What are people's favorite true trail bikes in 2026?

The Trek Fuel MX has been a great trail bike for me. Vanilla Core simple with good numbers, part spec and respectable price. Does everything well and nothing terribly. It seems like a bike that you could be happy with anywhere.

Excellent thread. Looking at exactly this question the last few months. Ironically, as an upgrade from a Gen 2 Optic.

To the Optic owners: do you have another longer travel bike to complement it? It's such a fun bike 90% of the time but in a few situations it would be nice to have an extra 20mm front and rear. And there's not really a weight penalty when the Optic is already built with a Float X, 36, enduro wheels and tires... 

Great read, I am about to try out an Optic Gen2 frame as a DC style build for lunch laps and local XC racing - getting the frame as a loaner from a mate who has it hanging on his wall at home. XL, 34 G2, 10spd zee mechanical and XC style tyres should make it fun and fast in comparison to my SJ Evo with DH casing and all the stuff to make it go downhill fast. I would love a Reya or Spur frameset but the pricing here in Aus is beyond a joke (6k for the Reya) so this might scratch the itch. Anyone with experience have advice on shock tunes for the Optic for someone who will prefer a firmer more efficient setup?

Honestly the stock tune is fairly firm as-is.

Fox or RS? 

RS

Hilariously I own the new gen Sight as my 2nd bike. Sometimes I wish it were a heavier duty bike, but unless I were living closer to Snowshoe I think it makes sense to have something that feels a little better to pedal (I have been thinking about trying it in the 170/160 MX setup but I don't wanna buy a new fork & wheel).

Funnily enough I've been looking at the new gen aluminium Sight frameset as an upgrade, along with the Meta V5, SJ15 and Ripmo AF. Although the Norco is the only high pivot, the reviews suggest it's far from a plough on mellower trails. I'm not expecting it to pedal and pump as well as the Optic (or the Ripmo) but it's the cheapest option for me here in Aus and I expect will be much better built than the Commencal.

The Sights are great although pretty heavy, particularly in alu. I had a couple of the current gen carbon framesets build up for some time and it was much more mild mannered that other high pivot bikes I've ridden, but still not as efficient as a SJ or similar. Regardless I loved it and would still be riding it if it not for the 2 x cracked head tubes. My wife still has her current gen alloy one, it's a tank but was very affordable as a complete through 99b right as they were selling the last of their Norco stock.

That’s good info, there are deals to be had on Norco right now. Do you have a frame only weight for the aluminum and carbon sights? Or the current gen Optics for that matter.

Unfortunately not sorry 

I've been tempted many times to get a Gen 2 optic, there's still an impressive amount of them available brand new for decent prices, but it's just a little heavier/slacker than what I'd really like... Still hoping an M size spur might show up one day at a reasonable price !

Anyone had any experience with the Commencal Tempo? I've been looking at upgrading from my 2019 meta tr. the tempo looks good ant the price for a frame is pretty good. My fear is that it is not quite light enough and id be better of just getting a V5 and building that up. i like the fact WRP makes mullet links for them as well. I havnt tried a mullet yet, but i think with my riding style id enjoy it.

If the Tempo had the option for standard cable routing... It's probably a better bike for where I typically ride than the Meta V5, but until they release a version without HT routing, the bigger bike is more appealing. Commencal claims ~0.6kg weight differenece between the frames.

I planned to get a TEMPO until I realized it had headtube cable routing. I have the Meta HT and it rips so I had planned to stay with Commencal. I ended up going with a bike I liked a bit better anyway (a sale came around and made it work out) but I think I'd have been happy on a TEMPO had it not been for the cable routing.

...and I could have snagged a bit higher wheel spec for the same price with the TEMPO.

yeah i think it probably is the ideal bike for where i ride. I keep thinking that i can deal with the Headset routing. But i can never actually bring myself pull the trigger......  the price here is aus is pretty compelling as well. $2250 aud for frame only (no shock). and i have all the parts ready to swap over. even with the same size shock. any of the other bikes mention are like $4500-$5000 for a frame.

I swear I saw somewhere that the aluminum Sight frame was ~9 lbs. It's a beefy boy. I think they had it listed when it first came out and stopped showing it on the later MY releases. I'd wager the carbon version is ~7 and probably similar numbers for the current Optic.

