Looking for a better fitted bike-

In 2017 I bought my daughter a 2017 Intense Tracer 275 from Snow Summit bike park as a seasonal rental. She wasn't there when I bought it and didn't have a chance to ride it. My bad. 2 years later with all the " cool bike " comments she gets on the trail she is complaining about lower back pain riding the bike. While at the Sedona Bike Festival this past weekend she demoed a 2019 Pivot Trail 429 in 27+ Medium. Instant love! She's more upright on the bike and likes the plusser wheel set feel. So I said we would sell her Tracer and shop for a bike that fits her better. No more spontaneous purchases. I expect before to long that we'll end up in the wonderful hands of the Path Bike shop to make it better. Bikes we're looking at: Pivot Trail 429 27+, Yeti SB5+ and Santa Cruz 5010 - or other full suspension mid travel bikes suited to local XC oriented trail riding. If you have any suggestions we'd appreciate it. She is also looking around herself for a new bike and got a another part time job to help pay for the new purchase.

 

A pic out on the trail of our friend Kim and my oldest squirrel Courtney. Kim on the Pivot 29r and Courtney on the Pivot 429 Trail 27 + . They traded bikes at one point and both liked the Pivot 429 27 + better.

 

Wait for it, wait for it...


How bout a Hightower or Tallboy...
Awesome that you get to share trail time with your family like that.

 

Have you tried to put on shorter stem, raise the bars, and move the seat fwd (check pedal /leg positioning.) That will move her more upright.

Good luck!
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If you have low back issues (i have significant ones) then I'd rule out anything that has a seat tube any slacker then 74.5-75 degrees. The steeper seat tube angles not only shorten the effective top tube for a given size, but they also eliminate the need to slam your chin to the stem to climb steep terrain which is one of the primary ways I overload my back.

This basically means you should be focused on newer designed bikes. This would rule out the tallboy, hightower (for now, come june there will be a new situation). I'd check out the giant trance 29 as the geo is very similar to the trail 429 but it's an insane price point. My recommendation would be for the advance pro 2 because it can be had for mid 4's OTD. If she's looking for something a bit burlier the liv intrigue is a great option.

 

Good advice above....but as an owner of a Tracer as well, I can tell you that any mid-travel trail bike is going to feel better, more agile and more snappy than a Tracer on trail rides like those in Sedona. The Tracer actually climbs okay but shines going down in places like Summit and Downieville or Whistler
For what it’s worth, I too choose to ride my SB5 on trips to Sedona, Hurricane and the like.

That being said and to Scottay’s point, it’s all about set up. I felt just the opposite of your daughter and thought that I was TOO upright feeling on my Tracer compared to my other bikes so I did the opposite... bought a slightly longer stem and moved the seat back a touch. Wa-la, totally different feel in 10 minutes.

Good luck with the search. All those bikes on your list are great. I previously had the 5010 as well. Fun bike. The one thing that bothers me about the 429 Trsil is the Boost 157 hubs. I swap my wheels between bikes sometimes and wouldn’t be able to do that with that bike. Another bike she may like is the Mojo 3 with the 2.8 tires. Just ask @UPSed

 

Sounds like my E29 (also fits 650b+) is overkill, but you are welcome to have her try it out at least for sizing and comfort. I am about 5 minutes from some good trails, so it isn't a wasted trip just to try a bike. I will be selling it soon, but it's not exactly an XC trail bike.

 

Today my daughter, Courtney, checked out ( not demo- but riding around in a parking lot ) a 2019 Ibis mojo 3 medium. It was to compact ( arm reach ) and this after small seat adjustments. She liked her 2017 Intense Tracer 275 better. Then she checked out a 2019 Santa Cruz 5010 medium. To long of an arm reach. It could be a 'small' would work, but still she likes her 2017 Intense better ( until we can properly demo the SC 5010 in small ) Tomorrow I'm going to take the Renthal Fatbars high rise model bars off my Chameleon and put them on her bike. I'm guessing it will be a 3/4 inch lift on the bars. If she's happy with the change then we'll look at a new shock with a climb switch. We'll see. Thanks for the suggestions and input. We appreciate it!

 

The first thing you should do is take her in for a proper bike fit on the Tracer. Spend $100 or less? and potentially save thousdands on a new bike ... because she already has a great one. Just get it fitted properly and I bet her riding related back pain goes away.

 

Tonight I installed 40mm Renthal Fatbar Lite on her Intense Tracer which should be a 20mm height lift increase and a new Can Creek Dbair IL shock with more adjustments. If the bars turn out to be to high then we can swap out 10mm a spacer under the stem and lower them.

 

Great advice! Bringing all the stems you own can also help dial in the fit. As a bigger dude, I personally find that I prefer a more upright position. Since I could not raise the bar any more on the steerer, I use a 25d 50mm hope stem to raise the bar closer to my chest. I also tried the wide bar fad but ended up settling on 750mm wide bars (5'10" 230lbs for reference).

Also, seat angle had a huge impact on my riding comfort. I had it tilted too low for years, which pushed my body forward, and ended up curving the lower part of my back. Swapping to a proper saddle prevents saddle soreness/numbness, and the correct tilt keeps my weight over the pedals.

 

I’m a 17 year old Bot from The Ukraine. Also now as Spam Beotch?
Just so you know. I’ll see my way out now...

 

Hmmm... A 17 year old female from "USA" who rides a Russian bike... And has helpful links to online sales. What are the odds!

 

Almost like the same guy like week....talking helmets and True Grit.

 

fixed it.

 

I wanted to post this first thing but didn't want to jump to conclusions.