Trek Superfly or Salsa El Mariachi????

boulderholder

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and have an internal debate which I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts about my question/choice options.

I'm wanting to buy a fast and light 29er and like the look of the Aluminium Trek Superfly 8 or carbon Superfly 9.6. I also like the look of the Salsa El Mariachi 2. Sooo, I have these thoughts:

1. I have never ridden aluminium before, only steel and carbon. Is the ride on the Superfly 8 going to be a bit harsh??

2. Is the carbon Superfly 9.6 too much of a risk in terms of potential damage to the frame?

3. The el mariachi is a bit of an outsider, but I just like the idea of it! Is it gonna be a bit sluggish in comparison to the others on my list..

Apologies if this is a bit of a mind dump, I just keep going round in my 'first world' dilemma and wondered if anybody could shed some light?

Cheers

njee20

I'd get the carbon one over the alu one (or rather I did get the carbon one over the alu one, not built it yet), I'd have no qualms about the longevity of the carbon frame, but some people are irrational about that sort of thing.

El Mariachi is more of an all rounder, Superfly is closer to a race bike. If you want the versatility of interchangeable dropouts and might want to do some bike packing then I'd go for the El Mar, otherwise I'd go for the Superfly!

That said, a friend has had much success in XC/marathon races on a ti El Mar and a la Carte.