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Help me decide: Evil Wreckoning V3 vs. Nukeproof Giga 290

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Help me decide: Evil Wreckoning V3 vs. Nukeproof Giga 290

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flag Saturnalia
Posted: Sep 7, 2022 at 11:42 Quote
For the past 2-3 years I’ve been a two-bike guy: for park/DH I ride a 2020 Scott Gambler Tuned, and for local trails I ride a 2020 V1 Evil Offering with a Push Elevensix and 160mm fork.

I don’t get to ride often enough anymore to justify having two super high-end bikes for different disciplines, so I’m planning to sell both and replace them with a ~170mm 29er enduro bike.

I’ve narrowed it down to the Nukeproof Giga 290 RS or the Evil Wreckoning V3.

Both of these check all the boxes so the decision seems to just be a matter of preference. Also, my current Push Elevensix can be configured for both of these, which is a big draw for me.

Terrain/riding style:

I live in West Virginia where most of the trails are really janky tech with a mix of flat rock gardens, ultra steep chutes, wet roots, big drops to flat, sketchy jumps etc.

My local park is Snowshoe which has a lot of the same, but also some big flowy jump lines and drops. Jumps and freeride features are my favorite but I don’t get to ride them as often.

Wreckoning:
I absolutely love the feeling of my evil offering so I’m drawn to the Wreckoning for that same zesty “big BMX bike” feeling, but with more travel and aggressive geometry. My only concern is that the short chainstay and ultra playful suspension platform may not make the best daily driver for the type of terrain I ride the most.

Giga 290:
Really similar on paper to the geo of my Scott Gambler, just with 170/180 travel instead of 200/200. I’ve read that the suspension characteristic is ultra plush and confidence-inspiring but still surprisingly lively for jumps and tight trails.

For reference I’m 6’4”, ~230 lbs
flag kiranseligman
O+
Posted: Sep 7, 2022 at 17:26 Quote
Saturnalia wrote:
For the past 2-3 years I’ve been a two-bike guy: for park/DH I ride a 2020 Scott Gambler Tuned, and for local trails I ride a 2020 V1 Evil Offering with a Push Elevensix and 160mm fork.

I don’t get to ride often enough anymore to justify having two super high-end bikes for different disciplines, so I’m planning to sell both and replace them with a ~170mm 29er enduro bike.

I’ve narrowed it down to the Nukeproof Giga 290 RS or the Evil Wreckoning V3.

Both of these check all the boxes so the decision seems to just be a matter of preference. Also, my current Push Elevensix can be configured for both of these, which is a big draw for me.

Terrain/riding style:

I live in West Virginia where most of the trails are really janky tech with a mix of flat rock gardens, ultra steep chutes, wet roots, big drops to flat, sketchy jumps etc.

My local park is Snowshoe which has a lot of the same, but also some big flowy jump lines and drops. Jumps and freeride features are my favorite but I don’t get to ride them as often.

Wreckoning:
I absolutely love the feeling of my evil offering so I’m drawn to the Wreckoning for that same zesty “big BMX bike” feeling, but with more travel and aggressive geometry. My only concern is that the short chainstay and ultra playful suspension platform may not make the best daily driver for the type of terrain I ride the most.

Giga 290:
Really similar on paper to the geo of my Scott Gambler, just with 170/180 travel instead of 200/200. I’ve read that the suspension characteristic is ultra plush and confidence-inspiring but still surprisingly lively for jumps and tight trails.

For reference I’m 6’4”, ~230 lbs

I have a v2 offering same setup with the 11 6 and 160 fork. I love that bike. On paper the giga looks more downhill oriented and is a little slacker. The wrekconing has a steeper head angle unless you stick a 190 fork on it. This will
Make it feel a little less like a true dh bike and will climb better in theory. Kinda depends what you want- if you want the better dh capability is get the giga, but if you want more of an all rounder rather than a kinda okay on regular trail then the evil would be the choice it seems. I’ve not ridden a Nike proof ever so not sure how they feel but maybe try and try it out and see.
flag pnwmtbdan
O+
Posted: Sep 7, 2022 at 19:02 Quote
If you are looking for a single bike, all-rounder, the Wreckoning likely fits that significantly better than the Nuke Proof. Depends on what you are going to be riding the most and how much pain you are willing to accept on "out of discipline" rides. If you are going to be pedaling up any tech at all the Nuke Proof doesn't look all that appetizing to me. Though similar in travel you picked two polar opposite bikes. I would see about throwing a leg over the Nukeproof and see if your preconceptions about what that bike has to offer are correct. Evil makes a niche bike for those who, like you said, love the "big BMX bike" feel. You aren't going to find that on many other bikes.

