remedy/trance/sb5c or other?

[goldenboy]

Yeah I know, sprocket rockets needs another "what bike" thread. And yes, I know what I really need to do is ride them, but given that winter is about to start, the LBS is stockpiling skis, not bikes. So if a bunch of people tell me I just have to ride ___, I'll drive to Denver to check something out.

I made a trade with a local LBS that carries Trek, Giant, Yeti and Ibis, which is why I'm looking at these bikes since I can get a screaming deal. I rode the Mojo HD3 and didn't love it, it felt really stretched out in the cockpit, and I'm more of a long leg/ short torso body type so that's probably the main reason I didn't fall in love with it. The LBS is totally out of Yetis, and they just built up a trance so I'll get over there this week to give that a go. And I kind of dismissed Trek entirely but after reading a bunch of reviews I guess I better check it out, even though the shop doesn't have them in my size.

My favorite rides are all day above treeline adventure ride affairs, when I might walk the bike as much as ride it. But I'll also ride the lifts a couple of times a year and try to scare myself silly on local CB classics like Doctor's. I'm currently riding a clapped-out 575 (my 2nd), so a lot of the new bikes just feel weird and I'll need to get used to it. I still want a responsive bike, some of the super slack bikes don't feel that way at all. My wife's Roubion (Bronson) felt really nice though, I'd probably get one if the shop carried SC. If I was 6" taller I would maybe consider 29, but I'm not so 27.5 it is...

Anyway, thoughts appreciated.

[jono]

The only downside I can see for the SB5c (or the 6 if 3 lbs is worth it to you for better descending) is price. Good enough deal and that's the bike. Not an extreme cockpit (get the size right) pedals and descends nice and the light weight would be welcome when you're pushing it. Just don't let that shiny carbon touch any rocks and it's all good.

[54-46]

New Pivot 429 Trail looks interesting for ~$3900 (after active junky cash back). Maybe someone can comment on components/specs?

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/pi...IV001V-ELEBL-S

[BushwackerinPA]

Yeah I know, sprocket rockets needs another "what bike" thread. And yes, I know what I really need to do is ride them, but given that winter is about to start, the LBS is stockpiling skis, not bikes. So if a bunch of people tell me I just have to ride ___, I'll drive to Denver to check something out.

I made a trade with a local LBS that carries Trek, Giant, Yeti and Ibis, which is why I'm looking at these bikes since I can get a screaming deal. I rode the Mojo HD3 and didn't love it, it felt really stretched out in the cockpit, and I'm more of a long leg/ short torso body type so that's probably the main reason I didn't fall in love with it. The LBS is totally out of Yetis, and they just built up a trance so I'll get over there this week to give that a go. And I kind of dismissed Trek entirely but after reading a bunch of reviews I guess I better check it out, even though the shop doesn't have them in my size.

My favorite rides are all day above treeline adventure ride affairs, when I might walk the bike as much as ride it. But I'll also ride the lifts a couple of times a year and try to scare myself silly on local CB classics like Doctor's. I'm currently riding a clapped-out 575 (my 2nd), so a lot of the new bikes just feel weird and I'll need to get used to it. I still want a responsive bike, some of the super slack bikes don't feel that way at all. My wife's Roubion (Bronson) felt really nice though, I'd probably get one if the shop carried SC. If I was 6" taller I would maybe consider 29, but I'm not so 27.5 it is...

Anyway, thoughts appreciated.

so totally biased review. me and my girlfriend both have Trances

I own a 2015 Trance SX and its really good spec Pike Dual postions, Monarch RC3 debonair plus, X1, Guide, descent tubeless ready wheel set. the only knock against it is the 100 mm Giant Dropper. Id swap that out to the new 125 or 150 Giant Dropper if possible.

The bike pedals well, seems super plush, and the geo works for me really well. If I nitpicked I d like hte CS shorter but then it might not climb so well.

[toast2266]

For someone with long legs and a short torso who likes big alpine rides, out of the brands you listed, I'd get a Remedy 29.

The whole "29ers don't work well for shorter people" only really applies to older 29ers. Modern geometry has changed things a lot, so unless you're like 5'2" or less, it's a non-issue. And for big backcountry rides, the bigger wheels are nice, and the Remedy's suspension is pretty comfortable for those sort of all-day adventures. It's a little bit more compliant over the small chattery stuff than the Trance or the Yetis. And for someone with a short torso, Trek's geometry is a bit shorter in the front end.

