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Not a fan of the protection kit personally, and the logos on the hunt wheels are gopping, but other than that - it's a lovely looking bike! Like others have said, it's kind of nice/funny to see things coming full circle and people ending up back on decent short travel bikes to do 'mountain biking' after this last decade or so of niches and sub niches... I think most of us still ride the same stuff we always have, and the type of bikes we had were OK, but now with modern geometry, materials, dropper posts etc that same type of bike can do just about anything well.
I think the geometry is the main difference between this and older XC 29ers...
120/110mm travel is nothing special...but with modern geo and fork offset, and wider bars...and BOOM!
He says. Still not ridden yet!
DrP
You’re right! This genre/niche of bikes are so much fun and so capable.
Other than the Epic Evo and the Transition Spur, are there really any other 'downcountry' bikes out there? I searched yesterday and most of the bikes other firms are comparing to these have 130-140mm travel both ends - suddenly that's short travel?
I have an Orbea Oiz which is 120/120 - use it for local XC and also Peak District, Y. Dales, Afan, Glentress
Other than the Epic Evo and the Transition Spur, are there really any other ‘downcountry’ bikes out there?
Rocky Mountain do a 120mm bike and Trek Top Fuel is very DC now.
A lot of people are jumping on the bandwagon though. I mean I like Cotic as a brand but claiming their FlareMax is downcountry is a bit of a stretch for my interpretation of the genre.
PS. my interpretation is a full-sus bike that you wouldn't mind doing an XC race on, but could also do some enduro trails on
Very nice indeed and no weeds to pick holes in either 😉
I agree @chakaping, I'm thinking 26lb or lighter, you could race XC on it, but the geo and travel are such that you can do ordinary mountain biking or 'trail riding' on it without feeling like you're perched on top of a very twitchy race bike.
My research (googling) has basically turned up a load of out and out XC race bikes, the Spur, Epic Evo, FlareMAX and then lots of 130-140mm travel bikes...
NS synonym, vitus something or other, yt izzo...
Quite a few out there I think...
DrP
Look lovely, but then I am a bit biased as I have one in the garage for the last few years, no unicorns though but I am all good with any help you can get, unicorns included.
Mine survived in standard spec for about 6 months only, now gone all the way to just short of S-Works spec, oops
Lovely bike to just ride, preferably a long way (did KAW and it was peachy) and ideally with some pace (in my case to the next coffee stop) and repeat.
Enjoy.
James
Soo... have done about 80km on the beast now; mix of gravel, some trails, and some of the SDW..
It's fabulous!!
So light, climbs so well, and the SID 35mm (select) seem to be really good..
Banging the Shockwiz on there, and it litereally only told me to slow the rebound a bit.. felt stiff and responsive, yet great on the rough stuff!
And the GX AXS T-type.... all I can say is 'beleive the hype' - it's the best shifting i've experienced. Hands down. And the 'better shifting under power' is witchcraft! Both up and down the cassette it's flawless!
All in all I'm really happy.
I've a size L stumpjumper, so despite not ever having test ridden an Epic, I just ordered a L - fits perfectly!
Will stick the Shockwiz on the rear shock tonight and give the bike another run for its money at BPW with the lad tomorrow!!!
DrP
How much pressure are you running in the fork relative to Rockshox recommendations? When I set mine to what's recommended for my weight they seemed too stuff, but that's only playing around outside with kerbs etc... still not ridden mine properly!
Awesome.
Short-travel 29ers with good geometry are the most-fun bikes most of the time, eh?
Cool, thanks.
like the shoes, I'm:
(5' 10")
DrP
This is one of the few sorts of bikes I've not owned but would really love to, I just know it's something I'd have to keep lightweight which would be difficult to do on a budget. Tell me how rubbish it is to stop me eyeing up bikes I can't justify.
Afraid I can't do that 😂😂
It's currently ripping up the trails (albeit blues and jumps at the mo) at BPW like an absolute dream!
DrP
Im doing similar research and have found the following additons to your lis so far in no particular order
trek top fuel
ibis ripley
SC tallboy
rocky Mountain element
whyte s120
yeti sb115
As you say there are quite a few with a 130 rear such as the stumpy and Izzy
Electric sockets are at different heights
This annoys me.
tentatively would LOVE to do an off-road Everest attempt too!
Accomplished this several times within 8 hours of riding in the alps, albeit lift assisted. #awesome
Nice bike other than the vertical levers. How are your wrists formed?
SRAM GX really fills the gap left by British Leyland.
.
With the brake swap, did you get away with keeping the old hoses when and just using the Ultimate lever and caliper or did you need to run new hoses in as well?
These look really tempting at £2999 from Certini at the moment. I’ve actually for some 120mm SID Ultimates to fit to one so could probably get away with the cheaper model and save another £500!
Looks fantastic!
I do own a Cotic Flaremax with Sids.
At the burlier end of Downcountry but rides well!