On a side note, How do you like the 160mm fork on your V1 Offering? I have an 11-6 and ZEB on my V1 Offering. When I bought the bike the ZEB was at 180mm which was WAY too much fork. I now have it at 150mm (stock) but I am considering 160mm. Any insight?
flag kiranseligman
O+
Posted: Sep 7, 2022 at 19:06 Quote
Primordial wrote:
If you are looking for a single bike, all-rounder, the Wreckoning likely fits that significantly better than the Nuke Proof. Depends on what you are going to be riding the most and how much pain you are willing to accept on "out of discipline" rides. If you are going to be pedaling up any tech at all the Nuke Proof doesn't look all that appetizing to me. Though similar in travel you picked two polar opposite bikes. I would see about throwing a leg over the Nukeproof and see if your preconceptions about what that bike has to offer are correct. Evil makes a niche bike for those who, like you said, love the "big BMX bike" feel. You aren't going to find that on many other bikes.

On a side note, How do you like the 160mm fork on your V1 Offering? I have an 11-6 and ZEB on my V1 Offering. When I bought the bike the ZEB was at 180mm which was WAY too much fork. I now have it at 150mm (stock) but I am considering 160mm. Any insight?

I’ve got a v2, but originally had a 150 and bumped it up to 160 for more bike park action and it was great. I did not adjust the headset spacers to adjust for the ride in stack as the travel increase raises the front end up. The extra travel is nice as well as the more stable downhill feel as it’s a little slacker. Definitely notice a decrease in climbing ability over the 150 although it’s not terrible and mostly is noticed when climbing super steep hills.
flag Saturnalia
Posted: Sep 7, 2022 at 21:15 Quote
Primordial wrote:
If you are looking for a single bike, all-rounder, the Wreckoning likely fits that significantly better than the Nuke Proof. Depends on what you are going to be riding the most and how much pain you are willing to accept on "out of discipline" rides. If you are going to be pedaling up any tech at all the Nuke Proof doesn't look all that appetizing to me. Though similar in travel you picked two polar opposite bikes. I would see about throwing a leg over the Nukeproof and see if your preconceptions about what that bike has to offer are correct. Evil makes a niche bike for those who, like you said, love the "big BMX bike" feel. You aren't going to find that on many other bikes.

On a side note, How do you like the 160mm fork on your V1 Offering? I have an 11-6 and ZEB on my V1 Offering. When I bought the bike the ZEB was at 180mm which was WAY too much fork. I now have it at 150mm (stock) but I am considering 160mm. Any insight?

Great points. The decision is difficult for exactly the reasons you mentioned. I actually come from BMX so I've always loved the way Evils feel--extremely intuitive for me and just insanely fun--but as I said, most of the trails I have access to are janky/rocky tech and don't always cater to "twitchier" bikes. For reference, my Offering will make it down my local double blacks but she has a hard time staying on the ground when things get really gnarly/fast. If I lived closer to flowy/jump trails I'd probably lean more towards the Wreckoning. I'd expect the "BMX" character to still be a part of the Wreckoning, but do you think the extra travel and slacker geo would be enough to offset the instability I feel during descents on my Offering?

Climbing is not a priority for me at all--I just want something that will get me up fire roads and mellow climbs.

With 170/180 travel, 63.5 HTA and 15mm longer chainstays, the Nuke seems like a safer bet for something that will be able to stay composed on pretty much anything and may be easier on me during 10+ lap park days. My concern is that it could possibly reduce the fun factor, e.g. flickability, bunny hops, manuals, jumps, whips etc. compared to the Evil. Unfortunately I don't know anyone who owns either bike so I'm not really able to try them out.

As far as the 160 fork on the Offering, it's been great. I actually run it in the x-low setting and have the HTA calculated at 65.2. I also run Maxxgrip tires and it still climbs extremely well. With the increased slackness and height of the front end, I definitely get some front-end lift when cranking up anything steep, but standing up and weighting the front takes care of that. I've also ridden one with a 150mm fork in the low (not x-low) setting and did notice that it pedaled a bit better, but descending is still my priority so I prefer the 160mm.
flag Saturnalia
Posted: Sep 8, 2022 at 1:06 Quote
One other thing: as sort of a compromise between the Giga 290 and the Wreckoning, I'm now thinking about the Giga 297--they don't make the 297 in XL but they offer the MX rear triangle separately. This would put the chainstay at 435mm and reach at 495mm, similar to the Wreckoning. Anyone have thoughts on this?
flag Trinimon
O+
Posted: Nov 3, 2022 at 5:58 Quote
One thing I found out about the current Nukeproof Giga and Mega is that they only have one cable routing port on the left side of the headtube. Okay if you ride your front brakes right handed but if you ride front brakes left, you will either have to route your brake line back down the right side or go wireless shifting.
flag sorryiamtheboss
Posted: Nov 3, 2022 at 8:23 Quote
Little anecdote. A Giga was high up on my list for my last bike. I really thought it would be the right bike. I saw two people on them and asked them about it. They both said it was good but not lively nor playful enough. One of them told me he much preferred the Mega.

