[Tetreault]

this thread is going downhill fast, i think the original thread starter can tell who is talking out of their a$$ and who isnt.

Make a good decision off the guys that gave you quality info in here.

like everything on the internet im taking some of the comments with a grain of salt... As for the master of none comment, the xc riding is probably the one that the bike will see the least of. I'm totally fine if the bike struggles on longer rides but makes up for it at whistler and similar places.

2500 for a nice complete bike is harder to come by then you think or atleast this is what ive found. maybe im just particular on what i want in a build...

also after im done the trip im planning to sell the bike any ways. the whole point of getting the bike is so ill have my own bike rather then renting at everyplace i want to ride and have something thats garbage and pay nearly $100 a day for it

 

[norbar]

oh look, a shipment of fail irate2:

kona bikes are just fine. there is a reason you see a ton of them at whistler, and why they keep showing up in bike videos. they are solid, basic bikes, and kona makes a healthy profit by selling lots of them. if they were such bad bikes, people wouldn't keep buying them year after year and kona would be forced to redesign something other than the color scheme.

also, at 6'1" tall, i rode a bottlerocket for over a year as my do-it-all bike, which included plenty of XC pedaling. large BR + 410mm thomson post = enough leg extension.

edit - oh yeah, perhaps the reviews on MTBR are all falsified.
http://www.mtbr.com/cat/bikes/freeride-full-suspension/PLS_1543_750crx.aspx
hundreds of stinky and coilair reviews, and average ratings around 4.5 out of 5.0. lots of people luvin these s#!tty bikes.

The only reason you see ppl riding konas is BECAUSE THEY ARE IN BIKE MOVIES and they are in bike movies because kona pays ppl money to ride its bikes. Also the fact that ppl do sth doesn't mean it's good. If that's true it means that Bush was a quite good president as he was elected for the 2nd time. Well a lot ppl chose him so him must be good doesn't he?
I also didn't say it's crap it's simply avreage and you can get much much better for the same cash. That's why I'm not the biggest fan of kona.

BTW. The reviews on MTBR are mostly done by weekend warriors who rode like 1 or 2 bikes in their life. Many prooven stuff is bashed in there and usualy the bike the most ppl have has the highes rating.

As for BR. I didn't say you can't. I did uphill rides on my 40lbs 9'' dh bike but does it mean it's the best tool for the job and that I should advice it to ppl who want to ride uphills? BR is moslty a do it all bike but with a strong bias on going down. There are frames that simply have the better geo and susp for going longer distances.

Also does a thing has to be bad the be a bad choice? IF you've had the ability to buy for the same price, a Volkswagen and BMW and wanted prestige VW would be a bad choice even though it isn't a bad car. Is that analogy clear enought for you?


For the OP. If you have an ability to bike bikes in canada think about lapierre bikes - Spicy and Froggy. The build quality on lapierre blows every bike I've seen away and all the bikes have nice spec and are light.

Still I'd suggest the SX trail as the easiest buy. Light, pedals pretty nice, Good position and is pretty much proven.

 

[Shepherdwong]

Why not just get a GT sanction. Similar bike, but stiffer and more options!

Cool, I'll look into it. I actually have a Reign X and love it, just trying to keep an open mind for when it needs to be replaced. I find what people are reporting about the ride of suspension design interesting.

 

[rowlands]

here's a hell of a deal http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/BI300B17-Scott+Ransom+30+Bike+07.aspx

 

[mandown]

1 - The only reason you see ppl riding konas is BECAUSE THEY ARE IN BIKE MOVIES and they are in bike movies because kona pays ppl money to ride its bikes.

2 - I also didn't say it's crap it's simply avreage and you can get much much better for the same cash. That's why I'm not the biggest fan of kona.

3 - As for BR. I didn't say you can't. I did uphill rides on my 40lbs 9'' dh bike but does it mean it's the best tool for the job and that I should advice it to ppl who want to ride uphills? BR is moslty a do it all bike but with a strong bias on going down. There are frames that simply have the better geo and susp for going longer distances.

4 - Also does a thing has to be bad the be a bad choice? IF you've had the ability to buy for the same price, a Volkswagen and BMW and wanted prestige VW would be a bad choice even though it isn't a bad car. Is that analogy clear enought for you?

you got spunk, i like that.

1 - as I said, Kona makes a healthy profit for selling lots of them and the pros ride them. nice try at a political analogy, but the bike buying public as a whole isn't forced to suffer through a four year time period of calling a bike manufacturer the ruler of the bike world just because they had the highest sales number an a single day in november. the public keeps buying the products becuase they do the job at a reasonable price.

