Trek '11 Rumblefish 1, Giant '10 Trance X2, Giant '11 Anthem X 3

Jesper

Mountain bike review and selection.

I am living in Boston at the moment and I am looking to buy a mountain bike that will be good value and worth bringing home. I love downhill but obviously will be doing a lot of XC and fire road cycling to get to the downhill - Ballyhourna and places like that.

Bike sales are on at the moment so I've got 3 options I'd like to get reviews on. These will be only available for about a week or so.

Sale bikes hence last years models.

11' Trek Rumblefish 1 $2000 (from $2900)
'10 Giant Trance X2 $1,900 (from $2725)
'11 Anthem X 29er 3 $2040 (from $2400)

Yes I know I've only gone brand name and am vague but I don't have time to scower the internet getting mostly biased reviews of each bike.

Thanks

rab!dmonkey

If downhill is where your passion lies, why not get something with 160 mm travel? I have a 2008 Specialized Pitch and I wouldn't hesitate taking it down any downhill track in the country. It pedals back up fine too.

Does the Trek shop have any Slashes or Remedies? Those would be perfect do-it-all bikes for Ireland, especially the new Gravity Enduro series.

Jesper

rab!dmonkey wrote: »

If downhill is where your passion lies, why not get something with 160 mm travel? I have a 2008 Specialized Pitch and I wouldn't hesitate taking it down any downhill track in the country. It pedals back up fine too.

Does the Trek shop have any Slashes or Remedies? Those would be perfect do-it-all bikes for Ireland, especially the new Gravity Enduro series.

I enjoy the downhill most but I'm aware that I'll have to cycle up any hill first before going down it so I want to meet somewhere in the middle. There will be a lot of cycling done on fire roads, XC trails etc. I don't see myself bombing of any big jumps or down 4" falls any time soon.

I would have cosidered a TREK FUEL EX8 only the shop didn't have my style. That would be an 'all rounder' in my eyes. yes/no?

rab!dmonkey

So you're not actually into downhill - you just prefer when the the trail slopes down? In that case I'd take the Trance out of the three bikes you mentioned. If it were me and this would be my only full-susser, I'd go for something with a bit more travel though.

The Ex Fuel leans a too far towards XC to be an all-rounder; I'd say the Remedy would be Trek's most versatile bike.

Nowadays it's not until you break 160 mm that bikes really become a chore to climb with, so why limit yourself with a shorter travel bike? Tyre choice and pressure can have as big an impact on climbing ability as increased travel, so if you had something ~150 and two sets of tyres - one for XC and one for unfettered descending - you'd have all your bases covered.

Tenzor07

Trance X ftw!

Great going up, fun coming down, durable do-it-all bike


29er? Forget it unless your very tall

C3PO

Yep, Trance for me too!

Jesper

I've been in to look at the Trance - can't argue with the price down to $2000 from $2900 but the one thing against it is that it's the '10 model.
9 disk gears and the older frame 1" headtube etc. and as I knew it's a 26" wheel. Very good components though.

The Anthem is a 29er, average components, newer frame inc. 10 disk gears and I got the feeling I could get it for around the $1800 mark.

I'm leaning towards the Anthem. I'm 6"1". Prefer downhill but I'm not confident/practiced enought to bomb the trails to much yet so this bike should suffice and upgrde tires and few other small components if need later.

C3PO

The Anthem is a proper XC bike and while it will shrug off normal "trail riding" I wouldn't be going mad on anything too technical! The Trance is a much better "all rounder"! I know a few people who have both (Anthem to race and Trance for fun!) so they are probably not really directly comparable!

Jesper

Just as an FYI - I thought the Trek Rumblefish 1 was gone but just noticed it's back on the website today.

I'm feeling Rumblfish is the right match for me over the Anthem?