Full Suspension MTB

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#1693005 20-Dec-2016 21:25

joker97:

mudguard:

I think the Giant Reign is the Toyota Corolla of the trail/all mountain/enduro side of mountain-biking. Great bang for buck, bulletproof, and you see plenty about.

Unlike Santa Cruz (though I see plenty at Woodhill), which are boutique and gorgeous. And there's nothing wrong with that Merida either.

Componentry my friend. Meridas are the corollas! In terms of the components are almost useless on a proper bike park. RIding on tarmac's fine.

Santa Cruz are carbon bikes which means they are hand made. They are the lamborghinis. The componentry of the giant is as good or exceeds the Santa Cruz at 2X the price. Only at 3-4X the price befpore your Santa Cruz components exceed the GIant.

Santa Cruz get there carbon frames made in china like most other company's Devinci is one of the few company's that still make there own frames.

mudguard

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#1693007 20-Dec-2016 21:25

joker97:

Componentry my friend. Meridas are the corollas! In terms of the components are almost useless on a proper bike park. RIding on tarmac's fine.

The Merida I suggested is similar to the Reign for purpose

The only 16 Reign I can find is in medium only, for $3500 vs $2900 for that Merida.

Merida has a better fork, shock, however I'd say the Reign has better brakes and drivetrain but is set up 2x10 not 1x like the Merida.

The rest of the specs are similar, house brands etc.

NB I've only actually ridden a Reign and not the Merida. However on paper it looks really good. And any money left over can be spent on helmets, pads, shorts, Camelbaks, tools, repair stands, actually the list is endless!

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#1693011 20-Dec-2016 21:37

3puttssuck:

joker97:

the giant reign 2 last year's model is better than this year's ... only just though

Last years model being 2016, as the 2017 is now available. Or did you mean 2015 as last years model ?

last year = 2016

you need a small reign, small trance

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#1693012 20-Dec-2016 21:39

mudguard:

joker97:

Componentry my friend. Meridas are the corollas! In terms of the components are almost useless on a proper bike park. RIding on tarmac's fine.

The Merida I suggested is similar to the Reign for purpose

The only 16 Reign I can find is in medium only, for $3500 vs $2900 for that Merida.

Merida has a better fork, shock, however I'd say the Reign has better brakes and drivetrain but is set up 2x10 not 1x like the Merida.

The rest of the specs are similar, house brands etc.

NB I've only actually ridden a Reign and not the Merida. However on paper it looks really good. And any money left over can be spent on helmets, pads, shorts, Camelbaks, tools, repair stands, actually the list is endless!

Woops. The Meridas I used to look at (pre 2015) we way overpriced and very low end componentry inc shocks and forks. SOrry not up to date with current ones. My apologies.

Any links to the Merida you're referring to?

mudguard

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#1693015 20-Dec-2016 21:48

http://www.bikebarn.co.nz/2016-merida-one-sixty-7-600-black-red.html

Looks like a really good bike.

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#1693018 20-Dec-2016 21:55

3puttssuck:

joker97:

How tall are you?

I'm a short arse, 168cm.

Before we discuss mudguard's Enduro bike ... you want a dedicated chch adventure park bike (one that does that thing really well) or a jack of all trades?

A reign is made for the adventure park. it will climb hills fine but not steep ones, and it is clumsy in tight twisty "technical" trails.

A trance is just fine for the adventure park but the suspension is not as smooth as the reign, so a bit more bumpy but almost as good. but it will do the other ones better.

The Merida I cannot comment. It looks ok ploughing down the hill but can't comment on the rest - the suspension linkages look a bit flintstone to me if you asked me.

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3puttssuck

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#1693021 20-Dec-2016 22:02

joker97:

3puttssuck:

joker97:

How tall are you?

I'm a short arse, 168cm.

Before we discuss mudguard's Enduro bike ... you want a dedicated chch adventure park bike (one that does that thing really well) or a jack of all trades?

A reign is made for the adventure park. it will climb hills fine but not steep ones, and it is clumsy in tight twisty "technical" trails.

A trance is just fine for the adventure park but the suspension is not as smooth as the reign, so a bit more bumpy but almost as good. but it will do the other ones better.

The Merida I cannot comment. It looks ok ploughing down the hill but can't comment on the rest - the suspension linkages look a bit flintstone to me if you asked me.

Jack of all trades would be best, as I would be riding it on other trails also.

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#1693022 20-Dec-2016 22:06

mudguard:

http://www.bikebarn.co.nz/2016-merida-one-sixty-7-600-black-red.html

Looks like a really good bike.

I agree for that price point is really good. But I suspect it's also rather heavy ie best if there isn't much uphill pedalling involved.

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#1693025 20-Dec-2016 22:12

3puttssuck:

joker97:

3puttssuck:

joker97:

How tall are you?

