which one of these Full suspension bikes would you have

DTM12

I do mostly non competetive trail riding around north Wales and have just sold my old Trek Fuel, I am on a budget and have looked at each of these bikes, but would like some opinions

Giant Trance 2 07
Pro's - price 07 sale £899, down from £1350 Great reviews
Con's - The only one of the three I havent seen in the flesh and measured up for, shorter travel (4.2"), heavy I believe (but only on hearsay), sizing could be an issue (I am just between 5'6 and 5'7 and they only have a small 16" in stock, plus no way I would have the standover on a 18" medium), lower end front fork than the other 2 (Rockshox recon)

Specialized XC FSR Pro 07
Pro's - The Reba fork, and Fox Triad rear
Con's - Not as much Cred as a stumpy, Doesnt feel particulalry light, Not too sure on the looks. Dont think the deals as good (£1k from £1200) only 4" travel, mixed reviews

Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp 07
Pros - Always wanted a Stumpjmper, Quality, street cred, Fox forks, lighter I guess, ace reviews, 5" travel
Con's - out of budget, so might struggle to afford it, no one wants to knock much money off it.

Cannondale Prophet 3 SL
Pros - Always loved Cannondales, a bit different, 5" travel
Con's - Similar fork to the Giant (is it good enough), Price is stretching the budget again.

To a degree I want to be persuaded into the Giant because its a bit different but the main issues are whether the fork is up to the job and also whether its a bit heavy. Plus its on budget perfectly. Also hoping that sizing doesnt become an issue. Mind you everyone suggest a small 16" will be right for me.

Dr_Death

The trance has always got great reviews, It is probably all the travel you need (see my answer to your other Q). A mate rides one and loves it, The spesh are always nice, a mate has the stumpy and raves about that. I'll admit to knowing naff all about the snap'n'fail but it has had some crap reviews?!?!?

DTM12

What size Trance does you mate ride ? And of course how big is he ?

toasty

Minor point about the weights, Trance 2 and FSR XC pro are both around 28lbs - 29lbs, the Stumpy is about a pound lighter max and comes with a better wheelset. Spend the extra money on a wheelset for either of those two and they'd be lighter. I wouldn't class either as heavy by a long shot.

As for mixed reviews of the FSR XC, I've never seen anything negative plus it won budget full sus bike of the year in WMB.

You seem to be very sold on the travel as well, it depends what you want it for, if you're after a 5" trail bike go for it, longer doesn't always mean better though (as I repeatedly tell my girlfriend). Go ride them and see what you want, after coming from longer travel I picked the FSR XC partly on the fact it had shorter travel. Given you live up in Wales though you'd probably get the most out of the extra inch

The air Recon forks on the Cannondale are nice and adjustable, sadly they don't use the dual air cartridge system though so you'll lose a bit of the adjustability over the Rebas, you can tweak the Rebas to react over different sized bumps by changing the balance in the cartridges. I had a pair of dual air Revelations on an old Enduro and loved 'em!

Although the Giant cost slightly more initially the spec is almost identical to that of the FSR XC Pro with a worse fork and rear shock. There's not a lot in it though, I'd go ride them and see which feels most comfortable.

Dr_Death

DTM12 wrote:

What size Trance does you mate ride ? And of course how big is he ?

About 5' 10" and I can't remember, although I'm out riding with him this w/end so I'll ask.

DTM12

Thanks for that, I really am a pain in the Ass to size for a bike, I think its because I come from a road background, I can get my head around this short reach thing. I am told repeatedly that a certain MTB is the right size for me (usually a small) and then I go and do unmentionable thing to it like putting on 120mm stems and sliding the seat right back on the rails just so I get some more stretch, I will learn I promise !

toasty

Ignore what the shops say is right, get what you like, I personally like stretched out frames as well, given I'm 6'6" already this really limits my options.

The racier focused frames are normally a bit more stretched, can't say I've ever gone as far as 120mm for a stem though Using 100mm at the mo on both bikes, any longer and I've found the steering suffering, especially when sprinting oddly and leaning forward. Saying that my bikes are both XL and have layback seatposts!

I had an Avalanche briefly, it felt far too short and it really limited me, could barely lift the front end for some reason, swapped it for the Stumpy frame and instantly felt miles better.

You'd probably get a longer, more road like position on an Epic or Anthem if either of these were available cheapish? Might limit your riding a bit though to XC.

clarkson

stumpjumper! they ride beautifully.