How Much Travel is Right?

PB Forum :: All Mountain, Enduro & Cross-Country
How Much Travel is Right?
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flag aks2017
FL
Posted: Mar 10, 2015 at 19:21 Quote
Probably answered to heck here, but I haven't seen anything.

Background: I'm riding a 100mm travel Scott Spark 960. Nothing special, love the bike, but not too flashy. As we all do, I've recently been thinking about upgrading. I have my eye on the Santa Cruz 5010, which has about 130mm. As I ride primarily xc, but want to get more 'all mountain,' is this much travel about appropriate? I would look at the Bronson, but 150mm seems like overkill for xc.

All help appreciated, thanks.
flag friendlyfoe
Posted: Mar 10, 2015 at 20:33 Quote
A new bike wont make you more all mountain. (That was supposed to be clever) What do you want from a bike, that your current rig doesn't offer you?

If you're mostly xc riding, i would just throw a 120mm fork on the front of what you have. More travel is mostly only good for plowing through rock gardens and jumping off stuff.
flag captaingrumpy
O+
Posted: Mar 10, 2015 at 22:27 Quote
I love the ad for the solo, was really sold until I rode one (on my fab trails). Just couldn't get it adjusted to feel good to me. Was a mean crude bike. I thought the rocky mountain 970 (in contrast) was divine. I settled for a used asr5c and no regrets.

If you're thinking of upgrading, spending all that cash... try and demo bikes til you find one you love. Lots bikes don't live up to the hype - at least for me.
flag J-McBride
Posted: Mar 11, 2015 at 2:57 Quote
My brother rides a trek fuel with 130mm travel and I ride a lapierre zesty with 150mm travel.

So far We haven't managed to find a situation where his bike is any less capable than mine even with its reduced travel.
If we know we are going to be riding more technical terrain and more drops he generally adds a bit more pressure to the suspension to cope a bit better with the hits.

I would go with the 130mm travel you are looking at, a modern good quality bike is far more capable than you would think and it will still tear up any xc trail and climb like a goat.
flag SK250
Posted: Mar 11, 2015 at 12:47 Quote
I wen't from XC to AM bike not because I wanted more travel, but because I wanted to ride gnarlier trails and at the same time being faster and having more fun... a bike with more travel offers you that.

I'd demo several types of bikes and figure out what you like
flag aks2017
FL
Posted: Mar 11, 2015 at 19:21 Quote
SK250 wrote:
I wen't from XC to AM bike not because I wanted more travel, but because I wanted to ride gnarlier trails and at the same time being faster and having more fun... a bike with more travel offers you that.
This is mostly what I am thinking. We have a few (not a ton) of pretty gnarly rock gardens where I live, as well as several downhill venues.

New-ish question, what are some of the best 125-135mm travel bikes out there?

And to friendlyfoe who suggested a new fork, I've thought about this, but it more than likely means get a fork with a 9mm qr, or the new thru axle plus wheel/hub.
flag seppe80
Posted: Mar 11, 2015 at 23:59 Quote
aks2017 wrote:
New-ish question, what are some of the best 125-135mm travel bikes out there?
.

Stumpjumper is an awesome bike - on of the best trailbike I have ridden :-)
flag zephxiii
Posted: Mar 17, 2015 at 6:40 Quote
I think you'd like the 5010.

Also depending on how much you like your Spark and 29ers, then the Genius 29er might be good for you.

Also the Spark 27.5 is 120mm travel machine but the Genius 27.5 is 140/150mm travel.

Ride before you buy.
flag stineri
O+
Posted: Mar 17, 2015 at 8:08 Quote
I was in exactly the same position. Psyched on XC riding, but wanted to get better at more AM riding. I got the SC 5010 and I have been SO PSYCHED. The bottom bracket is low, so I don't feel like I'm gonna topple over. The rear triangle is pretty short, so I never feel like it's too much bike to throw around. These things can obviously, also be a deterrent for some more aggressive trail riding, but I feel like switching to the 5010 gave me the tool I needed to take my skills to a level where I can start thinking about a bigger bike like the Bronson. But unless I end up spending lots more time in the desert riding over lots of big ledges and rocks, instead of my "regular" single track in my home town, I don't really see a need for a change in bikes. The 5010 is just too fun to ride to wanna switch to anything else.

Go demo one!
flag Fluidworks
Posted: Mar 17, 2015 at 9:25 Quote
Check out the Transition scout. All the reviews are super positive, it's a 125mm rear travel but apparently it's incredibly capable.
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