Two bike garage dilemma

Ebikes erase hills, headwinds, and polls. 

DH bike and an eeb. Dealer’s choice on the eeb, they’re all better than every pedal bike. 

Easy peasy!

The perfect two-bike quiver is such a never ending quest for me... I'm usually ending up with three or four bikes in rotation at any one time (gotta have a hardtail or two around), but with my riding windows ever shrinking to quick early morning laps instead of all-day adventures, I wish I could get down to just two. That way I could get to know both bikes really well and minimize the spread of maintenance. 

Seeing you're in the Upper Valley it's a tricky call for that area's mix of pure flowy/jumpy stuff (Peg, Aqueduct), steep tech with some big features (Boston Lot quarry), and old-school XC with some flowier bit (the rest of B-Lot, Trescott, Hurricane, etc.) That said, the UV doesn't have much in the way of long descents so I feel like biasing the quiver to longer travel isn't worth it (and as you say, it's nice to have a bike that gets you up the hill easily for those everyday laps).

I had a Smuggler in 2024 while living in that area, which was pretty solid as a one (full suspension) bike to do it all. I found that it was more of a planted, damped feel than I wanted on low-angle XCish terrain, yet not fully confident on the steeps when I took it somewhere like Burke. So I split that one-bike option into two with a 120/130 Rocky Mtn Element and 145/160 RM Instinct (lightly overstroked/forked and with dual-ply tires) and that two-bike quiver fit my use cases better. (Now on a v2 Druid instead of the Instinct, but roughly same "category" of bike.) The Element is completely at home on low-angle trails and long pedals, and while I don't mind pedaling a 34lb. Druid for a couple hours it demands proper descents to make it worthwhile. 

The Smuggler is a pretty damn good one bike to do it all on the wide mix of terrain around the zone, though (btw, are you the Nordica guy with the white Smuggler/red Lyrik? think I've seen you out at B-Lot a couple times).

Short of adding a true specialist option like a full-blown World Cup XC bike or a thoroughbred DH bike (the new TR 11 has definitely caught my eye), I think I'm pretty happy pairing a modern 120/130 bike and something a little burlier in the "all-mountain" realm. But a harder charging rider than me could easily move things up a bracket and have a light 130/140 bike and a 170mm bruiser and gain some top-end, bike park / shuttle mission capability. 

For me, it's something efficiency/pedal focused, and something bigger, but I still don't want to hate pedaling it since I don't do a ton of park or shuttling. I'm getting close, but not perfect, with a sort of light enduro bike (160/160, soon converting to 160/150) and an aggressive-ish hardtail (150mm fork). Eventually I am going to downsize the hardtail even further to either a 120/130 light trail or XC bike, or, more likely, a 120mm hardtail. I use the hardtail on mellower XC trails as it is. I also have a gravel bike, which I want to get rid of if I have a mountain bike that's light duty enough to take on long doubletrack rides without hating my life.

A 170 with burly everything and a 120 or 130mm true trail bike with medium-weight everything. If I can have one more, it's a dirt jumper, and if I get four I'm adding a DH bike.

But medium is as light as I can go. I can't have light things because I break them.

I usually do less than 5 days of chairlift each year so a full blown DH is not worth but a burly enduro bike 160mm+ can fit for rougher regular trails and the occasional chairlift/shuttle day. And a 2026 element (120/130mm 28lbs) make the darker blue/single black trails a lot of fun and still feeling relatively fresh after 1000m+ D rides. 

I was down to a trail bike and an ebike just a week ago, now I'm back up to XC, trail, enduro, and ebike. But after riding the enduro bike at the park last weekend, I think I realized I'm too old and hobbled for enduro, and I might parlay the trail and enduro rigs into a solid, pedalable all-mountain bike. I'm sure after I do that, I'll decide I need a DH bike.

Hear me out, a gearbox “enduro” bike with 180-200mm travel (ie. Kavenz VHP X), and then a trail/all mountain bike (135-150mm rear, 150-160mm front) depending what your local laps look like. With the gearbox bike, you can still go climb if you want to ride gnarlier winch and plummet terrain, and it’s also perfect for the shuttle/lift served days. The smaller bike is the easy choice for rides that won’t consist of lots of gnarly terrain.

Trail/All Mtn & DH. Have a prior gen stumpy evo, built as a lightweight long travel trail bike, can do just about everything with it. Have a coil shock that I can swap on along with 2nd wheelset and heavier tires for shuttle days that don't fit the bill for the DH bike. Pretty happy with not really having to decide what I ride anymore... Prior to the DH bike I had an enduro bike that crossed over with the stumpy way too much. Having a long travel 32/33lb trail bike opens up a lot of options for what you consider "trail" riding, and with a 2nd set of smasher wheels I could take it to ride the same stuff as the DH bike, albeit not as fast.

