Looking for an All Mountain bike, and I do mean ALL

It is a small XL compared to most XLs these days. SC's website says that it is good for a rider up to 6'6" but that's a crock. Unless they're 6'6" with a 40" inseam because the reach is quite short. I'm. 6'5" and it was just too short with any stem shorter than 100mm. I'm on an XXL TallboyC and an XL Enduro 29 and both of those fit very well without resorting to sub-optimal stem lengths (both are quite a bit longer in reach).

Are you running the Tallboy and E29 as you big/small bikes respectively? I'm finding the E29 is so good that my Demo is up for sale.

Are you running the Tallboy and E29 as you big/small bikes respectively? I'm finding the E29 is so good that my Demo is up for sale.

The E29 is a great bike but can't touch my TBc for fast XC riding and can't touch my V10c for DH duties especially since I put the 888 on it and ditched the Boxxer WC.

I had a green NomadC for a while and loved it except for the fit. With the Monarch Plus on it I loved the suspension action and would definitely still be riding it if the fit was right. With the incredibly stiff frame, a 180mm fork and some good wheels/tires it is more capable than the E29 at a bike park. You just can't get that beef in a wheelset/tires and a fork in 29er guise.

i think in general frame sizing is smaller then stated size i,m 5ft 10 1/2 and my current bike is a Lrg Kona Entourage with a 50mm stem and it is the best fitting bike i have ridden to date it is also one of the best all around bikes i have ridden even with it,s 48" wheelbase it rips in the trails

The O.G. everything bike… Rocky Mountain Slayer.

You just can't get that beef in a wheelset/tires and a fork in 29er guise.

Yeah you can but you have to pay for it! Enve's, Carbon Rovals etc transform wheel stiffness/burliness. 29" Minion 2's, Butcher Grids in 2.3" etc. Sure a 36 is always going to feel more fork than a Pike/34 but 36's are on the way out anyway.

Thing is if you've gotta pedal up, about and smash the downs I bet a long travel 29" is almost unbeatable.

Yeah you can but you have to pay for it! Carbon Enve's, Carbon Rovals etc transform wheel stiffness/burliness. 29" Minion 2's, Butcher Grids in 2.3" etc. Sure a 36 is always going to feel more fork than a Pike/34 but 36's are on the way out anyway.

Thing is if you've gotta pedal up, about and smash the downs I bet a long travel 29" is almost unbeatable.

Nope, you can't. Been there, done that and there still is no comparison. I have 3 sets of carbon wheels for my 29ers including beefy Derbys on my E29 so I know all about the advantages.The added flex of 29er wheels (comparing apples to apples with carbon 26er rims) and the taller, skinnier fork (Pike 29 or 34 29 vs Lyrik or 36) show their limits pretty quickly when pushing hard. I also have every type of Maxxis 29er and 26er tire imaginable including some that aren't available in shops yet and the 29er tires don't have the casings required for true bashing.

I really like my E29 but it just cannot be ridden as hard as my old Nomad with a 36 and doesn't climb quite as well. The E29 just fits me far better so I enjoy the ride much more. At 6'5" and 230 lbs it is not easy to get a good fit and the flex is easy to notice.

See Strahan's post….such a rad bike.

But really…any of the bikes listed will do the job. Go out and try to ride as many as possible and buy the one you like the most.

Nope, you can't. Been there, done that and there still is no comparison. I have 3 sets of carbon wheels for my 29ers including beefy Derbys on my E29 so I know all about the advantages.The added flex of 29er wheels (comparing apples to apples with carbon 26er rims) and the taller, skinnier fork (Pike 29 or 34 29 vs Lyrik or 36) show their limits pretty quickly when pushing hard. I also have every type of Maxxis 29er and 26er tire imaginable including some that aren't available in shops yet and the 29er tires don't have the casings required for true bashing.

I really like my E29 but it just cannot be ridden as hard as my old Nomad with a 36 and doesn't climb quite as well. The E29 just fits me far better so I enjoy the ride much more. At 6'5" and 230 lbs it is not easy to get a good fit and the flex is easy to notice.

Weighing 80lbs more than me probably has something to do with it. Although if a 29" Enduro doesn't climb as an already slack seat angled Nomad with a 36 something is wrong. I think you might be remembering the Nomad through rose tints.

Personally I've never ridden a 26"/650b that comes close to the all-round ability of a 29". And the longer you're on the bike the bigger the gap gets. I'm probably not counting park riding in that reasoning but for me riding the park on anything but a pure DH bike is pointless.

