would you buy a 160mm travel 26" bike now?

kirby700

Looking at various bikes but just went into a local Lbroutesy have 1 left from last year spec as follows

Rockshox pike 160mm
monarch Rt3 165mm
spank race wheels 26inch
race face respond crank
avid codes brakes
slx / xt running gear
reverb seat post

reduced to £1400

But is it too much of a bike for my dalby red / black routes.

Also i went looking for 650b 150mm 140mm travel giant but now thinking about this

rockmonkeysc

I would go shorter travel for stuff like Dalby, even on the blacks its overkill.
There are some great deals on Nukeproof Mega TR's. The Rose Granite Chief is great value as well.
I dont get the latest fashion for big enduro bikes, you have to be riding very hard on very technical trails to make a bike like that work properly.

kirby700

Yeah I've liked the look of the granite chief and that's 150mm travel. The lads I ride with are riding lapierrre spicys \ santa cruz bronsons.
I ride a boardman team fs and it feels fine not totally out of its depth but feel I do shy away from bigger stuff not because im scared more of Im not sure the bike will survive.

rockmonkeysc

You will be surprised what a trail bike is capable of. My Mega TR is only 130/140mm suspension and has been off 8 foot drops and over 30 foot gaps with no troubles.
160mm bikes arent necessarily heavy but its the geometry that I don't like. A head angle of 65/66 degrees is not good for twisty singletrack and the slack seat tube isn't great for xc either. All that suspension kills the fun as well.

poah

I can handle innerleithen DH tracks with my 140R/150F bike and that's only got about a 68 degree head angle. sure I'm not as quick as a DH bike but its fun none the less. Most trail centres up here really don't need more than 140mm at the most and you can be quick on a hardtail too. unless you are actually racing enduro you are unlikely to need it. however, in saying that its a good deal assuming the spec it up to scratch - what bike is it?

rockmonkeysc

You can get down any track on any bike. Speed increases with bigger bikes but then so does the severity of crashes.
It's about how much talent you have got, not how much suspension you have got. I have seen Duncan Ferris (DMR Team rider) win downhill races on a 110/130mm bike.
I have been to DH races on flowing tracks with big jumps where I would have been faster on my trail bike than my DH bike.

paul.skibum

I cannot see any need for a 160mm bike in the majority of the UK for the majority of riding. I ride a Bronson in Whistler but would be happy here and back in the UK on considerably less bike. I ride the same stuff on my 100mm hardtail with only marginal differences in my strava times.

A RM Thunderbolt, Scout or a 5010 would be a perfect bike for me!