“Best” Trail bike?

Bikes are just so good now....I bought my 27.5 S/C bronson to be my enduro race bike a few years ago....I figured with it being on the slacker side and 27.5, it wouldnt be very good doing hilly technical rides....This was totally incorrect. In fact its probably my favorite all around bike to ride...great downhill, I can climb super steep hills with it, its easy to move around, up and over things.....

Then this year, I got my new pivot firebird with a coil...I REALLY didnt think this bike would be much fun on a hilly allamuchy ride for example...But im actually pretty mind blown at how well this bike works in the slow technical stuff....its not fast uphill, but I feel like I can get it up any climb.

Really, most days I prefer bringing either of these bikes over my tallboy since they are just much better on downhills and rollers....
 
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Patrick said:
muddled english - (or poor diction?)

examples

Jeet yet - did you eat yet
orange - aren't 'you'
lettuce - let us

also the punch line of the greatest knock-knock joke ever
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Ah, Ok. My wife does that all the time, but the british version. I don't really get it, I guess it's Ok. Apparently I don't have a sense of humor.

Buon Compleanno @Patrizio !
 
serviceguy said:
. Apparently I don't have a sense of humor.
@Patrizio !
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UtahJoe said:
Bikes are just so good now....I bought my 27.5 S/C bronson to be my enduro race bike a few years ago....I figured with it being on the slacker side and 27.5, it wouldnt be very good doing hilly technical rides....This was totally incorrect. In fact its probably my favorite all around bike to ride...great downhill, I can climb super steep hills with it, its easy to move around, up and over things.....

Then this year, I got my new pivot firebird with a coil...I REALLY didnt think this bike would be much fun on a hilly allamuchy ride for example...But im actually pretty mind blown at how very this bike works in the slow technical stuff....its not fast uphill, but I feel like I can get it up any climb.

Really, most days I prefer bringing either of these bikes over my tallboy since they are just much better on downhills and rollers....
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After 3 years on my Pivot Trail 429 (140f/120r), I recently rode a Pivot Switchblade (160f/142r) on my local trails, and was blown away by the all-around capability of the “bigger” bike.

It felt every bit as maneuverable and poppy as my 429, it certainly pedaled as well (if not better), and I don’t think it was substantially heavier. And of course, the extra travel will allow for extra hijinks when the going gets rougher.

Bikes are awfully good these days.

And Happy Happy! @Patrick
 
I demoed a Rocky Mountain at the MTBNJ fest in June, A full 3 hours of riding on the trails at Stephans, and I absolutely loved it, it felt great on both the climbs and descents.
I believe that it was the Instinct.
 
I’ve loved my SC Hightower V2, but the new Hightower V3 probably isn’t sufficiently different enough from your Polygon to go that route (145mm rear travel and 150mm front travel). The down-country category is more in-line with what you’re looking for (better climbing, don’t worry as much about high-end performance on descents even though bikes in that category still perform really well there). Something like a SC Tallboy, Yeti SB120, or Ibis Ripley immediately come to mind. The Tallboy and SB120 will command a premium price though.
 
ChrisG said:
After 3 years on my Pivot Trail 429 (140f/120r), I recently rode a Pivot Switchblade (160f/142r) on my local trails, and was blown away by the all-around capability of the “bigger” bike.

It felt every bit as maneuverable and poppy as my 429, it certainly pedaled as well (if not better), and I don’t think it was substantially heavier. And of course, the extra travel will allow for extra hijinks when the going gets rougher.

Bikes are awfully good these days.

And Happy Happy! @Patrick
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Knowing your history with bikes / style of riding this is an interesting comment. The switchblade is a full on enduro bike and sometimes Bernard Kerr races it on DH courses. All that being said, I never though @Mitch would be on a 429, so.....
 
UtahJoe said:
Bikes are just so good now....I bought my 27.5 S/C bronson to be my enduro race bike a few years ago....I figured with it being on the slacker side and 27.5, it wouldnt be very good doing hilly technical rides....This was totally incorrect. In fact its probably my favorite all around bike to ride...great downhill, I can climb super steep hills with it, its easy to move around, up and over things.....

Then this year, I got my new pivot firebird with a coil...I REALLY didnt think this bike would be much fun on a hilly allamuchy ride for example...But im actually pretty mind blown at how very this bike works in the slow technical stuff....its not fast uphill, but I feel like I can get it up any climb.

Really, most days I prefer bringing either of these bikes over my tallboy since they are just much better on downhills and rollers....
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^^^This 100%

The argument that you don't need as much travel because bikes have gotten so good goes both ways. While short travel bikes are quite capable these days, having a "bigger" bike isn't the same "penalty" going up as it used to be. I have a YT Izzo 130/130 and recently just built up a Stumpy Evo 150/160 and yes, the Izzo is faster uphill, but not by as much as one would think. The Stumpy blows it away going, down, though, and oddly enough corners much better. I ride for fitness and for fun so working a little harder to go up isn't an issue, especially when I have more confidence and fun on the way back down.
 
Mitch said:
So far just 2 rides. It makes me slower and lots of spinning. I'm not ready to go all in just yet as I'm still having fun on the SS.
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One thing that is mis-represented with the "it climbs well" is that it climbs well for a 140/120 bike, however it will never be snappy and actually climb well like an XC hardtail,. Once I got my SC 5010, I gave up on trying to ride uphill fast, it just works against you in so many ways.
 
stb222 said:
One thing that is mis-represented with the "it climbs well" is that it climbs well for a 140/120 bike, however it will never be snappy and actually climb well like an XC hardtail,. Once I got my SC 5010, I gave up on trying to ride uphill fast, it just works against you in so many ways.
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Or it's a 130/120 T429v3, not that 10mm is much different. It took me some time to get comfortable staying seated and climbing, coming off the SS, which is what @Mitch is used to. But no, it's not an XC bike when it comes to climbing.
 
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