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I have heard its on the B2B for shops so I'm guessing it's a 2026 model coming in hot. I also heard it's not a Jekyll.
In June I did a lap in Leogang with Iago Garay on the same new bike that Ella was running, and it looked very production ready. Seems like all the 130 or 140mm bikes (like this Cannondale Habit) are now 150mm bikes, and the 160 bikes are now 170 and poised to get the axe in the lineup (like the rumors about the end of the Megatower). In a related story, Iago was freaking pinned.
Realistically, 160/170 bikes are over kill for most people, me included even if it's all I've run the last 8 years and i think that's finally filtering through on the production end. The rumors of the Enduro, Megatower and others on the chopping block to make sense on the money end. I do think a lot of people, in my areas anyway, also realized smashing their high end enduro bikes at bike parks isn't great for re-sale and have picked up entry level or used DH/park bikes for smashing and run a solid mid-travel bike that is kept in better condition.
The 150mm bikes handle 90% of trails with travel to spare, send just as hard and really only get hung up on full on DH tracks, which the 170 bikes get hung up on a bit as well. Most of the first enduro bikes were only 140mm and XC geo and weight by todays standards anyway and seemed to handle everything that was thrown at them just fine.
Nah man. I need that 170mm coil sprung enduro sled with DH casing tires and inserts for my local blue trail..
I've been wondering what the next big move could be for bicycles of the mountain. Like what transition did with "SBG". These days, a 140mm bike is so good it's kind of silly to be pedaling a 170mm bike around the local, unless you're in BC or something similar. EWS is dying a slow death and that's what bred a lot of the 160-170mm category bikes (and components).
It's looking like the all mountain category is absorbing the enduro category. much to the disappointment of the local group ride. A group that is full of overbuilt enduro bikes ridden by guys that simply cannot survive on anything with less travel because the bike/travel has been making up for their lack of skill.
The new Outback looks like the old Forester, that should make fans of boxy nuggets happy
I think like most things this very much depends on where and what you ride. Here in Vancouver almost everyone I know is on a 160-180mm enduro bike. Our trails have a lot of big roots and big compressions so we’re using every bit of travel we can get. Even if you primarily shuttle to the top you’ll likely be pedalling at some point so you rarely see downhill bikes at Seymour.
Oh for sure. I'm in Alberta, ride all over BC and a 170/180 bike does well all over the place. That being said, I've ridden my old Slayer at Seymour and a friend's older Norco Sight when I was visiting for the weekend. I honestly didn't notice a huge difference in the two bikes as far as capabilities there, even on the steeper loamers or bigger roots. The Slayer smashed and the Sight needed to dance a bit more, but both got me down to the bottom for some parking lot A&W and high fives.
So not saying the bigger bikes don't work, they just meet less people's over all needs and I think that's starting to show on the product end of things. A 150mm bikes kind of suits the rest of the Frasier Valley mix a bit better over all IMO.
All that said, I'm sure there will always be a bunch of great big travel bikes at will meet those smash needs, just less of them.
Wait, are the uppers held in w/ pinch bolts!?
/waits patiently for someone smarter than me to explain why it's not as terrible an idea as it sounds....
No doubt. I only am a sample size of 1 and from US. I live on the road full time with my wife and ride all over. Spent the majority of time in Colorado, California, Montana, and some others on the west and a little in the SE. I am on an overbuilt Tallboy. Like wayyy overbuilt haha. It's a goofy frankenbike build but it's everything I want it to be. I think it is more than enough for literally everywhere I have visited over the years in the states. If It aint V10 terrain and needing/just riding my downhill bike, then I have been more than solid with the Tallboy. I am currently on my first long visit up here in BC. Revelstoke, Whistler, Squamish you name it. Been riding A LOT around all those places. All I look for and go ride is the roughest tech... Ive been riding my Tallboy and shredding/beating the piss out of it everywhere thats not bike park...and yeah.......I understand long travel trail bikes now haha. Not that I ever thought they were silly but never cared as I never felt a need for one traveling the states. Now, I do. Definitely on the upper end of what this bike should be doing so I can see with excitement how much a little more would open up the possibilities with pushing more speed and certain lines through the endless compressions. Let's just say I dig it up here a whole lot! haha.
Give me just ONE good reason why this is sketch................. I don't see it
(sarcasm through typing)
If your CSU starts creaking you can easily remove the tubes to clean things out!
Most parts of the US 150 is PLENTY!
But not the west side, 170 all day
Call it SSS and sell a ton to moto guys. Also offer an A-kit version one year after launch.
I try new trails/features on my 175/180 for the added margin for error and come back on my 140/150 after I gain a little confidence on lines, braking points, compressions, etc. Then the 175/180 owns park duty the rest of the time *and 140/150 (sometimes a 147/160) is primary driver for everything else.
Then there's the 208/180 mini mullet that's for manic park episodes, the hard tail when my ankles aren't sore enough, the fat bike to fight SAD, and the gravel bike for when all else fails.
If I had to pick one, it would be the 140/150 but I'll live out of a Uhaul before that decision ever happens.
