PINKBIKE FIELD TRIP
Hardtail Round Table
The five bikes that ended up in the hardtail category of our latest Field Test on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia all had precisely zero millimetres of rear travel, paired with fork lengths that ranged from 100mm on the racey BMC Two Stroke up to 140mm on the Canyon Stoic and Rocky Mountain Growler. The Norco Fluid HT and the Vitus Sentier sat in the middle, with 120mm and 130mm forks respectively.
As you may have noticed, we’re looking at some pretty different bikes here, and there's also almost $500 that separates the Stoic and the Growler. That might not be a deal breaker when you’re looking at $10,000 dream machines, but it’s a huge chunk of change when you’re looking at your first mountain bike and you’re not even sure if you’re going to like the sport.
Since it’s the least expensive of the bunch, let’s start with the Canyon Stoic. It gets you out there and the ride quality is impressive, but there’s obviously room to upgrade. You’ll probably want to add a dropper post and a wider range cassette, but you can have a ton of fun on this bike right out of the box which is impressive. Even with those upgrades, the direct-to-consumer bike is still going to come in at less than the others.
Next up, we have two bikes here that look pretty similar on paper, the Norco Fluid and the Vitus Sentier. The Vitus offers a bit more in terms of suspension performance and a more planted feel on the descents, but the Norco has the edge on the climbs and is available to purchase in a shop which will definitely appeal to some riders who want to sit on the bike before they buy it and have a go-to shop for service and future upgrades. If this is your first mountain bike, going down to a shop to pedal it around first is a huge plus for some people.
For the person who wants to do the odd cross-country race, the BMC will get you to the top of the climbs the fastest. It has a bar mounted lockout, no dropper post, and an aggressive climbing position with that long stem… This thing is looking for some lycra!
If you'd rather not see Levy and I don our lycra again, let’s take a look at the bike that's pretty much the opposite of the BMC, the Rocky Mountain Growler. It was the hardtail that surprised both Mike Levy by how much fun it was to ride. It’s the most capable on the descents and if that's the most important part of your ride, you'll want the Growler on your side.
Overall, the BMC is the best bike for someone who just wants to get into cross-country racing, the Canyon Stoic would be an awesome choice as your first bike, and if you want to get sendy on the descents, the Rocky Mountain Growler is the most capable of the bunch on the descents.
Stay tuned for our five full-suspension review videos an another roundtable video that compares them all.
The 2021 Pinkbike Field Test was made possible with support from Toyota.
Video: Jason Lucas, Max Barron
Editing: Tom Richards
***disclaimer***
If you are looking to get it mountain biking, the above sentence will be you in 5 years
Now, "That new Yeti looks like the right fit."
I know truck/suv prices are insane. Sounds like cars are starting to go through the bike industry squeeze now too.
I am future you, @slayersxc17 !!!
with a good set of wheels, preffered cockpit items and a pair of maguras, plus the frame, I am looking at 5.5-6k euros for a bike. Not that I'm complaining but, does it really is 6 times that canyon stoic? (I seriously doubt it and, for the record, 5-6 years now when I was doing epic trips and mountain cross-overs on my 700 euros hardtail, I was having pretty much the same fun.. only the speeds were different)
"sorry, but that is none of the above"
These are really good brakes and I have hard time imaging that someone buying one of these bikes is going to notice any shortcomings with them.
I guess in Canada there are a lot of trails...?
You really on notice the power shortcomings on very very steep descents (i.e Tracks designed for DH bikes, which would be pushing it for this bike).
On everything else, the brakes are awesome and work very well with the Schwable Tyres.
The Vitus is the best value bike there IMO. The growler looks amazing also.
My 2020 Sentier VR has the 501’s with the shorter lever. They’re plenty powerful enough and feel on par with Deore’s I’ve had before.
Power in them is still good though. It's a trail bike..
That's the bare minimum I expect from every bike I buy, no matter the price.
Also, isn't it time to retire that Direct-to-consumer "disadvantage", especially when it comes to beginners.
If you're a beginner any bike you sit on would be somewhat awkward at first. Heck, lock a first timer's suspension out and tell them that's how it is and they'd still be perfectly happy.
Beginners get used to whatever they have, it's likely they'll come to like any bike if it's their first and develop warm feelings towards the brand in general.
Note: Never in my life have I bought a bike from a LBS, nor I went to demo the bike I ended up buying. The second hand bikes I bought, I also decided on the spot, so I didn't have time to compare.
Guess what - it's fine! If you want a bike - get one you can afford and go ride. Everything else is splitting hairs and bullshit.
After that you can enjoy the funny reviews and lust over 10k bikes.
My bet is the BMC would make the best first XC race bike of the lot.
I built it up with cheap Pinkbike Buy and Sell parts so I could have spare parts for my Stumpjumper Evo. LBS warned me months ago that I would run into supply problems .
I knew it, there's two of him!
If they keep sanitizing the trails in my region, I'll reconsider a bike path bike.
If you haven't owned or ridden a real bike sure, entry level with upgrades makes sense. If you are talking about upgrades out of the gate you should have bought a higher teir bike.
