I went from a GX carbon Sentinel to the GX carbon Spire both with We Are One wheels. The geometry on the Spire makes climbing amazingly comfy despite the crazy numbers. My only complaint is the extra weight I’m lugging around. It’s totally fine, just not quite as quick as I was on the Sentinel. As for descending, the Sentinel was amazingly capable but the Spire just gives you a little more confidence and margin of error in the gnarliest terrain and on bigger jumps. I definitely feel more comfortable hitting big jumps on the Spire. There are times on tighter trails with smaller jumps that I miss the sentinel and feel like I have to work a little harder to keep the Spire up to speed and be able to clear stuff. The sentinel likes it fast and steep, the Spire even more so. I think in the end you can ride either bike on the same terrain, I do long XC type rides and full downhill shuttles here in Oregon. The spire makes the XC rides a bit less fun and the downhill runs a bit more fun! In short, you can’t go wrong but the Sentinel is probably the more versatile bike for a one bike quiver. If you’re not getting pretty gnarly at times, the Spire is overkill. Ideally I would have a Spire and a Spur. Perfection.
Feb. 18, 2022, 4:55 p.m. - Brigham_Rupp
I went from a GX carbon Sentinel to the GX carbon Spire both with We Are One wheels. The geometry on the Spire makes climbing amazingly comfy despite the crazy numbers. My only complaint is the extra weight I’m lugging around. It’s totally fine, just not quite as quick as I was on the Sentinel. As for descending, the Sentinel was amazingly capable but the Spire just gives you a little more confidence and margin of error in the gnarliest terrain and on bigger jumps. I definitely feel more comfortable hitting big jumps on the Spire. There are times on tighter trails with smaller jumps that I miss the sentinel and feel like I have to work a little harder to keep the Spire up to speed and be able to clear stuff. The sentinel likes it fast and steep, the Spire even more so. I think in the end you can ride either bike on the same terrain, I do long XC type rides and full downhill shuttles here in Oregon. The spire makes the XC rides a bit less fun and the downhill runs a bit more fun! In short, you can’t go wrong but the Sentinel is probably the more versatile bike for a one bike quiver. If you’re not getting pretty gnarly at times, the Spire is overkill. Ideally I would have a Spire and a Spur. Perfection.