Interested to hear the full review, Dave! Your internal conflict of the "problems" of a capable, but short travel bike resonate with me.
I always like the idea of bikes like this or the trance 29, I'm very much fitness limited and better at descending than ascending and often wonder if this type of bike would bring with it an efficiency that helps prop up my weaknesses. I definitely get up the hill easier on my hardtail than my 150 bike, but the hardtail is actually exhausting going back down, so the net difference is not much.
I tend to wonder if these short travel 29ers are a sweet spot in terms of getting as much out of a given fitness level as possible. For me anything that allows me to ride more without bonking is worth potential tradeoffs in outright speed. Yes I could also just get more fit. Working on that too. Kinda. :)
July 25, 2019, 11:34 a.m. - Kenny
Interested to hear the full review, Dave! Your internal conflict of the "problems" of a capable, but short travel bike resonate with me. I always like the idea of bikes like this or the trance 29, I'm very much fitness limited and better at descending than ascending and often wonder if this type of bike would bring with it an efficiency that helps prop up my weaknesses. I definitely get up the hill easier on my hardtail than my 150 bike, but the hardtail is actually exhausting going back down, so the net difference is not much. I tend to wonder if these short travel 29ers are a sweet spot in terms of getting as much out of a given fitness level as possible. For me anything that allows me to ride more without bonking is worth potential tradeoffs in outright speed. Yes I could also just get more fit. Working on that too. Kinda. :)