I think this is the way, assuming you have the terrain that justifies both bikes. My gearbox comment was mostly based around the fact that you get a full 12spd gear range for pedalling, without the 12spd derailleur that gets bashed and beaten when riding bike park/shuttle laps. But if that’s a smaller portion of to it riding, it may be less of a factor. 

I do all manors of cycling on dirt and mixed surfaces pretty much equally so I know how you feel about the two bike optimization question.  In your case, already having a smuggler I feel pretty confident about the path forward.  The easy answer becomes to build your smuggler back down to a 130/140 lite weight build and partner it with a orbea rallon enduro/dh.  Since the Rallon DH and the Rallon enduro are the same frame, you can easily build that bike into two bikes with a spare shock, fork and wheelset.  From a quick look, it appears that it would be cheaper to buy that bike as the enduro version, and source a second hand ohlins dh fork and 225x75 take-off shock.  Bonus would be a second wheelset to keep DH tires handy and EXO+ for pedaling.  

If you were really into pedaling hard and wanted to puke and see colors on climbs or short 60 minute power hour rides, then XC/AM could be the answer.  29 xc bike + MX AM bike that can punch above it's weight enough to do park days.  To give an example of what I mean about the flexible am bike, a Bronson 5 with a spare aluminum wheelset with dh tires, a cascade link and a cheap but solid performer of a coil shock (tuned bomber cr for examole) and then a nice wheelset with pedal ready tires and an air shock.  

Get an high pivot alu enduro bike for park / shuttle days build it durable. Get a carbon enduro bike for trail days build it light. Unless your are racing far ends of spectrum don't really apply. 

Ride a Costanza bike. Right in the meaty part of the curve. Love my Spire the last two season and it goes up 80% almost as well as it goes down considering what it is on paper. 

I'm not racing  , it is not heavy, it can absorb a mistake and it hums at local spots.

I agree with what @ebruner is saying here. The secret to happiness when you only have a one or two bike quiver is to have an alternate-personality wheelset ready to go- XC one day, enduro the next. Or trail one day, DH the next.

Changing tires all the time gets old fast. Having a spare aluminum wheelset with tires, rotors, and a cassette mounted is way more fun, and it's still a lot cheaper than having a whole other bike. And it takes up less space, too.

I'm down to just big travel eeb and steel hardtail now. I don't regret my decision. Polar opposites in bikes but I can get my fix from either depending on the mood.

So many variables and tastes and needs. Long travel light E bike (transition relay PNW) my daily, plus my Frame Works DH. All I want or need, west coast. SanDiego to Whistler. 

I'm in a similar position; daily driver is 140/150 Smuggler with a TI Vendetta SS for when I want to mix it up (plus a road bike and a gravel bike) and been thinking about trading in the Smuggler for 2 bikes. 

Currently leaning towards a downcountry/light trail bike (Chisel and Revolver both look good) and something like the Rallon for rowdier stuff/park days (4-hour drive to the nearest lift-serve park so I'm lucky if I get more than a handful of days a year).

But then I ride the Smuggler again and it's SO fun (even if it's a little slower in the gnarlier bits) that I question whether getting rid of would make me sad so decide I'm going to keep it until I get the itch again (or see a thread like this) and here we go again...

Trapped by analysis paralysis...

I will say I had a bit too much overlap with a 130/140 bike paired with 170/170. I swapped out the trail bike for a steel hardtail with 150 fork, more fun on the xc stuff (with the fork damper cranked up) and doing almost every rugged line at a similar pace of the 130/140 bike. Still have the 170/170 for the majority of my riding though. 

I would go for new school xc 120/130 and a 170ish bike if I was limited to two bikes. Sadly there isn’t much that I’m actually faster on a dh bike with these days. 

I voted... XC and all mountain, as a total weirdo outlier. If it was for ALL biking genres it would be really tough for me. To pick between commuter and BMX and DJer etc.

But for mountain biking alone, I want an XC type bike with weight and climbing being a concern... And a mid travel play bike for jump lines and park and stuff. But not what others are getting traditionally. I want a rigid 29er and a mid travel 275 or something. I think the like 120/120 or 130/140 29er bike with a mid to long travel mullet bike with nearly same geometry quiver is kinda weird. Like I think you have to build the bikes VERY different to really get em separated. Very light and compromised trail bike, super burly and capable mullet bike.

