"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
07/15/2019 at 14:46 • Filed to: Bikelopnik
1
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"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
07/15/2019 at 14:46 • Filed to: Bikelopnik | 1
| 23 |
So after my wife gave me the go-ahead to “spend some money on a bike” and after I sold our third (fourth) car a few weeks ago, I’ve been shopping for a new bike more and more aggressively. This a decent time of year to look for deals because people are trading up mid-season , and shops are willing to start giving some discounts because the season is short and it’s mid-July already.
When I jumped into a full-suspension 29'er about 4 years ago, it was life-changing coming from an old hardtail 26'er that I’d literally had since I was 16. Oh right, you don’t all know that I’m now 38. Yeah, it was time for an upgrade, and WOW, what a change. The big wheels just roll over stuff so beautifully, and having a bit of travel both front and rear totally expanded my horizons on what was possible. It took me a whole summer of riding various friends’ bikes to finally land on this one. It’s been a solid performer for me, but the cost of updating it would quickly be close to the cost of a new one, so here I am.
Fast-forward to yesterday, when I was certain I would get another 29" wheel but wanted to test ride a particular model on a real trail. Well a friend loaned me his bike, but it was a 27.5"+ which just means fatter tires that are nearly 29" in overall O.D. but more importantly, they’re meatier and you can run them at lower pressures for greater traction. This opened my eyes wide because a lot of my rides have long, low-speed, technical climbs, which is the exact advantage of wider tires.
I loved it. Not just the bike, but the fat tires too. So now I’m riding one of these tomorrow:
This is a Santa Cruz 5010, which, so far as I can tell, was created in their lineup to separate the 27.5 bikes from the 29" rather than making bikes that will accept either size as they did just a year or two ago. I was talking about this bike just yesterday with a friend and we couldn’t figure out where it landed in their lineup, or more specifically WHY it existed, but now I know.
But then, the 275+ tire is only 2.6" wide and you can clear a 2.5" tire on the 29" bike that I’ve ridden and like already... so that might just be the Golidlocks of the group. We’ll see.
This is the 29'er I’m interested in - the Tallboy - which comes in a better color too:
The biggest difference for me would be the extra 2lbs of the 5010 over the Tallboy, because I am light and weight really matters to me. You’d have to spend a LOT more to get the 5010 down near the weight of the Tallboy. F un decisi on process, for sure. Stay tuned, I’m sure you’re all on the edge of your seats.
benjrblant
> functionoverfashion
07/15/2019 at 14:53 |
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IMO, if you’re over 5'10" or so, i’d lean 29er. i’d also take a larger diameter tire over a wider and smaller one.
also, hardtails aren’t bad. i still love my steel hardtail and i’d happily take a really nice carbon one like the chameleon or the niner air9 rdo.
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> functionoverfashion
07/15/2019 at 14:57 |
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Why not mega tower?
Also most dual suspension 29er bikes can also run a 27.5" x 3" wheel/tire combo. The 3" tire has the same OD as the 2.3 on a 29" rim.
IMHO I’d get a 29er with aggressive tires in the “trail” category and call it good.
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benjrblant
> Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
07/15/2019 at 15:03 |
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it is possible to have TOO much travel.
Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
> benjrblant
07/15/2019 at 15:04 |
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Yeah, I’m happy with my hardtail, I figure since I don’t do a whole lot of downhill and more-so tighter ups and downs, I don’t have a huge need for full suspension. I was also worried energy losses from the suspension, but I suppose I could lock it to mitigate that?
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Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> benjrblant
07/15/2019 at 15:34 |
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I think my stump jumper is 135 rear /150 front and I don’t use all of it’s travel. I couldn’t imagine a 160 mm bike...
AMGtech - now with more recalls!
> Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
07/15/2019 at 15:42 |
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Come ride with me. You'll use it all!
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AMGtech - now with more recalls!
> functionoverfashion
07/15/2019 at 15:45 |
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The 5010 is fun. VPP is good, but not great, by today’s standards. It has some inherent drawbacks that you might notice during technical climbs.
I’m 5'11" and prefer 27.5 to 29 because of the extra agility. 29 gets a bit unwieldy for me.
Make sure you demo a few different brands.
bob and john
> benjrblant
07/15/2019 at 15:51 |
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i remember downhilling in whistler bike park as a vacation once.
that was a lot of fun. and ALLL the travel was used. it was GREAT
nermal
> functionoverfashion
07/15/2019 at 15:55 |
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A Commencal will be ~$2k cheaper for something better spec’d and much more reliable. Plus, you won’t have to deal with morans at a store & get it shipped directly to you. No taxes that way either.
Mine has been repeatedly launched off of dumb shit, and poorly at that
. Other than some minor paint blemishes from hitting things
it’s holding up perfectly. Plus, pedaling
the extra weight up hill will make your legs stronger.
BeaterGT
> functionoverfashion
07/15/2019 at 16:08 |
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Rented/rode both on a Colorado trip , can’t go wrong with either in my opinion. The Tallboy eats up trails and the 5010 can be thrown around quite easily.
DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
> functionoverfashion
07/15/2019 at 16:22 |
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I demoed a Tallboy a month and a half ago and it was sublime. It really had me considering how much I ACTUALLY like riding a hard tail.
I was surprised cause it had a crossmark II on the back which is a pretty XC tire but it had loads of grip due to how we’ll the rear suspension performed. The only thing I wasn’t a huge fan of was the cockpit. I have short legs and a long torso so I prefer to have longer reach, and the Tallboy felt a tad short to me in the me in the parking lot. However I didn’t notice it too much on the trail.
My wife demoed a Juliana Furtado which is the women’s version of the 5010 and she really liked that too.
ST80MND
> benjrblant
07/15/2019 at 16:23 |
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That’s a tricky question. I remember Richie Cunningham, at the time a writer (editor?) Of Mountain Bike Action may, openly without bias questioning the need for ANY suspension, and seemingly not seeing any point or reason for a “velo-shussher”. (Read full suspension) This was back in the early to mid 90's. Fast forward 10 years, and Josh Bender had a custom Karpiel Armageddon that had a ungodly 14 inches of travel! Another 10 years on, and the sort of sweet spot for a “I’ve only got one bike” setup is 4.5" - 5.5" of travel. My dh has 9. My xc has 4. I use my xc as an all mountain, because it can handle drops n jumps fine. But ten years ago you couldn’t do that, because a xc bike was too fragile. As technology advances the need for a specific use bike, it could be argued, is becoming obsolete. The skill level of the average rider is much higher as well, negating the need for the bike to have to soak up bad lines, not to mention advances in trail quality.
So, to answer your question, realizing indeed that it may have been rhetorical, that it seems yes, yes there can be a such thing. I’ve had just as much fun at whistler, or mt.7/kicking horse on a hardtail as on my dh. But all that cush sure is comfy!
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functionoverfashion
> Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
07/15/2019 at 21:41 |
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I don’t need the suspension travel of the megatower, I’m much more of a low-speed technical rider than downhill/aggressive. Clearly I enjoy going down or else I’d never ride up in the first place, but yeah. I liked the 27.5+ Tallboy way more than I thought I would. The likelihood of added climbing traction is intriguing.
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functionoverfashion
> DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
07/15/2019 at 21:44 |
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I swapped out my rear tire on my current bike for a very knobby Maxxis Minion DHR, much better. But my suspension isn’t the best on my old Trek - not the design, but cheaper components from 5 years ago.
I’d get the Tallboy with plus tires but now you can’t anymore, you have to go 5010.
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functionoverfashion
> AMGtech - now with more recalls!
07/15/2019 at 21:47 |
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I love my 29er Trek overall, and I’m just under 5'11" so I guess it’s personal preference. I’ve ridden a few friends’ bikes here and there, but there aren’t a lot of demo days around here, not that I can get to anyway.
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functionoverfashion
> nermal
07/15/2019 at 21:54 |
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I took a look at those. While cheaper, I don’t have morons at my local shop, they’re all good guys who ride a ton and are great to work with. I also live in a state without sales tax.
But I hear you, they are nicely spec’d for less money. No question there.
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functionoverfashion
> benjrblant
07/15/2019 at 21:58 |
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I’m probably just under 5'11" and I’ve been liking my 29er a lot. But I was surprised how much I liked the plus tires on the Tallboy the other day. I don’t think there’s a plus-tire 5010 in my local shop, but a regular 27.5 there is. I should ride it back-to-back with the Tallboy 29 and then like, I don’t know, flip a fucking coin. I like the green of the Tallboy better haha
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Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> functionoverfashion
07/15/2019 at 22:04 |
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Transition smuggler!
Then you be a smuggling all the time.
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AMGtech - now with more recalls!
> functionoverfashion
07/15/2019 at 22:10 |
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Your local bike shops should have demo bikes available. They'll probably cost you something. But they will also typically apply that cost to the purchase of a new bike.
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functionoverfashion
> Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
07/15/2019 at 22:13 |
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They have those at my local shop... I haven’t ridden one yet but it’s also $4k for the same basic kit as the Tallboy @$3,400 - msrp, not the real price, but still
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Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> functionoverfashion
07/15/2019 at 22:17 |
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I think I would go tall boy then. It’s a great bike.
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functionoverfashion
> AMGtech - now with more recalls!
07/15/2019 at 22:20 |
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My local shop will let me take some bikes out, but they’re really too small to have full-on demo bikes. They loan out their personal bikes to people they know (like me) which is nice but not that convenient. I mostly swap around with friends, there’s a good variety of bikes among the guys I ride with. I also know I adapt pretty quickly and will love just about any bike I end up with.
TheRealBicycleBuck
> Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
07/17/2019 at 07:28 |
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It depends on the terrain. If all of your trails are super-smooth, then a hardtail is fine. When the trails are rough, the compliance of the rear suspension helps by keeping the tire planted so more of your energy goes into the ground and by ab sorbing the bumps so you don’t have to.
My favorite demonstration of this was on a ride with my cousins. Both of them were giving me a hard time for riding full suspension until we hit a long section of trail with a washboard. They had to stand. I just sat down and kept pedaling.