Basically looking for my first mtb. I’m torn between a new Roscoe 7/8 vs this canyon lux used…. I think the full suspension is overkill for this area and I’m 30 so no back issues (yet) that require a smoother ride.
I want to ride trails (dirt) not do massive jumps and park days. Any advice?
Canyon Lux CF Mountain Bike – 2021, Medium
Open to other options as well.
by anonamouse504
4 Comments
Get a Trek Ticket S
A Canyon Stoic 4 fits your budget and riding conditions and objectively offers the best price-to-performance on the market for a sub $2,100 brand-new bike.
Source: I own one.
Personally I don’t think full suspension is overkill unless it’s true fire road, gravel, two-track type stuff. It’s trail bikes, enduro bikes, etc that are overkill for SE Michigan. Some people prefer hardtails, but that’s a preference, not because there’s no reason to use a full suspension here. There’s really two main reasons to go hardtail. Either because it’s what you truly want due to personal preference of the way hardtails feel, or because you can get a better spec’d hardtail for the same amount of money. XC full squish suspension designs are getting good enough that there is nothing lost coming from a hardtail. Hardtails can be and often are slower on bumpy trails because the bumps slow the bike down when they aren’t absorbed. It’s no longer the trade off between speed vs comfort, now XC hardtail vs XC full squish is really just whether you’re willing to pay more for an equally spec’d bike to get something more confidence inspiring and less dependent on line choice.
I’ve had 100mm hardtail, 120mm hardtail, 100mm FS, 120mm FS, 140mm FS, 150mm FS. I not only have more fun on the XC full suspension bikes, but they’re actually faster for me. As soon as I bought my 100mm XC FS, I beat all my trail PR’s and then couldn’t replicate those times when I went back to the XC hardtail. If you do long rides, then FS will be a lot less fatiguing, despite not having back issues with hardtails (I’m 30 also). I still keep the 100mm hardtail frame around and build it back up for gravel/MTB races like Arcadia Grit & Gravel. For reference, I most often ride Pontiac Lake, Stony, Maybury, Proud Lake, Poto, and DTE, all of them I’m faster and have a better experience on an XC FS with fast tires.
The Lux is a perfect SE Michigan bike. In my opinion and experience, it’s only worth going with the Roscoe if you want a new bike, or prefer hardtails. With all that said of me glorifying my experience on FS, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a hardtail, you’d still have a great experience on a Roscoe, and a Roscoe can absolutely handle everything in Michigan just fine.
r/MichiganCycling could provide some input as well 🤝. For me, steel 29er is the dream bike in most of the LP. Fun for long dirt raids with the option for blasting single track as well. Cheers!