Right now I have a 275 hardtail and a mid travel mullet. Both totally fine, but I do feel like I want different compromises out of my quiver. It's just what I landed on in terms of affordability. As I'm usually a one bike guy, at least for MTB. Though saving money on MTBs allowed me to have some fun with my commuter and DJ and even a little BMX. But I'm gonna downsize. Too many bikes  

Here's some help. Every single one I've ever worked on has had at least 1 thing about it that is a pain and a half. 

My two (mountain) bike quiver is a Raaw Madonna and a Transition Spur, i.e. Enduro and aggressive XC. 

I’m a (former) enduro racer and live near a rowdy bike park, so a big bike that I can ride hard in rough terrain is a must. Built the Madonna about as burly as it can be built and I love it, even when my descents are all pedal-accessed.

The XC bike has been harder to nail down; I picked up an Epic Evo last year that I really didn’t get along with, such that I thought I was just a big-bike guy and that XC might be of no interest to me. I sold it and then stumbled upon a Spur, which has been a different experience in every way. I’ve tweaked the build with a higher rise bar, 210mm dropper, big brakes and tires that balance grip, rolling resistance, and durability. It’s been a hoot; climbing is fun and engaging, descending is still enjoyable, and I can throw it around so easily compared to the 10-pound-heavier Raaw. 

This balance may be where I try to stay for the rest of my life, or at least until my legs are too tired to haul a 40-lb bike uphill and my guts are too diminished to make use of it going downhill. The bikes themselves will change, but an enduro beast and a welterweight xc are perfect for my needs.

Dh and all mountain cause dh and enduro bike isn’t an option.

I’ve tried all the combos and even though I voted XC + Enduro I actually have a 160/170 and a rigid Hudski Dualist.

I love mountain biking but I also love riding. The hudski has been killer for rides around town, gravel missions in the backcountry of Oregon, and as a killer camping vehicle. I had an epic Evo and hated it. I have a basket on the hudski and I love how chill my mindset is when riding.

My stumpy Evo is 160/170 and I have a light trail wheelset with fast light tires and a burly enduro wheelset with DH casing sticky rubber. This bridges the gap between the stumpy and the Evo, and makes for a radically different feel depending on the tires and trails. 

I will say, my dream combo is probably a Madonna and a Fairlight Holt

I'm gonna need that like 3% who went all mountain plus enduro quiver to fess up. What do ya got or what do ya want? How much frame travel difference is between those two bikes lol

Norco Optic and Sight. Ignore the idea that its a high pivot, you dont notice the idler as much as reviewers think they do. The axle path is very conservative for high pivots in a good way. You can over fork and over stroke each bike. They also pedal really good. You can also properly mix wheel the bikes with the linkages. 

Enduro + DH 

Definitely. But absolutely worth it!

Santa Cruz 5010 (130) and a Canfield balance (170). I think with two bikes you need at least 30mm of separation.  I had a switchblade (~150) and it was too close to the big bike so I “downsized” to a 5010, but it is still plenty capable.  I also have a 140 hardtail but rarely ride it.  I am happy with the trail + enduro for what I do. 

I only pedal, and mostly like backcountry trails in Colorado.  I ride the little bike on 2/3 of the trails, mostly blues and black where efficient pedaling, pumping and popping little side hits is best. Chunky black and double the big bike is so dope to smash around if you have the terrain for it. Handles a bike park fine for the 1 time I may go every other year.   I built it more budget and durable because more will break on it. No carbon, no batteries, good brakes, good suspension.  Little bike is more tricked out. 

If I was riding a bike park 15+ times a year maybe a 150 + dh would be better. 

A single bike quiver is somehow the easier choice, 140/150mm trail bike every time, and if I'm honest about what I ride the most the mix would be that same bike and something with drop bars and skinny tires. But sticking to MTB, for pure range of options I think a light, 120/130 trail bike with good geo and a 170 enduro bike built with bad intentions would be the way to go. This would cover everything from one off XC races, backcountry missions, enduro racing and park laps. Luckily, this is a false choice and a one car garage can fit all the bikes. 

Really up to what you like to ride and what is around your area. I voted Enduro + XC. Enduro because there are not many chairlifts around my area, so I would need something to make it up to the top, a burly 170/170 bike is fine to pedal up and still have fun on the occasional bikepark day.

On the other side an XC bike. All Mountain bike overlaps too much with the enduro so for me it makes sense short travel trail or a modern XC bike (120/120) i think they are fun enough for pedaling and going down on the less demanding trails.