2 - you didn't say they were crap? i belive the first line of your post in #36 was "Heavy, bad geo, ****ty susp, bad quality. It's worse than a do it all." though you did also say it was average in the next sentence. i'm confused about how heavy, bad geo, ****ty susp, and bad geo equate to "average in every category." I'd like to think the "average" is a bit higher than the bar you set with your description.

3 - agreed, that the bias is downward on the BR. i was simply pointing out that non-midgets can use it for XC rides.

4 - fully agree; if you can get an obviously better product for a the same price, go for it. bike choice is very personal. you gotta throw a leg over one to feel it out. i've ridden bikes i though i would like based on the geo and parts mix and found i didn't like them once i was on the dirt. i'd consider paying the same amount for a VW if it was had the features i was interested in and it drove well. the BMW name alone doesn't mean that much to me.

come on, admit it - kona bashing is so 2004 (and no, i'm not a fanboy, i ride a Nicolai)

for a do-all, my bias is to lean toward a bike that is more DH/FR in build and setup. XC riding on a DH bike isn't the best, but it can be done (slowly). however, DH/FR on a more XC bike isn't fun and painful when parts break.

other than Kona, i think Mongoose and Jamis are good places to look for bikes that have a good quality parts mix, geo setup, and don't suffer from bloated price tags. sure, there are better tools for the job out there, but they come at a cost (like the Canfield mentioned).

 

[ohio]

Find a 6-7" frame that takes a front derailleur, and try them out. As has been pointed out (and is painfully obvious from the folks cunting up the thread) it's a personal choice, and some really sweet bikes will feel like crap to you. Very few companies are actually making bad bikes so put together your shortlist and start hitting dealers or any classifieds that are local.

If your bias is downhill, my shortlist IN YOUR PRICE RANGE would be the following, but that doesn't mean there aren't lots of other good bikes:

- Specialized SX (07/08 on clearance)
- SC Bullit
- Mongoose Khyber
- GT Sanction
- Iron Horse 6Point

If you're going used to try to get a more "premium" frame, be really really careful. Last thing you want is to blow your road-trip waiting on a broken/replacement part.

 

[Benton]

cunting up the thread

Nice Marc.

Classy...



But also funny. I'm almost LOL-ing right now.

 

[John P.]

Whoa. Ben's on here??

I lulzed at the 'cunting' thing, too.

--JP

 

[Benton]

Whoa. Ben's on here??

I lulzed at the 'cunting' thing, too.

--JP

But of course! And, I think Marc must be bored at work, all of the sudden he's posting a lot. I'm DEFINITELY bored at work. Anybody want to start a company?

Our motto could be: "We don't cunt around."

Good to "bump" into you John. You're always welcome out in Utah. Ski trip this winter? Marc?

I'm kicking myself for skipping the Whistler trip last summer, but it was sort of necessary. Next summer?

Both of you, PM me if you're interested, but email is better.

Ben

 

[DirtMcGirk]

Said it once and I'll say it again:
Nomad.

 

[Leppah]

I don't know why there's so much hate for Kona's these days. I have a Stab Deluxe 06 that i love riding. The bike feels great for the riding I do. I'm not a slow poke on it, but i'm not the fastest guy on the mountain either. I think every bike out there has it's little differences, but you usually get used to them and change the way you ride just a tad to compensate for it. They obviously are doing something right if Tracy Moseley has been doing so well on them and Fabien did really well on them too. Better than he did on his current ride.

I think a GT Sanction would be dope. I have a GT I drive 5 right now. I think it has about 5.5 inches of travel. I like the bike a lot. I might look at getting a Sanction when this bike gets tired. The only bad thing is that there really aren't any local dealers around.

Have you looked at Haro? They have a pretty dope 7" travel bike. I can't remember what it's called though.

I've actually been looking at lot at the Diamond Back Scapegoat too. That bike looks super sick. I'd ride any of these three because i like to have something that not everybody else is riding at the time. Plus, i tend to stay away from the huge companies. The only reason i got my Kona was because it was a deal that i couldn't pass up.

 

[Cable43]

you got spunk, i like that.

So what you are saying is you like spunk... right?... I mean that is what you said.


to give my 2¢,
There is no do it all bike. There are do in all riders.
Case in point: Mark Weir

I know we are not ALL Weir but most of the time it ain't about the bike.

 

[Leppah]

to give my 2¢,
There is no do it all bike. There are do in all riders.
Case in point: Mark Weir

I know we are not ALL Weir but most of the time it ain't about the bike.

Very well put Cable. I believe it's all about the rider also, not all about the bike. I have friends that could tear it up on a 4" travel bike. They could probably ride DH faster than i could ride DH on a 6" travel bike.

