I own a old school trek 6000 and i have been riding for a few years, mountain trails, distance ect.... not until recently have i started riding with others and found myself in the back of the pack. I was really embrassed knowing i could out ride everyone in that group, they were all riding nice bikes carbon fiber 29er's.. I was having to stand on the pedel the entire time just to keep up, i find myself kicking rocks looking at new bikes and if you all understand when you find that bike you love its like cheating on it when you get a new bike but if i am going to start competeing i need to step up to the plate and get into that new awesome technology. Im a Trek or Speaclized guy only, so many people are trying to talk me into a Giant or a Carbondale, but na im sticking with the first mentioned. If there is anyone out there that has a good line on a hardtail or full suspension bike let me know im looking in a bad way. I dont want what happend this weekend to ever happen again.
As for all the spelling errors above i dont care
I work hard a and ride even harder.. there is no time for grammer and spelling checks
The bike doesn't make much of a difference in xc riding unless you're doing xc on a 40 pound dh bike. If you can't keep up it's your fault, not the bikes. There is nothing wrong with buying a new bike though. Just realize the bike wont make you better.
Don't be fooled by the glamor of a 29er. The 29 is only valid is certain applications, if you do XC lot's of uphills and medium downhills, then a 29er is a great option. A 29er will hands down be faster on coasting and flat, as for uphill a 26 can still out perform a 29er. But when it comes to downhill true downhill that is were a 29er has it's disadvantages. But let me clarify this, it's disadvantages are for REAL down hill. I am taking very sharp fast turns, jump's ledges very technical shit. Since it's much taller you lose a lot of ability for very sharp turns, if you do moguls you can get tossed easy. My buddy rides a 29er and I am still on a 26, He smoked me on the straight away, and the easier downhill, but on the technical trails, very sharp turns and more skill based trails I always catch up and pass him. Just my thoughts on the 29er on where they out perform, and where they fall short. So just make sure you know what trials you enjoy before your purchase.
and ya i dont have 3 BMW's lol i wish i did then i wouldnt worry about what bike i had i would just go randomly buy bikes. But ya they are my initals and bmw was taking so i just added the 3. I'm just a poor ass college student that is in the gym 4 nights a week and ride every chance i get. im going to keep my 26 and thinking hard about the Epic 2012. The brian seems to be a hot topic in all the reviews i have read, and i compared it to the camber and i think i am more of a epic guy, as for endurance i have a lot.. i race 50, 100 and i have a 200 mile coming up in june, these races are all gravel, although i dont really like these races i truly enjoy single tracks, i am in manhattan kansas and one of kansas's best trails is only 5 miles from me called fancy creek.. google it and ck it out... so if anyone makes it to kansas to ride hit me up.
Thanks for the additional info. Make sure you take the epic for a good ride before you buy. I hate them, to me they ride like a slow hard tail with flat tire. A good friend, and training partner, on the other hand, loves them. He has two. One is 26 the other a 29. They are generally a love or hate bike. For the endurance racing mainly on gravel the 29" wheeled bikes will have more roll potential and will require less work to keep rolling once you get them rolling. If you are in the gym 4 nights a week, getting them rolling should not be an issue. As for the statements about 29 not being as good on technical DH that is splitting hairs. There are times on a DH or single track where each is going to be slower or faster. The same training partner mentioned earlier is slower than me on the DH even when he is on a 26" and I am on one of my 29ers so it depends on the rider more than the wheels size. Spend some time ridding both and make a decision based on your preference. Do not let me, or any other internet sage, sway your opinion one way or the other.
Thanks for the additional info. Make sure you take the epic for a good ride before you buy. I hate them, to me they ride like a slow hard tail with flat tire. A good friend, and training partner, on the other hand, loves them. He has two. One is 26 the other a 29. They are generally a love or hate bike. For the endurance racing mainly on gravel the 29" wheeled bikes will have more roll potential and will require less work to keep rolling once you get them rolling. If you are in the gym 4 nights a week, getting them rolling should not be an issue. As for the statements about 29 not being as good on technical DH that is splitting hairs. There are times on a DH or single track where each is going to be slower or faster. The same training partner mentioned earlier is slower than me on the DH even when he is on a 26" and I am on one of my 29ers so it depends on the rider more than the wheels size. Spend some time ridding both and make a decision based on your preference. Do not let me, or any other internet sage, sway your opinion one way or the other.
thank you for this, before i drop freaking 3k on a epic i will take it out on the track here, and i guess if they tell me i cant i will look somewhere else to purchase a bike, i have never belonged to a group like this and it has served a great beneficial purpose...
thank you all for all the info, i will test each bike out before i buy one, and just for a quick story, today while i was riding on the trail, there where a couple wanna be gansta's shooting guns and i was damn near shot. i called the police and they came quickly and we chased down the dudes and had them arrested... JESHHHHHHH crazy!!!!!!
I'm wondering whether your bike was feeling a bit under the weather when you got dropped to the back. There shouldn't be much of an efficiency difference between any two bikes (especially HTs) given proper tires, proper inflation, well lubed drivetrain and zero brake drag. There might be a few things you can do to your current bike to get 'er going faster before you buy something. I know personally I've ridden with slight brake drag and thought I had gotten weaker, found it and fixed it up and felt like I was flying.
im not a fan of 29ers, cute hipster girls ride them so there ok for that. 29ers have almost road bike geometry and body position, and thats not good for mountian biking. I was looking at a new specialized stumpjumper a while back in a bike shop, it was about 1500. not bad. sweet looking bike..
im not a fan of 29ers, cute hipster girls ride them so there ok for that. 29ers have almost road bike geometry and body position, and thats not good for mountian biking. I was looking at a new specialized stumpjumper a while back in a bike shop, it was about 1500. not bad. sweet looking bike..
WOW. Road bike geometry? Really? Seriously know what you are talking about before you try and get involved in a conversation. I hate it when people become obsessed with wheel size. Whether they think that because they like 29 that all bikes should have them. Or they don't like 29 so they think all bikes should have 26" wheels. The craziest idea in the world is that wheel size somehow magically makes a bike one thing or another. An AM or Freeride or XC bike can have whatever wheel size the designers put on it. Take a Shinobi or Tracer 29 and it will DH better than 26" wheeled epic or other XC machine. It is the overall package that matters, not the pure numbers.
One of things I love about the bike industry is that you are not pigeon holed into one size. You can make that choice for yourself. If we ever get back to one wheel size only, I for one, will be saddened. Choice is great thing. Open your mind to it. Let others experience it.
^ Well said.....most of the hatred for wagon wheels does appear to come from those with ignorance & unwillingness to accept any change to their preconceived notions.
According to kfitz's logic, my Kona Honzo w/140mm fork & 68 HA has the geometry of a road bike?
i wouldn't touch a 29er with a barge pole for any thing other than canal towpaths, i've seen way too many pringled 29" wheels for them to even be a consideration for proper offroad use .
give it a few years and the 29er will go the way of the girvin flexstem .
i wouldn't touch a 29er with a barge pole for any thing other than canal towpaths, i've seen way too many pringled 29" wheels for them to even be a consideration for proper offroad use .
give it a few years and the 29er will go the way of the girvin flexstem .
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