All Mountain or XC bike

BoydD

I'm searching for a little help.

I currently ride trail centres mainly Dalby and Sherwood Pines. I do this on my Spesh Rockhopper, a great bike but I long for a full sus bike with a better front fork. I could upgrade this bike but have decided to buy a new full suspension ride. I'm looking at the Canyon direct route and particularly the Nerve models. These break into two main sections, all mountain and cross country. I can appreciate the differences between the model types but my main question is what type of bike would compliment my chosen riding destinations? I'm thinking more on the lines of the XC bikes but an input wold be appreciated.

Many thanks, Boyd

drtobiasfunke

If you were riding down a path that splits off into two routes, one is a standard XC route with bumps, roots and rocks, the other is a shorter route but a 3 foot drop off.
Which would you go for.

That's the bike you should get.

al2098

You should look at the definitions of the discipline your into.
I ended up with an Orange 5 because I realised that going uphill was always a struggle and I was not racing anyone. Going downhill was where the fun was at but I didn't want to push up the hill..
If your competitive and really enjoy shooting uphill then go light weight XC. If you don't mind slogging up and want a reliable sled downhill then look at AM.
Although the manufacturers love to pidgeonhole their products, keep an open mind and as you develop you may find you will be selling your bike or upgrading to whatever you evolve into.
Find a bike that fits right and see where the future takes you. Like getting air? Big berms? Rocky fast chutes?
Or is it blowing past the plebs on the uphill that gets you?

angry_bird

If most of your riding is Dalby and Pines then I'd say the XC would make more sense, it'll be lighter and feel a bit more responsive and is a perfectly capable bike.

JimboM

I had exactly the same dilemma, mainly ride Surrey Hills and the XC would have been more than capable for this sort terrain. However at some stage I'm hoping to be able to tackle some bigger stuff so went for the AM as I didn't want to have to buy another bike at a later date. Haven't regretted the decision at all, don't find the uphills a problem and at times I've used more than the 120mm travel the XC has to offer.

HTH

Jim

Stu Coops

Plenty of AM bikes out there that will climb almost as good as any XC bike so I wouldn't worry about those comments, personally I'd go for a AM bike as you got the best of both worlds and a go anywhere bike.

supersonic

And plenty of XC bikes that will descend as well ;-)

cloudynights

on one trip last summer a group of us did the stavely and nan bield pass route on xc bikes any way we managed to catch up and pass a group of young lads on am bikes, was quite funny really cause as we were going up to the nan bield pass we could hear these lads behind us cursing about carrying there bikes up they never caught us up not even on the downhill parts

BoydD

thank you for your comments.

I think I'm going to go down the xc route. I enjoy descents but I'm super cautious and don't ever really see myself flying down at breakneck speed. I enjoy going up as much as the coming down so I guess the xc route is better for me. In any event I'm going to pospone the new bike purchase and upgrade the fork and rubber on my Rockhopper. The Suntour fork it has fitted as standard is nothing short of useless, I'm looking at a Reba or simular. I will get my full sus bike but in the clearance or failing that at the start of 2013. If anybody has any fork or tyre recommendations for trail centre riding I'm open to suggestions.

Many thanks, Boyd