What bike do I want? Big Trail / Small Enduro…

Spend all that money on a lovely shiny rear shock and then hide it inside the bike – why???🥺

Scott, yet again, making bikes that no-one wants to buy

Yeah I’ve said it before, possibly in this thread, it could be the best riding bike ever but you have to like the look of what you’re riding too.

The Scott is not a good looking bike, especially the new one. I’ve already got an e-bike that looks like an e-bike…

Still pondering n+1

I carried my current bike up Ben Lomond the other night, it was heavy enough that I don’t really want to go much heavier if I can help it. This is the first time I’ve put much thought in to weight, but definitely erring towards lighter frames again.

That Bird Aeris AM should be right up there then – for a 160mm travel bike it’s on the lighter end of things I reckon.

You wouldn’t go heavier (or at least need to). My current incarnation of an Aeris AM is the same weight as your bike above pedal on (Hope DH clip ins too – nearly 600g), but thats with Vivid coil shock & Marzocchi Super Z forks (Fox 38s but prettier).

I know, I rode the Aeris AM (and had a chat with Ben) last weekend. My wife’s bought one, waiting for the game to get to Bird. I suspect I’ll end up ordering one too…

Whilst you’re here @benpinnick can I spec one with SRAM GX non Transmission rather than Shimano or are you not offering that now? (It’s not an option on your online spec). And are Green Lyriks coming back in stock anytime soon?

That’s my Aether 7 that I’m weighing 😁

@phil5556 we can get it, but to be honest the price vs. Shimano means we’re not buying much in at the moment. Im going to be updating prices but right now I think XTR Mech + Shifter + XT Cassette will be cheaper than GX Eagle. XTR arrives tomorrow.

Cool, I’d probably have to stick to Shimano then. I prefer SRAM but probably only because it’s what I’m used to and the fact that on one of my bikes my Shimano mech died disappointingly quickly.

XTR mech has a longer warranty than other Shimano, they last really well IME

Yeah, we all ride them here at the factory – super nice. @Phil5556 if your bad shimano mech was an SLX you should consider that a right of passage.

XTR is not the same.

It was SLX. It was rubbish. The jockey wheels went super sloppy so I changed them but it still didn’t shift properly, so it went in the bin and SRAM GX went on with the Shimano cassette & chain and it works better than the original ever did.

So XT and up is OK? Laura’s specced hers with XT. 

Xt is fine, deore is fine. Slx mechs have been uniquely failure prone with sawing their cages in half being their favoured method of self destruction. Also helps not to use Shimano chainrings and chains if you want a quieter ride. Neither are specifically problematic in their own right but the rings run noisily on the extremes of the cassette and the chain doesn’t like mud much.

Personally I would run:

Xt or xtr mech

Xtr shifter

Any cassette that suits your budget, although I prefer the 10-45 size.

Raceceface cranks with Enduro Maxhit bb

Shimano xtr chain in the summer, xo1 or xx1 in the winter.

Slx mechs have been uniquely failure prone with sawing their cages in half being their favoured method of self destruction.

Mine was nowhere near as spectacular, just got sloppy and presumably bent out of shape.

Any cassette that suits your budget, although I prefer the 10-45 size.

I need all the help I can get pedalling up hill, 51 or 52 for me! 🤣

IMO you’re unlikely to find anything in this category that pedals or climbs as well as an Ibis Ripmo – and I’m talking proper off-road climbing, not ‘it spins okay on a fire road’ climbing.

Some deals around too at the moment.

Still stuck in a spiral of indecision (first world problems I know).

The Bird AM is a very high contender, I thought I was set on a Large but now wondering if I’d regret such a long bike and the ML would be better. I’m 181cm / 5’11” and a little bit – right between the sizes on the Bird chart.

Ibis Ripmo

It might be excellent, but refer back to “have to like the look of it” – sorry ?

At 5’11 I’d have thought an ML Bird was about right.

It might be excellent, but refer back to “have to like the look of it” – sorry ?

Somewhat ironic, when compared to a Bird? ?

Looks are subjective. Here’s an AM  for comparison.

Somewhat ironic, when compared to a Bird

Yeah people like different things ?

