Best bike for Victoria?

[mike14]

G'day all

Long time lurker, and I know it's a bit of a "how long is a piece of string?" question, but what are the recommendations for the best bike to go with for Victoria?

I'm currently on a 29er hardtail, which I love, but there have been a few times where I've felt a bit uncomfortable going down some runs (especially at the You Yangs) and there some tracks I'm not game to try (although that's the fault of the rider more than the bike!).

Most of my riding is split between Lysetrfield and You Yangs, with trips to Red Hill, Wombat (would likely just use the 29er), Buller/Falls, and the occasional jaunt to NSW/ACT or even NZ if I can escape the wife and kids.

I'm after something that can get me up the hill reasonably well, and lets get back down with a big grin on my face. Fun is the name of the game when it comes to riding for me. There's the possibility of some enduro racing in the future as some mates of mine have just started, but I have no issues being at the back of the pack.

Budget is around $3.5k which puts me in the Trance/Reign, Remedy, Sight/Range bracket. Other options seem to be a Rocky Mountain Altitude 750 going on BikeExchange or a Canyon Strive.

Thoughts/suggestions? Is the Reign/Range overkill? Have I overlooked anything?

Many thanks

Mike

 

[puffmoike]

I'm currently on a 29er hardtail, which I love, but there have been a few times where I've felt a bit uncomfortable going down some runs (especially at the You Yangs) and there some tracks I'm not game to try (although that's the fault of the rider more than the bike!).

Most of my riding is split between Lysetrfield and You Yangs, with trips to Red Hill, Wombat (would likely just use the 29er), Buller/Falls, and the occasional jaunt to NSW/ACT or even NZ if I can escape the wife and kids.

Just because nobody else has jumped in I thought I'd share my little anecdote…

(I think it is an interesting question. Having never ridden overseas, and only a couple of times interstate, whenever I read bike reviews I always wonder how similar the trails they were riding on are to what I ride, and whether they'd give the same review if they had been riding on my trails. Would also be interesting to get the views of an experienced bike tester with only intermediate skills/pace, but I'm not holding my breath…)

I own a 2008 Giant Trance X. Mostly ridden at Wombat and out the back of Aireys Inlet, with occasional rides at Lysterfield, Buller, You Yangs. I went to a Specialized demo day at Lysterfield last summer, rode three different 27.5 carbon bikes (Camber, Stumpjumper, Stumpjumper Fattie) and left thinking, yeah, they're better, but I'm happy enough with my bike (and keeping my wallet in my pocket).

A month ago a mate and I demoed 2017 Trek Fuel EX 9 and Remedy 9 RSL over three days. He was ready to buy a new bike (and has since ordered one). Whereas I just figured it would be fun to try a modern bike on the more demanding terrain at You Yangs, and see whether it made a bigger difference than the gentle trails at Lysterfield.

Holy Moly it was fun! Flying down (by my standards) runs like Cressy, Trav's and the rock gardens on the Junction Descent (the trail that joins the two parts of the park) at just a completely different level of speed than I'd done before. In particular on the rocky Junction Descent gardens my time went from mid-table on Strava to top 5%.

So no recommendation as such, but just a comment that in my limited experience the harder (and especially the rockier) the trail the more likely you are to appreciate the bikes you mention. And once you buy one you might find you spend more time at the You Yangs, and less time at Lysterfield!

For mine, any bike I buy (and I'm now in the market, which wasn't the plan) will be my only bike, and I suspect a Fuel EX will be a good compromise. But if you are going to keep riding the 29" hardtail as well then perhaps you should be trying to select a dually with the You Yangs in mind, rather than thinking in terms of all of Victoria.

And if you haven't ridden any of the bikes you mentioned consider demoing. A few stores will let you demo a bike for ~$150 (and knock that off the price if you buy it). If nothing else it should help you work out what sort of bike you want.

 

[swaz]

JA few stores will let you demo a bike for ~$150 (and knock that off the price if you buy it). If nothing else it should help you work out what sort of bike you want.

There are some places that will let you test them out for free. $150 is a hefty fee for test ride IMO

 

[Nautonier]

Assuming you're keeping the 29er for XC duties, why not get a bike that is a LOT more capable instead of something that isn't that much of a step up. That way you can continue to ride the bike you have for easy trails and have enough bike to cope with anything any of the areas you plan to ride will throw at you.

Hands down the best value for money is an alloy Range. There are great deals on last years stock and your budget will be enough. Ranges still climb well and are a more versatile bike than the Reign, which, IMHO is just too damn long to be good at anything other than ploughing down the hill - in which case you may as well get a DH bike...

 

[DMan]

Assuming you're keeping the 29er for XC duties, why not get a bike that is a LOT more capable instead of something that isn't that much of a step up. That way you can continue to ride the bike you have for easy trails and have enough bike to cope with anything any of the areas you plan to ride will throw at you.

