Voodoo Bizango or Specialized Rockhopper Elite 2021

Looking at entry level mountain bikes and I like these two. Bizango 29er gets rave reviews but have always ridden specialized bikes. Former has 1 x 11 drivetrain and latter 1 x 10. Does that make much difference? Would value opinions. Specialized doesn’t have any reviews online as it’s new.

What about forks and wheels, I’d go for the one that has the better fork and / or tubeless wheels and tyres as opposed to picking based on number of gears.

Deore 10 speed is relatively new and will be around for a long time, I’d also have Shimano gears over low end SRAM any day of the week – what does the voodoo come with?

I’d take the bizango personally. I’d say the Suntour fork is better – whilst they’re both airsprung the stanchions are weedy on the Judy and I think they’re steel / only have turnkey damping. Also the forks are a max of 100mm travel on the spec vs the 120mm travel on the Bizango. Bizango has a bolt through fork / front hub too – the spec is 9mm qr. with 29er forks having 30mm stanchions and quick release is going to be mega noodly.

Add to that the Bizango is a touch slacker head angle / touch steeper seat angle. Halfords annoyingly don’t quite reach, but the specialised looks particularly short reach vs seat tube length. I’d imagine the Bizango couldn’t be shorter…..

Gear wise there’s not much in it between 10 speed deore and 11 speed NX. Both have an 11-42 cassette which isn’t a huge range tbh – I’d change out either for 11-46 probably – and swap to a 30t chainring on the front on the Bizango.

Wheels are hard to compare as both budget with no-name rims. Ardent vs ground control tyres – I’d probably take the ardents.

Definitely Bizango for me.

Thanks Voodoo has suntour raiden fork and rockhopper Rockshox Judy solo air. Both have tubeless ready wheels.
Voodoo has sram nx gears and rockhopper shimano.

Also the voodoo is orange which is not really me but it gets such cracking reviews.

Thanks that’s really helpful. How much does it cost to change out to an 11-46? Also, the angle/reach comment- what should I want? I am a relative newby to things.

A Sunrace 11-46 cassette is £45 quid ish. You might find changing the chainring to a 30t might make just as much difference to be fair – if you can get a compatible Superstar Components one it might be a similar cost to the cassette. You might find the standard range is fine – if you’re not going up monster climbs it’s be alright probably.

Generally longer reach makes a bike more stable – the Specialized is really short in my opinion. Comments in reviews suggest the Bizango is a decent length, but I can’t find a geometry table with reach in it bizarrely.

The Specialized frame looks lovely in black or red, but on a spec / geometry basis the Bizango is a no brainer.

I have to say I wouldn’t worry about replacing the cassette or chainring straight away. I think spending £45-60 on gearing for a bike you haven’t yet ridden doesn’t make sense. I would suggest the voodoo looks better value, buy it, ride it, change stuff as it wears out or if you notice a problem.
Yes a bigger range/lower gearing is nice if its super steep but for a lot of places it’s not needed especially if you are just getting into it!
Only my opinion!

Cheers, yeah I hear what you are saying. I just feel like the Voodoo looks like a man-child’s bike in orange. Wish the Specialized one had the better functionality.

Also, really hard to find bikes at the moment but can get my hands on these two. Not sure whether I should wait and spend a bit more when there are more options out there. Got around £1000 to play with. Worried a large in the specialized may not be big enough too. I am 185 cm but can’t try it our as online order

At 185 I would go XL for sure!
I get what you’re saying about the voodoo but you won’t notice when you’re riding it!
I have to say with £1000 I would be looking at something like a canyon stoic, but that is a lot different pricewise than the Bizango!

The Bizango is as good as it gets at that price for a 29er I think. At £1100 ish (if it’s ever in stock) the Vitus Sentier 29er has a very good spec – better fork, better wheels, better tyres, better brakes, better geometry etc.

The Canyon Stoic 2 looks ok. I’m not sure how the fork compares to the one on the Voodoo – it’s got bigger diameter stanchions, is boost spaced and has a touch more travel which is good. I’d assume the xcr/ raidon dampers are similar but I don’t know for sure.

Same deore 10 speed as the Specialized I think – my previous comments apply there’s not much in it between deore 10 speed and Nx 11 speed. You can get the same range with either.

