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A "Which trail bike thread" with opinions from the DH crowd: Banshee, Yeti, Kona

ZHendo

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2006
1,661
147
PNW
I'm talking to GT at the moment about the Force - very interesting bike and solidly on my list of options.
 

ZHendo

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2006
1,661
147
PNW
well, the Evil continues to linger on my list of options, but I have since added the Pivot Mach 6 and Intense Carbine 275. Has anyone ridden either of those? I know the Pivots are on a massive backorder but it sounds like they had quite a few demo bikes kicking around at Interbike and I'm wondering if anyone has gotten any saddle time.
 

cowman

Monkey
Oct 17, 2004
227
2
Seattle, WA
well, the Evil continues to linger on my list of options, but I have since added the Pivot Mach 6 and Intense Carbine 275. Has anyone ridden either of those? I know the Pivots are on a massive backorder but it sounds like they had quite a few demo bikes kicking around at Interbike and I'm wondering if anyone has gotten any saddle time.
Depending on the size, many shops have the Mach 6's in stock already.
 

Robb Davis

Chimp
Nov 27, 2013
1
0
Hey,

I recently demoed the Pivot Mach 6 Carbon. It's really Enduro specific which is great if that's what you're looking for. The bike is designed to be ridden up logging roads or not too technical ascents and then bombed downhill.

The suspensions system combined with shocks/forks locked out and a weight under 28lbs make for bearable uphill grinds. But the geometry really sits you back so it definitely doesn't feel nimble going up.

It also does not feel nimble on rooty / rocky x-country trails. Because the seat angle is so far back, standing up to peddle over this kind of terrain is not very comfortable.

Where the bike absolutely shines is going down. This is what it was designed for and it nails it!!!! Low bottom bracket, slack angles, short chain stays and amazing suspension system. What's cool is that you can point and shoot and let the bike do the work OR you can pick your lines and "play" with the trail; the bike can do either well when it's got some rolling speed going.

TL;DR: The faster you go the better this bike works.
 

big-ted

Danced with A, attacked by C, fired by D.
Sep 27, 2005
1,400
47
Vancouver, BC
Thanks for the feedback. I'd do a full custom build if I got one(which I'm not, I'm getting the Cavalerie and Nicolai ;-) ). GT looks great though. Depending what your ideals are, it looks to tick a lot of boxes.
How was the foot movement when hitting stuff? Notice any? Bike feel plush or hardtail like? Pedal well?
It definitely carried it's momentum well, and felt like it would get up some ridiculous short, technical climbs providing you could just put the power down. Partly due to the bigger wheels I suspect. (This was my first real experience of 650b) I didn't notice any pedal feedback. As I said, my main gripe was with how the frame amplified every bit of noise.
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,741
473
Ooooh, "backcountry", a new but redundant genre. I wonder how much more expensive this one will be?
 

greenhood

Turbo Monkey
Jun 12, 2006
1,084
0
SEATTLE-MINNEAPOLIS
Anyone have opinions on the Commencal Meta AM 650b?
Not the 650b, but I have the commencal meta 29 and it is the best bike I have owned in 23 years of mountain biking. I also have a 2011 yeti 575 and I find myself riding the commencal more frequently. The bike climbs really well, it also feels like it has more than five inches of travel. The geometry makes bike feel like a dh bike on the steeps. Mine weighs in at 32 lbs, but it feels much lighter on the trail.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,320
5,074
Ottawa, Canada
Not the 650b, but I have the commencal meta 29 and it is the best bike I have owned in 23 years of mountain biking. I also have a 2011 yeti 575 and I find myself riding the commencal more frequently. The bike climbs really well, it also feels like it has more than five inches of travel. The geometry makes bike feel like a dh bike on the steeps. Mine weighs in at 32 lbs, but it feels much lighter on the trail.
you wouldn't happen to also own a Zerode would you?!?!
 

supercow

Monkey
Feb 18, 2009
969
128
For what it’s worth - I’ve built up a Banshee Spitfire V2 - and it f*cking rocks.
 

bismojo

Monkey
May 5, 2009
271
39
Been riding my spitty v2 since june and agree with @supercow

I'm just a lazy flat pedaller but altough it's not the lightest in its class, so far i can keep up with my friends during uphills.. and it decents like a mini sunday (no kidding)

Just make sure your dealer is responsive as my frame is missing 1 cable mount tab, they forget to weld it and happened in one of mtbr member as well (early small frames) - still rideable and waiting for replacement due to my country location and i'm a very patient customer.. Yes i am.