Amy I crazy?

I got a mid travel 29er this year. Wasn't sure if I'd like the "new geo." I get along with it OK. It's really fast and on flow stuff is a blast. Problem is I dont really prefer flow. It is what I do on the way to tech/gnar. I find the bike a bit flexy and on the steep stuff, doesn't inspire confidence. i can get down stuff but just feel nervous pushing things on the bike. At the end of the day, I'd rather ride my 150 travel 27.5 than the short travel 29er. There are some rides I like the 29er but when things get messy I'd rather have something more confidence inspiring. So now I'm thinking about ditching this frame and swapping the parts onto a rootdown. I don't really want another wagon wheeler. The short stays on the rootdown would make the 29 wheels a lot more fun and I suspect the chromag would probably be confidence inspiring compared to my full flex wagon wheeler.

So am I crazy to ditch a carbon modern geo wonderbike because it's not awesome on  the gnarliest trails? Should I just stick with it a while longer?

Is it your Process 134 in the other thread? That’s a nice bike. What fork travel are you running? Try bumping the fork to 160 or 170 before you bail on it. Though it sounds like you may have already moved on in your mind.

Nothing wrong with getting rid of a bike you don't love riding. I don't know whether the logical move is the Rootdown, but moving on seems reasonable.

I've got a modern geo mid-travel 29er FS bike and a modern geo 29er HT. At no point would I say the FS is less capable or less confidence inspiring than my HT. I love riding the HT, but if you dropped me into a bunch of new to me trails that were right at my limit I'd rather be on the FS bike every time.

So something seems off about that FS bike the way you are describing it.

How many rides do you have on the ST 29r? Have you been swapping back and forth or have you been exclusively riding the new bike?

I ask because sometimes different bikes need to be ridden very differently and perhaps you’re stuck in no mans land with the habits you have from the past lingering on the new bike? I’d ride the new bike exclusively - listen to it telling you how it likes to be ridden. Change up your riding style to fit it. It might be 20 rides before you’ve figured it out - and then try the other bike.

It’s a good time to do a complete tear down, deep clean and suspension service on the other bike while you’re focused on the newer one.

I’m in the process of adapting to a new bike that requires a much more aggressive riding style than my other bike. I’m 14 rides exclusively on the new bike and being exclusive in it has made a world of difference. I can’t wait to hop back on the other bike when the time comes next week. I suspect that I’ll ride it more aggressively too - or at least I hope it transfers like that.

I’d focus on the new bike and figure it out. Or maybe it’s just not the bike for you. You’ll know after you focus on it for a bunch of rides.

Posted by: Vikb

Nothing wrong with getting rid of a bike you don't love riding.

I agree, but sometimes it’s a matter of spending the time to work on bike setup.

I didn’t love my Troy 29 until I chopped the bars to 760 and got a -1 works angleset. But it took a bit to get there.

Posted by: RAHrider

I got a mid travel 29er this year. Wasn't sure if I'd like the "new geo." I get along with it OK. It's really fast and on flow stuff is a blast. Problem is I dont really prefer flow. It is what I do on the way to tech/gnar. I find the bike a bit flexy and on the steep stuff, doesn't inspire confidence. i can get down stuff but just feel nervous pushing things on the bike. At the end of the day, I'd rather ride my 150 travel 27.5 than the short travel 29er. There are some rides I like the 29er but when things get messy I'd rather have something more confidence inspiring. So now I'm thinking about ditching this frame and swapping the parts onto a rootdown. I don't really want another wagon wheeler. The short stays on the rootdown would make the 29 wheels a lot more fun and I suspect the chromag would probably be confidence inspiring compared to my full flex wagon wheeler.

So am I crazy to ditch a carbon modern geo wonderbike because it's not awesome on the gnarliest trails? Should I just stick with it a while longer?

For steeper tight trails on the Shore, I preferred my old long travel 27.5 to any 29er I've ridden.

My new short travel 29er has a lot of positives and I've been riding it probably 90% of the time, but awkward steeps are definitely not it's forte. The 29er trait of the bike standing up when you hit the brakes is the main downside on tight downhill turns. This, along with more flex, and less room to maneuver with that back tire there to buzz your butt.

It could be that particular bike, not the concept. Go demo some other bikes. It's cheaper and less hassle to pay to demo a few other rigs than to sell and buy again, at least you could be more sure if it's the frame, wheels or geometry.

Thanks for all the great advice - it's really helpful.

The bike is a process 134. I have a dvo diamond set to 150 and a carbon wheelset on it along with a bza bar and renthal apex stem - nothing flexy.

I've put in almost 400km on it and I like it 90% of the time but every time I take it on steep tech I wish I wasn't riding it. I demoed a hightower and preferred the kona despite the hightower being stiffer and more playful (can't explain that).

One of the owners of my LBS is going to let me try their rootdown - if it's instant love affair, I think my decision will be clear. Maybe if I was 30lbs lighter I would love this Kona but at my size it feels like it is being pushed past it's limits.

You could try a couple easy component swaps to see if it gives you more confidence before offloading it. Ultra sticky tires, bigger rotors, shorter stem maybe?

If I recall correctly which bike is yours then I bet you already built it with all your preferred components anyway so maybe these suggestions don't apply.

More food for thought, there are some gnarly things that I confidently cleaned on my Wideangle hard tail that I never even attempted on my Trek Slash. Who knows...

Who is Amy and does see like that you are crazy?

Posted by: thaaad

You could try a couple easy component swaps to see if it gives you more confidence before offloading it. Ultra sticky tires, bigger rotors, shorter stem maybe?

If I recall correctly which bike is yours then I bet you already built it with all your preferred components anyway so maybe these suggestions don't apply.

More food for thought, there are some gnarly things that I confidently cleaned on my Wideangle hard tail that I never even attempted on my Trek Slash. Who knows...

All good ideas (unfortunately all tried already). 33mm stem, good tires. 200mm rotors.

Your description  of riding your chromag makes me think more about a rootdown though.

I definitely love my hard tail, and I'm going to be vey sad to sell it to fund a new bike. 

It not only made me a better rider but also gave me a lot of confidence knowing that I wasn't being hard carried by suspension.

There’s no perfect bike for any one ride. If the 134 is working for you 90% of the time and really only isn’t on steep descents, I bet it’s working better than the other bike a good chunk of the time. 

The difference is which part of the ride matters more to you?

90% of the time is pretty good IMO. Chasing that last 5% is probably going to be diminishing returns, because no bike would be perfect 100% of the time.

When I had a gnar Chromag, I would say I enjoyed its ride 70-80% of the time. I definitely enjoyed the climbs more than my fully. The flat-ish sections were not very interesting/fun. The downs and steeps were very fun, but I do enjoy them more on my short travel 29 now.

Having said that, if you have a nice mid-big travel main bike, a Chromag or any other progressive HT would make a great compliment.