29ers taking my interest, advice needed

oki

hey all,

im (almost) in the market for a new bike, my previous being a gary fisher cake3.
my last bike was stolen from my house back in wales,uk , despite knowing who it was the police did nothing *anger*, but then the ones who came (3hours later) seemed like idiots and were only interested in the car that followed me home the night before.

now a year or so later i'm living in puerto rico and looking to get back into biking before my legs rot.
i'm looking more and more at the 29ers due to the smoothness they apparently offer, and even more closely at the freeride options.

i'm going to bitch a bit about my old gf cake just as a baseline for suggestions.

the cake3 was a loved but also disappointing bike, mainly because the front rings were badly offset and it never shifted well, i ended up converting it to a nine speed to help avoid constant chain drop off's under movement of the rear suspension.
due to having long legs i rarely move out of the larger ring's, the 9 speed was great except that i couldnt get the ring size i wanted on there, the position of the chainstay's\suspension and nasty offset limited that to 36-38 teeth in the middle position.
the other issue i had with that bike was the duke suspension, it's dipping under braking, dangerously so, while still bottoming out on even small drop off's and it's bad balance of small bump vs large drop capabilities.

so im a light (10.5 stone 6ft 2inch) heavy pedaling force rider (i know thats bad thing).

what i'd like to know is honestly what are the options for suspension, the cake had about 6 front and 5 back (or vice versa, memory fails atm) and i'd like something of similar feel and ability, perhaps an inch more, but im not sure if that was just the midrange unfriendly suspension on the last bike letting me down (i never got around to changing the oil weight in the forks but the rear seemed to cope ok.

in regard to the 29ers ive heard things like "it has 7 inches but it feels like 10 due to the 29inch wheels"
now surely that doesnt come into play on drop's, and (im guessing) a higher quality suspension would help to aid that issue.

im looking for a reasonable price as im hardly rich atm.
i want something that i can throw about a bit freeride style as well as being light enough for all day use, my love is downhill but i also understand the need to get to the top without my heart failing (i dont drive).
the cake weighed in at around 31lbs after modding and it felt about right.

i would like something that can take the odd high speed 2ft drop with ease and without bottoming out, something tough.
also something stiff (the cake was not that), the rear wheel was all over the place when turning and the front a lil wobbly under pressure, i believe the chunky axles can help in that respect.

and overall some general advice on how i might get closer to finding something in the 29er bracket that matches my needs.
ive never ridden a 29er although i have a good head for physics so i can see the benefits.

soo, should i be looking at maybe a 4"-5" travel bike with very good suspension, or a longer travel less feature packed fork\rear.

it seems the rp23 is recomended for the rear, as for the fork i cannot tell whats best.
finding options for a complete build seems a difficult and scary task and leads into huge price brackets.
i can do most things in terms of stripping and maintaining the bike, so building something myself isnt totally out of the question, although ive never done it and right now the only tools i own are a few screwdrivers and a cheapset of allen keys, the rest got donated when i moved abroad.
so a complete bike would really be preferable.
i cant find a decent bike shop here to trial anything so its a buy imported and hope situation.
i do know one guy here who builds frames, but i cannot say if i can rely on him to help.


ive done a lot of reading, and watched many vids, but i'm deeply lost in this whole 29er thing.
also very very interested, any options or advice would be appreciated, im guessing my funds are as close to 3000usd as possible.

i dont think i'll go with gary fisher again as that gearing issue was totally unacceptable, as was the miss-formed unreadable serial number stamped into the frame (hence no insurance).

thanks in advance

cooldad

TL:DR

oki

LB:PWT?

(lazy bastard, point in writing that?)

cooldad

Try:
I'm looking for a 29er.
I ride xxxxxx
My budget is yyyyy
Suggestions.....

oki

ok , i should have been more clear.

any suggestions from literate people with a life and no attitude problems?

okkevin

Sounds to me like you would like a Niner Rip9 or if you've got the money a Fisher Superfly 100; I've ridden both and like them. (My brother owns them.) I've spent time on a lot of other 29'ers but those two shine. The Superfly seems like it'd be a lightweight fussy machine but it'll handle alot more than one would think; now if you're jumping and hitting drops then no but for general trail riding, whether it's technical or smooth, it's a really good bike.

nferrar

Bit of a mix of requirements is your problem, I'm also not convinced you'd benefit much from a 29er (and going for one will limit your choice at the moment). To me something like an Orange 5 or Lapierre Zesty fit what you want but they aren't 29ers.
If you're stuck on 29ers then at the short end of the travel scale a Giant Anthem 29er would probably do most of what you want (although you might need to clarify your 'freeride' bit...). Maybe also a Spesh Camber 29 or stepping up the travel to a Spesh Stumpy and a few others.

oki

finally some intelligent life

thanks for the tips, i'll do some more research on the suggestions.
i'm not totally set on 29" i just felt it might fit my size and riding style a bit better, but as stated it really does limit the choices.

and yes my mix of a do all and lightweight machine is an issue, i did manage to toughen up the cake3 somewhat with a few weird lil mods and carefully chosen parts (most of that bike got upgraded) but i by no means used it to steamroller trees or take any flat drops over about 2ft.
i'm therefore looking to avoid constant upgrades if possible as it cost me more than the complete bike did by the end.

clarifying the freeride ...umm, all i can say is im no expert stuntsman, i do my best to flatten trails at high speed with a habit of seeing something tough such as the very steep and rock based downhill section i found at castle coch or some long steps sections or drop off's on urban trails and not resisting an attempt, in fact thats where my real passion is and i would like to do more of it.
hoping to build some skills on the way.

apparently there are a few downhill tracks here but the police dont take kindly to it, so arriving at the bottom with a broken bike would'nt be a good thing

the cake 3 had the duke fork and a swinger 3 way rear, the rear seemed to cope ok but that duke fork, never felt up to the task. also the frame angles were terrible on the downhills, with a very horizontal top bar and steep fork angle it was too xc and left me trying not to go over the bars a lot even though it was a big bike.

based on that experience alone i was considering something as close to the 7-7.5" bracket as possible if taking another 26" bike, but i have no experience of other long travel forks to base my choices on.

i was looking at a vid review of the superfly and anthem (AMB Shootout - Full Suspension 29ers ), the anthem looked like something i might work with, the superfly was said to have a bad axle choice (the wobbly thing again) and i wouldnt be swapping the fork out if i spent that much on it, also despite his great reputation after seeing how badly gary fisher can design a bike i'd rather avoid them.
he tried doing too much with the cake3, the short chainstays just dont work with that suspension setup and triple chainrings.

i'll definatly go and look up some of those other options, i have been drooling a bit over the niner bikes, but affording to build one is another issue
as you said it may just be a case of finding the right 26.
so much reading to do ><
thanks for the responses (the intelligent responses)