[Closed] Have I bought the wrong mtb?

Looks like a fun bike.

It will feel slower and a bit more ponderous than your old bike at first, but that makes it significantly more capable on proper trails. Modern trail mtbs are longer, bigger wheels, wider bars, longer travel forks.

1x sacrifices outright top end speed as generally on trails you don't need massive gearing. It's quite easy to put a bigger chainring on if you are spinning out, but will give you a harder lower gear as well for climbing.

Tyre choice can make a big difference, as can pressures

Change the tyres, change the chainring?

What he said, stock tyres are pretty much always shite, spec a chainring that suits your terrain.

dirt tracks, gravel paths and some smaller trails at the moment and nothing too jumpy.

Based on the a Grand Canyon but if you’re going to escalate the gnarr factor the bike should be fine. Do what the other suggest before changing.

Tyres are Magic Mary and Hans Dampf which generally get good reviews. Maybe I’m just getting old but used to race around on my old bike (in my head) and finding this one a little slow compared to it but maybe I should give it time. Just didn’t know whether to sell while new ish.

Looks a very capable bike.
You may find the more modern geometry makes it feel slower due to it being more stable and being less twitchy.
What kind of riding do you see yourself doing in the future?

Well I live in London so been going to the outskirts to woods and trails. Want to go further afield when lockdown ends to do Surrey hills and some trails at bike parks (never done before). The biggest thing I notice is the difference in tyres- they seem enormous and fat which is great in the mud and downhill but I guess I was looking for more of an all rounder as I have to cycle roads and paths to get anywhere decent. Was weighing up the Vitus Sentier as well but the stoic may be similar.

Swap the Hans Dampf to the front and put something quick like a Rock Razor on the back. And go tubeless if you haven’t yet.

It’s limited to a 30T ring as far as I remember which would be a bummer with an 11T top gear.

Swap the Hans Dampf to the front and put something quick like a Rock Razor on the back. And go tubeless if you haven’t yet

This! Nothing sucks the speed out of an xc type ride more than over agressive tyres.

Got some chunky tread on the Hardtail, to wear out on lockdown local stuff at the mo as I'm not keen on the tyres. Sometimes it feels like I'm pedalling downhill just to keep moving.

Something like a Rock Razor or Specialized Slaughter on the back will speed things up nicely.

“It’s limited to a 30T ring as far as I remember which would be a bummer with an 11T top gear.”

You’re right, it is. That is really poor. I can understand some bikes not fitting a 36t, maybe even a 34t, but not even a 32t? WTAF?!!!

I just googled the bike, assuming I got the right spec, shwalbe super trail. Those tyres are 1.2kg an end, that's heavy!

Is it much cost or hassle to replace this?

Fit some lighter faster rolling tyres and it will feel hugely faster than now.

Mary is a truculent bitch, great grip but slow, and so noisy on anything hard. Change her for whatever you were riding up front, sell her or keep her for an uplift day.

Much as others have said, tyres can make or break a bike. My hardtail with 3” minions on it feels like an unstoppable tank but with fast rolling 2.8”‘s it feels like a different bike. Swap out tyres, go tubeless and experiment with pressures and you will find something which works.

Great tyres but overkill for what you are describing

Wheel set also quite heavy really, the frame itself is rated for enduro according to their website so prob ovebuilt for what you want+

Depends how much you want to spend

S/H bike market hethey so you'll get good money for it, but lighter fast rolling tyres (yours will sell well) or even a lighter wheelset, will make it feel much faster

As above, try the Hans Dampf on the front and something like a Racing Ralph on the back.

I'm not certain about those forks, but a lot of Suntour forks can have their travel reduced. Dropping the forks by 20 mm might make it feel a bit quicker steering.

If you're used to XC bikes, cutting the bars down an inch or so and going to a 20mm longer stem might also help.

Want to go further afield when lockdown ends to do Surrey hills and some trails at bike parks (never done before).

My suggestion here would be to wait until you've tried those things before making sweeping changes. Yes, on local XC stuff in the south east the stock tyres aren't going to feel fast, they need some gravity to help. At this time of year the trails arent going to be running fast either, so it'll feel like a slog even in "xc race" tyres in many places. But it sounds like you bought the bike to expand your riding and try more things, but you haven't been able to try that yet.

There will be compromises to be made - sorry! Trying to have something great for bike parks and great around gravel paths is a big ask. I'd generally suggest we all make compromises, but...a 30T max chainring size, really??! I'd sell it. I live in the SE and am happiest on a 36T. I do think you'd be running out of gears at a comparatively low speed and the climbs certainly don't require a mini-ring.

I run mary front mich enduro rear on a Geometron. A heavy bike compared to your new one I’d think. Good geometry and sizing means it fits right for me at 6’2”. Early bikes were way too short.
I wouldn’t dream of buying a more XC bike but for lockdown I did fit an Ardent front and Specialized Slaughter semi slick rear. The difference in paved tracks and hardpack was amazing.
I run 34 Absolute Black oval chainring front 10-42 rear in summer. 30 AB oval front winter.

