[commencaldh]

Hello Ridemonkey
I was wondering if you knew of any companies that still make freeride bikes, or in other words, single crown bikes with 170-180mm of travel. An example would be the Scott Voltage FR 710 or something like that. I am looking for a new bike and this is the sorta thing i want.
Thanks

 

[bengxe]

Just about all of them. They're called enduro bikes now.

 

[kidwoo]

Just about all of them. They're called enduro bikes now.

So not true.


There are things I happily did on my turner highline and last model sx trail that I would never do on a trail bike.

 

[commencaldh]

ya i defininetly know what an endure bike is and im not interested i want a true blue-blooded freeride bike but i cant seem to find any companies that still make them... Any suggestions?

 

[jstuhlman]

intense uzzi
mebbe banshee darkside

if you're in yurp, more options

 

[bengxe]

So not true.


There are things I happily did on my turner highline and last model sx trail that I would never do on a trail bike.

The word enduro covers a pretty broad spectrum of bikes. The fact that you said trail bike suggests we're talking about opposite ends of that spectrum. Your average modern 160-170mm enduro bike is every bit as capable as what was called a freeride bike 10 years ago.

 

[mykel]

Knolly Delirium
(dual crown rated)

 

[cecil]

Pivot firebird

 

[kidwoo]

Your average modern 160-170mm enduro bike......

........is a trail bike

 

[kickstand]

Who still likes to huck to flat anymore anyway?

 

[Jm_]

You mean bikes that can take "triple clamp" forks with high BBs that handle poorly DH?

 

[StiHacka]

Who still likes to huck to flat anymore anyway?

Why you no like enduro?

 

[Jm_]

Knolly Delirium
(dual crown rated)

Impossible to freeride on though, because they stopped producing the Monster T.

 

[commencaldh]

i want a single crown just because of more maneuverability
i looked into knolly but i cant figure out where to buy them from and there arent any that i can afford

 

[slimshady]

If you are EU based, check out the Rose Soul Fire

 

[commencaldh]

Also, i have a hitch rack that has the bikes sitting on the top tube in two points like this

 

[commencaldh]

also i have narrowed it down to the scott voltage 710 and the Propain spindrift Comp
what are your opinions on these two bikes and which should i get

 

[Sandro]

Alutech Sennes FR and Propain Spindrift are some other Euro options. Canyon Torque and YT Noton have been discontinued, but there are plenty of used ones available.

 

[Jm_]

also i have narrowed it down to the scott voltage 710 and the Propain spindrift Comp
what are your opinions on these two bikes and which should i get

Wow, these are radically different bikes on the linkage blog. The Scott starts at around 160% anti-squat and remains above 120%-130% for the entire travel. This means there may be some pedal interference with bump absorption. The Propain is down around 50%, which means it'll be a pretty terrible pedaling bike, especially uphill when you are trying to slug it out on a steep grade. Even modern FSR bikes like the Specialized Enduro are far better when it comes to the anti-squat curve, although I don't like how they drop off through the travel, they don't drop off to Propain numbers.

This is one of the reasons many of us are trying to suggest broadening your horizons here. The reason old FR have gone away is that they were a b*tch to climb due to the weight and people really weren't riding them as intended, doing huge launches and everything, and even then they had to be overbuilt, but they weren't all that DH specific, so the number of people actually needing that much travel and reinforcement on the DHs after pedaling up was very very small. If you were doing shuttle runs, you were better off on an actual DH bike. If you were self-propelled, well, now there's an entire genre of bikes that are meant to be pedaled up and ridden aggressively down. With a coil shock, especially a custom tuned coil shock like Push or Avalanche, you'll absolutely rip downhill on a modern AM bike. I did lots of huge descents, from 4000' epic descents to super steep DH runs on my RFX this summer and had a blast. Never once did I feel like I needed an extra 10mm of travel. I do agree that you need a certain amount of travel to rip down, when you start going less and less, 150, 140, etc, it gets marginal real fast and you simply won't be able to rip down a super crazy run, but those are the kinds of runs where you need full armor, full face, etc., and if you are there for a vacation or occasional day, it's possibly better to rent, rather than own something that will be a dog 95% of the time on uphills and level.

As stated, there are some bikes that actually do seem to be in the category you are asking about, Pivot Firebird, Knolly bikes, etc., but I'd think long and hard about whether you really need to be lugging that much weight around. Due to the limited number of bikes in this category, it looks like there's a higher chance you might end up with something that sucks, as far as suspension kinematics.

 

[commencaldh]

i am really considering the spindrift but the thing is i cant tell if the brake lever on the left hand side is routed to the rear or front wheel. does anyone know anything about this cause i am a US rider so my setup is right side to rear wheel and left side to frontwheel
thanks

 

[kickstand]

you can put the brake levers on either side you want....disconnect hose, switch, bleed, done.

Why don't we start over.....what are you going to use this bike for?

 

[Happymtb.fr]

Well, if it's the only thing stopping you, it's not that difficult to change...

 

[commencaldh]

you can put the brake levers on either side you want....disconnect hose, switch, bleed, done.

Why don't we start over.....what are you going to use this bike for?

i am going to be using it for pretty sizeable jumps and the dh at whistler but mainly at my local
not much pedaling will be happening and currently i am stuck between the scott voltage fr710 and the propain spindrift

 

[commencaldh]

also i just found out that propain does not sell to the US, any work around for this

 

[kidwoo]

Not a Banshee Darkside because why?

