Best all around bike for PNW trails (post pics/links)

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kniclas

Posted: Nov 24, 2022 at 18:20

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In your opinion what’s the best trail bike for living in the PNW (Washington, Oregon, BC)

Looking for options that climb well and go downhill great. Post pics, links or personal rides with specs.

edit: I’ve owned a few bikes. Kona Stinky, Marin San Quentin, GT Speed series bmx.

Pretty comfortable in the air. I’m riding mostly in Tacoma/Olympia Washington or Ashland Oregon region. Some fairly steep downhills and technical uphills.
Looking at brands such as Norco, Transition, Kona, Marin, Knolly, Specialized etc…
Thanks

TimMog

Posted: Nov 25, 2022 at 4:18	Quote
Very much depends on what kind of trails you ride, doesn't it? Threads like these are useless without knowing how you ride, what you ride, your budget, do you ride anywhere else, etc etc. It's just arbitrarily naming bikes, otherwise. I'd say, Transition Spire, in purple. Not silver. Or orange.

TimMog

Posted: Nov 25, 2022 at 4:18	Quote
I have never been to PNW, for full disclosure.

MT36

O+

Posted: Nov 25, 2022 at 6:40	Quote
Very broad question and hard to answer on its face. I would buy the bike that suits the sorts of descents and ascents you do 70-90% of the time. If you are motivated to improve, buy the bike for the type of rider you will be in the future.

mockit

Posted: Nov 25, 2022 at 8:01

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If you want to be like all the cool kids up there go buy an Evil or a Transition. PNW people love PNW brands. Not unusual, but imo brand loyalty is pretty amusing there (and not just for bikes). 140mm rear travel minimum if you are just getting into things. I felt content on a 150mm going down single blacks as a beginner+. Otherwise there are too many options to list…

Seattle mtb hotspots have a lot of bike features like built in jumps and drops. Trails can be pretty steep on the regular. If you are newer to mtb it is nice to have the confidence / safety associated with longer travel. Oregon is much less developed outside of Bend. More rolling terrain / more pedaling. Terrain still gets gnarly but I wouldn’t want to lug around a full enduro sled there personally (thinking Oakridge specifically).

Transition Sentinel or Patrol
Evil Offering or Wreckoning
Yeti SB 140 or SB 160
Specialized SJ Evo
Revel Rail 29
Santa Cruz High Tower or Bronson
Rocky Mountain Instinct or Altitude
We Are One Arrival

Most if not all of these bikes have reviews on PB done by amazing professionals. Read up. A lot of the reviews were done in the PNW too so they should directly apply to you.

s3ntin3l

O+

Posted: Nov 25, 2022 at 8:28	Quote
I live in the PNW. I have a v1 Transition Sentinel and it has handled everything really well. I over forked it with a 170mm fork and added a cascade components link, which gives me a little more than 150mm in the back. I ride in Washington. I’ve ridden anything from Leavenworth, north mountain (darrington), to Bellingham. Haven’t ridden BC or Oregon.

kniclas

Posted: Nov 25, 2022 at 13:58

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mockit wrote:

Thanks for responding. I’ll definitely hit the PB YouTube page and look for some more details on these! I appreciate it

kniclas

Posted: Nov 25, 2022 at 13:59

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s3ntin3l wrote:

I live in the PNW. I have a v1 Transition Sentinel and it has handled everything really well. I over forked it with a 170mm fork and added a cascade components link, which gives me a little more than 150mm in the back. I ride in Washington. I’ve ridden anything from Leavenworth, north mountain (darrington), to Bellingham. Haven’t ridden BC or Oregon.

Sweet! I was definitely looking at Transition. I’m planning on heading to demo a few.
Thanks for the feedback

Amitchell

O+

Posted: Nov 26, 2022 at 17:03	Quote
Lots of Norco Sights around in the PNW

iridedj

O+

Posted: Nov 26, 2022 at 20:53

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kniclas wrote:

s3ntin3l wrote:

Sweet! I was definitely looking at Transition. I’m planning on heading to demo a few.
Thanks for the feedback

Most review done by both the Mikes, one in squamish and one in bellingham are gonna be good for you. Personally I love my norco sight for Vancouver bc riding.

eshew

Posted: Nov 27, 2022 at 1:04	Quote
Ripmo AF might be a good choice as well, pretty darn good sales right now and good enough for most trails if you're not seaking out the gnarliest of the gnar

mockit

Posted: Nov 27, 2022 at 7:18

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eshew wrote:

Ripmo AF might be a good choice as well, pretty darn good sales right now and good enough for most trails if you're not seaking out the gnarliest of the gnar

Always slow to recommend my own bike as I don’t have a big comparison pool, but I have been pleased with my Ripmo V2. Only complaint is I’ve blown up the Fox X2 shock a couple of times. Supposedly the yoke design puts some side loading on it and makes it go boom. Fox covered the first time. I should have went EXT on the second. You live and you learn. Anyways… still love mine a lot!

kniclas

Posted: Nov 28, 2022 at 9:42

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Amitchell wrote:

Lots of Norco Sights around in the PNW

I’m liking the Sight a lot! I’m going to check out an optic and sight in a few hours

Freduck

Posted: Dec 3, 2022 at 14:03	Quote
Not sure where the technical climbing trails are in Ashland, maybe No Candies but that is like a quarter mile. If you are traveling and doing a wide variety of terrain, the stumpy evo easily changes to 6 different geos so you can pick the best geo for the terrain.

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