Sorry I’m probably being thick but new to mtb upgrades etc. Can you change a 30t chainring easily and what sort of price? It’s a 1 x10 drivetrain. I do feel like I am short in gears. Thanks for all advice on tyres- I will definitely do that.

You could complain to Canyon but they will probably say that to appreciate a Stoic 2 you need to a stoic too.

Can you change a 30t chainring easily and what sort of price?

You can and for not a lot of money. The issue you have is that some above (who know more about this frame than I do) think that a 30T chainring is the largest that can be fitted to cranks on that frame without it rubbing on the chainstays. Your issue is not only having 10 gears but the ratio of those gears. 30/11 is not very high.

Very short chainstays (for a super nimble feel), a reasonable tyre clearance AND space for a bigger chain ring was obviously a set of variables they could not meet. It does limit the bike a bit for the 'lite' end of what you plan to do with it - it's clearly more aimed at gravity stuff. Sadly that is always going to be a limiter if you want to razz around on paths and tracks that a gravel bike would be at home on. Still - 90rpm in top gear has you going at 21mph which is plenty on the flat off road. I bit of roadie souplesse higher cadence rather than mountain bike masher will get you moving fast.

But agreed with others - putting those (good) tyres to one side and investing in something lighter will help a bit (I'd keep the current ones for times when you will enjoy them).

Once you go a bit more gnar you'll maybe want to add a dropper post too.

@squadra 🙂 if only that joke had a ‘be’ in there! But you are right, i probably just need to get on with it. Be good to know if you could change the chain ring though? Or do you have to change the whole bloody thing with it?

@convert thanks- good advice. I have already added a dropper post and love that.

You can’t fit a bigger ring due to lack of clearance with the frame. 30T is as big as you can go. From the description of your riding, a bike that can take a 34T or even a 36T would be better. Sorry.

It would probably be worth taking it to a good shop and checking about the chainring clearance. It might be possible to space it out enough to clear the chainstays, but that would probably throw the chainline off.

Looks a very capable bike.

The problem here is one of expectation. A lot of MTBers now do what used to be considered 'gravity' type biking rather than anything XC related. So when people say it's 'very capable' they mean in terms of the technical difficulty it can excel at. However, if you want to cover ground quickly it's actually not that capable at all.

Those tyres are big, very knobbly, soft and have thick casings. My general riding around bike has 2.1" Rocket Rons on it, and I don't have any problems with grip, nor are there many trails I can't ride near me (Cardiff). Granted, those tyres will be great in mud or soft conditions but there's a huge trade-off when you just need to get somewhere, as you're finding out.

If I were you I'd get Nobby Nics on there or something, in a 2.2, with Speedgrip compound - you'll go much faster. I use Racing Ralphs all year round on my other bike, but I appreciate that a lot of the trails I ride on have a stony base so I can get away with it.

Thing is OP, it will be a great bike when you take it to some of the places you want to go - if you are coming from a 15 year old hardtail, it will be a really fun change. It's limitations are by design, so as long as you are happy to do the riding the bike is aimed at you will be very pleased.

The challenge here is that you also want it to do something it really isn't aimed at. Which brings you to the age-old struggle of "do I own a bike for the riding I actually do most, or the riding I WANT to do"! You are in good company on that one - see any thread here on being "over biked"

Ride it somewhere more challenging and choose your compromise 😉

I hear you. Bit depressed now haha. Anyone want to buy a Canyon Stoic 2?! 😂

paths and tracks that a gravel bike would be at home on.

There's a world of bike between this hardcore hardtail and a gravel bike. It's called XC.

Bit depressed now haha. Anyone want to buy a Canyon Stoic 2?!

Just get new tyres. That's most of your problem.

Then fit narrower bars (740) and a 60mm stem. Cheap bars and stems are fine so you can try them out (Brand X or On One etc). This can make a big difference to riding along.

Lastly, consider SPDs as for me this also makes a big difference without too much compromise in tech stuff.

There’s a world of bike between this hardcore hardtail and a gravel bike. It’s called XC.

You missed my point.

I think this bike would be fine on traditional XC riding, especially after the tyres changes you suggested. Not as good as an actual XC bike obviously but good enough to enjoy. So if your range of riding was gnar to twisty xc singletrack then happy days. But if you go a level of rad below that to the gravel paths mentioned in the OP the bike is out of it's comfort zone arguably more than most would be prepared to live with. I've called it gravel biking because that's how most new to off road cycling game might view it. You are I are sufficiently long in the tooth that we might refer to it as the bits of fire road and the like a hybrid could also venture, used to link up XC singletrack where you might have flipped up to the big ring of your triple on an older XC bike.

But if you go a level of rad below that to the gravel paths mentioned in the OP the bike is out of it’s comfort zone arguably more than most would be prepared to live with.

Ok but you can't change bike mid ride, can you? 🙂

There’s a world of bike between this hardcore hardtail and a gravel bike. It’s called XC.