After 3 full seasons of abuse I still absolutely love my Nomad for all types of riding - with a travel adjust fork I've ridden plenty of 25km XC days comfortably but mostly I abuse the poop out of it on steep chundery DH trails; it's like a little DH bike that still pedals well for me. I guess on paper the head angle is kind of steep compared to the new trends but really, we started riding XC bikes down this stuff 15 years ago with old school 71/73 degree geometry and it just makes it more fun IMO, need more skill to pick lines and finesse the bike.

The only bike that will replace my Nomad will be a Devinci Dixon when/if I break the Nomad. Serious ripper of a bike that seems to do it all really well, why not consider something like that?

Its not the HTA, its the STA and that the front end is a lot shorter than current bikes.

Weighing 80lbs more than me probably has something to do with it. Although if a 29" Enduro doesn't climb as an already slack seat angled Nomad with a 36 something is wrong. I think you might be remembering the Nomad through rose tints.

I went straight from the NomadC to the E29 Comp SE with a straight up parts swap wherever it worked. Fact is, the FSR design is mushy when climbing and relies on the shock's Propedal (or the Brain on an Epic) to firm up the ride. Unfortunately this takes away from the suppleness and traction. In the Trail or DH shock setting it is great for ripping downhills and IMO has better suppleness and traction than the VPP but can't touch the VPP design, 3 lb lighter bike, stiffer carbon frame and snappier 26" wheels when climbing.

71.5 degree seat angle isn't slack with a zero offset seatpost and the saddle moved forward a bit. It is definitely slacker than the E29 but the E29 is too steep anyways (my saddle is pushed pretty far back).

I went straight from the NomadC to the E29 Comp SE with a straight up parts swap wherever it worked. Fact is, the FSR design is mushy when climbing and relies on the shock to firm up the ride. Unfortunately this takes away from the suppleness and traction. It is great for ripping downhills and IMO has better suppleness and traction than the VPP but can't touch the VPP design, 3 lb lighter bike, stiffer carbon frame and snappier 26" wheels when climbing.

71.5 degree seat angle isn't slack with a zero offset seatpost and the saddle moved forward a bit. It is definitely slacker than the E29 but the E29 is too steep anyways (my saddle is pushed pretty far back).

That's interesting. I feel very differently. Compared to the 26" Enduro my E29 is a better climber in every situation. I also don't have any issue with the seat tube angle.

I went straight from the NomadC to the E29 Comp SE with a straight up parts swap wherever it worked. Fact is, the FSR design is mushy when climbing and relies on the shock to firm up the ride. Unfortunately this takes away from the suppleness and traction. It is great for ripping downhills and IMO has better suppleness and traction than the VPP but can't touch the VPP design, 3 lb lighter bike, stiffer carbon frame and snappier 26" wheels when climbing.

71.5 degree seat angle isn't slack with a zero offset seatpost and the saddle moved forward a bit. It is definitely slacker than the E29 but the E29 is too steep anyways (my saddle is pushed pretty far back).

Could not agree more regarding the suspension differences. Bang on.

The thing with Specialized is the leverage rate (while nice and flat) nearly always starts high so there is little initial compression resistance inherent in the linkage relative to other designs. With little anti-squat it must make it difficult for bigger guys to get the things to not excessively wallow. What a coincidence that most of the Specialized R[HTML_REMOVED]D guys are 5'10" whippets…

I have to disagree about the climbing though. 35mm BB drop giving all the complex roll centre/centre of gravity benefit and the longer chainstays (450mm on the SJ Evo 29") makes me a massively better tech climber. I haven't properly ridden the Enduro 29" though so maybe the shorter stays etc change things.

I spent a heck of a lot of time researching and contemplating every bike under the sun for exactly the same purposes. One bike that does everything, and does it as well as possible for a single bike. I'm a bit lighter but usage is about the same - 5 to 10 park days a year, riding any and every trail in North Van and surrounding areas, and taking on big mileage trips elsewhere.

I ended up with:

Knolly Chilcotin frame
Fox 36 Float 160 (it's 90% as plush as my 180 Van, might just be super dialed)
Debating between Float X and CCDB Air
XX1
XO Trail 180/180
Hope/Flow EX

With the sprinkling of top-end parts it's still quite light (31 lbs with sturdy tires, slightly more with new shock) and so much fun for everything. I've lapped A-Line all day on it and climbed 1500m in the Chilcotins on the exact same setup and had a huge grin for both.

Rune looks awesome too if you want something brutishly strong and capable of anything.