I'm a short arse, 168cm.

Before we discuss mudguard's Enduro bike ... you want a dedicated chch adventure park bike (one that does that thing really well) or a jack of all trades?

A reign is made for the adventure park. it will climb hills fine but not steep ones, and it is clumsy in tight twisty "technical" trails.

A trance is just fine for the adventure park but the suspension is not as smooth as the reign, so a bit more bumpy but almost as good. but it will do the other ones better.

The Merida I cannot comment. It looks ok ploughing down the hill but can't comment on the rest - the suspension linkages look a bit flintstone to me if you asked me.

Jack of all trades would be best, as I would be riding it on other trails also.

Trance 2. To be honest if someone can come up with a $3000 bike that has a better suspension let us know. The Trance 2's suspension is a bit 'meh' (a tad bumpy when you don't want it yeta tad bouncy when you want it smooth). But for something good (buttery smooth) you are talking nearly doubling the price.

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#1695041 26-Dec-2016 10:32

3puttssuck:

joker97:

the giant reign 2 last year's model is better than this year's ... only just though

Last years model being 2016, as the 2017 is now available. Or did you mean 2015 as last years model ?

Giant Reign 2 2016 (the one with the mighty RockShox Pike) is on clearance ... I bought one ... :) Thing is, you have to pick it up from the store ... It's against Giant T&C to ship.

It doesn't work very well in very tight technical bits but everything else you'll have so much fun. And if you find you don't want it sell it for profit :) Guarantee you'll have no trouble selling an Enduro bike with a RS Pike thanks to the new adventure park. [2nd hand market is generally about 20-30% off 1 year old bikes]

TwoSeven

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#1695073 26-Dec-2016 11:58

I think if I were to buy a mountain bike I would start off with a relatively decent frame that was compliant with the broadest range of after-market parts and met my geometry/size/usage requirements. If i were looking at shocks, I would probably opt for ones that were easy to rebuild and adjust for different usages.

I did something similar with my touring bike a few decades ago and the frame is still usable.

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#1695096 26-Dec-2016 12:35

A touring bike is no good for NZ mountain biking trails definitely useless for a downhill trail

A XC bike - well i'm not sure what it's good at. Nothing in particular other than going fast over bumpy things. I see it as a race bike.

A trail bike does everything just 'fine' - downhill, uphill, technical, tarmac, whatever you throw at it, and it is generally considered "fun".

An enduro bike does downhill very well, uphill ok, technical ok, tarmac ok, but very bouncy. (The long travel and slack HA makes it "floaty")

A downhill bike only does downhill, useless for anything else.

TwoSeven

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#1695110 26-Dec-2016 12:50

joker97: A touring bike is no good for NZ mountain biking trails definitely useless for a downhill trail

Wasn't implying to use a touring frame at all. I was really talking about mountain bike frames.

But on the subject, I am aware some folks tried to use mountain bikes for touring back in the 80s but a touring frame is a completely different construction; the geometry, erganomics and componentry are all completely different.

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3puttssuck

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#1695111 26-Dec-2016 12:53

joker97:
3puttssuck:

joker97:

the giant reign 2 last year's model is better than this year's ... only just though

Last years model being 2016, as the 2017 is now available. Or did you mean 2015 as last years model ?

Giant Reign 2 2016 (the one with the mighty RockShox Pike) is on clearance ... I bought one ... :) Thing is, you have to pick it up from the store ... It's against Giant T&C to ship.

It doesn't work very well in very tight technical bits but everything else you'll have so much fun. And if you find you don't want it sell it for profit :) Guarantee you'll have no trouble selling an Enduro bike with a RS Pike thanks to the new adventure park. [2nd hand market is generally about 20-30% off 1 year old bikes]

That's a great deal. I'm not that flush and was looking to use Interest free offers.

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#1695112 26-Dec-2016 12:54

TwoSeven:
joker97: A touring bike is no good for NZ mountain biking trails definitely useless for a downhill trail

Wasn't implying to use a touring frame at all. I was really talking about mountain bike frames.

But on the subject, I am aware some folks tried to use mountain bikes for touring back in the 80s but a touring frame is a completely different construction; the geometry, erganomics and componentry are all completely different.

Most bikes are swappable for any parts. Unless one buys a supermarket bike, but I don't know of any supermarket bike that is suitable for offroad use. THey come with the big warning label "NOT SUITABLE FOR OFFROAD USE".

And the RS Pike is one the best shock for any condition (obviously it is at 160mm and if you want to go lower you'll need to swap out bits to get shorter travel). And it is fully home servicable they even sell home service kits online. Beats your XC shocks but XC shocks are lightweight and is not meant to take serious abuse at long travel.

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