Which you can easily do on a gravel bike

If 30t isn’t bothering you, I wouldn’t worry about it. How comfortable you are with limited top and bottom range is personal. I’m riding the sort of areas you’re talking about on a 30t, albeit with a 10t on the cassette, and almost never think ‘I could do with a bigger top gear’. Still gets me over 20mph.

On tyres- I’d probably tough it out on those tyre for the rest of the winter and then fit a properly big and fast set when things are drying out. I like rekon front/aspen rear which will happily take me all over the north and South Downs,

That's really heavy for an aluminium hardtail without a dropper post - 33lbs!

The tyres (not so much the size, but the weight) is what might be killing the feel. Combined they're over 5lbs of your bike weight and if not tubeless, that could easily be over 6lbs or 3KG of rolling weight!

A set of Specialized Butcher (front) Purgatory (rear) 29*2.3 tyres ran tubeless would save you over 1.3kg of rolling weight. It will feel like a totally different bike. Cost would be £95 (for 2 tyres, tape and tubeless valves) and you could probably sell the original tyres for £40-50.

For the type of riding you can do during lockdown, you have probably bought the wrong bike.

But just get out and ride it.

The tyres you've got are overkill, but easy enough to swap out for a faster set (and keep the originals for post-lockdown rides away from home). A fast rolling rear as others have suggested is a good start - I run a Minion SS on my HT and it works well even in mud/snow as we've got at the moment. You could swap the Hans to the front.

Gearing-wise, you're just going a bit slower.

Don't think of it as a "wrong bike" just the first of a collection 😀 😉

I’m riding the sort of areas you’re talking about on a 30t, albeit with a 10t on the cassette, and almost never think ‘I could do with a bigger top gear’. Still gets me over 20mph.

I have an old 29" hardtail with a 3x9 drivetrain. I find the 32 tooth middle ring frustratingly low for just cruising around. Yes, you can spin it up to over 20 mph, but it's nice to not have to be spinning like crazy all the time. I use the big ring most of the time on road. I'll switch it to a 26-36 double in the spring, the current drive train is pretty knackered.

Do you have any idea what tyre pressures you are running? If they are low it will feel slow - use a decent pressure guage to find out. Increasing the pressures may be the cheapest solution for you.

My Marin Nail Trail isn't too dissimilar (1* steeper head angle, 13omm forks).

As above, tyres really do make a huge difference. Winter is wearing big hoofing Conti tyres, I've some really rather good Goma's for majority of the year, and an Superlight set of skinny Saguaro's for the few weeks of dusty trails and/or road riding.

If I lived somewhere flatter, I'd push up to a 34t front ring, but I need my bail out gear at times.

I also had to faff with fork damping (still not happy with RS damping) and the bars/saddle minutiae of set up.

It's not a wrong bike.

Yep tyres all day long. I had a HD on the front of my Solaris and it's great. Changed it to the back and out a magic Mary on front and it's sooo draggy on general pedally trails.

What's the wheel size? A 30T on a 29 can be similar to a 32T on a 27.5 and 34T on 26.

I run 34 on my 26 and 32 on my 27.5.

If 30T on 27.5 it may be a bit limiting, but depends on you and your riding. If you head for Surrey Hills and do fair bit of climbing you may appreciate it.

Also tyre size may have an impact on gearing. Big fat tyres may increase the effective wheel size. Though more contact area so potentially more draggy, but then again more grippy on the technical stuff. More so tubeless and low pressure.

Which you can easily do on a gravel bike

XC bikes are a lot more capable than gravel bikes. That's why they are XC bikes. They have bigger tyres, droppers, full suspension etc.

Tyre pressure is good and they are 29 inch tyres so 30t ok but I do feel like I want a couple more gears when on the flat stuff. The Magic Mary is pretty beefy so I think that may be an issue. I just want be able to go faster but do appreciate the bike is very good in the mud and sticky stuff at the moment. I may go tubeless to reduce the weight and look to see if I can put another chain ring on as there seems to be space. Keep wondering if the Vitus Sentier would have been a better option for the fork. The suntour fork doesn’t feel amazing.

The Suntour fork is ok for the money - for the kind of bike you’ve bought I don’t think you’ll get better for £850.

Iirc on the thread you started I suggested the Voodoo Bizango would be better for the type of riding you’re doing now - but the Stoic will likely be better in the Surrey Hills etc when you start doing steeper / jumpier stuff.

If you have supertrail casing schwalbe tyres on there I’d consider changing at least the front magic Mary for something lighter. I’d stick on something like a Maxxis DHF on the front and DHR2 on the back. Both in Exo casing - make sure the front is the 3c compound (Max terra) but the back will roll quicker if you get the cheaper dual compound. In 29er and what you’re riding at present I’d probably get the 2.3” width ones.

I wouldn’t start changing stems and chopping your bars down as suggested above - I don’t really see that helping the feel and you might regret it when you do harder stuff.