Interested in the wheels.
I know the burlier d/h Proven have a had a few failures.
Interesting to see how these hold up!
I wouldn't give them too much stick!
Im doing similar research and have found the following additons to your lis so far in no particular order
scor 20/30 is another to add
I saw that.. It's a hundred quid cheaper than I paid, and I thought I got a bargain! Oh well...
And I had to replace the hoses too as the fixing at the caliper end is different... It wasn't super easy as it seems the internal guide isn't ALL the way (unlike my stumpjumper, which really is 'push in one end,out the other'..) it was fine... Just had to remove the fork..
And RE the wheels.,.
4 rides in! Oh bugger! Will get Hunt to replace it ASAP!
DrP
Thanks for that @DrP, looks too cheap to pass on!
Your wheel experience has answered another question I had, I think I’ll be giving the Proven wheels a wide berth.
Will get Hunt to replace it ASAP!
Get your money back and get some Silt wheels.
Loving this write up and look forward to seeing the bike IRL soon, it’s on my list of three to replace my Spark at the end of next year.
Re wheels, I’m running Bontrager kovee elite Carbon. On an ebike and I’m not a lightweight. So far so good. Not sure if deals still around but I was under £700 for wheelset. Claimed weight of 1585g was bang on (ex rim strip and valves). Just bin the supplied rim strip as 60g each!
Oh no. Did the wheel crack at BPW?
Nah..out on the local trails last night!
I tell you what's weird about Hunt wheels... I've a sweet of alu xc lightweight ones on my SS that I've blasted and abused and they are awesome....
I've ruined the 'trailwide' in one run.. And just gave up on them...
These wheels are fast,light, and direct... Annoying the rear cracked... Will give them one more chance then see what happens...
I've Reserve wheels on my stumpy... They are great, but I've had the rear replaced a few months ago due to damage to the TOP of the rim (rock strike?)...
As long as the warranty holds up I'll be fine... I know half the staff at Hunt, so if there's any issues they simply won't be invited to my birthday 😋
DrP
Get your money back and get some Silt wheels.
XM421 or XR391 on DT Swiss 240's, can go fancy with spokes to save more weight. WIll end up with a far more durable and comfier wheelset at the same weight.
Very jealous (of the bike, not the wheel, commiserations!). A sprightly full suss feels like the one bike still missing from my garage, could swap it for the 29er hardtail easily enough, never the gravel bike though, long fast 'rolling' gravel days on MTB handlebars are not nice in my experience.
Might need to wait another decade though, perhaps as a 50th birthday present to myself 😂
If you give up on the hunt wheels then I can recommend roval control carbon. Mine have taken a decent hammering over a couple of years. But I didn't dare use them at BPW.
For those who missed the other thread, there's 42-44% off epic Evos at certini:
https://www.certini.co.uk/collection/end-of-summer-sale-2023
As @SirHC suggests. DTSwiss XR391 on 240exp hubs (Sapim race spokes). That is what I have had on my Spur for the last 2 years. No issues as yet - although I am aware they are lightweight and ride with that in mind.
I was on holiday with a hunt employee and he was telling me he was eternally amazed how many people specced inappropriate wheels/tyres for their bikes and their riding! razzing xc wheels at a bike park - it is fairly unsuprising they broke.
other than the daft wheels the bike looks amazing but i snapped my last xc weapon that i used for razzing. do specialized have a jumps and drops limit for their bikes like canyon and other companies do?
Well they didn’t break at BPW… and even if they had, I would expect ANY wheel to survive the green and Blues there!
Cracked last night on a local XC loop (Whiteways/Duncton) for those who know the area…
DrP
Mleh, sometimes it just happens. I hope Hunt sort you out. 👍
Well, I've given in after reading various bits about these and just ordered an Epic Evo Comp. It'll be getting the Hunt XC Wide wheels fitted which are on the current bike and have been faultless for years!
Now to try and talk myself out of the T-type drivetrain...
All I can say about t type is that it really IS incredible!
Perfect shifting....which is better under power!
DrP
Mine arrived this morning so I've transferred the bits across from the other bike and managed to get it out for an hour before the impending downpours. It's now got Hunt XC Wide wheels, X0 AXS drivetrain and SID Ultimate forks. Out of the box it was 12.35kg without pedals, it's now down to 11.7kg with flat pedals fitted. I need to trim the front brake hose and the dropper is going and will be replaced by an AXS reverb, annoyingly my old bike was a 31.6mm post and this is a 30.9mm. The steerer is also going to need a trim once I've figured out the position.
First impressions are that it's a really comfortable ride, I'd forgotten what full sun bikes were like after riding hardtails for years. It needs a few tweaks to get it right but the suspension seems to work well with the settings from the Trail Head app.
Looks nice. Lovely colour.
I have a 1 ride old 30.9 AXS Reverb dropper that came with my S Works Levo that needs to be sold
What length is the Reverb?
125mm