New Bike Day!

Love the green frames...

 

Green is stupid:

 

Looks like Saturdays bonelli lap will probably be the retirement ride for the ol Rockhopper...

T -4.......

 

New frame day in the next day or so!

 

That’s exciting!

 

After many years of being away from the MTB scene, the wife and I picked up a few new bikes last weekend and have been enjoying riding our local Floop! She's brand new to MTB and was able to get through the entire loop on her first try (proud husband moment)! Hope to see some friendly faces on the trails soon...

 

Congratulations! I miss my Roscoe!

 

Graveyard?

 

Congrats!!! You may want to invest in an avatar while you're at it. Afore @Mikie picks one for you, that is.

 

DIOOO! Its been a hot minute since we rode last. It was somewhere in the San Gabes right before you had your first kid! Glad to see a lot of people on here from STR still.

 

Welcome (back) @Blif!

See you on the trails, perhaps.

 

Very stylish revival of the NBD thread! Here's to many miles for you and your lass – that's the best.

 

Happy NBD... good looking rides!

 

No Motors!!!!
Good for you!!! Welcome back!

 

Nearly 8 years ago, I wandered into my local bike shop in smalltown Atlantic Canada. I was looking for a bike as a means of exercise. Limited research put an idea of bikes with 29 inch wheels in my head, and being of the long legged type, sounded like a good idea. I had no idea about mountain vs road let alone drivetrains, suspension…


I thought the specialized hardrock sounded good. The shop owner talked to me about possible off road use on the local trails. It piqued my interest, so I decided on the base Rockhopper 29 model.


Fast forward… here I am… on the other side of the continent nearly a decade later, riding that same bike. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my Rockhopper… and thought many times about upgrading it. It has the M4 alloy frame… and man has that thing proven durable (not that I’m a very aggro rider…). However… the fork is an 80mm heavy spring pogo stick, that doesn’t even work anymore…. A nice air fork with travel over 100 would be nice…. The 3x9 drivetrain works great… still on original front derailleur… , but the simplicity of a 1x has been calling…. Dropper… well.. Ok, should I add more cables? More clutter to the cockpit… hmmm…

Wheels… while I have been fairly lucky with rim strips, and quite impressed with the heavy Alex wheels… It would be nice to have proper tubeless rims…


All these things… well, even bargain shopping, it’s starting to creep up over a solid grand… better to just invest in a new more modern bike…..right?

Then there is the head angle…. 71 degrees of oh my god not another endo…. Or the high top tube, great for ball crushing and taint bruising…


So, I decided… I really needed a new bike…


I made a list of my demands…

Must come stock with:

Dropper post

1x12 drive train

Tubeless ready rims

Air fork… preferably 34mm stanchions


I ride the front range

San Gabes 90% of the time… From Brown/El P, Winter Creek, Monroe, Marshall… Most of these spots have majority of climbing front loaded, but lots of short punchy climbs interspersed on the downs as well.. Mostly flow, with a dash of tech here and there. Definitely trail bike territory, or rowdier xc… Something in the 120mm to 140mm range sounded good.


Disclaimer… I’m on the tall side.. 6’5”. Not super tall… but long legs and arms…. Even though I’m at the upper end of the spectrum for many xl bikes.. They still feel crowded or awkward… or have a lame Actual seat tube angle that puts my arse end way out over the rear axle, since my seat is usually raised quite high…


So adding to the list of wants I got thinking of geometry.…

• Head angle… something in the 66 to 67 range, +/- a few degrees..
  
  
• Seat angle.. Actual angle should be … minimum 74
  
  
• Stack! Since my seat has to go up nice and high.. This was a big one… so I started ignoring anything much less than 640mm
  
  
• ETT, roomy bikes with long reach are good.. But due to my long limbs I notice the cramped cockpit when the effective top tube is shorter.. So ideally was looking in the 670mm region..
  
  
• Chainstays.. Ideally… minimum 435…
  

Originally… summer 2019.. I was super excited about some upcoming models… rumors of the new Santa Cruz tallboy, especially… being 6’5, their xxl models tend to have perfect fit… new fuel ex 8 also looked promising, then updated intense primer…. Updated norco optic… updated YT Jeffsy… all great looking bikes that seemed to have a decent stack height to accompany my 37” inseam, and super high seat height..