That being said I'm scared to weigh my Sight right now with AL wheels, a deore drivetrain and an insert in the back. Probably like 39 lbs. And I'm running Krypto enduro/softs so no DH tires here.

So this happened. While I can't afford a Reya or Spur, a second hand Optic frameset will do nicely. All the parts off my beloved N+1 hardtail. I'm still tossing up what shock to get between a Float and Float SL (RS shock is not mine) if anyone has any advice? 13.4kg as it sits in these photos and a bucket load of fun! 

My understanding is that a lot of the magic of the gen 2 Optic was the shock tune of the RS Super Deluxe that came with it, so I would either try to track one of those shocks down or find a smart suspension tuner and see how close you can to that RS tune with a Fox shock. But I think if you just slap a random shock off the shelf you're only going to be experiencing some of the magic of the bike.

Yep the more I dig into it the more that seems to be the case. Bryn Atkinson was riding an Optic in the press stuff for the updates float series so I'm hoping to track that tune down. I could just buy this shock but I'll be entirely transparent in saying that having a Fox Kashima fork and dropper without the matching shock does my head in

I guess it couldn't hurt to reach out directly to Norco? They did start speccing that bike with different shock options after the initial launch so I bet they'd be able to help you out (though it was a Float X). Either way, hope you love the bike! I'm about to take mine on a ridiculous race next weekend (100k, ~11k climbing) and can't wait to pedal that thing around all the mountains.

Here’s the info on the Float X on my Gen 2 Optic. Not sure which elements are available aftermarket.

Part number: 979-84-019
Description: 2023_22, FLOAT X, P-Se, A, 2pos-Adj, Evol LV, Norco, Optic 1-2, 190, 45, 0.5 Spacer, CL+SS, RM, Rezi LMB3, Standard, Neutral Logo

I started reading/posting in this thread to get ideas for replacing my Gen 2 Optic, and it seems like Gen 2 Optic is the leading candidate.

Thanks mate. Helpful! I have reached out to Norco Aus and they're in contact with the dev team in Canada. Should have info on ideal shock tunes for the latest Float in the next few days. 

Word from the horses mouth is that the Optic Gen2 and Revolver have a fairly similar kinematic, and as such Norco has recommended running a Float SL with the same tune (CM, R10) as what currently comes on the Revolver. 

The new Revolver is a reall ygood looking bike. I just wish it was a fraction more aggressive. The Reya... it has me thinking. That and the Ripmo SL, although between the two the Ripmo looks like it'll be higher maintenance with those bushes.

Don't undersell Specialized Chisel Evo.  130/110 bike.  I swap between that and my 160/160 sentinel it it handles most everything the sentinel does, just different.  I swapped bars and stem to more match the sentinel and give it a slightly slacker feel and running same tire setup on both.  Geo feel between the two is surprisingly similar.  I was a bit leery of the flex stays and was going to mainly be a local (around charlotte) bike but I've ridden pretty much everything in PNF on it as well and actually done a bit of bike park on it with no snap city yet.

I now have some time on my latest trail bike build (I got it after you started this thread), and I'd have to throw the new Propain Hugene into your mix here. 130 rear, 140 fork (I run mine with the Öhlins RXF36 m.3), it's a super fun bike that is a bit more relaxed and eager to take on rowdier trails than the numbers would suggest, while still feeling pretty snappy on the pedals. It sounds like it hits the mark exactly for how you formulated the question that started this thread (stepping down in travel from a Stumpy Evo but still looking for something that can handle itself). Here's my build in all its glory:

@iceman2058 gets my bike of the day vote.  that thing looks so sick.

How about that Zink Vacay? That looks like a wicked fun ride.

I'd disagree. Have a Chisel and a Fourstroke LT in the garage, and the Chisel feels undergunned even next to that. I love the frame, no issue with it and I'll be keeping it the season, but it's fairly linear, and feels like it has a bit of a kinematic hump to get past before you get the suspension moving. It's a fairly firm, fairly upright, fairly steep bike. The rear end of the bike itself is also fairly flexy, and I'm only 150lbs. 

Again, love mine, but I wouldn't put it in the downcountry discussion. 

On the same note, I absolutely adore my Fourstroke and keep considering putting the fork to 130. That frame really does seem to do more than you'd expect.