I then went to an LBS that stocked Nukeproof (among other brands) and when I asked about the Giga he said it's good but it's a bit of a boring bike to ride.

Take what I am saying with a grain of salt as I never even test rode the Giga
flag Bronlio
Posted: Nov 14, 2022 at 18:09 Quote
Saturnalia wrote:
For the past 2-3 years I’ve been a two-bike guy: for park/DH I ride a 2020 Scott Gambler Tuned, and for local trails I ride a 2020 V1 Evil Offering with a Push Elevensix and 160mm fork.

I don’t get to ride often enough anymore to justify having two super high-end bikes for different disciplines, so I’m planning to sell both and replace them with a ~170mm 29er enduro bike.

I’ve narrowed it down to the Nukeproof Giga 290 RS or the Evil Wreckoning V3.

Both of these check all the boxes so the decision seems to just be a matter of preference. Also, my current Push Elevensix can be configured for both of these, which is a big draw for me.

Terrain/riding style:

I live in West Virginia where most of the trails are really janky tech with a mix of flat rock gardens, ultra steep chutes, wet roots, big drops to flat, sketchy jumps etc.

My local park is Snowshoe which has a lot of the same, but also some big flowy jump lines and drops. Jumps and freeride features are my favorite but I don’t get to ride them as often.

Wreckoning:
I absolutely love the feeling of my evil offering so I’m drawn to the Wreckoning for that same zesty “big BMX bike” feeling, but with more travel and aggressive geometry. My only concern is that the short chainstay and ultra playful suspension platform may not make the best daily driver for the type of terrain I ride the most.

Giga 290:
Really similar on paper to the geo of my Scott Gambler, just with 170/180 travel instead of 200/200. I’ve read that the suspension characteristic is ultra plush and confidence-inspiring but still surprisingly lively for jumps and tight trails.

For reference I’m 6’4”, ~230 lbs

What did you end up going with? I am looking at the same 2 bikes to include the Transition Spire. I hear alot of good things about Evil but never met anyone that owned one, from crusing the Nukeproof groups it looks like the Giga goes through main pivot bearings very quickly, like 2-3 months if you ride it hard. This of course doesn't sound good.

I've been to Snowshoe and the bike would have to be good there as well as Bryce and Massanuten. I also ride in NC alot.
flag Ham-ster
Posted: Nov 26, 2022 at 19:59 Quote
I have an Offering V2 and have just put down an order for Wrecker V3. I like the Offering but with Cascade Link, 160 fork, coil and 1 degree angleset was really straying into Wrecker territory if I’m honest. I like shorter reach bikes and the wrecker is a little shorter than the Offering which I like.
Head angle of the wrecker at 63.9 on 170/xlow is no slouch so I think if the terrain is that spiky maybe spec best fork possible to get the stability you are after.
flag campfreddie
Posted: Dec 13, 2022 at 4:46 Quote
I've just taken delivery of an Insurgent MX to replace my 2020 Strive CF.

It's still early days.. the first wheel was turned only at the weekend in qualifying for a downhill race here in Madeira, but WOW, what a difference.

Admittedly, most the riding I do out here is downhill (90% with maybe 5% flat and 5% uphill), so I am running in extra-low setting, but the combo of 29" upfront (to glide or smash through anything) and 27.5" (to flick about) is epic. Add in the coil shock and Rimpact inserts front and rear and the bike feels indestructable.

I was also looking at the Giga 297 and could have quite happily gone down that route, but I guess my boutique bike snobbery got the better of me.... (the Canyon was a quirk brought about by a need to get a new bike sent out to Madeira at the start of Covid.... i have an Transition back in the UK for local duties).
flag XParrotX
Posted: Dec 30, 2022 at 14:56 Quote
If it helps,
i run 1 big bike the wrecky v3, and most of my trails i do are techy stuff with alot of rocky sections. and never found a problem with it being twitchy. im running fox 38 up front ,
for the back didn't like the stock rock shock coil felt very chatter on the rocks got an mrp hazzard what a difference apart from the the low speed compression was to soft and i dont know where to get it turned over here.
in the end got a ext e storia so far bang on just working on tuning it.
if you like the offering , just get the wrecky, its a bigger hitting bike so it is still playful but you do give a little up for the big hit capability, so far haven't found anything it cant do the big week point like all of us is the guy on the bike.
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