Newly Released Bikes General

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Maybe there should be penalties for walking your bike on stages..
I have no real issues with people walking their bikes if that is what they want to do, just don't understand the logic behind these massive bikes when you can't ride them regularly.
 

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
I have no real issues with people walking their bikes if that is what they want to do, just don't understand the logic behind these massive bikes when you can't ride them - as Moorey pointed out
I think a lot of versatility (the Ripmo model if you will) is becoming more of a focus as people are realising that pedalling a Firebird 29 or Privateer 161 or similar around for 4-5 hours isn't overly fun unless you're just on winch / plummet adventures. Was like the first gen 650b Reign; bought en masse by people "downgrading" from DH bikes who loved them but those trying to use them for all day epics started feeling pretty short changed by what felt like an inert tank unless you were approaching the sound barrier. Amount of second hand V3 Nomads available on Pinkbike 6-12 months after it came out suggested a similar issue.

TL/DR version: a versatile 150mm travel bike that can do 90% of what a 160-170mm sled can do on full send is going to pants it for everyday trail riding.
 

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
@moorey you are probably right about it being the rider too. It's just a very different mindset to what i am accustomed to.

@Asininedrivel 100% agree, although my experience over the weekend and years gone by is that most people don't.
I'd be interested to see what everyday riding looks like for the people with these big bikes. As I mentioned, I don't think they do much actual riding.

I was watching the review on the Evil Wreckoning that was posted earlier, that bike sounds like a weapon in certain circumstances. Then I listened to the one on the Evil Offering out of interest and thought this is the one people should get instead.
 
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leitch

Feelin' a bit rrranty
@Asininedrivel 100% agree, although my experience over the weekend and years gone by is that most people don't.

I was watching the review on the Evil Wreckoning that was posted earlier and thought, that bike sounds like a weapon in certain circumstances. Then I listened to the one on the Evil Offering out of interest and thought this is the one people should get instead.
To be fair, those Superflow events are funny in that because there's not a lot of racing around generally, you do inevitably get a bunch of the enduro race crowd turning up on their 170mm bikes to race down XC trails. No excuse for pushing up though :p

That said, I otherwise agree with you entirely.
 

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
There is something really special about a full send bike though. Go mach chicken into a rock garden and not really worrying about what happens is pretty awesome.
Yerp. Solution: have maximum sled bike, also have mid-travel funsies bike. Make sure they have similar reach numbers (learnt that lesson the hard way).

You can be even more fun and make sure they're different wheel sizes. This has the added bonus of ensuring almost nothing is interchangeable.
 

yuley95

soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
I was rolling around the Silvan 'Flowduro' race on the weekend absolutely staggered by the size of bike people are riding.
So many people walking 170mm coil-sprung bikes up the hill.
Their regular 'rides' must include a lot of driving/shuttling or walking
Agree but to be fair there was also a bunch of people on hardballs and some young kids having a crack on their little fully rigid 20" bikes.

Were you there Saturday or Sunday? I was there Saturday and got a run in on each trail before it poured. I actually found the trails much more fun after the rain. Slower though of course.
 

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Agree but to be fair there was also a bunch of people on hardballs and some young kids having a crack on their little fully rigid 20" bikes.

Were you there Saturday or Sunday? I was there Saturday and got a run in on each trail before it poured. I actually found the trails much more fun after the rain. Slower though of course.
I was there on Sunday and on a hardtail.
I'm local though, so the HT is not an issue.

Conditions on Sunday by the end were properly filthy.

A mate and I were trying to win our respective categories and we got slower with each lap as the day wore on, despite our best efforts. I think only one category had the winner from Sunday which was Elite women, although Rachel (the winner) who is also local, had an U15 girl beat her times on Saturday.
 

komdotkom

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I was rolling around the Silvan 'Flowduro' race on the weekend absolutely staggered by the size of bike people are riding.
So many people walking 170mm coil-sprung bikes up the hill.
Their regular 'rides' must include a lot of driving/shuttling or walking
It seems to be the current fashion to have the most over specced bike for the trails at the moment. I was riding at Lysterfield (urgh) a couple of weeks ago and came across some blokes fully kitted up for an Enduro race running 170mm coil sprung bikes. It's fucking Lysterfield guys, you could ride the whole place on a rigid single speed FFS. To make it worse, they weren't even fast down the hills!
I'm lucky enough to have a few bikes like most people here so can take something that's appropriate for the trails I'm riding but if I had to have one bike it's wouldn't be a coil sprung plow, it's not like there are more than a handful of trails in all of Victoria that you'd even come close to the limits of the bike.
 

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
It seems to be the current fashion to have the most over specced bike for the trails at the moment. I was riding at Lysterfield (urgh) a couple of weeks ago and came across some blokes fully kitted up for an Enduro race running 170mm coil sprung bikes. It's fucking Lysterfield guys, you could ride the whole place on a rigid single speed FFS. To make it worse, they weren't even fast down the hills!
I'm lucky enough to have a few bikes like most people here so can take something that's appropriate for the trails I'm riding but if I had to have one bike it's wouldn't be a coil sprung plow, it's not like there are more than a handful of trails in all of Victoria that you'd even come close to the limits of the bike.
More travel certainly makes things a bit more manageable, but I would bet a large portion of the blokes, like you mentioned, wouldn't actually be able to ride the trails their bikes are designed for.
 

HamboCairns

Thanks for all the bananas
It seems to be the current fashion to have the most over specced bike for the trails at the moment. I was riding at Lysterfield (urgh) a couple of weeks ago and came across some blokes fully kitted up for an Enduro race running 170mm coil sprung bikes. It's fucking Lysterfield guys, you could ride the whole place on a rigid single speed FFS. To make it worse, they weren't even fast down the hills!
I'm lucky enough to have a few bikes like most people here so can take something that's appropriate for the trails I'm riding but if I had to have one bike it's wouldn't be a coil sprung plow, it's not like there are more than a handful of trails in all of Victoria that you'd even come close to the limits of the bike.
I can do most stuff around Smithfield on the hard tail (bar downhill oriented stuff). It's climbing where I feel my full 100kg mass working against me!
 

The Reverend

Likes Bikes and Dirt
It seems to be the current fashion to have the most over specced bike for the trails at the moment. I was riding at Lysterfield (urgh) a couple of weeks ago and came across some blokes fully kitted up for an Enduro race running 170mm coil sprung bikes. It's fucking Lysterfield guys, you could ride the whole place on a rigid single speed FFS. To make it worse, they weren't even fast down the hills!
I'm lucky enough to have a few bikes like most people here so can take something that's appropriate for the trails I'm riding but if I had to have one bike it's wouldn't be a coil sprung plow, it's not like there are more than a handful of trails in all of Victoria that you'd even come close to the limits of the bike.
I'll admit it's not the location for anything too rowdy. A decent hardtail will cover everything and actually makes it more fun.

That said, I take what I feel like riding there. Sometimes it's the big bike but something more light trail / XC is perfect for Lysterfield.
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
There's a guy I know that always has an enduro bike and complains about too much flow trail but can't ride to the full capabilities of the bike and wouldn't ride a lot of the stuff he bangs on about.
 
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