Rode it on Friday afternoon and enjoyed it. Nothing technical on the blue but lots of it is fun. The new red sections are good too. There’s 4 different ways to get from the start to the top of Stegosaurus and it’s easy to loop round and try them all. The new red with the step down and jumps was probably the best.

The main issue will be maintenance, it’s going to get hammered and while it seems well built, it even looks like proper drainage had been thought of, big soak aways filled with stones can be seen in the video. Time will tell as with all these things!

Agree with all your thoughts! I actually prefer parts of the blue trail to bits of Follow the Dog like the “black” boardwalk.

Test

The Bontrager one is better than the ZTTO then, other than being MMX compatible?

I can only speak for my own experience, but the customer service at Bird is fantastic.

Sounds like a great experience – thanks for the input!

I would of liked to demo the XL Aether9 Al I when with the L Aether9. I feel Im in-between both sizes.

@ed- Sounds like a great spec! What height are you? I’m 6 ft 1, was thinking I’d go for a large.

I think the question you need to ask yourself is “are the difference’s deal breakers?”

The differences definitely aren’t deal-breakers, I suspect I would be very happy with either bike. I’m mainly interested in seeing whether most people would lean towards one of them, as I’m having a hard time deciding.

Honestly I don’t know how much of a difference carbon frame and +10mm of travel would give. I’m currently running a 120mm hardtail so I don’t have a great point of reference. I do use a large water bottle at the moment.

I’ll take another look at how the geometry will affect the feel of the bike – thanks.

I do like the idea of supporting a smaller UK retailer, especially with Bird’s excellent customer service reputation.

Rotors are the size you specify, if you are running the Select+ or Deluxe Ultimate shocks you can have any bottle size you like (Within reason)

That’s a good point – cheers Ben. I hadn’t realised bigger rotors were such a cheap upgrade. Do you have any links to pictures of the bike with a larger water bottle? All of the ones I’ve seen have looked to be <500ml. Thanks

Hi guys,

Trying to decide between a Bird Aether 9 I’ve specced and the Vitus Escarpe 29 CRS.

The Aether has better tyres, brakes and shifter, whilst the Escarpe has 10mm more travel at the front and back, a carbon front triangle, bigger rotors, internal routing and space for a bigger water bottle.

Any thoughts on what would be the better choice? Prices are identical.