So what were the ultimate 26ers then?

Turner Flux

Rocky Mountain Blizzard

Glad I had them both, great bikes, for their time.

Hours of fun on them.

Nomad Mark 1 – this bike is just awesome
Anthem x – shouldn’t have sold

And I’m pretty partial to my old charge duster which is still faster in certain conditions than my fancy scale 29er

I had one of the 04 Enduro’s but was too green a rider to properly appreciate it 😳 My Soul is reputedly a classic but TBH my 27.5 Anthem SX that cost a load less is more fun most of the time…?

I always wanted a Rock Lobster

Well bloody cheers for this thread. I’m just presently looking at Chameleon frames, and feel s new/old/best-frame-ever build coming on

I’m too old and creaky for a bloody Chameleon.

Oh well…..

The very underrated Trance X.One great little trail bike

Ti hardtail : litespeed Kitsuma
Long travel f/s : Cotic Rocket
Medium travel f/s: Trek EX9

I am biased though 😆

Your never too old for a Chameleon, its a bit like an axe, every man should have one. Kevin rides ours most days and still gets a thrill from it. Its going to need some money spending on the gears soon. Seen as we won it in 2007 I think its worn well. You could say that they have aged together, cant see it ever been sold and doubt he will break it.

chambord – Member
I always wanted a Rock Lobster

Had one 05 through till 2012, with many updates. Great bike, partially replaced by a Soul

Surly 1×1

P7 just inspired confidence, although I also loved my Marin Muirwood a long long time ago

Evil Sovereign

Page 2 and no mention of a trailstar yet?…

LT hardtail- Ragley Ti. Not perfect but nothing is. Only ht I’ve ever ridden that could beat my Soul.

Deleted. Oops – wrong thread 🙂

The original enduro SX was an awesome trial bike but I snapped 2. Not a great pedaller either.

Currently riding a 26″ wheeled bandit that is one of the most capable all round bikes I’ve ever had. Can smash it down DH tracks at not far off race pace, do all day XC epics and I’m taking it on a 10day bike packing tour of Iceland next month as well.

Stumpy Evo?
Another ASR-5 vote from me. I did own one so may be biased but had several other 26″ers both before and after. It’s still the one.

Hardtail- nothing will ever beat the Evil Sovereign.

XC Race bike- Giant Anthem.

As for trail full suspension only things from the last couple of years would count and I don’t really know- I ride a Stumpjumper Evo but it’s not the greatest bike in the world. An Evil Uprising would sound ideal but I’ve not ridden one.

Specialized Pitch. Suddenly we could buy a 6 inch trail bike that would climb well, descend like a dh bike, you could do all day rides on it then take it to the Alps! Everyone raved about them, didn’t they sell out and were hard to get hold of at one point and it seems that everyone who had one and sold it regretted selling it in the end, classic do it all bike… and all for £900! (I got mine for £900 😀 )

Best bike I ever owned and pedalled slowly

Yeti ASR-C [/url]

Ultimate evolution?
I’d prob say something like the SB66c, Mojo HD, Nomadc etc. Carbon bikes strong enough to take a beating.
The 26ers which had loads of travel and still pedaled well. The capability of these bikes enabled enduro and prompted manufacturers to proclaim that they couldn’t really find much more improvement (within the 26 wheelsize).

Obvious innit

wrecker – Member

The capability of these bikes enabled enduro

Enduro’s been around for ages, those bikes are great at it but they didn’t enable it.

Nice to see the Bandit 26 getting some love. It’s the only bike I’ve ridden which I preferred to my beloved 06 Marin Rocky Ridge. Just dropped a couple of offset bushes into it for some extra gnar 😆

I’d prob say something like the SB66c,

I was thinking maybe this bike, the Rocket or the Evil for AM riding. Or maybe the Transition Suppressor, which has ace geometry and looks very tasty.

Lot of love for the Yeti ASR5 – only had a quick pedal on one of those but it did feel really special. Owned a late model 26″ Trek Fuel EX carbon myself and it was amazingly fast and fun but a bit short. Perhaps I should have got the next size up though.

ML7? Are you mad? Next up someone will suggest a Whyte PRS-T1!

Nah, the Whyte was too ugly to live… bag, rock, pond 😉

Enduro’s been around for ages, those bikes are great at it but they didn’t enable it.

I did think twice about that comment, and the wording. I struggled to come up with a better way of putting it.
I stand by my point though. If we didn’t have bikes like this, capable of climbing and hitting DH runs as they do, enduro would look a lot different (IMHO).

Well that’s settled then.

wrecker – Member

I stand by my point though. If we didn’t have bikes like this, capable of climbing and hitting DH runs as they do, enduro would look a lot different (IMHO).

Sure, but “bikes like this” covers most decent long travel full sussers built for the last decade.

I’m probably being a bit arsy here though, on consideration.

Ultimate 26″ XC trail-hardtail, has to be: Ibis Tranny

I railed this around Llandegla red/black yesterday evening just before the sun set. It rides like an over grown BMX – perfect for the table tops, drops and burms on the over-grown-BMX-track that is Llandegla.

Nothing can better this.. 😀

Nice, but STW appears to have already picked the Soul for that spot.

😉

I waited for 26″ bikes to die, then bought the best of the breed at a knocked down price:

Very nice, is that on the Lyn Colwyd loop? I see Tryfan lurking in the background there.

Yep, Lyn Colwyd with Tom on one of the free guiding days 🙂

It makes me happy to see the 06 Rocky Ridge mentioned… ruddy awesome bike. I still have the frame and its getting rebuilt when I move back home again.

Been lucky to have what I thought was the best at the time

Sure, but “bikes like this” covers most decent long travel full sussers built for the last decade.

I’d say that in the last 10-odd years improvements in long travel full suspension bikes has been the largest area of improvement (more so than DH or XC bikes).

“Kona Explosif (1997)” nope it was the 89/90 version (all green with orange splater paint) there were/are better bikes but at the time this and the Cinder Cone of the time really changed stuff.

Orange Prestige forerunner of P7

Pace RC200

Cotic Soul (with 27.2 seat tube), possible the most brilliant bike I have owned.

My ’98 Kona Hei Hei. I still don’t see any point in buying anything more modern for the general riding I do but changing standards are making it ever more difficult to keep ‘Trigger’s Broom’ going.

26 isn’t dead, it’s just got very fat 😉