[Swoofty]

Marin has some good bargain bikes too. Unfortunately, like you said, they are all 29" clown bikes. Commencal Meta HT and Diamondback Sync'r are 27.5 and might be worth a look. Used is the best market going if you know what you want. Couple of year old bikes will go for half price or less. Nuts!

 

[Swoofty]

Pinkbike. Best marketplace there is.

 

[Swoofty]

The Ripley's an award winning bike so it should feel outstanding. I recently searched "best bikes of 2012" just to jog my memory and, yeah, the early days of 29 were shit. Personally i still feel 29 gives up too much for an offroad bike that's supposed to go uphill often.

 

[Swoofty]

mmmm, switchbacks... If only they were all the same. I try to take them rally style, approach it as wide to the outside as you can and carve through it to make it as open as you can. Downhill a nose pivot is really nice and uphill a hop 90 is nice if you can time it right and not run out of steam. There's a notorious switch here in SaMo that I can bang uphill, but downhill it's so exposed with zero run out and I haven't made it on the bike in years sadly.

De Nada - "But I think it has something to do with taking away the carefree freedom and simple joy of just hopping on a thing and riding. " - quote of the thread. I salute that, brother. Newcomers have no idea it was once simple. Gotta go bleed my V brake now...

 

[Swoofty]

"Modern" mtbs have perfectly primed the market for electrics. They're already motorcycles without engines. Finally someone realized putting a motor on these things would help immensely, cuz, you know, weight doesn't matter. I'm with Andy on this one. The modern trade offs aren't worth it and the industry no longer supports the simple pleasure of riding a simple bike.

 

[Swoofty]

MTB decathalon? Might as well.

 

[Swoofty]

'SHRED WAGON'!

 

[Swoofty]

Yeti makes pretty good stuff. Still don't see how they qualify those prices tho...

Edit: oh right, lifetime warranty.

 

[Swoofty]

I've been looking very hard at this Rose 'the Bruce' DJ bike even though I've been down the DJ road before. I'm back in Germany now and stuck with my 12 year old Onza Zoot. Next trip over I gotta replace the Zoot and a DJ bike might just fit the bill as a 'one bike' solution. Over here I can get the Bruce new for $900. For now it's Zoot 4 life though!!

 

[Swoofty]

Damn those Trek Tickets!! I wanted one so badly (the 10x135, not the newer ones) but they're far and away THE most expensive DJ bike ever. Ironically there are a few on PB right now with down to earth prices, but I'm not in the market for a heavy trials bike substitute at the moment.

 

[Swoofty]

They'll all be ebikes. Pedaling's for suckers! And yes, $30 large.

 

[Swoofty]

That's because the Levo is a revolutionary form of transportation that is far superior to even a Tesla model S plaid.🤣😂🤣 Special Ed has been smoking the kool-aid and watching wolf of wall street for a long time now.

 

[Swoofty]

Ebike to the rescue for you then, AgrAde? I've been checking Pinkbike numerous times a week for my next MTB, but I think I should just start saving up for a Transalpes E1 and be done with it all.

 

[Swoofty]

He didn't pedal once. It's a motorcycle.

 

[Swoofty]

My son's gotten into MTB and I can't keep up on my 26" street trials bike so i finally got a modern bike to build up with him. Just waiting for spokes to build the wheels. I finally got tired of waiting for the right Ibis Mojo3 to come up. I think these are pretty similar.

Andy - I went with Deore 10 spd without much research. There's a lot of choice in 9 spd so that's a good choice too. 11 and 12 are just stoopid expensive.