AM' and the 'Alpine 160'.....
would the 'Alpine 160 be suiltable for the likes of lee/cragg quarry and the whole of the 'calderdale valley' or would the 'five Am' be better suited.....aby preferences : cheers in advance 😉
+1 geetee1972
Been trying to word that myself without sounding arsey!
the reason i chose this level of travel is that forks and frames are suitably stiff for the kind of riding i do
Um.. think you'll actually find shorter travel forks and a hardtail frame are both stiffer than DH frames/forks never mind "all-mincer" ones.
My Intense 6.6 works well for pretty much everything. I imagine the Tracer is just as good if not better. I rode a Heckler and was very impressed, I think it could handle everything you could throw at it. I've never ridden one, but from what I have been told the Nicolai Helius is a great all-rounder.
The only thing I would say, is that in my opinion an 'all mountain' bike is still a compromise. They can be very good at going up and/or down but not their not going to be the best at either.
Out of interest, how many people have actually ridden the bikes they're recommending rather than regurgitating magazine reviews? (This is not a Troll.)
I tested the Spicy but opted for the Alpine. I couldn't say whether it's the best in its class, but I'm very happy with it. I had a Patriot built up as a freeride/DH-lite with Boxers, and the Alpine was bought for similar duties plus capacity to happily cycle back up again. You won't be going race speed to the top of the hill but I spin up in a decent gear and only tend to be passed by XC featherweights. Importantly, the bike doesn't feel like a drag.
The Alpine felt stronger than the Spicy and given that I do a fair amount of riding abroad, I didn't want to be held back nor have to shell out for repairs. Of course 160 is overkill for most stuff in the UK but if you like a variety of riding, are not looking for race time ascents and regularly ride proper trails, why not have a bit sus' and gnarl in reserve? It'll come good on the descent 😉
I had an old Specialized Supercross, that was quite good for all mountain riding but it was maybe a touch to smalle for me.
David, I have the long one, it's pretty useless for riding up hill TBH as the seat angle is DH slack, great little mini DH bike tho.
my son is is about to test 3 bikes out soon..this week the 2011 orange five pro, then the Alpine 160 , then the five AM..so will get some feedback hopefully soon.
That's really throwing the net far and wide...
^^^^^
I tested loads of bikes and the Orange was the best...
I tested loads of bikes too and went for a Remedy.
I had a Fuel for a weekend and it was great, but too similar to my hardtail.
Jumped on the Remedy and I was immediately riding harder and hitting jumps I would have never tried before.
Done DH days on it, now commuting to work 4 miles on the flat...if you can't afford lots of bikes, these type of bikes are probably the most versatile I reckon 🙂 So have fun on your spicy slowrider 🙂
I like the Mojo HD, demoed one and I think I'm gonna have one in my shed soon. At the end of the day try and test them, if it puts a smile on your face buy it, most people are are in this game for fun. I have ridden various bikes - Nomad, 5, 5 Spot, Tracer, Meta 5, Mojo and probably others, there isn't a bad bike among them to be honest.