Then the new process 134 was released… I got pretty pumped about that, but the low stack height and short chainstays dashed that dream...


Then…..

I considered a few things.

I typically ride about once a week during the school year.. Barely a ride over 2 hours

We’re still renting… and trying to save for a home…

I have a toddler, and looking at expanding to another child over the next year..


So, I decided to keep it a bit more simple. I set a budget… $2000 after tax. I would focus my search on another hardtail.. But one a little more trail worthy.


It came down to 3 (actually 4 or 5… but bikes like the nimble 9 were frame only.. And starting from scratch with no components would have to wait..)

Nukeproof Scout 290

Orbea Lauffey

And specialized Fuse 29


All 3 bikes had extremely similar geo… pricepoints, and components.

The nukeproof was a bit shorter reach, lower bb, definitely best bang for buck

Orbea, longest reach (by 4mm) highest stack, but the model in my price range had 170mm cranks, I wanted 175. And the drivetrain was a 1x, but not eagle..

Specialized… middle of the road of the 3.. Component and geo wise.. The bonus was that my usual shop had models on the floor that I could sit on and at least take a spin around the parking lot.


I kept flip flopping between the 3…ultimately landing on….


Specialized Fuse Comp


For where I ride 90% of the time I think it will be the perfect bike.

At this time in life, the simplicity of cost and time for maintenance of a hardtail makes sense..

It has kick ass geometry, which allows me to hit stuff with more confidence, but not at the sacrifice on developing riding skills


Now… a lot of the components are not top end… by far.. But, they meet my budget, and give me a good base to build off. First change will probably be the fork to a Bomber Z2,

I’ll see how I like the sram brakes and drivetrain… and replace with upgrades as needed…

Probably also look at 200mm droppers….







Switched out the bars for some 800mm wide, 38 mm rise Deity blacklabels…. Trying out the One Up alloy flats… My go to OURY lock on grips… added 2 specialized zee II bottle cages…


Christening ride, dawn patrol tomorrow morning….

 

Finally! The day has arrived! Congrats on that beauty! Naturally I fully endorse the color. How much did that sweetly weigh in at? Liken it!

 

Doood! So you put the bike away from then until now!? Was that one of the rides with Shannon? Good to see you on here!

 

Excellent, @Derkderkall !!!!

 

BTW, happy belated birthday!

 

Congratulations! A well earned upgrade. I’m looking forward to your report! Have fun.

 

Nice! I love my Fuse! Enjoy it.

Get some!

 

Hey Ross, remember that leaning yucca on the upper section of PCE?

 

Congrats! It's a fine looking bike.

 

No. I see lots of leaning yuccas on my rides. The one in the picture is now prone, on the ground.

 

@Derkderkall Happy Birthday to You - celebrate with a new bike. That's doing it right. Nice looking steed.

I did enjoy hearing about your journey and your decision making. And I have news for you, 6'5" is very tall and does limit your bicycle buying options. As a 6'4", long-torso guy, I get it. You have been extremely patient and will really enjoy this purchase.

 

Last time we rode through PCE, you got whacked by a yucca stalk.

 

Happens all the time. Just got stabbed yesterday and pulled the 5mm needle out in front of my wife and mother-in-law. Squeals of delight!

 

[QUOTE="Sasquatch9billion, post: 219253, member: 161"]No Motors!!!!
Good for you!!! Welcome back![/QUOTE]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to think that...

Welcome back, @Blif ... Good looking bikes. I'm glad to see you didn't go with the kickstand and rear rack options. Although the rack looks perfect size for a 12 pack... Hmmm.

 

That read was worthy of a fresh cup of coffee! Great story... And I think you made all the right choices.

I'm on your side of the world now, so let me know if you ever want to ride together. I should be done unpacking boxes and putting stuff away around July 2022.

Edit: I sensed a little hesitation about the Level brakes... I know they have a bad reputation, but give them a try. I find the stopping power to be better than two-piston XTs. The feel is different, and they tend to be a little more finicky to set up. But I love them on the Chameleon and have no need to swap them out... The Centerline rotors, on the other hand... They were forged in hell to torment us.

 

Nope....only you. Mine are still going strong on the HT.