Dedicated All Mountain bikes?

silly lily

Hi guys!
I'm trying to make a list of the dedicated (full suspension) AM complete bikes (or frames)on the market and I need to understand which is trully an AM rig as opposed to the I've-just-put-a-longer-travel-fork -on- my -XC -bike type of rig.
I may move towards that in the future, so would appreciate owners' personal experiences and knowledge.
Thanks.

sniper68

Spesh enduro SL,Giant Reign,Orange5,Trek Remedy etc,etc

zero303

SC Heckler/Blur LT/Nomad, Yeti 575, Marin Wolf Ridge...

Thing is, AM encompasses all manner of sins, bikes from not-quite freeride tanks to quite large trail bikes.

Some are more convertible than others too - I ride a Five which I'm slowly refining into a long travel Marathon/XC bike which I can also hound around trail centres at top speed. Ignore the picture in my sig, that's out of date now but I'm getting down to 27 ish lbs and it's quite whippet for what it can handle. My mate has one built up with a Fox 36 and 2.4 high rollers and it's a total tank.

Bikes like the Yeti, Blur and Heckler are the same whereas something like the Nomad and the Enduro are less versatile in their configuration which is not a bad thing unless you actually find out it's the wrong bike...

I'd do some demos and refine what sort of bike you think you need in terms of strength, travel and geometry and then refine your choices from there.

silly lily

Thanks for suggestions, I think I get the idea.

xtreem

Under AM rig I understand:
Fullsusser with 140-160mm of front and rear travel.
But the fork on the bikes with 140mm of travel must have 20mm axel.
If it's 9mm then it's a trail bike.

Tires should be from 2.2" to 2.4", and the weight no more than 16/16.5 kg.

wmc

Cannondale Prophet MX, Rocky Mountain Slayer, the new Marin Attack Trail are all top rated bikes as well and some good bargains around.

silly lily

Xtreem wrote:

Under AM rig I understand:
...must have 20mm axel.
If it's 9mm then it's a trail bike.

Why?

BlackSpur

Those bikes billed as "all mountain" tend to benifit from the extra stiffness of a bolt thru front hub. "All mountain" is such a vague term - one man's AM rig is another's trail bike is another's FR bike.... If you just want to ride a bit of everything then I'd look at thise with between 5 and 6 inched rear traval and book a few tests!

xtreem

silly lily wrote:

Xtreem wrote:

Under AM rig I understand:
...must have 20mm axel.
If it's 9mm then it's a trail bike.

Why?

Well, those forks with 9mm axels (140mm of travel) I consider them not enough
strong and stiff to take some bigger jumps/drops.

But that's just my opinion, not that it's a fact.

Anonymous

it would be worth taking a look at bionicon, all of their bikes can be ridden uphill and then adjust for some downwrd fun.

silly lily

BlackSpur wrote:

. "All mountain" is such a vague term - one man's AM rig is another's trail bike is another's FR bike.... !

Could not agree more, which is why I posted this, to get some views. If I am to get down that route, I'm mostly inclined towards the SC Heckler.
Thank you all.

BlackSpur

The Heckler is certainly a very versatible bike - a great trail rig that will take some pretty serious abuse. Have you comsidered the Blur LT? The VPP suspension will pedal better than the single pivot on the Heckler. More of a trail bias than the Heckler though.

grantway

Wth experiance can I put forward the Orange 5 AM !!!
Also try the Orange Alpine 160
Santa Cruz Heckler Which I did not try
Yeti 575 did not try
Wouldnt bother with the Specalized Endruo (personal) But there own shocks
and forks are no where in the league of the Fox

The Orange 5 and Alpine 160 can do Downhill and Freeride but not recommended
to do no more than 4 foot jump landings
But one hell of a bruiser on the trails and Downhill

The 5 is a better bike than the Heckler but do try them

seagill

Ive had a Marin Wolf ridge (08) for a couple of weeks now and im loving it, was worried it would b heavy going on the uphills but its fine although front wheel seems to lift a little easy on steep climbs(which is my only bad point ive found sofar).

Downhill it is so easy to ride fast and i havnt been riding long. Highly recomended. Prefer it to my bros giant reign 1, although the reign is alot faster uphill. but theres no fun going up

Attack Trail would be worth a look if its in your price range.

BlackSpur

grantway wrote:

The 5 is a better bike than the Heckler but do try them

I wouldn't say that is a fair comment - you have not even tries the Heckler by your own admission!

zero303

BlackSpur wrote:

grantway wrote:

The 5 is a better bike than the Heckler but do try them

I wouldn't say that is a fair comment - you have not even tries the Heckler by your own admission!

yes, that is quite a bold one!

cunning-stunt

It's just Grant with the old 'Orange are better than everything' comments again :roll:

SDK2007

grantway wrote:

Wouldnt bother with the Specalized Endruo (personal) But there own shocks
and forks are no where in the league of the Fox

The 5 is a better bike than the Heckler but do try them

Now that is a controversial post

Firstly, The Specialized suspension project is being lead by the same guy who used to lead on Fox suspension.
Putting the problems of early 2007 units aside which are all covered under a comprehensive 5 warranty; the E150 fork is lighter and stiffer than the Fox Talas (equivalent) so I fail to see how Fox are leagues ahead. Also, who was first to bring a Thru-axle to bikes

Secondly, to make a sweeping statement about the 5 being better than Heckler is a bit lame without putting some form of opinion as to why it is.

