Originally Posted by travbikeman

My teenage son and I looked at one of these for him a few days ago but he did not test ride it since it was still being put together by the lbs.

Our thoughts on this, just an opinion.

It's priced higher than it should be.

While the frame looks great and has a good geometry for it's intended purposes. The components could be better. Primarily the SX derailleur. It's a troublesome derailleur to keep adjusted. If your friend plans on doing any rough riding, the derailleur does not have a clutch to it, as some of us just found out. Your friend may find the need to upgrade the derailleur and depending on the friends knowledge on doing this could be an additional $80 on up depending what the upgrades will be and who installs it.

The other thing, is we (my son and I) have no knowledge on the Tektro Gemini brakes. We typically have been seeing bikes in this price range with a brakes that have 4 pistons, the Gemini are only 2. We didn't test, so can't tell you much more than that.

The reviews thought are positive on the bike. So your friend may want to look at those and the Youtube video's on it.

My son has decided to spend a few hundred more for an enduro Canyon that better fits his needs and will be saving more money for this the next few months. https://www.canyon.com/en-us/mountai...kes/torque/al/

But some options for your friend could be:

https://www.canyon.com/en-us/mountai...nfarbe=BK%2FGY

https://www.bikesonline.com/2022-pol...on-mountain-bi

https://www.bikesonline.com/2022-mar...nsion-mountain

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/trance-29-3

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...ey_orangelight

This all depends on what is close to your friend and the comfort level on buying an online bike.