Trek fuel ex 7/8 vs Giant trance 27.5 2 vs Santa Cruz 5010 AM

JohnBee

As a triathlete cyclist lol, I can tell you what bike has what groupset and what wheels, give advice about who should buy what at what price range.

However now I am out of my depth, I need t buy a mountain bike, and I admit, I dont know the first thing!

Ok, at least I have figured out that what I need is a trail bike (rather than XC or descending bike). But groupsets and shocks etc I know nothing about. Will be using for off road races. In my price range are the Fuel, Trance and 5010.

Anyone any opinions or alternatives?

easygoing39

What type of off-road race???As a XC hardtail bike would be the best type,unless its an enduro event.

JohnBee

easygoing39 wrote: »

What type of off-road race???As a XC hardtail bike would be the best type,unless its an enduro event.

It is actually a multisport (off road triathlon). However in terms of having a single bike for all mountain, that is why I was thinking trail bike full sus.

Tenzor07

Just cover the basics, a trail bike must be:

Reasonably light. Alloy is fine
Suspension: 120mm rear travel, 140mm front
Shimano SLX disc brakes and
Shimano SLX groupset, it's very reliable without being too expensive...


Edit: What's your budget like?

JohnBee

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Edit: What's your budget like?

Well im an expat boardsies so 2-3000 dolalrs which will get me a Giant Anthem 27.5 2, or Trek Fuel ex 7

Tenzor07

Well, you can't go wrong with the Trance or the Trek, depends on which colours you like at the same price points...
Both will do just fine on climbs and on the rougher ground also... not great on flat fire/roads, you'd be best to go 29er for that..

Viper_JB

If you could afford to spend a little extra I would go with the Trance Advanced 27.5, if not then the anthem would be in my opinion the way to go this years Trance X2 is very poorly reviewed though from what I've read on it, badly let down by the shocks.

Just as an addition to this the Trek bikes you mentioned are well review also, but I only have experience with the giant bikes ridding a 09 trance x3 myself everything has been upgraded to the latest XT groupset though.

JohnBee

Viper_JB wrote: »

If you could afford to spend a little extra I would go with the Trance Advanced 27.5, if not then the anthem would be in my opinion the way to go this years Trance X2 is very poorly reviewed though from what I've read on it, badly let down by the shocks.

Just as an addition to this the Trek bikes you mentioned are well review also, but I only have experience with the giant bikes ridding a 09 trance x3 myself everything has been upgraded to the latest XT groupset though.

Hard to find reviews for these bikes. With the bad review for Trance 2, is it that it doesnt compare well to its more expensive siblings or is it just that at that price shocks are not going to be perfect.

Viper_JB

JohnBee wrote: »

Hard to find reviews for these bikes. With the bad review for Trance 2, is it that it doesnt compare well to its more expensive siblings or is it just that at that price shocks are not going to be perfect.

Here's a link to it

JJJJNR

I would recommend going for an Giant XTC advanced 29er 1, for speed you cannot beat the 29er, they are breathtakingly fast.

Edit If your getting into MTB for the first time then go with a hardtail to start off with... you'll learn a lot more about mountainbiking and bike handling skills on a hardtail than on a full suss.. check the second hand market, there are some bargains to be had, an XTC can be gotten for a lot less than your budget, start off on an 29er and then when you have learned the craft go to a full suss.

Tenzor07

JR is right, I think a 29er Hardtail would suit you more than a trail bike, as you're coming from Tri and a good carbon HT would be better for what you need it for...

JBokeh

Would you be a pretty powerful cyclist? I presume if you're doing triathlons then you'll have enough legs to push one of them gigantic chainrings.

The trance are savage value for money, but i'd go for at least a trance 3 or 2, the spec of the trance 4 seems fairly poor, It looks like the type of bike aimed at guys that go out for an occasional blast, rather than going training and racing on, the Deore group set is pretty low end in terms of weight and materials. Deore XT is way better, and if you go from Deore to Deore XT you'll wonder how on earth you ever put up with the plain Deore.

The specs on all of the fuels are good,

Santa Cruz make lethal bikes though, I had a mate with a V10, and it was a dangerously fast bike over roots