130mm Travel 'Quiver Killer' Bikes

tomrob21
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6
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1/3/2016
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AU
Edited Date/Time 1/5/2016 3:56pm
Hi All,

Thought I would ask the collective wisdom of the Vital MTB Forum what their thoughts were on the current crop of 130mm travel MTB’s.

I’m currently riding a 100mm travel XC bike, Scott Spark 29er and competing (pure amateur) in some longer XC events and thoroughly enjoy it.

I am however am keen to get into the slightly longer travel world of trail bikes and ride some of the enduro events that are cropping up around the place.

That said there seems to be so many awesome, from what I can read, 130mm bikes in the market at the moment. Each week I seem to read about another manufacture getting 4, 4.5 and 5 stars on various reviews.

Just to name a few:

• Yeti SB5c
• Santa Crus 5010
• Whyte T-130
• Niner RIP 9
• Canyon Spectral

Keen to know what everyone thinks the best bang for the buck is out there in the 130mm(ish) travel land.

Cheers,

Tom
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jfkusa
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52
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Location
MN US
1/3/2016 5:35pm
I have a spesh camber 650 and I love it. Perfect Midwest trail slayer
1/5/2016 1:05am
Transition Scout should definitely be in the equation. 125mm rear that can be coupled with 140-150 up front and apparently very playful geometry.
1/5/2016 3:04am
Seems a strange list considering the price difference of a YetiSB5c compared to a spectral, but thats beside the point.

I think the question is really what sort of riding you enjoy and what characteristics you enjoy in a bike?

I honestly dont think you can buy a bad bike nowadays, just the wrong bike.

Personally i love the geometry of bikes like the Kona process, transition scout, banshee spitfire etc; long front, short rear, low, slack- awesome fun and confidence inspiring on the descents but don't necessarily shine on the climbs.

Also, ive not ridden one, but every review and opinion ive heard on the Whyte is awesome and i think they have a pretty good spec for the money.
tomrob21
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AU
1/5/2016 12:37pm
Seems a strange list considering the price difference of a YetiSB5c compared to a spectral, but thats beside the point. I think the question is really...
Seems a strange list considering the price difference of a YetiSB5c compared to a spectral, but thats beside the point.

I think the question is really what sort of riding you enjoy and what characteristics you enjoy in a bike?

I honestly dont think you can buy a bad bike nowadays, just the wrong bike.

Personally i love the geometry of bikes like the Kona process, transition scout, banshee spitfire etc; long front, short rear, low, slack- awesome fun and confidence inspiring on the descents but don't necessarily shine on the climbs.

Also, ive not ridden one, but every review and opinion ive heard on the Whyte is awesome and i think they have a pretty good spec for the money.
Hi Responsiblepirate.

Cheers for the reply, Yeti is just on the list because I have heard/read that it is nearly the benchmark for 130mm travel 'trail' bikes but you are right, it is probably a few too many $$ to get past the boss although I do like turquoise.

What I asking for is what people think the best bang for buck 130mm bike is at the moment, just might be the Yeti due to the quality of the 'bang'.

In terms of the riding, I've not even really swung the leg over the new slack style of bike these days so very difficult to know what the preferences are here and like you've said probably what ever I end up getting will be a good bike and will feel awesome for a heavier decent than what my current 100mm XC'er does.

I've not head of the Transition or Banshee before either so will do some reading about those to further confound the issue but do appreciate the feedback, very keen to hear whats out there and reading about these machines is getting me keen to ride them.
matmattmatthew
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Fresh Prince of Bel Air, MD US
1/5/2016 12:51pm
tomrob21 wrote:
Hi Responsiblepirate. Cheers for the reply, Yeti is just on the list because I have heard/read that it is nearly the benchmark for 130mm travel 'trail'...
Hi Responsiblepirate.

Cheers for the reply, Yeti is just on the list because I have heard/read that it is nearly the benchmark for 130mm travel 'trail' bikes but you are right, it is probably a few too many $$ to get past the boss although I do like turquoise.

What I asking for is what people think the best bang for buck 130mm bike is at the moment, just might be the Yeti due to the quality of the 'bang'.

In terms of the riding, I've not even really swung the leg over the new slack style of bike these days so very difficult to know what the preferences are here and like you've said probably what ever I end up getting will be a good bike and will feel awesome for a heavier decent than what my current 100mm XC'er does.

I've not head of the Transition or Banshee before either so will do some reading about those to further confound the issue but do appreciate the feedback, very keen to hear whats out there and reading about these machines is getting me keen to ride them.
I know it's all opinions but I would argue that if any bike is the benchmark for 130mm(ish) trail bikes it would be the Evil - The Following.
tomrob21
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6
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AU
1/5/2016 1:10pm
I know it's all opinions but I would argue that if any bike is the benchmark for 130mm(ish) trail bikes it would be the Evil -...
I know it's all opinions but I would argue that if any bike is the benchmark for 130mm(ish) trail bikes it would be the Evil - The Following.
Was looking into that one yesterday too, based off Vitals 2015 bike of the year award. Looks like a rad bike.

Geez it would be a nice if someone wanted to line all these up for a demo day somewhere
1/5/2016 2:16pm
I ride a 2012 NomadC with 36s up front. It is an amazing bike, can take it on big pedal days and shuttle with it. I have recently demo'ed the new 5010 and the SB5C. It is amazing what these bikes can do. Both are lively, pedal really well, and bomb almost as good as the older Nomad. I'd say the fact that there are so many decisions out there, you would have to ride a few to see what you liked about them. The switch infinity is interesting, I noticed on the bigger hits you could feel when it switched and dug into the seemingly secondary stage of the rear travel. On the SC it felt more progressive throughout the stroke.

I am still loving the Nomad enough to continue to be patient and not buy anything new yet, but if I had a spare $7K it would be a tough call between the yeti and the 5010.
LLLLL
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IE
1/5/2016 3:12pm
these bikes maybe more fun but the 6" versions are faster.
tomrob21
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6
Joined
1/3/2016
Location
AU
1/5/2016 3:41pm
I ride a 2012 NomadC with 36s up front. It is an amazing bike, can take it on big pedal days and shuttle with it. I...
I ride a 2012 NomadC with 36s up front. It is an amazing bike, can take it on big pedal days and shuttle with it. I have recently demo'ed the new 5010 and the SB5C. It is amazing what these bikes can do. Both are lively, pedal really well, and bomb almost as good as the older Nomad. I'd say the fact that there are so many decisions out there, you would have to ride a few to see what you liked about them. The switch infinity is interesting, I noticed on the bigger hits you could feel when it switched and dug into the seemingly secondary stage of the rear travel. On the SC it felt more progressive throughout the stroke.

I am still loving the Nomad enough to continue to be patient and not buy anything new yet, but if I had a spare $7K it would be a tough call between the yeti and the 5010.
If I had the spare $7k also then I think the SB5 would be the go to bike too
tomrob21
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Location
AU
1/5/2016 3:42pm
LLLLL wrote:
these bikes maybe more fun but the 6" versions are faster.
but can they ride up? and the idea is fun but fast is also good
LLLLL
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1/5/2016 3:56pm
LLLLL wrote:
these bikes maybe more fun but the 6" versions are faster.
tomrob21 wrote:
but can they ride up? and the idea is fun but fast is also good
they sure can.

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