It has.... Been a while....

Sky_Collapsed

Not particularly enlightened
You lucky bastard. You live in Australia’s MTB Mecca. Just in case you’ve haven’t been paying any attention check out videos of Derby and Maydena to see why the rest of us wish we lived in Tasmania. With trails like that only a few hours away you are almost certainly going to want a capable bike fairly soon, so either go cheap and be ready to upgrade if the bug bites, or just get an enduro bike straight away.
Yeah i do try and keep up with what's happening re-trails wise and back in the early days (Before i got a mortgage and all that fun work stuff) I was active in the cradle coast mtb club and did a fair bit of trail building and helped with running our dh events.

I am thinking it'd be best just go with the 4-5k range bike and get something that should be very capable but at the same time also look out for a 20-21 model bargain if it can be found.

on the last currently is the commencal meta am, nukeproof mega290, or something from trek but not sure what, ex7 slash7?
 

Sethius

Crashed out somewhere
Yeah i do try and keep up with what's happening re-trails wise and back in the early days (Before i got a mortgage and all that fun work stuff) I was active in the cradle coast mtb club and did a fair bit of trail building and helped with running our dh events.

I am thinking it'd be best just go with the 4-5k range bike and get something that should be very capable but at the same time also look out for a 20-21 model bargain if it can be found.

on the last currently is the commencal meta am, nukeproof mega290, or something from trek but not sure what, ex7 slash7?
20-21 bargain won't happen. Everyone's been holding pricing on any stock they may have left in the odd sizes. There's a repaired pivot on eBay that's a bargain.
 

puffmoike

Likes Dirt
Yeah i do try and keep up with what's happening re-trails wise and back in the early days (Before i got a mortgage and all that fun work stuff) I was active in the cradle coast mtb club and did a fair bit of trail building and helped with running our dh events.
Yeah I probably didn’t read your original post carefully enough. Listen to the people in this thread who know more about DH than I do (limited to watching WC DH on Redbull TV the past five years, and reading nearly bike review on Pinkbike, Enduro-MTB, and Flow)

I am thinking it'd be best just go with the 4-5k range bike and get something that should be very capable but at the same time also look out for a 20-21 model bargain if it can be found.
Don’t expect to find many, if any, bargains. Covid has seen both an increase in buyers, and a collapse of supply, so just finding a suitable bike at RRP in stock is enough of a challenge.

or something from trek but not sure what, ex7 slash7?
Yep, the Slash is the Trek you’d be looking at.
 

puffmoike

Likes Dirt
I suppose the point I was trying to make is if you’re coming from a 26” DH background don’t make the mistake of underestimating the capability of modern ~150mm bikes.

I went from a 2008 26” Giant Trance X to a 2017 29” Trek Fuel EX (both nominally 130mm trail bikes) and the difference in confidence it gave me going downhill was nuts.

And then the two brief times I’ve ridden on even more recent 150mm enduro bikes, with slacker head angles that are similar to DH bikes of old, were even more confidence inspiring (and just plain fast!).

Anecdotally it seems nowadays there are still some people still think a DH bike has a place for people who regularly ride shuttles on suitable terrain and have a stable of bikes, but barely any are sold any more.

And I can confidently say a DH bike just doesn’t make sense as your only bike when modern enduro bikes are so capable both up and down.
 
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Sky_Collapsed

Not particularly enlightened
Don’t expect to find many, if any, bargains. Covid has seen both an increase in buyers, and a collapse of supply, so just finding a suitable bike at RRP in stock is enough of a challenge.
that's true. i'll have to get what fits the budget and hope it feels nice to ride but i guess with all the changes since i last rode i'll be having to kinda re-learn a bit anyway.

much as i loved my dh bike when i had it, they are a bit,,, well,,, impractical and with the type of trails around my way it'll be best to go for an all rounder anyways.
 

clockworked

Like an orange
150mm 29er is perfect in tassie.
You can go down to 130 if you want more of an xc bike, and up to 160-180 for a more dh orientated bike, but you'll be amazed what a 150mm 29er can do these days

I've got a 140/125mm 29er and a 180mm 27.5 ebike and i reckon I've got the perfect mix there
 

tobbogonist

a registered member
Hey mate I'm on the nw coast as well, I've got a small 140 mm 29er you can throw a leg over I'd you want to test. I'm a bit shorter than you and will definately size up to a medium on my next bike.
I'm pretty tied up with work until at least April though.
 

