Hi all,
I have had my Spesh Stumpjumper FSR Expert since it came out in 2008 so I figure I could get a new bike without feeling massively guilty…I like the bike a lot but I love tanking it downhill and am interested in a 140mm travel bike.
I’ve only had 2 bikes, this and before it a Marin Rift Zone 2001. Now I may be remembering it overly fondly but despite the Spesh being a better bike overall if you take climbing and technical single track into account, I still think that the Marin single pivot suspension did a better job downhill that the Spesh does, just felt smoother and really great at speed over rocky uneven ground.
As far as bikes go I really like the look of the Canyon Spectral CF. The suspension system and geometry looks very similar to my Stumpjumper so I’m guessing it will ride not dissimilarly. Anyway my question is, if I like going downhill fast (and who doesn’t) should I think of single pivot bikes again or otherwise what do people think are other good options. Please don’t mention wheel size, I don’t really care (it won’t be a 29 though), and please don’t recommend Orange bikes because they make me a bit sick in the mouth, sorry but I really hate the way they look!

Shocks have come a long way – you can combine a well designed single pivot with a high quality shock like a CCDB and end up with a great bike.

Very hard to say one setup is better – just different.

Shocks (type, tuning and set-up) and other set-up differences can very easily make a much bigger difference than the exact suspension arrangement to the feel when simply bombing down hills. When it comes to behaviour under pedalling for climbing and behaviour when braking the specific arrangement comes into play more, but I wouldn’t by any means assume that your limited sample means single pivot bikes feel best for descending. FWIW, I find the Horst link arrangement that Specialized use feels much nicer when descending than the single pivot bikes I’ve ridden.

Agree about shocks – I never liked the Spesh Brain Shock that the bike came with and changed it a year ago for an RP23 Pro Pedal – can’t say the pro-pedal does a lot but the shock overall improved the bike a lot from the ‘better than Fox’ brain thingy that was there before.
Any owners of a Spectral CF out there that can give me any feedback? It’s that or a Strive but I can’t decide if the Shapeshifter malarky looks amazing or overly complicated. Love the look of the Spectral CF with XTR Di2 and iCTD but can’t quite justify 6.5 grand on a new bike…
I may well be remembering the Marin as being better than it was, since it was my first mountain bike and a revelation coming from road cycling. Manitou forks were pants! Felt amazing for about 10 minutes then they filled with water.

Try before you buy. There are a few different suspension types and they can be made to feel the same or very different. Even as full sus novice I was able to tell the difference between different systems when I was demoing bikes.

Also slight changes in pivot location and shock tune can make a bike behave very differently. Eg Spec and Transition both use the Horst link suspension design but they feel very different. Spec go for a very supple feel giving loads of traction almost like you are being sucked onto the ground. While Transition have gone for a more lively feel similar to their previous bikes which were linkage driven single pivot bikes.