Hands down the best value for money is an alloy Range. There are great deals on last years stock and your budget will be enough. Ranges still climb well and are a more versatile bike than the Reign, which, IMHO is just too damn long to be good at anything other than ploughing down the hill - in which case you may as well get a DH bike...

What a load of shit. Isn't that what a shorter stem is for? I don't really understand why people love to bag out Giants when you see the spec you get for your money. Yes they are common, but that doesn't make them bad. I have an Reign Adv 0 and I can tell you it climbs just a well as my mates carbon Range. And down they're awesome... Don't be put off by the haters. A Trance would be a great allrounder for my 2c

 

[Calvin27]

Agree, I'd go just one step below the reign. i you are keeping the hardtail, I'd forget about 100-120mm XC duallies. Brands are mostly the same just get the colour and design you liek the look of lol.

 

[DMan]

Agree, I'd go just one step below the reign. i you are keeping the hardtail, I'd forget about 100-120mm XC duallies. Brands are mostly the same just get the colour and design you liek the look of lol.

Lol. True. I forget a lot of the brands come from the same factories anyway...

 

[Ultra Lord]

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/au/trance-2

Bang on budget. Trances are a great bike, and the new tweaks look to have made it even better. New metric shock, 150mm forks which is fantastic! And a little longer than the older one. Not to mention the one piece rocker than stiffens up the rear triangle, as they used to be alittle flexy.

If these were out when i bought my reign, I would've bought this instead. Awesome bikes

 

[Nautonier]

What a load of shit. Isn't that what a shorter stem is for? I don't really understand why people love to bag out Giants when you see the spec you get for your money.

I don't have a problem with Giants (I've owned a couple of them), although it shits me how they don't mention BB height or weight on any of their specs. Agree that you get a lot of bang for your buck (about the same as a Norco), but if you look at the Reign's geometry they've really gone out on a limb by making it significantly longer in the reach and wheelbase than any other 160mm bike. A shorter stem doesn't change the wheelbase and make it any more flickable in tight stuff. I'm sure they work for some people, there must be a reason why every man and his dog owns one.

Reign/Range or Sight/Trance really depends on how technical you want to go with your riding. If you're going to be heading to NZ, there's quite a few runs I can think of where a Trance might not be quite enough.

 

[Boom King]

Banshee Spitfire perhaps?

 

[DMan]

I don't have a problem with Giants (I've owned a couple of them), although it shits me how they don't mention BB height or weight on any of their specs. Agree that you get a lot of bang for your buck (about the same as a Norco), but if you look at the Reign's geometry they've really gone out on a limb by making it significantly longer in the reach and wheelbase than any other 160mm bike. A shorter stem doesn't change the wheelbase and make it any more flickable in tight stuff. I'm sure they work for some people, there must be a reason why every man and his dog owns one.

Reign/Range or Sight/Trance really depends on how technical you want to go with your riding. If you're going to be heading to NZ, there's quite a few runs I can think of where a Trance might not be quite enough.

Granted the stem doesn't change the wheel base but it does shorten the reach and keeps more weight over the front which I find increases the stability. I hear you about weight and bb height as I couldn't find anything about weights when looking at mine. But don't discount them. The reviews for the Advanced and alloy Reigns were always good when I was looking (from 2015 on anyway) and from my own personal experience I've never felt I've compromised my climbing ability coming off a 150/130mm travel bike that was far less slack. But the down is hellishly more fun now!
I have a few mates riding Trances and they seem to handle all the rough stuff well. As does my lady's Sight and my mates one too. As far as NZ goes, I'll let you know when we get back from Queenstown in Dec... Very excited! Juicy goodness :dance:

 

[DMan]

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/au/trance-2

Bang on budget. Trances are a great bike, and the new tweaks look to have made it even better. New metric shock, 150mm forks which is fantastic! And a little longer than the older one. Not to mention the one piece rocker than stiffens up the rear triangle, as they used to be alittle flexy.

If these were out when i bought my reign, I would've bought this instead. Awesome bikes

I hear you. I had an 17 Adv1 Trance on order but went with a 16 0 Reign because it was too good to pass up for the price and spec. I'm sure loving it but would kill to take a Trance for a spin still...

 

[caad9]

I'd echo some sentiments in here already, if you don't have to sell the HT, then get something bigger.
Where I might differ is the jump up in travel that some people are suggesting.
160mm bikes might gobble up everything, but you've still got to ride them around between the downhills. Aside from top to bottom runs of our alpine mountains, you won't be doing many really long descents.

My ideal bike for fun times would be an aggressive geo 130mm 29er.
Still won't pedal like a HT, but it will get around a lot better than a 160mm Reign/Range/Remedy etc.

