PINKBIKE FIELD TEST
5 Hardtails and 5 Full Suspension Value Bikes Against the Impossible Climb
This time 'round, we'd gladly take a few rain drops.
As usual, we chose a grueling section of trail to try and reach the top of, and this time, there are no control tires. Reliable rubber can make or break a bike, which is exactly what this test relies on. These are value bikes with varying tire diameters and widths; some fat, some skinny, some sticky, others... not so much. We've chosen to leave them totally stock with a "run whatcha brung" attitude.
Here in Tucson, everything is sharp; plants, insects, and most definitely the rock. There is surprisingly ample traction on the bedrock, but sprinkle a few marbles on there and staying upright can be a task. Any rain here on steep grades tends to wash away the fine silt and leave golf ball-size gravel, which made up the majority of the trail bed on our Impossible Climb. It's also incredibly chunky in places. That requires some full-body moves to lurch the bike up and over, all while trying to maintain a consistent, forward momentum - any spikes in power delivery leads to the rear tire quickly spinning out.
That brings us to the two main factors for traction on these bikes: tire pressure and rubber compound. Now, with a fat tire, like a 27.5 x 2.8" width, you can really drop the pressure for the casing to cling on to any hold against the jagged rocks. The caveat here is pinching the tire on the abundance of spiky objects, but it's a fine line to dance on. Again, since the tires combos covered every possible dimension, their pressures were set to what best suited the bike and terrain. That could range from high teens to low twenties - the bigger the balloon, the lower the pressure. This was especially crucial on the hardtails which bounced like a farm tractor over speed bumps.
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How much of a disadvantage do they have then? I shouldn't go as far as a David versus Goliath metaphor, but when we swapped to the full suspension bikes, the first attempt came with piles of control. It's quite apparent when the trails are as demanding as this and unfortunately, full-suspension traction comes at a higher cost. That does revisit the timeless debate - does starting out on a hardtail first make you a better rider? I still think so, but we can get into that another time.
One thing was for certain, it didn't help me out on this impossible climb. I consistently stumbled on one particular corner that combined a turn and step. Of course, at the base of the step lay piles of round rocks on top of the bare bones of the earth. Almost all of the hardtails had short chainstays. No matter how steep the seat tube angle or what size rear tire they had, that playful attitude of the solid rear triangle was no match for keeping my movements settled on the saddle. Between getting jostled around on the saddle and the rear tire contact patch leaving the ground, finding consistent traction was near impossible, hence why we call it the Impossible Climb.
To cut costs, the Commencal Meta HT and Marin Team 1 bikes weren't supplied with dropper posts as stock. This wasn't a huge concern on the techy climb at hand. I could set the posts a touch lower than my long-distance climbing position and lower my center of gravity to seek out the most traction. The Marin also had a super short stem, which I'm usually a fan of, but any attempt to slow down the steering inputs complicated the balance of the bike. When paired with a 67-degree head tube angle and speedy, narrow tires, it was simply too much to handle on the steeps as the steering twitches too quickly.
In the stack of full suspension bikes, we had everything from fly-weight, 120mm travel whippets with carbon front triangles, like the YT Izzo, to the beastly enduro-inspired geometry of the alloy Canyon Spectral 125. Those two could not be further apart in terms of the components, but also the angles and overall mass.
What really stood out here was not just the seat tube angles, but also the components that touch the ground - the tires. And what also influences how the wheels contact the ground? The suspension of course. Yes, even on uphills, there was an apparent difference in suspension damping to control the movements from both body inputs to how the tires tracked the jarring rocks and undulations.
The Kona rear suspension was a little squishy feeling, even at the desired sag. This meant that the weight balance moved farther over the rear wheel when power was delivered and took determination to keep the front wheel planted. The Fezzari wasn't much different. Both bikes also had relaxed seat tube angles which made this trait more pronounced while in the saddle - not ideal when you're gasping for air, trying not to smash your pedals into the ground, and get to the top of our most Impossible Climb yet.
So how did they compare? The hard, dual compound, Maxxis Forecaster tires on the Izzo have their place, but here in the desert, that Maxxis 3C rubber combo on the Spectral 125 gave me a helping hand. Even though the Canyon was almost 2-kilograms heavier, the wheels stuck to the ground. One other talking point would be the length of the bike. The gigantic wheelbase surprisingly kept it stable on the uphill too. I thought the break-over angle might mean stuffing the pedals into more boulders, but the suspension was able to keep things settle and push the bike forward. Who would have thought that a heavy, long, sticky rubber-equipped bike could win the Impossible Climb?
The stuff PB uses for the impossible climbs is my bread and butter, I'd rather ride up tech all day long then ride a flow trail.
People like all forms of entertainment, don’t belittle what someone else enjoys cause it doesn’t fit what you enjoy.
In the meantime, it's better to enjoy the show and to avoid taking the results too seriously. They're just one part of the pie when it comes to how the bikes performed. Plus, everyone knows that it's the Huck to Flat that really matters...
Clearly Levy, Matt, and Alicia while you time/drink makes the most sense.
Purely entertainment, you guys ever seen Top Gear?
Now do a impossible descent,with @mikelevy as the designated tester.
www.pinkbike.com/news/video-4-value-hardtails-ridden-and-rated-field-test-roundtable.html#comment_wrap
thenotoriousmic (1 days ago)
@hamncheeez: Everything takes way less effort on the hardtail than it does on the full suspension and does everything better except those rare moments where you get up to speed on the right terrain and the full suspension starts coming alive and makes slogging it around worthwhile. Also full suspension tackles steep punchy technical climbs better if you care about that kind of thing.
Now that's a pinkbike video that'd go viral
Thoughts on the potential side loading issues with this design?
Also, those calves are unreal. All the cows in the comments can't help but agree.
My slack, long trail bike allows me to ride sections of trail with ease, and goes where I point it, my older xcish bike was more difficult to put on the line I wanted, and struggled to stay there
Like when you go a Chev dealer, and they send you over to buy a Dodge with a Cummins cause they’re better…..
You see what I’m saying?
I fully expect the employees of said business to promote the business they work for, and thus the cycle of support continues.
Not saying they have to, but I’m not surprised to see it.
You’ve been paying for the “free” service all along, its advertising, it’s in the banners, it’s in every survey you fill out, every story you click on…..if anything it just got a bit more blatant and honest really
It’s more overt, but the same thing. PinkBike as an entity owes us nothing, we are an audience, and they have always been trying to sell us something.
And they are promoting the company, and asking you to pay for a (what they feel is a worthy) service. In reality it is. I cant think of a place to get more mtb news, and entertainment than this silly website.
I get that maybe you’re bummed by it, but really, most of us pay $100/month for cable, and that again for internet, and so on. Griping about PB asking you to pay a membership fee to join their club seems pretty silly at this point.
And remember, it was never free, you paid for it, you somehow just didn’t realize it