I can’t get past the bendy top tube of the Ripmo & the whole thing looks too short & upright.

Admittedly I prefer the look of the metal Birds to the carbon ones but it’s not a bad looking bike.

Bear in mind different sizes of bikes photographed.

I doubt any brands use medium 29ers for photos.

But I agree about the looks of the Ripmo. Perhaps due to the shock being mounted to the downtube, and how they adapt that for the different sizes.

Well I am now officially massively overbiked, but very pleased with the new purchase…Shapeshifter is very clever, yet to ride it properly until I finish Invisiframing…

Still stuck in a spiral of indecision (first world problems I know).

This thread is getting to the “just buy a **** bike already” stage now 😉

How does the ML Bird compare in reach to other bikes that you know fit you well?

This thread is getting to the “just buy a **** bike already” stage now 😉

How does the ML Bird compare in reach to other bikes that you know fit you well?

Yeah yeah I know… but chatting shit about bikes on a bike forum is OK isn’t it? ?

So my current bike is a Bird Aether ML. Reach on the “new” one is 4mm shorter, so it’s effectively the same as I wouldn’t notice that and ETT is 16mm shorter, which I possibly would notice.

@andylc – that Canyon does look good.

IMO you’re unlikely to find anything in this category that pedals or climbs as well as an Ibis Ripmo

They’ve got rid of the bendy top tube and fixed the proportions, the new one looks much better.

That Ibis Ripmo is now a fine looking bike. Also like the fact that you can turn it into a Ripley if that floats your boat too.

Any cassette that suits your budget, although I prefer the 10-45 size.

@benpinnick

Yep on my Aether 9 using 12sp:

10-45 cassette (SLX)

XTR short cage mech

XT shifter

XT chain

30t XT chainring

works very well, the XTR rear mech so much better than other shimano mechs – crisper than GX on my other bike

So you went for the Highlander…

Yep.

Currently being built.

My wife’s Aeris AM arrived this week, looks lovely.

So what swayed you in that direction? Would be interesting after the deliberations of this thread.

Let’s think…

First off why I didn’t go for other options:

– Stumpy Evo – cracky carbon frames, poor seat post insertion.

– Bird Aeris 9 – a bit too big, bit too slack and heavy for what I ride most of the time.

– Bird Aeris AM – my wife beat me to it. I was right between sizes, which on the plus side meant I could get away with either size, on the downside meant I spent hours pondering which one I would go for. Would I forever wish I’d gone the other way? Who knows.

– Marin Alpine Trail XR – really liked the look of them, same cons as the Aeris 9. They look ace in the pink & blue.

– Ibis Ripmo – Ugly. Although the new one would be a consideration now.

– Canyon – I had a brief look into Canyons but came across a few horror stories of nightmares with customer service waiting for parts etc.

So the Highlander II. I’ve ordered the 2023 non UDH version with an included Ohlins shock, which helped bring the price down.

I wanted a full 29er, Deviate are just up the road from me & when you go to a demo day you actually speak to the people that design & build the bikes (Bird also score highly here, Orbea for example scored terribly on this), I think it looks lovely, I like different and high pivot is different, the sizing sits pretty much in between the 2 Bird sizes so I feel like it fits me really well.

I had another demo on one, I was going to Comrie Croft anyway for a couple of days and they sorted me out one for the day, with no charge which was a bonus. It instantly feels really good for me, both pedalling and descending. I can’t really jump so the “growing chain stays feeling weird” isn’t something I notice. What I do notice is that it feels pretty nimble but also confidence inspiring – time will tell though if that feeling continues when riding more at my limit of steepness / tech. Vittoria tyres on the demo bike didn’t like gripping on the Comrie rock.

The 65º HA is still in the back of my mind but the theory is that it won’t steepen like other bikes due to the growing chain stays so doesn’t need to start as slack, I’ll have to wait and see if this holds true.

I’ve just been in Switzerland for a couple of weeks on my Orbea Rise (160f/140r) which has a selection of everything that I love riding and I very rarely felt like I’d want or need a full on enduro bike.

This was the second demo bike, the rear didn’t feel as good as with the Ohlins but I think it might have just been a bit too much air in the Fox shock.