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Hi folks
I’m cycling more with my son as he gets older. He’s 14 and getting much stronger and more capable on his bike and we are spending more time at bike parks (he’s more into trails than my chosen area of XC).
He’s got a YT Jeffsy trail bike and I’ve been riding with him using my fully stock 2016 Trek Top Fuel 9.9 ( https://www.bikemag.com/news/trek-top-fuel-9-9) It’s a nice bike for XC, although a bit long in the tooth geometry wise (69degree etc) and twitchy on the trails with skimpy tyres.
So the question is should I
A. love it - fit an angle set (9point8 for internal headsets) and put some beefier tyres on and live with the limitations of 67.5 degree head angle and 100mm travel
B. List it - sell it and look for a second hand trail bike to have a better day out (this will require a bit of faff and extra cash but perhaps more fun)
what would you do?
ta
Woody71
If I were mostly riding parks / trail centres I'd list it (or n+1).
I have a Specialized Camber Evo of similar vintage. The narrow (by modern standards) non boost back end is quite limiting in terms of tougher tyres and there are definitely times when it feels twitchy at full pelt on man made stuff.
It's a brilliant day out in hills bike though.
in your shoes I'd definitely be going burlier and slacker.
It’s got modern boost front and back which is good but I think the fundamental flaw (in addition to geometry) is the fork and it’s not easily replaced as I’d need a new front wheel as well
I’m edging closer to “list it”…
Welcome to my world of trying to get bikes to be things they're not! If you have to be one in one out, get it sold sand but something better suited to today's riding. The current gen Top Fuel is a good example of a bike that can wear a variety of hats. See Guy Kesteven's stuff on YouTube for more of that.
List it, i've got the previous top fuel and its suitable to do some decent trail riding, but i wouldn't go too far on it still, 120/130 build covers a lot, but id still take my bigger bike to BPW, Rogate etc. The 2016 model would be great for long distance, xc, gravel etc however....
List it.
There's some amazingly capable - but still great at XC - trail bikes with around 120-130mm travel and modern geometry around nowadays. Depending on budget, things like the Transition Spur or SC Tallboy (my personal choice) worth a look. I bought a secondhand Tallboy 5 with a 140mm fork and it's a great all-rounder.
Well if you still bash out xc miles then keep it and go n+1 if you can and get a 2nd hand trail bike. My xc bike is even older (2015) and it's still fine for xc and anything up to red-grade trails really. I used to ride it at Rogate too, but that was too much and I could feel it getting very out of shape and like an accident waiting to happen. So that was the line for me - that sort of bike park is much better on a trail bike.
It looks like the collective STW mind is confirming what I’ve been thinking - get it listed…
Or Option C: Stick some drop bars (or MTB Drops) and turn in into Gravel Monster? THat'd be my choice, then buys something burly for riding the properly rough stuff....
Buy a Specialized Status and enjoy the bike parks.
After looking around and seeing prices of a suitable down country type bike - and being hit by a massive dental bill - I’ve decided to love the trek for a bit longer
I’ve got some gnarlier tyres, slack-r headset and new bars on order.
no doubt I’ll list it after I’ve minced round swinley forest red trails one more time!