Quantcast

Help choosing a Mountain bike. XC?

JDP

Chimp
Aug 19, 2020
2
0
Here is the story. I ride 25 to 30 miles 4 to 5 days a week. Paved trails to get into the Wash. Rocks, dirt, water. Then I will go North and ride mountain trails. I need the 12 gears. My 10 speed 27.5 is not powerful enough. Giant Phanthom. I have a budget of $3000 plus trade in. I get it that the inventory is low. This is my only true love! Hard tail is fine. I want a good crank and good solid SRAM stuff. If it has to be $7000, I will go and buy a Ducati! I tend to make my own trails. I want speed.
CannondaleScalpel-Si Carbon SE
was told to buy this.
YOUR THOUGHTS. TY
 

englertracing

you owe me a sandwich
Mar 5, 2012
1,573
1,069
La Verne
if you want good solid stuff you want shimano xt or xtr :busted:.
Id personally not buy a hardtail....
I personally think cannondales are silly bikes...
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,852
9,557
AK
Seems like a nice bike, no goofy proprietary stuff, decent geometry (being shorter travel, doesn't need as steep a ST)-but maybe still a little dated in that regard. Enough travel to handle some primitive trails, but I'd maybe look for around at least 120 for the "make your own trail" idea. With that many miles/week, be prepared to change things like frame, BB and hub bearings yearly.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,852
9,557
AK
if you want good solid stuff you want shimano xt or xtr :busted:.
Id personally not buy a hardtail....
I personally think cannondales are silly bikes...
It's not a hardtail. The low point is probably the NX shifter/cassette, but at this pricepoint, not going to get a whole lot more. Unlikely to find XT at this level. Maybe SLX, but again, you'd need to watch out for cheap junky cassettes, brakes and other parts that are sacrificed for the "SLX derailleur".
 

englertracing

you owe me a sandwich
Mar 5, 2012
1,573
1,069
La Verne
It's not a hardtail. The low point is probably the NX shifter/cassette, but at this pricepoint, not going to get a whole lot more. Unlikely to find XT at this level. Maybe SLX, but again, you'd need to watch out for cheap junky cassettes, brakes and other parts that are sacrificed for the "SLX derailleur".
yeah i was just pointing out that it doesn't have to be SRAM to be solid
he mentioned a hard tail initially, as if hes looking for a hard tail, but someone mentioned the cannondale
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,852
9,557
AK
yeah i was just pointing out that it doesn't have to be SRAM to be solid
he mentioned a hard tail initially, as if hes looking for a hard tail, but someone mentioned the cannondale
Absolutely not, but I'd categorize that as a "solid" bike and component set. Not high end, but I wouldn't expect it to crap out any time soon and be worthy of upgrades.

And yeah, I think a hardtail would be a bad choice for "primitive" trails. Probably want to up-grade the tires on something like the C-dale that come on it for those purposes.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,852
9,557
AK
I don't think those last two are really in the same category as what he's looking at. Doing 25-30 miles 4-5 days a week on a Ripmo/Trance X will be quite the achievement. But yeah, they are good bikes and good values.