[muted]

For an all-day hike-a-bike adventure a Trance would be a bit much, an Anthem would be better. I rode a Trance Advanced for a day, amazing bike but the Revelation fork was completely average. Upgrading to a Pike seems silly when you push your bike more than ride it. Trance will do well for a few days in the bike park though, Anthem would not do well there. If your descents are rocky and long and you go fast, I'd get the Trance over the Anthem and deal with the extra weight.

I would recommend test riding a 29er if the LBS has one, no matter what the model. You may be really surprised how different they are in a good way. You will be walking a lot less with one, compared to your old bike.

[SchralphMacchio]

If your intended uses are alpine terrain and occasional chairlift riding, then why not go up one class and look at 6" bikes instead of 5" bikes? As in, Slash, Reign, and SB-6c.

All the bikes you listed are great pedaling and descending bikes, each with their quirks/tradeoffs and riding qualities (including maintenance and service quirks). But they don't sound like all-day adventure rides + chairlift to me (disclaimer, I don't know your trail system at all). Funny that my thoughts are opposite from muted, but again I don't know your trail system at all. Thinking about Tahoe and Sierra chunk above treeline, I think more travel, not less.

Of those 3 brands, I'd say Yeti will get you the best riding performance (up and down) at the cost of more complicated service and potential downtime with warranty. Giant will probably get you a great rear suspension platform with great pedaling and the best overall component set for the money. Trek probably has the best service reputation of these three, at least around here ... on paper, the Trek linkage is the weakest climber of that group, but that's seriously a nominal thing unless you have a chance to demo it side to side against those other bikes.

[TahoeJ]

^^ I agree with going up to 150mm of travel. Plenty of bikes these days with bigger suspension that still pedal really well.

If you like the feel of your wife's bike, then you probably want to keep a close eye on top tube length and reach, as SC's tend to have smaller cockpits. I'd say maybe a Giant Reign but there's a lot more reach there and it already has a short stem. Trance SX would probably be a better fit, as it's actually similar to a Bronson / Rubion.

[SchralphMacchio]

^^ I agree with going up to 150mm of travel ... Trance SX would probably be a better fit, as it's actually similar to a Bronson / Rubion.

I own a 2015 Trance SX and its really good spec Pike Dual postions, Monarch RC3 debonair plus, X1, Guide, descent tubeless ready wheel set. the only knock against it is the 100 mm Giant Dropper. Id swap that out to the new 125 or 150 Giant Dropper if possible.

This is all really sound to me ... with the SX option you get a longer front end travel and if you spring for the dual position air Pike, I find that it's very useful to me when climbing or riding mellow terrain and you can really notice the difference in slackness of head tube when dropping or raising the fork.

Plus Giants, especially on closeout or shop deals, are just a solid spec of parts for what you pay.

[muted]

But which one has the best suspension for walking it uphill? They never test that in the reviews I read.

[gunniride]

You can try my SB5C anytime, but it will be big in size large. I've got a 40mm stem on it so its as short as it could possibly be. At the very least you could get the feel of the suspension. Its got a 2016 160 34 Float and Float X in the rear.

I got a deal on mine from an industry friend and am of course very thankful for the hookup. However, I'm not in love with mine. It climbs great and is so much easier to push up hills than my previous 2007 Specialized Enduro. I can't really get it to sing for me routinely on the DH though. Rode Moab this wknd and had mixed results.

Pro - slack 66 degree HA made for easy "not sure if this is going work out" drops
- weighs 28 lbs with pedals and real tires, much easier to climb all day than my previous 33lb rig
- handles rough wide open high speed riding with ease. The road section of PP ridge just melted under me, both for rolling terrain and open DH sections. Passing people on the rougher lines seemed easier the faster I let it go.
- seems stuck well to the trail
- the 5" of travel really does feel bottomless

Cons - weird to corner. feel kind of off in tighter terrain and turns. I'm sure this will get better over time but I probably have twenty rides in over the two months I've had it. Really "feeling it" seems to come and go.
- used to have a coil front fork so setting up even the nicest new air is tricky. getting there though. recommended air pressure has got to be off by 15-20 psi easy
- bit longer chainstay than some. 17.4 vs 16.6 on the new Spec Enduros. This makes for the more "planted" feel, but also doesn't snap off drops into a manual quite as easy.