 

[commencaldh]

it is a dual crown fork which is not what i want

 

[kidwoo]

it is a dual crown fork which is not what i want

Those can come off.

Or you can build it from a frame. I wouldn't write off the bike because of one component on a build you may or may not want anyway.


I just looked at fanatik's site and you can build one and pick your parts. The only 180mm single crowns they list are a yari or a lyrik but I'm sure they'll sell you something else too.

 

[norbar]

it is a dual crown fork which is not what i want

If you have such specific needs built a bike yourself instead of buying complete.

 

[CheetaMike]

make you a killer deal on the perfect bike IMO my old 2012 Kona Entourage DLX , 180mm fork 170mm frame travel ohh and it,s still 26" LOL

Banshee Darkside with a 180mm single crown is your best bet for a new design

 

[djjohnr]

Here's most of the options that can be shipped to the US with at least 170mm of rear travel

Designed for seated climbing

- Intense Uzzi
- Knolly Delirium
- Rose Soul Fire
- Cube Fritz 180
- Liteville 601
- NS Soda EVO
- Pivot Firebird

Not designed for seated climbing

- Banshee Darkside
- Scott Voltage

 

[rideit]

Don't forget the Rocky Mountain Slayer.
It is 165r 170f, though.

 

[jimw]

Late to the party, but - Specialized Enduro Expert Evo. 180 coil front/rear, this bike can take a beating and can climb. This essentially replaced the old SX Trail and supposedly was tested to meet or exceed the strength of that frame. I've been using it as my one bike for everything for a few years now. Only thing I swap are heavier wheels for real DH days. Though it looks like they dropped that model this year, not seeing it on their site. I guess they figured that the new Enduro is close enough that it's redundant. Though I'm with kidwoo, generally speaking modern "enduro" bikes have come a long way but it still ain't the same as a purpose-built FR bike.

Anyway, you could probably find one of these used and be stoked. Especially if it's the 26" version. The most recent version of the Expert Evo model came with a dual crown Boxxer lowered to 180, but if you want single crown, the regular (non-Expert) has that, or you could find an earlier 26" model with a Fox Van 180. That's what I'm running, and it rocks.

 

[ianjenn]

Late to the party, but - Specialized Enduro Expert Evo. 180 coil front/rear, this bike can take a beating and can climb. This essentially replaced the old SX Trail and supposedly was tested to meet or exceed the strength of that frame. I've been using it as my one bike for everything for a few years now. Only thing I swap are heavier wheels for real DH days. Though it looks like they dropped that model this year, not seeing it on their site. I guess they figured that the new Enduro is close enough that it's redundant. Though I'm with kidwoo, generally speaking modern "enduro" bikes have come a long way but it still ain't the same as a purpose-built FR bike.

Anyway, you could probably find one of these used and be stoked. Especially if it's the 26" version. The most recent version of the Expert Evo model came with a dual crown Boxxer lowered to 180, but if you want single crown, the regular (non-Expert) has that, or you could find an earlier 26" model with a Fox Van 180. That's what I'm running, and it rocks.

Specialized had these on their site a few months back on clearance......not sure what retail would be but they where about $1K off I think.

 

[maxyedor]

Why the opposition to dual crown forks? I can't think of a time I've turned so sharp that I bonked a dual crown aside from inediatly pre-crash and possibly fucking around riding through the house. On the other hand, I can think of plenty of times I wish my fork were stiffer, even with a 36 running Gods chosen axle (20mm) it flexes in places a Boxxer wouldn't.

Important also to note, I hav never and likely will never do a bar spin, tail whip, or even a really cool earth based kick out, so those options are of zero influence on my preferred number of crowns.

 

[Westy]

Loco's mom.

 

[berkshire_rider]

Any interested in (slightly) used? This has been sitting in my basement for 2-3 years:

http://ridemonkey.bikemag.com/threads/trek-scratch-1800.273687/

 

[Sandro]

Commecal Supreme SX:

https://www.mtb-mag.com/en/commencal-presents-the-new-supreme-sx-with-hpp/

 

[Metamorphic]

^^^ Yeah what up with this bike? I'm most interested in how it pedals for big rides. I'm guessing good. Sounds like a true Pisgah ripper. And if anyone hasn't checked Commencal yet, holy smokes there direct to consumer pricing is killer. Such good value.

https://www.commencalusa.com/PBSCCatalog.asp?ActionID=67174912&PBCATID=3044467

 

[Sandro]

Exactly, where's the excitement? That's a killer spec for the money, a sensible concept and great looking to boot. Too much bike for my local riding unfortunately and if i went back to two bikes i might as well get a full blown downhill bike. If i lived close enough to a proper mountain however i'd be all over this.

 

[Udi]

I thought it was really cool when I saw it.

I would have liked if they went a bit slacker and lower, but the first is easily remedied with cups these days, and the only reason I'd have it lower is to be able to slap a 40 on it and treat it as a lightweight DH bike (/lighter version of the 4.2 which is a cool bike aside from being a little hefty).

Anyone know the frame-only weight? The website says 4kg so maybe it's not lighter at all, unless that's with a shock in which case it'd be great for what I had in mind.

Love the reasonable pricing and direct-sales model too. A few guys I know bought the DH one because of that.