Apologies if this topic has been done to death, but I'm weighing up options for a new big bike as unfortunately my evil undead has done something completely unexpected of an evil and cracked in three places. Warranty/crash replacement is a no go as Evil don't have any undead front triangles left. When I contacted them they said that it sucked that my undead was "showing signs of its age", which raises some worrying questions about how long they actually expect their bikes to last, but that's another story.
ANYWAY. This means I'm in the market for a new big bike. Available to me through my shop sponsor are the following: Mondraker Summum, Scott Gambler and Polygon DH8/9. But the geometry issue is giving me a bit of a headache. My undead is a size Large and I run it in the low BB/steep HA setting (64 deg). I tried it in the low BB/slack HA setting (62.9 deg), but I found I struggled to get enough front wheel traction and found it harder to get into the air. For reference, I'm 5'10, race downhill in Scotland regularly, not rapid but not a hack either.
I've ruled out the Polygon as I've been told by someone racing last year that it was "distinctly average" and isn't as good value for money on a complete bike as I expected. So does my issue of front wheel traction above rule out the Summum? Or does the "forward geometry" pish counteract this with a longer reach and shorter stem combo? The adjustability of the Gambler is swaying it for me at the moment, that and a lot of good reports about how it rides. Below are some geometry numbers between the three for reference. Also included the low/slack setting for the evil as a benchmark for something that didn't really feel comfortable for me.
ANYWAY. This means I'm in the market for a new big bike. Available to me through my shop sponsor are the following: Mondraker Summum, Scott Gambler and Polygon DH8/9. But the geometry issue is giving me a bit of a headache. My undead is a size Large and I run it in the low BB/steep HA setting (64 deg). I tried it in the low BB/slack HA setting (62.9 deg), but I found I struggled to get enough front wheel traction and found it harder to get into the air. For reference, I'm 5'10, race downhill in Scotland regularly, not rapid but not a hack either.
I've ruled out the Polygon as I've been told by someone racing last year that it was "distinctly average" and isn't as good value for money on a complete bike as I expected. So does my issue of front wheel traction above rule out the Summum? Or does the "forward geometry" pish counteract this with a longer reach and shorter stem combo? The adjustability of the Gambler is swaying it for me at the moment, that and a lot of good reports about how it rides. Below are some geometry numbers between the three for reference. Also included the low/slack setting for the evil as a benchmark for something that didn't really feel comfortable for me.