 

[slimjim1]

I'd echo some sentiments in here already, if you don't have to sell the HT, then get something bigger.
Where I might differ is the jump up in travel that some people are suggesting.
160mm bikes might gobble up everything, but you've still got to ride them around between the downhills. Aside from top to bottom runs of our alpine mountains, you won't be doing many really long descents.

My ideal bike for fun times would be an aggressive geo 130mm 29er.
Still won't pedal like a HT, but it will get around a lot better than a 160mm Reign/Range/Remedy etc.

+1.

Surprisingly little that some of these newer shorter travel 29ers can't handle.

The difference is that when you push them into trail duties they are just a lot more fun than 160mm bikes.

For the $$$ I think the Norco Optic 29 looks to be awesome choice. Or a Fuel if you want a touch more travel.

 

[Big JD]

buy the one that make you feel great..............................

get something that will handle 90% of the riding you do- 90% of the time.

Get something fun and good looking. You want something that gets the juices flowing every time you head out. Call me a snob but get something special, Unique and personal. $3 grand is alot of cash for most people.

You have a HT for the serious miles and XC tracks. Buy the best FS (that fits) you can find for the money you have. 160mm travel is serious for these parts and would not be what I would consider an allrounder. It will be too heavy/ big/ slack/ overkill/ overbuilt for the majority of trails. Some people have long travel/ enduro bikes as their go to rigs- good for them but it would be too much for us mere mortals. I like a FS that pedals really well, is not heavy so the climbs aren't more of a chore and is capable of tackling the downs (within my abilities). Why have a bike that can handle big drops and jumps if you honestly dont do that.

I ride all the same stuff at the Youies on my FS that I used to ride on my carbon HT- only difference is I do it faster with more comfort and control. There are jumps that are simply too much for me- (acceptable risk/my abilities). Consider that these few jumps are 1% of the total riding out there- Im happy to focus on the 99%.

Also consider secondhand around that $3 grand mark. You could get something worth double that.

 

[droenn]

I'd get a Remedy, or Canyon Spectral, over the Giants and Norcos.

But thats personal preference, not much between the 140/150 mm trail bikes really.

 

[Calvin27]

Whatever you do, do not get a NSW bike! They just don't work in Vic!

 

[The Duckmeister]

Whatever you do, do not get a NSW bike! They just don't work in Vic!

But what about when he wants to do interstate or NZ trips? A Vic bike won't work there!

If you want to be able to climb without it being too much of a chore, get a Trance or similar. Fundamental geometric compromise is that the more a bike is designed for descending, the worse it will be going up; the Reign and its ilk are essentially DH bikes for when you have to haul your own arse back up. Most of the riding you list can be done on a 100-120mm bike, but something like that will be a bit skittish on the lumpier descents, and not vastly different from the HT if you're hanging onto that. 140-150mm (Trance territory) will bring a great deal more descending stability, while still having enough agility to make the stuff in between fun, and climb tolerably, although the slacker front does make it feel rather vague & floaty. A longer & slacker bike will only be worse.

 

[The Duckmeister]

Granted the stem doesn't change the wheel base but it does shorten the reach and keeps more weight over the front which I find increases the stability.

Ya reckon? With the saddle in the same position, pulling the bar back by shortening the stem is going to push the weight further back.

 

[dunndog]

My 2c.. I had a sight carbon, when I also had a Sh rig. The sight constantly blew my mind in terms of how well it got around, and how much it broke the shackles of what a 140mm trail bike 'should' be able to do. A very hard decision was made 12 months later to sell the dh and the sight and buy a one do all bike. This decision was especially hard because I was blown away by the sight for 80% of my riding but knew that it just wasn't quite right for the times I wanted to hit shuttle days or the big boy runs at Buller, mt beauty etc.
Anyway, I went full enduro and bought a 160mm Transition Patrol. I fully expected to sacrifice a little on rides like wombat, or 30ks around the youies, in order to have a more capable rig for the heavier days. I seriously underestimated what these bigger bikes are capable of! It is every bit at home as the sight was punching out ks on flat single track, but point it down hill and it's an animal. But only as much animal as you want it to be.
Point is, don't discount how capable a shorter travel trail bike is, but also don't discount how efficient and versatile the modern crop of low slack am bikes with steeper sta's are too. What you really need to consider is what you intend to do with it at the extreme end of things, and get a bike that suits that best. Because a good bike from either travel range will handle 80% of the same cross over stuff very similarly.
If you plan on keeping the ht, I would not hesitate in getting full enduro bike. They are designed to get you pedalling around happily, and to then smash descents like a dh bike from just a few years ago. Can't personally vouch for them all, but the good ones most definitely achieve this.