I've been trying to plug my way through the responses and then reply, but just had to stop and reply to this.....
Absolutely, 100% agree, too many people who don't even take the time to even roughly dial in and tune their suspension and just buy something new instead OR who never service it and wonder why it feels like $hit.
For me, I just don't believe in "throw away" stuff, it's bad for so many reasons. I still have my '08 SURLY Karate Monkey, it's now my "dedicated" commuter, but it served me as commuter, trail bike and everything in between for 10 years until I got my "new" Kona UNIT, which is now my go to, preferred bike with either 29x2.6" or 29x3.0" rubber.
I also still have my 2012 Banshee Prime pre-production frame and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, it had adjustable geo via drop outs way back then 67.5-68-68.5* with the normal fork length, go to a longer fork and you've got slacker if you want. It also has a straight 1.5" HT, so an angleset can be run if wanted, easily as well. It ain't light (34.7lbs) but it's so versatile, have no trouble taking it on an "XC" ride or tackling our steepest, most aggressive stuff. My only issue with it is I feel over-biked most of the time on it, probably because I like a challenge _(that's why I ride MTB)_ and will ride the rigid Unit down anything we have here, just maybe not as fast, but I'll get down and have a huge grin from ear to ear and know it was my skill that got me down, not a load of suspension or stupid slack geo.
My ideal "one bike" was my Banshee PP Phantom, but sadly somehow after 4 good, hard years, I managed to crack the BB shell :-\ So what did I do, well I grabbed the rear tri _(the PP Prime tri/drop outs was changed before production and only I only got the 135 QR option with mine)_ and bolted it on, now I can run whatever wheel set or size I want 135/142/148 or 150 up to a 29x2.8" with decent mud clearance running the "long" drop outs, or regular 29x2.5" with the regular drop outs.
Back to trying to read all the comments and then give thoughts on Andrews very interesting article.
Jan. 8, 2021, 8:32 a.m. - Lynx .
I've been trying to plug my way through the responses and then reply, but just had to stop and reply to this..... Absolutely, 100% agree, too many people who don't even take the time to even roughly dial in and tune their suspension and just buy something new instead OR who never service it and wonder why it feels like $hit. For me, I just don't believe in "throw away" stuff, it's bad for so many reasons. I still have my '08 SURLY Karate Monkey, it's now my "dedicated" commuter, but it served me as commuter, trail bike and everything in between for 10 years until I got my "new" Kona UNIT, which is now my go to, preferred bike with either 29x2.6" or 29x3.0" rubber. I also still have my 2012 Banshee Prime pre-production frame and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, it had adjustable geo via drop outs way back then 67.5-68-68.5* with the normal fork length, go to a longer fork and you've got slacker if you want. It also has a straight 1.5" HT, so an angleset can be run if wanted, easily as well. It ain't light (34.7lbs) but it's so versatile, have no trouble taking it on an "XC" ride or tackling our steepest, most aggressive stuff. My only issue with it is I feel over-biked most of the time on it, probably because I like a challenge _(that's why I ride MTB)_ and will ride the rigid Unit down anything we have here, just maybe not as fast, but I'll get down and have a huge grin from ear to ear and know it was my skill that got me down, not a load of suspension or stupid slack geo. My ideal "one bike" was my Banshee PP Phantom, but sadly somehow after 4 good, hard years, I managed to crack the BB shell :-\ So what did I do, well I grabbed the rear tri _(the PP Prime tri/drop outs was changed before production and only I only got the 135 QR option with mine)_ and bolted it on, now I can run whatever wheel set or size I want 135/142/148 or 150 up to a 29x2.8" with decent mud clearance running the "long" drop outs, or regular 29x2.5" with the regular drop outs. Back to trying to read all the comments and then give thoughts on Andrews very interesting article.