full sus or hardtail xc racer??

smoore42

So I 'm thinking of chopping in my Ti hardtail & stumpy fsr for one xc/marathon race bike as i seem to spend most of my time training for or looking forward to 12/24hr enduros..
Current thinking: Spark or new Epic, maybe a Rush, Anthem.
Or keep it pure on a (my back hurts after 2/3 hours) hardtail: spark, taurine or merida carbon?

Oh the choices!!!

Any recommednations out there? fast & cumfy please.

cheers

icedmind

08 s work stumpy fsr
10/10 mtbr rating, awesome bike

my mate have one ruming on tubeless tyre which is on 22.5lbs and its climbs as well as an epic
also for sure its going to bemore comfort than an epic

Chaka Ping

Definitely try both the Spark and the Anthem.

I've got an Anthem myself and it's an astonishingly fast bike, but also quite comfy on long rides.

The Spark is the only bike I've ridden that had the same sort of pep.

Maybe Yeti ASR or ASRc?

Don't buy a hardtail if you're doing 12/24hr races, you know that's a bad idea!

ride_whenever

I'd be really tempted by the spark, but you'll have to try them to find one that suits.

BlackSpur

Cannondale Scalpel?

smoore42

I like the idea of the spark, epic or anthem. Need the speed without the back pain, I'm test riding a spark this weekend hopefully, prices seem to be rocketing for the '09 stuff so maybe pick up an '08 in the sales.

Prefer an understated look too, takes the pressure of..

the cut out on the asr scares me...

Chaka Ping

You could even go for an '07 Anthem if you can find one, the only changes on the '08 were cheap stuff like tyres.

New ASR doesn't have the cut out, does it?

I 've got one on my (old-model) 575 though, and soon got used to it.

anneenmarg

try lapierre bikes the x control is excellent

320DMsport

I've got a Trek elite 9.8 and it is comfy for me, climbs well and plenty quick enough downhill.

I see loads of hardtails at 10/12/24 hour events.

A lad won the wild boar 24 solo on a Kona hardtail at 23 laps.

I've raced my full suss on a 10 hour enduro but i'm using the carbon hardtail in future as i'll be less tired grinding the extra weight and not perfect geometry.

The carbon seems to iron out the bumps i've found even compared to my full sus on pro pedal.

Though i know a guy that races a Scott Spark and it's quik and light but i'm not keen on the look.

paulf2007

ok I've had s works stumpy's and giant trance and anthem. Now my fav is the trance advanced, thats the carbon one, but for xc racing I'd go for the anthem advanced, if budget allows. If its all day epic stuff then the trance. If its enduro type races then trance x or spesh enduro. Recently I did the passporte vtt in the port du soleil, but used my versus blitz freeride bike as its a bit severe on the downhills for the trance and suffered the uphills a little. Awesome ride, do it if you get the time.

smoore42

Yeah I did mayhem and sleepless last year on my hardtail but as part of a team so didn't have the comfort worries, I'd like to keep that speed but with a little bit of give for a longer ride, humping my s-works stumpy around xc courses at nearly 30lbs gets tiring although it's perfect for Afan, (horses for courses & all that)

I wonder if a well set up carbon hardtail's speed outweigh's a marathon sussers 'bit of comfort' on say a 4-5 hr ride. need to do this back to back i think...

icedmind

go for the 08 s works stumpy, then you can save another 8lbs on it and ride with even more comfore that you have

if you set up a carbon ht then possible it ll be around 20lbs(with all the ti bits to save weight) and the 08 stumpy is just 24lbs and can easily go down to 22 by getting tubeless and lighter stem, bars and seatpost

if i were you i wouldnt worry abt that 2lbs(4may b if im out of cash) because it ll climb as well as an carbon ht and decend even better than it

also then you ll be able to do more single track, all mountain and bigger stuff wif your mates

smoore42

You're definately selling it to me... I think a test ride may be in order although I'd want to test the new Epic with it but from the press stuff there doesn't seem to be much in it maybe a lb or 2, although weight's only the half of it - I want a racier feel than my current stumpy

mind you at £4k a pop specialized must be loving me..

Hawkeye the bouncer

smoore42 wrote:

I like the idea of the spark, epic or anthem. Need the speed without the back pain, I'm test riding a spark this weekend hopefully, prices seem to be rocketing for the '09 stuff so maybe pick up an '08 in the sales.

Prefer an understated look too, takes the pressure of..

the cut out on the asr scares me...

Most manufacturers bikes are going up by around 10-20% for 2009 so if you can find yourself a 2008 spark you will get a good deal. I`m curently riding a 2008 Spark 20 and don`t think I will return to my Scale again just to save my back. It rides super fast and the weights are really good too.

320DMsport

Since i started riding my new hard tail i had a little back ache but seem to have irradicated it with bike set up with seat height, angle and stem height.

My mate has just completed the Trans Alp on a Trek 9.8 carbon hard tail and seemed to manage ok.

I'll be racing enduro's and 10/24 hour events on my hard tail.

Langers

Might be worth wiating for the new epic. It's going to be very nice.