Overall its a great bike, but honestly I'm a little surprised everyone hass such a hardon for them at the retail they sell at. I tried a friend's Spec Enduro 650 and loved it right off. Likely due to the fact that its so similar to a bike I rode for 9 (??!!) seasons. I may look to trade the Yeti if I can find an Enduro at the same or similar 28lb range.

Edit: Swapped 34 for a 36, problem solved. Rides much different, not only stiffer torsionally, but even the suspension action itself. I also played with the stack height which I had previously "slammed" in an effort to get me lower up front. Somehow, having a 2cm stack height under my 40mm stem has completely transformed the handling of the bike. Cornering shines now and I'm plenty comfortable climbing too.

[TheGreen]

Gunniride

I've got a large 2015 spec enduro 650 here in Denver if you ever get the itch the trade. Wanted a yeti but found a great deal on the enduro.

[gunniride]

Effin A Cotton

Effin A

[SchralphMacchio]

Interesting notes on the SB5c gunniride.

I haven't ridden it yet, just going off of what I know has changed since the 66. The 66 is definitely set up for attacking lines with the bike rather than just being along for the ride, which includes how you need to weight while cornering. I had cornering issues until I went from a 80 to 50mm stem, but you're already there with your 40mm. SB-66 was definitely not as plush as a Remedy, but a lot of that was due to the original Switch linkage design and Fox CTD Boost Valve that were changed in the SB5c/6c ... and I see you have no complaints on the rear suspension. Price is really high but they released their 5c Enduro spec (heavier carbon frame) to be more price competitive with Specialized.

It sounds like most of your SB issues are related to fork setup, maybe some cockpit setup, and a bit of getting used to the different seatstay/chainstay geometry from an Enduro. Not saying good or bad, as the Enduro geo might be a lot more to your liking.

Goldenboy, welcome to the morass that is called "dialing in your next ride!"

[mmmm...pow!]

Don't know much about the others, but the Remedy is a great do-it-all bike. Climbs like a shorter travel bike, descends like a longer travel bike. I've hammered mine throughout the Sierra -rock gardens, multi hour climbs, 4000' descents, fast flowy trails, jumps, etc. - and still haven't found a situation where I felt it was lacking in any way.

[goldenboy]

Goldenboy, welcome to the morass that is called "dialing in your next ride!"

Ain't that the truth, especially coming off an older bike.


Gunnirider, I'm sure your large would just feel huge. I'm better off visiting the fam in Golden and riding a small. Interesting comments though. I wonder if your SB would feel better if/when you get the shock dialed.

Thanks everyone, I'll keep diving into this.

[SchralphMacchio]

GB, what's' your height, and do you know your dress shirt sleeve length? What year and size 575, and do you know your current bar length and stem length? (Yes, dress shirt sleeve is grossly inaccurate but easy to approximate and compare).

The newer bike geometries are less about seat tube height and more about stack (vertical height between bottom bracket center and top of head tube) and reach (horizontal distance from bottom bracket center to top of head tube). I'll post an article later when I find it, but basically the new school of thought is to fit the largest frame possible that will accommodate a 30 to 60mm stem and get you in a good position. Many, if not most, of the newest bikes are designed around 40mm "ideal" stem size.

I mention that because most stock builds are like 90-100mm stems but new school thinking is if you can squeeze into a longer frame with a 30 or 40mm stem then go for it, as you get much more direct steering control that also helps drive your weight into a slack fork. (The newest 6" bikes are around 65-66 degrees and many 5" bikes are like 66-67 now.) I mention that because you may not necessarily want a small with all frames you look at.

In summary, it's gonna be way different from your current ride so just throw your preconceptions out the window.

[goldenboy]

I'm 5'7". when my old roomate, who is 5'11", used to get on my bike he had to put the seat down a half inch or so. I'm all leg and no arms. Can't remember what my dress shirt length is, since I never have to wear dress shirts. I'm on an '08 575, which must have a million miles on it. Current stem is 80. Don't know my bar width, but they're definitely narrower than what's popular these days.