Seems to me like you are trying to justify to yourself the reason why you paid too much for an aging frame designed bike

Anonymous

i also wanted to hilight that the e150 and afr are actually very good, i would reserve judgement until you have tried either.

i also own fox forks and shocks and i am confident that the spesh stuff is easily as good in performance terms, if not better. each adjustment on the various adjusters makes a noticeable chnge to the forks performance and they are easy to tune to different conditions and requirements.

the early reliability issues have been dealt with as far as i can tell, mine had 08 internals upgrade and now has been flawless, maybe even the best suspension i have used (as opposed to read about.......)

zero303

Hey!!!

Aren't all Bike Radar threads now supposed to descend in Orange Five related bickering by law now due to it actually being more than just a bike?

Stop trying to steer this back onto a topic more sensible you silly young man!!!

Anonymous

of course, where are my manners:

orange bikes are too expensive and under specced, you have to be off your tits to buy one.

(even though they are clearly excellent bikes, but im never gonna admit that!!)

i think it is only grantway who upsets folk these days, i did used to love an orange flaming...................

Steve_F

I'd add the Iron Horse 6point4 into that list.

Like a mini Sunday that can climb.

I tried a few of the others mentioned and the DW linkage on the backend sold it for me. The way that suspension works is witchcraft I tells ye.

Kiwi Kranker

zero303 wrote:

SC Heckler/Blur LT/Nomad, Yeti 575, Marin Wolf Ridge...

Thing is, AM encompasses all manner of sins, bikes from not-quite freeride tanks to quite large trail bikes.

So true..

Ridden the Heckler and it certainly is a great ride, also tested LOTS of bikes when I was in the market and I settled on the Scott Ransom which is a bit of a funny beast. I reckon its probably a big schizophrenic trail bike. One minute you can be doing a technical climb or carving a nice trail to then landing big nasty drops on a trail that makes you smell of urine at the top of it. The bike tends to spit all these out with contempt (within reason I am no mad 18 year old Kranked rider!) I reckon it is worth a thrash.

It tends to get forgotten these days as the frame has been around for 3 or so years. It works brilliantly for me and really did feel better than the likes of the Spesh Enduro, Heckler and the others that I tested. However I cannot crap on enough about getting out and testing these beasts you will soon know which one is the right fit for you.

Good luck and make the most of testing I found I had a real blast finding out what worked for me!

zero303

However I cannot crap on enough about getting out and testing these beasts you will soon know which one is the right fit for you.

So true, people obsess over which is the best but even in mags I've seen potential test winners lose simply because the reviewer has found the top tube a bit short or long.

I'd rather have the 2nd or 3rd best bikes if they fit me better...

As it turns out, the actual best bike happened to fit me all along... (tongue firmly in cheek!)

BlackSpur

I woukd add that IMO the 5 isn't really an AM bike (if the meaning of AM is to do a bit of everything). It is a great trail bike, no denying that. But I can't help thinking that bolting a bigger fork on and some heavier components do not make the 5 an AM rig and thise with a bit more rear travel (such as the Alpine 160) are beter suiited.

P-Jay

I hope this doesn't offend anyone,

Personally I wouldn't include the Enduro SL as an All Mountain bike. I own a '06 Endruo Expert and was gutted to see a few months after I paid so much for it that Spesh had released such an "improved" version. That was until I tried one back in summer with a view to buying it....... I have to say it's a FAR better climber than the old endruo but that where it ends for me.

I took it for a lap of Pen Hydd at Afan, not exactly a hardcore trail it didn't feel anywhere as stable, agile or as gripy as mine. Granted it had Spesh ownbrand tyre on which I've got no time for. Try as I could with the fork and shock I couldn't get it to handle. I was so frustrated I bailed on the last few sections and took the fireroad back. The Guy from Tredz asked me what I thought "not for me" I said "yeah, I'm not surprised" he said giving mine back.

I'd say they're a great trail bike, but IMHO they're more like a Stumpy with an extra inch than the Bruising Endruo of old.

BlackSpur

But then the old Enduro was very similar to the SX Trail. Spesh have tried to separate their lineup a bit in recent times.

zero303

BlackSpur wrote:

I woukd add that IMO the 5 isn't really an AM bike (if the meaning of AM is to do a bit of everything). It is a great trail bike, no denying that. But I can't help thinking that bolting a bigger fork on and some heavier components do not make the 5 an AM rig and thise with a bit more rear travel (such as the Alpine 160) are beter suiited.

It has the same travel as the Wolf Ridge/Attack Trail and is easily as well built, if not more so than most so called AM bikes. Its definitely as burly if not burlier than an Enduro which in many people's eyes is the quintessential AM bike!

Don't think I'm getting all prickly and defensive here, my five in current built couldn't be more trail/xc biased so it's odds to me but it seems a strange thing to to say seeing as the Five isn't really built any differently to the Alpine 160/Pat and even 224...

Anonymous

yeh but you are forgetting that oranges are crap.............................

only joking, seriously.

no list of AM contenders would be complete without the 5 in it. i might throw the reign into the mix. it is certainly put together as what i would call an all mountain bike (which for me is 140-150mm travel front and back not really anythitng to do with a style of riding)

i would go for the best looking bike and for me that is the enduro, no question.

supersonic

AM is a vague term, with manufacturers having their own take on it. Was originally coined by specialized for a sub 30lbs six inch travel front and rear bike.

As we know, more travel doesn't always mean stronger or more capable. Unfortunately to get the weight reasonable it usually means bikes of this 'type' (strong, do it all, light) usually cost a lot of money.

Single pivot/multi link arguments will rage forever...

grumsta

Surprised none of the Pitch fanboys like me has 'pitched' in yet ;p. If you didn't like the new Enduro, quite a few people have said the Pitch is a bit like the old Enduro. I tried the new SL and preferred the Pitch - I love mine.