Frame looks nicer then the Bizango – and it’s got proper geometry – the reach is very modern / a touch on the hardcore hardtail side of things. Looks good to me if you can get one.

For the money you can’t go wrong with the voodoo. I’ve seen a fair few and they look bang on for what your paying for them, certainly nicer spec wise (mostly geometry and suspension – was pleasantly surprised by the suntour fork) than the specialized

With regards to gears I have 11-42 at the moment and its fine for me range wise. I’d certainly keep it like that for a good while and as things wear out it might be a nice upgrade later but won’t be something to worry about

Damn, the large was the only one in stock and I filled in the Specialized measurement thing and it said large. Will check out the Stoic and Sentier.

I get what the spec is better on the Bizango but in your opinion, would it be really noticeable?

What is a modern reach? I am 39 and so won’t be going too hardcore.

Also the voodoo ……. gets such cracking reviews.

Worth having a think about who is doing those reviews and what their baseline is.

I bet if you took a random middle of the road (bridleway) bike and gave it to a group of Halfords customers and a group of PedalsBikeShaopInEdinburgh customers you’d get far more glowing reviews from the Halfords lot, just because their baseline is lower

The reviews tend to be on Bikeradar and the mtb websites.

It sounds like you’re still leaning towards the Specialized despite it having worse spec and probably worse geometry – just because the colour is nicer!

You would notice the difference back to back – the Bizango will feel more stable at speed and the fork stiffness and longer travel / headangle / reach will help you through trickier bits of trail. The Specialized also looks like it has a low stack so might be quite ‘nose down’ which will make steeper stuff feel scarier.

The Stoic has a longer travel fork again, slacker head angle, longer reach. In essence that means it will be more stable then the Bizango and better able to take you through steeper / rockier trails. On the flip side it won’t have quite such snappy steering through corners and will probably feel less lively. I haven’t compared weights but I’d assume the xcr 34 weighs more than the Raidon.

For reference, I am 193cm and like a reach measurement of between 500 and 520ish, at your height I would want something bigger than the 445mm on the Large rockhopper – but it is a very personal thing!
I am 39 in 3 weeks and I’m faster now than I have ever been! Don’t let the age get in the way!
Honestly I don’t think you will notice the difference in spec for either, I would focus on getting something in stock that fits correctly – that will make a much bigger difference!

This is where my money would be going
https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/trail-bikes/stoic/stoic-2/2659.html?dwvar_2659_pv_rahmenfarbe=WH%2FMC&dwvar_2659_pv_rahmengroesse=L
£850, size large, in stock, add a dropper post for about £130 and you would have an amazing bike for the money (the reach on this in L is 480mm to give you an idea of ‘modern’)

This is where my money would be going
https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/trail-bikes/stoic/stoic-2/2659.html?dwvar_2659_pv_rahmenfarbe=WH%2FMC&dwvar_2659_pv_rahmengroesse=L
£850, size large, in stock, add a dropper post for about £130 and you would have an amazing bike for the money (the reach on this in L is 480mm to give you an idea of ‘modern’)

Reach is a personal thing but in a hardtail at 6 feet I’d have thought this would be in the ballpark. I’m 5’9 with quite short arms / long legs for my height and I’ve just built a hardtail with a 445mm reach. My full suss bike is 457mm. I previously rode a bike with 481mm reach (full suspension) and found that a touch too long for me.

If the stoic is in stock then it would be a good plan to buy that and add a brand x ascend dropper post.

That is unless you think you’re going to be riding a lot of cross country / relatively flat trails etc. In which case the Bizango with a dropper post might be a better idea. If you are looking to ride a fair amount and progress to more difficult stuff the stoic will have better progression for you.

Thanks this is really helpful. How do you measure reach?

https://rideonmagazine.com.au/how-to-measure-stack-and-reach/
It’s usually in the geometry charts, there are more variables to consider for sure, but I find if the reach is about right most other things fit on a well designed bike

You can’t measure it on yourself if that’s what you mean.

It’s the distance between the vertical line through the bb and a vertical line through the centre of the top of the head tube. It’s relevant for your position when standing on the pedals pretty much. It’s different from the saddle to headtube length (top tube length) due to the angle of the seat tube.

