All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

Thinking about picking up a entry level gravel bike if I can find one in stock at a local shop.

Giant Revolt 2 already comes tubeless, and has that hydraulic/mechanical hybrid so to say brake system (Brake lever is mechanical - Actual brakes are hydraulic) which is making me lean that way over the Salsa Journeyman that has mechanical brakes.

Does anyone have experience with either bikes?

 

Friend of mine is looking to switch from SC Bronson to a long travel 29er. We already suggested the Orbea Rallon, Yeti SB150, Specialized Enduro, Transition Sentinel, and Evil Wreckoning. I know there are tons of other good options out there. Anyone got one they love?

Also, no SC Hightower LT or Megatower. He's done with SC since he doesn't like the way his Bronson pedals.

 

I'm a bit biased but the SB150 is a monster of a bike, and still climbs well.

 

I vote the Sentinel. BUT also having a Bronson I don't enjoy pedaling, I demo'd a Hightower LT in Pisgah 2 autumns ago and was blown away. It was a totally different bike and I almost bought one when I was there because I liked it so much better.

 

I’ve always received awesome service from Backcountry but I stopped buying there after the lawsuits became public.

I wasn’t loyal to one or another but what they did really pushed my purchases to REI only

 

Yea I think the CEO went for some quick public relations wins. That was only three businesses out of over 50 sued so there is a long way to go in my book of repairs. I'm waiting for a little bit more of a summary on what actions were taken before I make my final judgement.

 

That uphill section looks like a stream? lol

 

Nice! After seeing a couple younger dudes on enduro looking e-bikes at my local trails the other day and your new-bike-day post, I was actually talking to my wife about how an e-bike might be really nice to allow her to ride at my pace and do longer rides. Like your wife, mine just doesn't ride enough to have the strength and endurance for big climbs or to keep pace on long rides. I'll be interested to hear your longer term thoughts on it. I'd be lying if I said I hand't considered how nice it would be to do 2-3 laps on a ride I'd normally only do 1 on in an evening after work.

 

Funny you say that! I demo'd the Hightower LT as well when I was shopping for my bike. I thought it was the worst pedaling long travel 29er of the lot I tried (Rallon, SB5.5, Scott Spark, and Evil Wreckoning). The Wreckoning was definitely a lot to pedal as well, though I thought the rear linkage did a decent job of keeping such a huge bike in check. The Hightower LT just felt like it was all over the place.

 

I have a 130 so not exactly the same, but I've ridden a buddys SB150 and it pedals very well.

 

Could be. Enduro sleds have also come a long way pedal wise in just the last 2 years, so what may have been decent then might be horrid now.

 

This was also about 2 years ago...

I bet it's differences in pedaling style, or how the suspension was setup, or some weird thing like that. Honestly, all these bikes are so good, I told my buddy to just pick the one that looks the coolest to him.

 

Another apples to oranges, but to tag along with the lines of rapid suspension evolution. I found the lower VPP suspension design to be a very stable pedaling platform. Granted I only have saddle time on the shorter travel Tallboy, so that isn't to say the new Hightower will be a pedal hungry machine. But there are a lot of TB4 owners that say their Megatowers have a similar feel to the TB, just with a lot more travel.

Forgot you said your buddy had a Bronson. Was it the updated VPP suspension or the older design?

 

I think his Bronson is three years old; not sure when they updated it.

I know a lot of people love SCs VPP system, but I didn't have a good experience. I got plenty of saddle time on SC bikes between two full days on the Hightower LT and another day on the regular Hightower (which I preferred). Maybe it's weight? My buddy and I are both solidly in the 200lb club...

 

Has anyone got any direct experience with BOTH the GRIP2 and FIT4 damper? My Fox 36 has about 1.5 years and 2000+ miles on it. I've had the lower leg service done a couple times but the damper has not been serviced. Thinking about swapping the FIT4 for the GRIP2 instead of getting the FIT4 serviced....

 

I'm thinking about a new bike purchase and was hoping to get some thoughts. I currently have a Giant Revel 29er that I got a couple of years ago. I hadn't had a bike in a long time and the last was a Walmart bike that I rode twice and was done with it. I got the Revel since it was much nicer than any previous bike I had, but wasn't super expensive, since I was concerned I might not use it enough or just not enjoy it. Now I'm considering a nicer bike that will hold up better on trails and will have more options for upgrades or changes to it in the future.

I've been looking at the Specialized Fuse, Salsa Timberjack, Giant Fathom, and Trek Roscoe. I've ridden the Fathom, Fuse, and Timberjack so far. The Fathom was nice, but didn't have a dropper post. The Fuse felt a little twitchy to me and wasn't very confidence inspiring. I REALLY liked the Timberjack. It was an SLX 29 and it just felt great. So I'm seriously contemplating grabbing it, since it's the last one they have. I've read up on the Timberjack and it seems like a good all around bike that would be great on the trails, but would also work for just cruising around my neighborhood for exercise.

Is there any reason to not go with the Timberjack? I also considered the Salsa Rangefinder, but they didn't have one that I could test ride and I can't find much in the way of reviews for it. The Timberjack SLX is already at the very top of my price range, so I didn't want to go up to the XT. Would it be better to wait and find a lower specced Timberjack? I'm still learning about the components, so I'm not sure about how much better the SLX is than the Deore stuff?

Any thoughts, advice, opinions would be appreciated.

 

I have no clue. The V4 Tallboy is the only SC I’ve ever ridden so I honestly don’t know how the VPP compares to previous gens.

Paging @abacall

 

I've been eyeing the Tectal Race Spin for a while. My problem is that the orange color scheme I want only comes in the ridiculous $250 version with NFC -- which I don't really need/want. #firstworldproblems

 

Devin and I rode HSR yesterday also. At 7:30 am we were the only vehicles in the lot. We drank our 9 am beers in the lot while the masses arrived. I ride there a lot, and that is the most people I’ve seen.

I typically pedal up And do Bad Hombre, then pedal up to Radke, then back up to Whip it. 10 miles and just over an hour and it’s all the fun stuff.

 

Do it! No experience with it but I bet it’s worth the extra coin given how much you ride. I did a fork upgrade a few years ago on my 34 and it converted my talas internals to the newer 36 internals and it was worth the $125 I spent. Not the same as what you would be doing but I’m sure it’s worth it. Probably going this upgrade route the next time I purchase a bike to keep the overall cost down.