One other thing that i don't get caught up in is suspension hype. Since i don't get paid to ride my bike, i just go with a bike that I know will be good enough for what i want to do with it. Rear shocks have come a long way. I know i don't need the newest VPP or DW design in order to have a fun day out on a trail. Rear shocks can make single pivot bikes work a lot better than they ever did. Look at how many people are raving about Morewoods now.

 

[Flyingfish]

preston FR

 

[Patan-DH]

SC BLUR LT
SC HECKLER
Scott RANSOM

Climbing on a heavy bike is the worst thing, i'd rather push

 

[boone]

Just another thought that I haven't seen posted up here:

http://www.bansheebikes.com/bikes/rune.html

Great groups of dudes!

 

[Tetreault]

ok well i still havent purchased anything but was looking at a morewood nzida. my only question is is this going to be too small of a bike for whistler, im not a hucker or anything and would like a bike thats agile and i can through around but is this just going to be too small....?

 

[Transcend]

I second the mention of the RFX. I rode one in Pemberton for a few days (with a hammerschmidt on it) and was very impressed.

 

[bikerpunk98199]

RFX, Khyber or Reign x. I have been able to hop on a Reign a bit and I must say it feels pretty sick.

 

[wanabe]

SX trail.

 

[DHDror]

The Ndiza is a 4X bike
its light but only have 4" of rear wheel travel with a short stroke shock
its designed to be pedaled with a 32-36t ring and when climbing using the granny they are not very efficiant.
Morewood also does not waranty them for trail riding - it might hinder something ...

If you are thinking about a short travel bike with the geo to match park riding consider the SC Blur 4X - it has a longer shock and almost 2:1 leverage ratio.

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

A large part of what makes a bike versatile is how much range you can get out of the seatpost. I'll pedal anything up a hill if I can get full leg extension.

I want to love the bottlerocket and sx trail, but there just isn't enough range to get the seat right up to pedal and right down to descend. Anything without a straight, full-length seat tube is out in my opinion.

I used to use an AS-X for exactly what you describe, btw. Now that there's no more AS-X, I would probably buy a bullit.

Edit: Plus specialized uglied the sx-trail right up. Seriously, WTF? It looks like the top tube and down tube got drunk. Really drunk.

 

[Horror Business]

A large part of what makes a bike versatile is how much range you can get out of the seatpost. I'll pedal anything up a hill if I can get full leg extension.

I want to love the bottlerocket and sx trail, but there just isn't enough range to get the seat right up to pedal and right down to descend. Anything without a straight, full-length seat tube is out in my opinion.

I used to use an AS-X for exactly what you describe, btw. Now that there's no more AS-X, I would probably buy a bullit.

According to Yeti, the AS-X is back!!!

 

[Tetreault]

i've decided against the sx, my buddy just bought one and after riding it around i really wasnt impressed. a bullit is high up on my list as well but i just found a really nice deal on a nzida and its almost too tempting to pass up. my trip plans have changed from my origional post, it turns out we will be spending 1 week in kelowna bc riding the various hills around there and then 3 weeks staying in a condo in whistler. so the pedaling factor is now out as we will be using lifts or shuttling all the time. Im just hesitant to go with a bike thats going to feel "dead" and too squishy if you know what i mean? I want something thats going to ride very much so like my hardtail but thats not going to kill me on trails like aline..... so is the nzida or perhaps a transition double just too little bike for me to realisticly ride in these situations?

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

According to Yeti, the AS-X is back!!!

prove it. now. and

 

[Horror Business]

prove it. now. and

Ha, ha. No pics, bra. This is from a thread about it on mtbr.

"Yeti has them in stock in small and large, i can get one for you- we have them on the way currently. The mediums will be availble soon.

New 09..well as far as anyone knows they are the same as 08,07. The do have a 2008 DHX 5 Coil on them.

Basically Yeti still had parts to build more at the factory so they brought them back into production. I would like to think they would add ISCG tabs but at $999 i would expect them to be exactly the same as before.

Feel free to call or email me at Go-Ride
801-474-0081
krispy@go-ride.com

Krispy"

 

[joelsman]

i would want more travel personally, 6in range or more, bottle rockets are good, bullit also. asx the bb was too high for me.

 

[Iridemtb]

According to Yeti, the AS-X is back!!!

I have a yeti asx for sale.
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/371352/

 

[YSE]

How about the Canfield Balance ?
I just got one for dirt cheap (an 2007), havent ridden ti enough to tell you about it too much. Right now the setup is with a 66 in front and a dhx in the back. pretty light and fun to climb with. the rear travel is abit short (6") but it feels like you have more. When i was looking into a do it all bike i asked here and got alot of good reviews on the balance.
Check it out, might be good..
Enjoy !