This Canyon looks cool. Any other suggestions or ones to compare it to before making my decision?

Also I had a go on someone’s Bizango a few weeks ago. Was good but found the higher gears did not go high enough. Wanted more resistance.

Also I had a go on someone’s Bizango a few weeks ago. Was good but found the higher gears did not go high enough. Wanted more resistance.

When you say higher gears I’m assuming you mean at the top speed side of things. What kind of riding were you doing / are you thinking of doing?

Most proper off road wouldn’t see you spinning out a 32/11 combination – particularly on a 29er. I’d only spin that out on stuff like fireroads or tarmac.

Generally the only way you are going to get that is putting a bigger chainring on most mountain bikes if getting a 1x drivetrain (more expensive cassettes have 10t highest gears, but that’s outside of your budget as far as I’m aware). Some frames have a max size chainring that will fit which adds some complication.

The other option is to find a bike with a 2x drivetrain on it – not many decent bikes have this now. Some of the German / European brands still run 2x though. The likes of the more xc type bikes from Cube / Felt / Canyon etc.

For context I’ve got a Shimano XT 12 speed drivetrain on my full suss bike – I’ve got a 32t chainring and 10-51 cassette on it. I like the lowest gear at 32/51 and at the other end usually 32/10 is plenty high enough. Pretty much just road sections / fire roads between trails that I might spin it out a little. But that’s so rare / such short sections it isn’t a concern.

I was riding a road so that would explain it- intend to be doing XC and the odd trail really- nothing too wild for now. So are we thinking Canyon Stoic 2 better than Bizango if money not an obstacle? Have ruled out specilialized as would be too small in the one they have in store.

Stoic – I would say yes for trail riding – it’s got a more robust fork and better geometry if riding anything steeper.

Bizango maybe has a slight advantage if you’re hitting more road sections / fireroads etc as it’s got a lighter weight fork (probably).

Either way it’s useful to add a dropper post to either.

I’d definitely take the Stoic if in stock.

If you can stretch to the Stoic 2 I would go for that. For general trail riding I think it looks superb! Hannah STW did a review of a Stoic recently https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/canyon-stoic-4-140mm-of-hardtail-fun-reviewed/
The 2 has the exact same frame and I think wheels/tyres as this one… Ideal UK hardtail I would say

Work colleague recently got a Bizango, it’s been a top £500-1k bike for years, looks lovely in the flesh. Absolute bargain for ~£607 with British Cycling discount, would have considered one myself as a commuter if there had been stock in the summer, but there wasn’t so I ended up with a Marasa.

Don’t hang around though if you want one, Halfords site saying the Bizango is low on stock.

The Boardmans are worth a look too, but again, low stock levels.

Yeah you don’t often hear bad things about the Bizango. Like the look of the Stoic 2 though but not really reviewed too much. Wondering if it’s worth the 250 quid jump in price. Maybe!

Do either have a tapered headtube? Will open up wider choice of fork upgrades later on.

Pretty sure the Voodoo has a 44mm headtube so could run a tapered fork with external lower cup. Can’t find the detail on the Stoic.

Just want a fun smooth ride over some xc paths and the odd trail. Wish Canyon didn’t charge so much for boxing and delivery.

I forgot about 44mm HT. A bit silly as both my bikes have them!

The Magic Mary/Hans Damph might be a bit overkill for the xc path type stuff. The tyres that come with the standard Bizango are Ardents only in tread pattern really, they’re not tubeless ready and have the cheapest casing.

Are these the tyres on the Canyon?

Canyon has the proper tubeless off road mountain bike tyres. Really grippy – the front is a little slow rolling but pretty awesome.

Sounds like the Bizango has ardents (which are an ok all rounder sort of tread) but in really cheap hard rubber and not tubeless compatible. So the Stoic would go tubeless cheaper / easier.

Thanks for all your advice. Looks like the stoic for me. Any advice on pedals to slap on it?

I’ve got a bokor, basically a Bizango with slightly better spec. Main complaint on the Bizango is that the powerspline BB is made of cheese and the maximum rear tyre you can fit in is 2.25.

For the riding yourey wanting todo either the canyon or voodo look good and I’m sure you’ll enjoy whichever you choose.