It's new bike time.... And I'm so confused

Another vote for a "short travel" bike. After demoing everything I could get my hands on over the last few years I had decided I would get a long travel trail bike. Then my buddy Vince at JRA said I should check out the new Jet 9 RDO. I asked isn't that a Niner to which he replied yes but can be set up as 27.5 Plus. After falling in love with the Mojo 3 (unfortunately I'm between sizes) I decided I would give it a try. Talk about love at first ride! The bike might not be the best for the gnarliest chunk but it does everything I need it to. And if the 27.5 wheel goes the way of the dodo bird then I'm all set. It can be set up as a 29er.
 
Ricekrispyota said:
I'll be in Temecula this Saturday. I think I'll hit them up. Thank you.
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RKY, they like a call a couple days beforehand to be sure they have your demo and time to set up.

I'm pretty sure they have carbon Flux demos; probably still waiting on the frames for sale. The RFX has gotten big accolades. Czar is "XC/trail," meaning either depending on build. I eventually put a 120 Pike on mine and it absolutely hit the sweet spot. Those are 35mm stancion, and still damn light. Have fun with it, good luck tooling up perfectly for the jobs : )
 
My $.02. I was dead set against a 29". Don't ask me why.....I am about 5'9", (5'10" if my wife is wearing that lulu stuff that day), so I thought 29" would be too big and cumbersome. Wrong! I narrowed mine down to SC Bronson, SC Tallboy, Ibis Mojo 3, Ibis HD3, Yeti 4.5, and Yeti 5.5. Landed on 5.5. Soo many great bikes these days. They are all soo awesome on near parity imo.

Good Luck!
 
VitalMTB just started their big bike test for this year and it includes several of the bikes on my list. Yeti SB5, Commencal Meta AM 4.2, Ellsworth Rogue 60, Definitely gonna read the reviews.

Also looking at the Niner RIP9 RDO, Yeti SB5.5 and the Intense Recluse. I notice that Jenson USA carries several of these. Just need to see if I can demo them.
 
Ricekrispyota said:
VitalMTB just started their big bike test for this year and it includes several of the bikes on my list. Yeti SB5, Commencal Meta AM 4.2, Ellsworth Rogue 60, Definitely gonna read the reviews.

Also looking at the Niner RIP9 RDO, Yeti SB5.5 and the Intense Recluse. I notice that Jenson USA carries several of these. Just need to see if I can demo them.
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Add Intense Primer to your list if you are considering mid-travel 29ers (115 or 130mm settings).
 
I want to replace my Heckler with the Tallboy 3, yet slightly overfork it at 130mm. These semi-aggressive trail bikes are pretty damn impressive, the geo is better, especially for my tall frame, hell, you could even take them to the bike park after a tire swap.

My other choice is the Kona Process 111, its the same geo/setup, even comes in yellow too. But is a bit cheaper and different suspension kinematics.

You could pick up either and put the rest of the budget into a great wheelset.
 
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mike said:
+1

I don't think shorter-travel trail bikes are a mere fad, I think they just work better for the kinds of riding many of us do.

After letting go my Bronson and going 100mm 29er, I doubt I'll get another 6" trail bike. They're fun as hell for smashing through rough stuff, agreed, but that's probably 0-5% of my typical ride. Short travel trail bike makes a good one-arrow quiver. I sure don't miss carrying that extra 2" of travel around all day for the rare times it can be used. Big hoops and fatter tires complement less travel well.
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After going from an 8" travel bike to my Bronson, I really miss the extra 2" of travel for the Fullerton Loop.

If I were in the market, I would probably be in the market for a plus sized tire bike. Maybe a clearance 2016 WFO and a spare wheelset in 27.5+ would be fun and just enough travel for aggressive bridle trails.
 
If, and only IF, my beloved new FOES MIXER was vaporized then I would be narrowing my list down to:


performance tier
IBIS HD3
TURNER RFX
EVIL

value of build components for $$ tier
DeVinci
Santa Cruz
Giant

The euro/UK brands I don't have any feedback/experience with but that might be an excellent route for value of $$ component spec

Norco, rocky mountain, the new models are really nice looking......
 
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