animalman86
Likes Bikes
I know there has been some Pole discussion previously, however I wanted to start a dedicated thread for Pole bikes.
I have been looking for close to 8 months for a new trail/all-mountain steed to replace my current Canyon Spectral, however there has not been a lot of bikes that have really excited me. I started looking into some of the more extreme geometry and obscure brands to see what was on offer such as Nicolai and the build that Zaf had put together and in the process came across Pole bikes. I was initially blown away upon seeing the Evolink, as it looks like something from outer space. They have now made another bike called the ‘Stamina’ in a 180 and 140mm version, the 140mm version would be perfect for 95% of my riding. I have no animosity towards carbon, but would prefer an aluminium bike and the geometry in this model (slack head angle and steep seat tube) is hard to find in shorter travel bikes.
I am now in a position to purchase and have started to look at the build options. As they sell direct to customers I will be purchasing directly from Pole and have been weighing up frameset vs complete build. The complete build EN is perfect for my use, however once you start adding in the below, things really start to blow out of the water:
I would love to hear any opinions on whether anyone else will be purchasing or if anyone else hates the SRAM Geoblock as much as I do. Also I have budgeted $400 to pay someone to put the bike together for me - is this reasonable? I do a lot of maintenance myself but will be outsourcing this as I don't have the skills or tools.
Link to EN build:
https://polebicycles.com/stamina/stamina-140/
I have been looking for close to 8 months for a new trail/all-mountain steed to replace my current Canyon Spectral, however there has not been a lot of bikes that have really excited me. I started looking into some of the more extreme geometry and obscure brands to see what was on offer such as Nicolai and the build that Zaf had put together and in the process came across Pole bikes. I was initially blown away upon seeing the Evolink, as it looks like something from outer space. They have now made another bike called the ‘Stamina’ in a 180 and 140mm version, the 140mm version would be perfect for 95% of my riding. I have no animosity towards carbon, but would prefer an aluminium bike and the geometry in this model (slack head angle and steep seat tube) is hard to find in shorter travel bikes.
I am now in a position to purchase and have started to look at the build options. As they sell direct to customers I will be purchasing directly from Pole and have been weighing up frameset vs complete build. The complete build EN is perfect for my use, however once you start adding in the below, things really start to blow out of the water:
- FX Conversion fees on credit card 3%
- Bank FX rates which are typically average
- GST/Import duties when it lands.
I would love to hear any opinions on whether anyone else will be purchasing or if anyone else hates the SRAM Geoblock as much as I do. Also I have budgeted $400 to pay someone to put the bike together for me - is this reasonable? I do a lot of maintenance myself but will be outsourcing this as I don't have the skills or tools.
Link to EN build:
https://polebicycles.com/stamina/stamina-140/
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