Show off your Mountain Bike!!!

Pinkbike.com is another website you may want to check out as well.

 

On a used one, you just want to make sure the steerer tube is long enough -- they get cut down when installed. Yours looks to need a pretty long one.

The Suntour links you posted should be fine, I'd lean towards the second one. I wouldn't do the Manitou.

 

That's helpful. Thank you.

Im not sure I need or want remote lockout. Perhaps a DNM? Not sure what the heck the difference is between these two, besides weight.
https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/223084613977

https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/272853065878

 

The more expensive one appears to have a more sophisticated damper, allowing you to adjust compression damping as well as rebound. Cheaper one, only rebound. Keep in mind that you'll also need a shock pump if you get an air sprung fork. Never heard of DNM, but they actually don't look too bad.

 

I gotcha. I think the cheaper one has a compression adjustment too, or maybe it just looks that way and it's actually just a lockout? Maybe I'll roll the dice on it.

 

Coming from a spring to an air fork, I must say the air fork is awesome. I will never own another spring fork again. Even the cheapest air is better than the best spring.

 

Wrong

But air definitely is nice!

 

Ya I’m not sure I’d trust the innards after being slammed that hard

I also LOL’d hard at the Mcfucked description.

I think I’ve determined it’s not worth it to destroy my nice xc bike for lift access and pass laps, and I’m going to buy one of the dh demo bikes the resort has at the end of the summer

 

Maybe find a good one on Craigslist or KSL? I know most people take better care / ride "easier,better,whatever" on their personal bike than a metaphorical "rented mule"

 

I’ll check, we have a good bike swap here. My rationale (from riding the resort that I work at) is the “rental mules” are generally used by people who are very new to biking, so they hardly even get jumped. As long as it hasn’t been a guide/coach bike it’s mostly noobs and family’s. We’re as even a good used bike, probably got beaten up on Teton pass. Plus the rental bikes have to be fixed and maintained so the resort doesent have a liability if people eat shit.

 

That's a fair point I suppose. Come to think of it, not too many good riders are on rent-a-bikes here at DV, PCMR, Etc.

I need to come back to ride Jimmy's mom. I was there in May, and it was VERY soggy and snowy still. Fun fact: the Cache Creek area was where I caught the MTB bug. Bought my first bike at Hoback.

 

Ya lol. If there are good riders renting bikes it’s more likely at targee lol.
They seem like nice bikes, New Norco Aurums. I had fun on it.

Oh ya. The pass is such a blast, some scary shit up there! Had an early ride season this year. Last year it didn’t even melt out the snow till beginning of June haha

 

I shall amend my statement, the air I have ridden is nicer than any spring I have ridden.

 

That new steep creekside trail was amazing opening day!

 

You live in a cool town. The pass has some sweet trails. We traveled from Tennessee to Jackson Hole (after getting kicked out of Canada, lol) and had a great time. We camped off of one of the fire roads on the pass road and were able to catch quick shuttles every day we rode. Also I bought like four tires in two days lol

 

The time has come to upgrade from the MTB that got me back into riding trails after a long hiatus. I have a Cannondale Catalyst 1 that's been a decent bike and has served its purpose to get me on the trails and (re)build skills but I'm now at the point where I want to upgrade (slightly). I'm looking for something with 27.5+ tires to help with some of the muddier riding and rocky terrains in the southeast (especially in winter). Have it basically narrowed down to the below - what do ya'll recommend in this price range ($1200-1500)?

Cannondale Cujo 1
REI DRT 2.1
Trek Roscoe 8

Right now I'm leaning heavily toward the REI bike. Though I am reluctant to buy an REI branded bike over the more trusted brands, the component spec for the money seems like a pretty good value for this sort of bike with a good suspension fork, 1x11 SLX gears, good brakes, and the frame seems quality yet lighter weight for aluminum.

Upside is there is an REI minutes from my house so service / warranty stuff is super convenient and their warranty and service is second to none in my experience.... (which almost counts out the Trek which REI doesn't carry, best shop for me on that front is much further away from my house)

Thoughts?

EDIT: To clarify, my riding style is generally cross country type trail riding. Lots of flow sections, rooty trails, occasional rocky sections, climbing and some decent downhill stuff but I do not need or want full suspension

 

Looking at specs on REI, the Cannondale and Trek have a dropper post, the Co-Op/REI brand does not. Once you get one, you will wonder why you ever rode without it. Cannondale also is spec'd with an XT derailleur, but REI has SLX brakes. Have you gone and ridden the bikes? That would be the ultimate factor for me.

I wouldn't worry about REI's house brand being an issue - still 1000's of Novara's out there (their old house brand) doing just fine.

 

Yeah I haven't had a chance to ride the Trek but while I like the bar setup a bit better on the Cannondale (b/c it's what I'm used to) the fork felt higher quality and the gear shifts were smoother as were the brakes on the REI vs. the Cannondale. The REI is set-up to do a dropper conversion which I would absolutely do as well as a tubeless conversion

 

Though REI service is good, they do seem to go through quite a bit of churn on their house-branded or “exclusive” bikes, like Ghost a few years ago. Also, when I upgraded a few years ago I also thought I wanted a nice, light hardtail but got talked into full suspension by friends and sales people and very glad I did (120 mm travel). FYI, my wife has a 120 or 130 travel X Fusion fork on her Ibis and it has worked very well and held up, just one seal and fluid rebuild, over 3 years of regular riding. Never leaked oil or lost much air over time either. I rarely ride her bike and I’m sure the sag isn’t right for me, but when I just hop on to take a quick spin, the fork feels good to me.