Whatsup everyone. Made a post a few weeks back about an sb160 i got on a killer sale. I had started with a yt jeffsy (nice bike wanted more travel), went to a marin alpine trail (great geometry not so great build quality imo. Anyway I've now been able to get 2 full galbraith rides in the last two weekends (weathers been terrible). Despite last Sunday having snow at the top which pretty much made the first trail scary as shit, the next few were clear. Holy cow. Im in love with this bike. My friend who's been riding 8 years usually leaves me in the dust and then chills at the bottom for however long. I was actually trailing him by like 20 feet the entire ride, me having been riding 2 years now. Its crazy what finding "the right bike" for you can do. So my question is what is the bike that made you say "holy shit this is IT"
Also my side question, anyone know of any good riding pants with a 34 inseam. I usually wear 34×34. Seems like a lot of mtb cut off at 32 inseam although the waist goes up. Thanks!
by Successful-Context72
17 Comments
Cannondale Prophet for me. I’d had full sus bikes before but this was the first that felt proper and could handle aggro.
My 2022 Stump Jumper. I had to work so much overtime and save for it. But I’m completely over the moon happy with it.
That’s such a PNW photo 😂
Two come to mind- I had a scott scale that was a phenom. It was so incredibly fast. One my first 29ers. I couldn’t believe how quick and fun it was, but hardtails didn’t agree with my spine. I swapped that for a cannondale rush with 650b wheels before it was cool, and realized how good short travel bikes could be. I’ve experimented with long travel again since then, but man a short travel bike with great dampers and fast wheels is just so fucking fun.
2023 stumpjumper. I always swore I would never need a full suspension until I rented a Trek Fuel EX on a trip to Michigan. The day we got home I bought the stumpy
Trying. My friends cantpn sender CF9.0 genuinely Inspired me to go full squish . The sender was amazing made me even stop my eternal hate for carbon bikes
Santa Cruz Hightower. Cutting through chunk and loose stuff the short travel couldn’t.
Glad you made it down alive, haha! I was the guy that stopped at the top to commiserate with you two about the conditions.
To add to the conversation, and probably not exactly what you mean, but my dirt jumper. Hitting the skatepark, pump track, and jumps on the DJ made me way better on the trail.
My first one. 1988 Rockhopper comp. All the consecutive ones have been better and better, but the first was the game maker.
Trek Slash absolutely lovely ride.
Can’t get enough of how it responds and handles everything.
1993 Cannondale Super V 3000! It seemed so futuristic for its time!
Two really, I rode a Cotic Soul in I think 2009 which absolutely ruined every other hardtail I’d ridden at the time- I had a perfectly good On One but I literally never had a good ride on it after that, all I could see was the shortcomings. The Cotic was like “look you can have a longer fork AND steer well, amazin” and everything else I was “WHY ARE YOU NOT LIKE THAT”.
And then my first good full suss was a Cotic Hemlock, just because of hte brand connection and because it was cheap. It was a really early take on long/low/slack, one of those sort of proto-enduro bikes. Could take a 160mm front fork and convert for 120 or 150 rear (I always ran it 120). Had a 67 degree head angle when almost everything else like it was still 68. 69, and then I stuck an angleset in it- everyone said “it’ll ride like shit” but it just got better. I basically learned to ride properly on that bike- first alps holiday, first enduro race, first dh race, ended up breaking it in half in an enduro world series round 🙂 Oh by that time it was a museum piece, everything else caught up and in particular it was really pretty short. But man it was good.
Honourable mention for my cheap Calibre Dune fatbike, which I love despite it being a tiny bit shit, because it reminded me going slow can be fun. I’d got very #enduro and loved it but it’s not always good, I was missing stuff.
Honestly nothing else since then has come close. I mean my Trek Remedy 29 was incredible, years ahead of the competition and still the best suspension I’ve ever had, but it couldn’t be such a huge leap. Nor my first dh bike. I think if it ever happens again it’ll be an e-bike.
1992 Fat Chance wicked outfit with XT.
Frame and banana fork was $1600, had the components already. Got my first credit card, maxed it out, been a bike snob ever since.
My first full sus back in 2007 or 2008. Until that time i only rode my first proper mtb, a hardtail. But then i moved to southern germany to the black forest and wanted something more suitable for the trails here. So i got a bike called Proceed FST, with 150mm front and 130-170mm rear. With this bike i learned to ride and maintain it properly. Sadly it got stolen, but since then i am a better rider and feel confident enough to fix and build my own bikes.
These are some really fun conditions to ride (as a fellow PNW’er). Just one thing: I blew up my collarbone last year where we were ripping down snow and hit a patch of ice and all went down. So keep an eye out for the ice, my dude!
Commencal meta ht,first bike i bought which got me fully into mountain biking
Banshee Titan