A friend of mine at the other Yeti dealer tried to get me on a medium SB5 yesterday but took one look at me and the bike and pronounced me a small and didn't even want me to try it. I rode around on a small 5010 yesterday, like Brittany's Roubion, it felt like the right size.

This is going to be hard, I've talked to a lot of people who say that the new bikes take a half dozen rides or more to feel dialed (or longer for Gunnirider). Coming off of 2 575's over 10 years, that feel like they're a part of me, any new bike is going to feel strange.

[TahoeJ]

I mention that because most stock builds are like 90-100mm stems but new school thinking is if you can squeeze into a longer frame with a 30 or 40mm stem then go for it, as you get much more direct steering control that also helps drive your weight into a slack fork. (The newest 6" bikes are around 65-66 degrees and many 5" bikes are like 66-67 now.)

+1 - This is good advice.

[SchralphMacchio]

Well, at 5' 7" you are right on the cusp and it might still be worth trying both.

My girlfriend is 5' 7" with slightly shorter arms than me and we sized her on a medium with the newer bikes. I'm 5' 8", probably average arm reach for my height and I ride a Medium Yeti SB-66 w/ 50mm stem and I would not want a small at all.

I looked at the 2006 575 Geo and the ETT for a small was 22.4". They didn't have stack and reach measurements back then and I won't try to calculate them, just saying that 22.4" ETT plus 80mm stem on your current bike *could* be close to a SB5c Medium frame with 23.6" ETT and 35-40mm stem. I know the math above doesn't add up but you also need to take into account that a recommended bar size for your new ride is probably somewhere around 720 to 750 mm if you are 5' 7" with short arms, and going up from 660-680mm (just a guess of what you have now, these are common sizes for bars from then) the process of spreading your hands out will also want to take you closer to your steering tube by ~30mm. The new geometry game makes your head spin.

Long story short, you could possibly make either size work with the right cockpit, upside of a small is that your gf and you can trade bikes if one bike is down. Upside of a medium w/ really short stem is that there is possibly some marginal performance benefits (knee bar clearance, more direct steering, some other theory that Internet bike experts are espousing) if it doesn't feel too unwieldly to ride.

[SchralphMacchio]

If you've got some time to kill, here is the article that epitomizes the current thinking with MTB geometries (short stem, wide bars, longer top tubes):
http://www.mbr.co.uk/news/size-matte...o-small-321374

[smmokan]

Get a common size Yeti/Trek/Giant (for easier selling), flip it, and get the bike you really want (Santa Cruz). At 5'7", I'm willing to bet you'd like a medium Solo/Bronson better than a small.

FWIW, I have the new Nomad and it absolutely kicks ass... up and down. I'm willing to bet the Bronson pedals even better, and from what I know about how you climb, that should be more than enough bike for what you're looking for.

[joetron]

I am loving my SB5, I think it would make a great CB bike. Pedals really well and rallies downhill. Feels like it has more than 127mm travel, and I'm using a 150mm 36. It was super fun on the kinda nasty trails we raced at the BME/EWS this summer and rallys the smooth stuff up in Park City.

I'm about 5'10" 1/2 and riding a large with 50mm stem. My wife is 5'5" and riding a medium with 40mm stem, she loves it. Its a much more balanced fit on her than the medium Bronson with 50mm stem she had been riding.

At 5'7" I would def recommend a medium with a short stem for the SB5.

[SchralphMacchio]

^ there you go, Goldenboy ... Medium for the win. That likely will hold true for a Giant (we tested a Medium Anthem and Stance for my 5' 7" girlfriend) and Trek as well. Go ahead and try both but you can see the peer pressure building a case for Medium.

[goldenboy]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone! I took Brittany's Roubion out for a spin on actual trail, and tried to picture what my rider position would be on a bigger size with a shorter stem (and most of the bikes have a longer TT than the Rubion anyway) I think it will work, it's just so foreign with these new geometries.

I pedaled around on a Trance that the LBS built up for me to try, it just didn't feel great. The Remedy, on the other hand, felt pretty sweet. I can't believe I'm seriously thinking about buying a Trek like I'm W Bush, but it's at the top right now. I almost wanted to pull the trigger, but the shop owner said I should drive to Salida and jump on a SB5 at Absolute before I decide.