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

100 miles is no joke haha

Personally I’d stay away from YT given their current situation in Europe. That’s just me though. The specialized and Kona will be solid.

For a little more price wise you can get a transition sentinel alloy or ibis ripmo af. More all around bikes than the specialized status.

a couple others I’d consider if they have your size available. 130mm of travel is probably on the low side of travel for all around riding but depends on you’re trails. The Orbea occam is a dialed option though.

https://www.jensonusa.com/norco-fluid-fs-c3-bike

https://www.jensonusa.com/orbea-occam-lt-m30-2024-bike

 

Your best bet would be making it to an outer bike event or some other rental situation. Try a few different bikes and see what you like.

 

appreciate this - I'd seen the ibis ripmo af looking around; the sale price wasn't in my size, though I didn't expand my search for it too far.

I had considered this as well; I think a few of the shops in Santa Fe do ride days and I know they sell some of the demo bikes at the end of the season; same with our local ski hill -- though I'm not interested in DH specifically. I'm crazy but not that type of crazy (for now).

Santa Fe is only an hour from here as well. We do have a local "Tuffriders" group that ride together once a week in season -- for most of them it's their dedicated "sport" and have quite bling going on; a few might be willing to point me in the right direction and or offer up some old stock. lol. I'm mostly trying to source info/ideas from all around - thus posting here too to ask my taco peeps.

 

There are a few shops in Albuquerque that rent demos out as well, not sure if you are further north of Santa Fe. Or if you are in Durango soon, 2nd Ave Sports has a great lineup of rental bikes you can try out with a ton of places to ride.

Just a thought. Have fun shopping!

 

Cool!! Good to know. I'm further north - up in Los Alamos - everything is "far". I was just passing through Durango a couple weeks back but not enough time to stop/shop. Half of one of the teams I played with in a hockey tournament back in May live up there; we're trying to get together for a Durango tournament -- so perhaps I'll be up there sooner than I think. A few of them ride -- also part of what drove this idea in my mind; my hockey girls would rather bike than run with me.

 

Of all those hobbies, this one is likely the most expensive.
Honestly, I just saw the new Ibis Ripmo and Ripley AF in person and it's excellent. The price point is spot on.

 

So I also realize I've been looking at a lot of trail specific bikes -- perhaps more targeted at DH?

I'm wondering if I should be looking more at the XC side of things if I don't intend to ride down our ski hill... More like the Chisel or Chisel Comp?? (the Evo gets up there in $$$). So much $$$$....

 

it sounds like a trail bike is the way to go if your friends are riding downhill stuff. a trail bike can do the dh stuff, but is also easier to pedal for long days. if you like one over the other (dh vs xc), you just buy another bike later.

 

The 140/150 travel bracket is very versatile. They can be set up to do lots of different types of riding.
Right now sale prices on last year's stuff is amazing. The bikes are top notch. I'd say spend as much as is possibly responsible for you, get the best bike you can get that's got good brakes and suspension. The rest can be upgraded fairly cheap down the line.
Shop around, some killer bikes up to 40% off.

 

It really depends on where you want to ride in actuality. Which is hard to figure out if you are just getting into it. Trail bikes are a safe bet, and will handle most everything you can throw at it and even then some will skew to more xc or dh geometry.

Most DH parks do have really fun green lines though, so its not like you are going to be on crazy hard stuff immediately - if that style of riding looks fun to you.

 

Man, coming back today and riding in the ATL from this past week's NorCal weather has been rough.

 

I’m a big used fan- never had an issue if you get a buddy who knows what they’re doing. Used market is prime and if you don’t like it selling will allow breaking even or near even compared to the depreciation of new . My two cents and @JasonLee will vouch for my used by palooza I’ve been on the last few seasons ha

 

Agree with this. Modern suspension is so great the mid trail category can do it all as a single bike quiver- or drink the kool aid and get a big bike and an XC

 

I'm finding some things; less local but XS/S seem to be commonly sold out for whatever reason.

The dang Transition Smuggler looks solid for a single quiver tbh. Biking isn't going to be my main squeeze - though who ever said it was more expensive than my current hobbies is quite right. lol. These things cost as much as a car!!

 

Broken Spoke in Santa Fe rents both smugglers and sentinels. could be worth the drive down there. cool shop, i try to stop by everytime im in Santa Fe. Could be worth checking out the scout too. kind of between those two but with 27.5 wheels

 

I saw them on the list last night!! I was going to give them a call before heading down; I'm usually down that way once a week for hockey but the rink has been closed for weeks now. New excuse!

I was planning on going there either way to see what they've got, touch, and back ally ride a few.

 

I always recommend glorietta trails when i'm there, but can understand those could be a lot if youre new to riding. la tierra trails look good and beginner friendly, but i haven't tried them. windsor trail from ski santa fe goes down near downtown, its on my list but figuring out a whole day ride when im there to see family is hard. sounds like you have some friends that would show you around though.

 

Galisteo Basin is another for your SF-area - I'm familiar from running bits of it but it's more popular for bikers. Probably not any easier to get to during a visit; though good for a walk/hike if family wants to come with.

 

My only 2 cents is avoiding carbon used. Carbon doesn't fail like aluminum does, a lot of sins/impacts can be hidden and not visible on a carbon frame where an alloy frame would dent or bend. I don't know enough about CF to be able to trust the used market.

 

Fully agree with this.

The CF tax is something I'm generally avoiding for the wallet to.