Isaakk

Likes Bikes and Dirt
150mm 29er is perfect in tassie.
I'll plus 1 this, as someone also living in NW Tas. Sweet spot for the trails around here and weekend trips to Derby/Maydena would be 140-160 travel, and will have you sorted for all but the most gnarly of Maydena trails. Plenty of climbing to do most riding around here so you're not going to want something excessively heavy. The Meta AM is erring more on the overkill side unless you ride fast and hard, or don't mind a sluggish climb for the DH. It's pretty heavy. As mentioned by others, don't underestimate the capability of trail/enduro bikes nowadays, they definitely surpass the DH bikes of 8+ years ago.

Wild Ride (might) have some Norco Sights and Mondraker Foxy/Super Foxies in at the moment I think if you wanted to have a sit on one or hire for a day.
 
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Sky_Collapsed

Not particularly enlightened
yeah i think the 150-160 area is going to be the sweet spot. i dont really plan on doing dh because too much risk for injury's for where im at in life rn.

but it seems like it's going to be way more difficult to get something than i initially anticipated, the lbs in town said they couldn't even place an order for something but ill contact another shop and see what the story is but yeahh,,, it's looking more difficult than i thought.

bad time to be trying to get back into it
 

puffmoike

Likes Dirt
Maybe worth considering a Canyon Spectral too, they have some models available for delivery Dec/Jan/Feb, and they spec well for the price. Have a mate with a Spectral and he's been very happy with it.
Just looked online and in size Medium Canyon are quoting late Jan/early Feb for the $4649 (+$200 shipping) AL 6 (aluminium) and the $5349 (+$200) CF 7 (carbon).

The $3899 (+$200) AL 5 is ‘coming soon’ in ‘Autumn’.

No idea how accurate these delivery dates will prove to be.

If you like to read here’s a long 22-bike comparison of lots of different types of mountain bikes by the German website Enduro MTB (in English), with a long introductory sectio which will help you get a sense of where bikes are at these days. (And it names the Spectral the best all-rounder) https://enduro-mtb.com/en/best-mtb-group-review/
 

puffmoike

Likes Dirt
is focus a yeah or nah? Can't say i've heard of them :rolleyes:
A Focus what?

I don’t think of Focus as a prestigious brand in Australia, and you don’t see many of them out on the trails.

But for what it’s worth Focus are owned by a Dutch conglomerate, Pon Holdings, who also own Cannondale, GT, Santa Cruz, Cervélo and probably others. Biggest bike company in the world.
 

Sky_Collapsed

Not particularly enlightened
A Focus what?

I don’t think of Focus as a prestigious brand in Australia, and you don’t see many of them out on the trails.

But for what it’s worth Focus are owned by a Dutch conglomerate, Pon Holdings, who also own Cannondale, GT, Santa Cruz, Cervélo and probably others. Biggest bike company in the world.
are they any good though? theyve got some models that slot beautifully in my price range been the jam 6.9 and 6.8
 

Oddjob

Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
is focus a yeah or nah? Can't say i've heard of them :rolleyes:
Focus make some well engineered bikes. They don't tend to have fancy suspension kinematics but the fit and finish seem good. They seem to sell at a bit of a discount because they aren't well known.

Sent from my M2012K11AG using Tapatalk
 

rangersac

Medically diagnosed OMS
Focus are well known for roadies. Dunno much about their MTB range but as noted they seem to be well priced and look decent. I've always been curious so do us a favour, hurry up and buy one and give us a review!
 

Sky_Collapsed

Not particularly enlightened
how would a 2019 trek ex5 go? I obviously dont plan on hitting diamond or double diamond these days, cbf really haha
 
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