To keep it relevant to tech rumors, 50% of my quiver could be consolidated with these new 3-in-1 travel bikes coming out like the Trek Fuel and something along those lines will likely be my next purchase so I can live out of a smaller, cheaper Uhaul
Some time ago pretty much every crown was a bolted affair, sometimes even steerer tubes. Then one day folx figured out they could nip a bit of weight off and skip a manufacturing step by going to press fit crowns and folx have been suffering ever since.
The previous gen Sight is about perfect balance of travel along with light yet burly. There were, and still are a ton of those being ridden on the Shore.
With talk of the mid class bike making a comeback do we see the option for a 170mm Lyrik and 36 return?
I think a 170mm Lyrik/36 makes a lot of sense for trail/enduro bikes, but having run a Lyrik and Zeb back to back on a mid power (~44 lb) 150/60 ebike, I think they'd run into issues with those getting used/spec'd on ebikes. Those extra 10-15 lbs of ebike weight coupled with say double the descending per ride adds up on the lighter chassis. And EMTB product managers love to spec Lyriks and 36s on 160mm ebikes to save a couple hundred grams of spec weight. That same Lyrik I have that felt too flexy on the Heckler SL feels great on my Bronson - same travel, same trails, same rider.
The main point to acknowledge is that there's little to no advantage to a shorter travel bike in these areas. I'm western alberta, and do most of my riding in BC.
There's a geographical correlation there as well with the popularity of different manufacturer's geometry flavours, particularly in f/r ratios. You couldn't pay me enough money to ride a pivot here, but I'd happily use one in arizona.
Having ridden on both west and east coast. I kind of disagree. Climbs on the east coast are shorter and most trail centers are on the janky rocky side versus flowy with some tech sections. A lot less machine built trails in general as well. I’d be way more inclined to sacrifice some travel for efficiency if I was still in Oregon.
Either way people should really think about what they like to ride and how they like to ride it. Even if you are a park rat you are probably a ok on a mid travel trail bike if you are going to hit the jump trails all day and occasionally veer off to a tech trail that you don’t necessarily ride with a lot of confidence or speed. But if you want to push yourself in any section you come across some extra travel goes a long way. No replacement for displacement. Just got to work a little harder getting to the top and in flatter sections.
I took my enduro bike out on my local XC loop the other day to test some things and it was slow, but boy was it comfortable. I use the enduro bike for a lot of things it isn't "necessary" for because it's easier on the body.
There are some flow jumpy trails out here for sure, but lots of very long chunky rock stuff. Big mountains with high speeds. Most of the US is flat in comparison. I rode Kanuga, rock creek, Bentonville, TX, Oregon and SanDiego this month. SanDiego is by far the chunkier. Of course any where you go you can ride whatever, but “most” of the US is flatter and smother in general. In my experience anyway
I would not want to give up 10mm where I live
I travel the country very often. Cheers
Went from a 150/150 bike to a 160 with the option of 180 (airshaft and rocker link) bike. I want to go back.
Get the new Offering 151
If I was actually prepared to spend the money to do any changes, I'm 99 % certain I would get a used V2 Hightower and a Lyrik to match and be done with it.
As for Evil, it never even close to crossed my mind to look at one (slack seat tubes, apparently very short chainstays), for the hell of it looking for one just shows that it's almost impossible to find one in Europe and the pricing is fsck that.
Same here, everybody around me prefers to ride an enduro bike even when a trail bike would be faster and more fun. I ride a SB130 that's also overbuilt to piss with DH tires and LR spec stuff and have no problems flying with it to ride parks like Morzine, and never really wished for more travel apart from at the end of the day where arm pump starts to get to you. Everybody thinks I'm crazy for doing it but if you take the time to set it up properly with enough support etc it can hit anything fine, from the steepest and roughest tech to decently big jumps. Though there's definitely less margin for error and errors do hurt lmao. I've tried to ride enduro bikes but still always end up back on a trail bike for the rampy, lively and fun feel in corners and even on descents. I do unweight the bike a lot and play with the trail instead of bashing into things so that's probably why.
Consider this post my subscription to the new thread.. 2 things..
1) Is it time for us to accept that some of the legacy brands we have known might be gone new players might be taking their place? That TeeWings looks a lot like a bike that at one point had wings in their logo..
2) Is the future of the longer travel enduro bike a 150/160 bike with a longer stroke shock and possibly a link?
This reminds me of the video of Skills with Phil hitting crab apple on a trail bike. Cant find it but i think it was like a 130mm travel GT
Re #2: I think SC believes so for now - the new hightower and bronson are an air cartridge and longer stroke shock away from the current mega and nomad. But the gap between the stumpjumper and enduro make me think (hope) that specialized is inclined to fill that gap with another bike eventually.
Oregon isn't really representative of the riding on the West Coast when people talk about needing bigger bikes out here. Oregon is known for being smooth and flowy. BC and Washington are classic west coast in my books.
I thought the Hightower and Bronson shared a front triangle and the Mega and Nomad shared their own front triangle...
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