XC-Only

All the full suspension kid's bike in the 24"-26" range are in the 28-32 lb. range, the lightest I have actually weighed is a Trailcraft Maxwell 26" and it was claimed at 28 lbs, but was about 28.75 lbs. on the scale--at a price of $3,000 USD. Other than componentry and fork travel, there is little separating the "high-end" brands from the lowly Polygon D24--which is the bike I ended up buying my 8 y.o. at the time. That bike tipped the scales at 31 lbs w/ an aftermarket One Up dropper, but I quickly got it down to 29 lbs with lighter tires and crankset/bb--at a total cost of $1000 USD with the aftermarket parts included. My biggest gripe with the claim of being able to clear 26" wheels is that unless you get the bike with 26" thru-axle wheels at the outset, you will have a very tough time trying to source wheels--or you build them yourself, which is what I did--but I've been a pro mechanic for nearly 15 years with a plethora of spares and know-how. Essentially, unless the manufacturer offers these 26" upgrade wheels, consider it a marketing feature at best.

They are around, but they are under the umbrella of "XC" bikes. My only problem with them is that they are spec'd more for light weight and lapping an XC course and start off at a higher price point than "trail" bikes. I'm in the SF Bay Area, and outside of a few places, trails have not changed much in 20 years, and XC bikes are still what gets the job done in a majority of trails around here.

@weeksy59: I've raced road going bikes, mostly Aprilia 125cc 2-strokes and Kawasaki 250cc bikes, so we're coming from a similar background. I started mountain biking because it is fun to be out on the trails on a bike. I would have been out on a dirt bike if access to motorized trails and the barrier of needing a tow/carry vehicle was not so cost prohibitive at the outset. I'm a cyclist first and foremost, I've been riding since 1994 when I was 15. Trail access has always been an issue for both pedal and motorized bikes, but now it's a bigger issue for BOTH user groups and a large percentage of e-bike users are crossing over from the dirt bike/powersports community--because their trails have been shut down. The problem with local landowners, and more importantly, other trail users is the additional traffic and people concerned with doing "laps" on multi-use trails. Now if you're out on designated one-way trails that are not being used by hikers or equestrians, shred to your heart's content. However, the vast majority of where e-bikes (and by extension and close association, any bike with DH/Enduro pretensions) are being used on multi-use trails--because it's convenient to where one typically lives. That's my biggest concern with "bringing more people into the sport" and not being exclusionary.

@vinay: I did this exercise not too long ago, and your EU 750 would be roughly double today (EU 1500). In terms of mainstream bikes, that gets you into a Trek X-Caliber or Roscoe, much more capable bikes than even the 100mm travel full suspension bikes we had back in the early 2000s. The bike I owned around that time was a Schwinn Homegrown Hardtail, one step below the top model, it was around $2400 USD, but it was still early Rockshox SID, V-Brakes, and fragile wheels. That same money today gets me a Trek ProCaliber. Adjusted for inflation, then I would be on a full-suspension SuperCaliber--both bikes would absolutely wipe the floor with that older XC race bike.

@GTscoob: @GTscoob: I'll be quite candid, even though I own a Tacoma and do use it, I would happily give up the ground clearance, low-range, and *maybe* 4wd if someone just made a van that can still seat 4 and carry bulky items like bikes fully enclosed with only the front wheels removed and not to carry heavy items or towing. In terms of developing a vehicle though, if you're going to make something that could carry bulky items, why not just make it be able to carry heavy items AND tow at the same time?

Ha! I own a Tacoma, now almost a couple years old, but it's 100% stock. It's my 2nd pickup truck (first was a Frontier), and my 2nd 4WD after my Jeep Wrangler. Most of these 4x4 vehicles out of the showroom are pretty capable even on highway AT tires--I've taken this Taco out on a trail that a Raptor couldn't drive (mostly because it was too big/wide of a truck) with barely 500 miles on the odometer. Every year I've owned a 4x4 vehicle, I always consider not "needing" the ruggedness or capability, but then we always end up using either the 4wd, ground clearance, towing, or cargo capacity at least 4-6 times a year. The cargo part I know I can just rent a van or truck, but on the US West Coast, there are just so many places that you cannot access unless you have a high-clearance/4wd vehicle. I do carry recovery boards and equipment, but they are neatly stowed away inside a cargo box in the bed of the truck!

Agreed. For a bike you actually have to pedal for extended periods of time besides going *steeply* up or down, 74-75 degrees is ideal, particularly if you are running shorter cranks. I will say that the "off-the-back" feeling from my experience has been a result of optimizing the suspension setup for the downhills (i.e. 30%+ rear sag)--and while that's great if that's where you want the bike to work well, realize it is a compromise.

Depends on discipline and placing, but if I was in a position to reap more in payouts than destroying the wheel, the wheel is considered a consumable item. If I was mid-pack fodder, then more speed can be had some other place.

Well, if you consider this bike, nay, even 99% of all enduro bikes sold like the victor presented here, being used as they were intended to, then the Landrover ad is relevant--neither machine will ever come close to how they were "designed" to be used in the first place.

@theflyingz: I think you might be onto something. One thing that always bugged me about XC or even standard MTB style helmets is that I have hard time believing how well they will stay put in a crash. I'm a Limar Etna wearer, and the 3/4 design just stays put, and while I have been wearing goggles with my full face, I will try them with the 3/4 next time we hit the park. I've learned the value of even an XC/Road helmet when a fellow competitor and I tangled bars on a mis-timed pass and we both went down. The top 1/8th of my helmet at around 11 0'clock (if the top was 12) was discovered cracked when I washed all my gear the next day. Never really understood why they test helmets that way, but I guess I sure hit the dirt hard enough to crack it there that day. I've also crashed wearing my full face on a DH race run, about 500m from the finish, washed out the front wheel and all the people said was they saw a puff of dust and I came somersaulting out of it with my bike 100 ft. behind. Probably some broken facial bones/missing teeth w/o the full face that day.