The upgrades are entirely optional. This is a bike that can be ridden as is. Saying that this BMC isn’t a “real” bike has a hint of bike snobbery about it... we’re not talking about a Walmart bike here.
I started on a steel hardtail back in the early 90’s that probably weighed about 28lbs once I slapped a first gen Manitou fork on it (it came with a decent rigid Ritchey steel fork, but front suspension was just starting to take off at the time). I rode it hard, raced XC during the summers, and made the occasional upgrade to it whenever my poor student budget allowed. If I had waited to get into mountain biking until I could have afforded a higher end bike right from the start, I would have missed out on a ton of fun riding, and some great experiences.
I think your concern is that someone might buy this bike and them somehow get turned off by XC? I totally get that if this was a department store bike, but this is just the right level for someone to give XC a committed try, and not just try and make their mind up about XC based on one or two rides on a friend’s bike that isn’t necessarily even the right one for them.
I mean, Levy and Sarah were even endorsing this bike as a good bike for a young racer to start out on. That seems like a pretty good recommendation to me.
As far as I know, BMC has a pretty good background in XC racing, with a robust racing roster. The geo on this bike is going to have just as much of an impact as the weight in terms of riding how it’s designed to. I mean, I have 3 different hardtails in my shed at the moment, and if I wanted another XC ride, I’m sure this BMC would probably ride just as well as any of mine, if not better. My bikes may be lighter, but none of them are as modern in design or in parts spec as this one.
I’m not saying you are wrong when you say a more expensive ride would perform better. I’m just saying that this bike (or any other value bike) is not worth overlooking. It may be just the ticket for many riders looking to add something different to their stable of bikes, especially if they aren’t a dentist.
Most experienced riders read these bike specs as $1500, plus the cost of brakes and proper tires, and maybe a new fork, and a dropper. Plenty of us have spent a thousand on on bikes like this.
The real question is do you NEED a shorter travel hardtail? 100mm is not alot of travel, and xc bikes are not super easy to ride. I do all my "xc racing" on a 120mm trail hardtail personally.
I also started mountain biking on a fully rigid Fuji with friction thumb shifters
11-36 was good when we still had front derailleurs, which would usually have a 22-24 tooth low gear in the front.
The modern 1x set-ups don’t normally go lower than a 28t.
So the range comment seems valid to me, but I do agree a smaller front might work, if you can go lower with it.
I'm considering going back for a while to 24T with a 10speed 11-36T as I have like 2 casette brand new lying around
I guess by this I mean this is a pretty useful article if you are looking to get a bike that will work to get you in the door to actual mountain biking
I have a pile of parts sitting around in the garage, just need a frame to hang them off of.
I would love to be able to build up a Growler frameset!
It seems, on the surface of it, there's going to be bugger all difference between the Growler and the Stoic which costs a grand less here. That buys a lot of TLD gear (I kid, its unlikely to get you a full kit), heaps of weed and redbull, or is a decent start toward another hobby if riding a shitty hardtail puts you off mountain biking.
Next let's see ~$2K USD hardtails (in the $1700-2300 range):
$1849 Devinci Kobain SLX 12S hardtail w/Marzocchi Z2 fork & Shimano 12s drivetrain;
$1999 Canyon Stoic 4;
$2099 Rocky Mountain Growler 50 hardtail;
$2239 Marin San Quentin 3 hardtail.
- Dropper post weight vs skinny old 27.5 hollow post
- bigger 29er through-axle wheels vs old 26er wheels
- wider tyres with heavier casings
- disc brakes > caliper
- 35mm fork legs vs skinny old 28mm forks from the 90's
- frame built for big hits vs XC based frame from the 90's
- heavier cassettes
- Rims today is double width and larger diameter.
- Hubs are burlier and better then the old skinny QR ones.
- Dropper vs 27.5 post.
- Disc brakes vs V-brakes.
- Burlier forks that's not wet nodles.
- Heavier casset is probably offset by the front shifter and 2 more chainrings.
-with a 30.1 dropper
-disk brakes
-air fork
-21mm id rims
-trail tires
My old 29er from the 2000s is the same story, 26 lb with no dropper a rear rim brake.
Xl 2021 stumpjumper, base model aluminum 30lb flat.
We don't have to go to the 90s for 31+lbs to sound excessive
The only downside: Long wait line: check
If you can find one and are in this market stop reading my comment and pull the trigger!
Trek has just given the x-caliber a 120mm fork and 27.5 wheels. This simple fact is why the seat angle is so slack, why the reach is so short, and why the head angle is so steep. Nothing can change that.
While Trek makes some great bikes, the Rosco is not one of them. You can't take an XC frame, overfork it and expect great things compared to dedicated trail hardtails.
The terrible 141mm QR rear axle standard is just icing on the cake.
However, I started hitting some bigger jumps again, and riding the new crappy flow trails in my area with some style, and when pumping and working the bike I buzzed my rear a few times. 650b aint dead, its just going to come back as mullets (which is what I'm going to do to my bike)
Get back to real bikes PB! It’s doesn’t have to be 12k dream machines just 5-7k full suspension bikes. Bikes that their audience actually buys.