ryhon

Hi Everyone,

I am looking to get my first "real" mountain bike, and am thinking an XC rig. I come from a road riding background, but want to get into some single track trail riding (nothing super technical, but typical roots/rocks) and the odd XC race. I am looking for a bike that I can grow into and not feel the need to upgrade immediately. My budget is roughly $3,000CAD ($2,500USD), but can be flexible for the right bike.

I am torn between a HT and FS rig. Given my road riding background, a HT feels the most natural but I am unsure if I would regret not going the FS route.

I am looking at the following bikes and would love some recommendations, either within these options, or others. Thanks in advance!

2017 Norco Revolver FS 9.3 $3210

2017 Revolver 9.2 HT $2,880

2018 Trek Procaliber 8 $2,899

2016 Cannondale F-Si Carbon 3 - $2,899

2018 Specialized Chisel Comp $1,999

GrainBrain

I'm jealous of your budget

Without going through your options, I'll just add my experience on my xc mtb.

It's a hard tail 29er, with an airshock front suspension and 1x11. For awhile I had a dropper but pulled it off because it was an older Reverb that was getting worn. It has basic deore hydro discs with a 180mm front and 160mm rear. The front has a 15mm thru axle and the rear is QR.

I miss the dropper once in awhile, because it was nice to choose seat height for riding conditions - especially when I was new to mtb. Eventually I've gotten comfortable with just a standard seat post.

I spent quite awhile riding a 3x9 drivetrain before going 1x11 and so I had done a lot of research and consideration of my gearing. To be honest I wish I had gone with a double, 26/34 would be perfect for me. I ride a single 34t chain ring, which is fine for my solo exercise rides but I will be buying a 30t for riding with friends and the hillier single track along the river.

I love the 15mm thru axle for stiffness and used friendliness. It also has sealed cartridge bearings that never give me fits. The airshock is a must have, I upgraded from an older Suntour unit.

I love my hard tail, but I have looked at xc specific full suspension bikes. My friend has a fs trail mtb that feels too heavy and soft on the trail, but man it's nice to sit and pedal. As my friend said "You can mess up your line or jump bad, and the bike just fixes it for you".

XC specific full suspension bikes I've read have less travel but are designed for light weight and peddling efficiency, something like the Giant Anthem. On a hard tail, be prepared to stand on your pedals a lot. Here in the Midwest prairie off the smooth single track, the trail will beat the crap out of me on my bike It's better if the tires are deflated a ways, and the air shock helps but you have to support yourself on the pedals and that's tiring!

Finally it doesn't matter what mtb you get, getting good tires is where it's at! If I was buying a new bike I'd go tubless ready for sure. I still run tubes, but at least my wheelset is tubless capable (code for, it will work but a pita to setup!)

hig4s

You might also consider the Giant Anthem.

Kapusta

I would not put too much weight on your being a road rider in your decision whether to go HT or FS. I don't think that being a road rider is very relevant how happy you will be with either. If you were looking to ride one of these one the road, then sure, the HT will feel more familiar. But riding on the trail is a completely different animal.

I think HT makes more sense when you are on a budget under ~$1500, but for your budget, you can get a very good FS bike. While there are certainly plenty of long-time mtb riders that prefer HT, I would say that given a $3K budget, the majority will go with FS.

As far as what kind of FS to get, it depends on what you want out of the sport. If XC racing is what you want to focus on, or do your ride and be back to the car before everyone else you are riding with, then an XC bike makes sense. On the other hand, looking at the Revolver FS, a 100mm travel bike with 70-71 deg head angle sounds like more business than pleasure to me.

I personally prefer something with more travel and slacker geo angles. I will happily suffer more on the climbs to smile more on the down hills. And realistically, it barely slows you down. Certainly relevant if you are racing, but outside of that, I don't see any real advantage to an FS XC race bike over an all-purpose trail bike.

But that is just me. You may be different.

Anyway, you will enjoy whatever you get. Because no matter what you get, you will have a great time. Trail riding is freaking awesome. Welcome to the Dark Side.

lsberrios1 

I went from road to an anthem 29er and it feels very nice. It's light so it covers my weight weenie demands and fairly manageable so it's not scary twitchy.

bikeme

Agree!

bikeme

I have ridden 26", 27.5" and 29" wheeled bikes, both HT and FS. I also ride road. Unless you get into jumping off drops or hucking big air, you'll be fine with only 100-120mm of travel whether you go HT or FS. This would be more of a XC bike. I've been on a Kona Hei Hei Supreme for about 4 years and love it. It covers my needs for both racing and trail riding. I pretty much keep it on the ground except for mild drops and rock gardens, so 100mm of travel is fine. I run a dropper post, too--helps on steeper, technical stuff.

Gallo

Plus one with your budget I would go with FS. I ride on the Road and have a hard tail as well. I would recommend a dropper with whatever bike you get. I would lean toward more travel not less and bikes in the 120-140 range. Most climb just fine in this group and are more comfortable overall and in dicey areas more suspension is always welcome.