Submitted by
cabbage-soup
a Cross Country Rider
from Europe-land Date Reviewed: September 30, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Mega qualifier
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$2500.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
Excellent frame and fork Combo for the money. The Fox 29 is a massive improvment over the Reba 29 I ran last year.
Weaknesses:
dodgy crank and Avid brakes are pants
Similar Products Used:
Plenty of 26er suspensions and a couple of 29er hardtails
Bike Setup:
As stock, Will change crankset and brakes this winter as they wear out. Changed out the tyres for some Schwalbe goodness.
Bottom Line:
I'm a tall guy, about 6'2". I've always struggled to get a good fit on a bike. 26er XL frames leave you too high at the front. Going over drops and steep decents was always a sketchy experience. I tried 29 inch wheels and loved it. For tall people 29ers are a no brainer. The only problem I had was the lack of zip in the rear. 29er wheels are slow to accelerate. Sure they roll well but in and out of the corners I struggled to really make them fly. This bike is the perfect combination of both. All the advantages of the 29er confidence up front and the zip of a 26 inch wheel behind. I notice at this years Interbike a few more companies are bringing out 69ers. I think it's the way forward for tall riders or riders who have confidence problems on the steeps.
Probably the best bike I've riden in 20 years of mountain biking.
My only gripe is the 2009 model gets the ABP and floating pivot. That would have been nice.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jay Anderson
a Cross Country Rider
from Denton, Texas, USA Date Reviewed: March 18, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Dyke Trail, Crested Butte, CO.
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$2800.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
This bike likes to spin up and roll! I notice that I am way faster than my previous bike (RALEIGH TOMAC M Ti 1000) even though it was a Ti hardtail race bike...the 29" front wheel turns everything into a launch ramp and makes mole hills out of mountains...
Weaknesses:
29er front wheel takes a minute to get used to....it definitely feels bigger than a 26er!
Similar Products Used:
None..this bike is truly in a class by itself!
Bike Setup:
I wanted to replace several components to bring this bike up to my standards...I swapped out the stock AVID Juicy 5's for FORMULA K24's...whoa..what modulation and no brake noise...I swapped the SHIMANO DEORE crankset for a '08 SHIMANO XT crankset...just like to stick to the XT level and my local LBS took care of me once again...finally I swapped the SRAM X7 rapid fire shiftpod for SRAM XO GripShift because I have always used GripShift and it works great with the stock XO rear derailleur...that's it...I just ride the hell outta it!
Bottom Line:
The Bottom line is that I wanted to finally go full suspension and 4" travel is perfect for anything I ride...the 29er in the front rolls over anything and my riding buddies have learned not to follow my lines...the 26er in the back gives way better acceleration than any full 29er I have ridden and I just find myself having more fun than I can ever remember riding my TREK 69er. PS If you see me on the trail , Im the one with the huge grin from ear to ear...
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Ken Gatt
a Weekend Warrior
from phoenix,az,usa Date Reviewed: February 21, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$2500.00
Purchased At:
lbs
Strengths:
weight, geometry, price, innovative design
Weaknesses:
cranks, front derailer, tires are tubeless ready but not tubeless.
Similar Products Used:
Giant NRS 1
Bike Setup:
stock
Bottom Line:
I demoed the bike first and bought one the next day.
The bike rocks, I love it, my friends are jealous, I am faster now and am not sure if it is the bike or me, whatever the case, I am more confident on the drops, rocky climbs and stairs with the 29 up front. The bike handles like a charm and it feels like it 'carves' through turns.
The front shock locks out easy when needed and the pro-pedal on the rear works great.
I am not a good enough rider to know if the deore cranks are really worse than XT, but my 'name dropping' ego is bruised when my brethren pull up with XT or XTR equipped bikes.
The bike weighed in around 27.5 stock and now is just a little over 27 since I went tubeless. For a $2500.00 bike, this seems like a great deal. Pedals used are xpedo.
I only notice the larger tire up front when I want to, the rocky descents and medium size drops no longer give me the willies or concern me that I will go over the handlebars. Other than that, I don't notice the difference and have yet to miss having a smaller wheel up front.
My budget for a bike was around $4000.00 this was the only production full suspension 69er out there and it only cost $2500.00. If it got stolen tomorrow, I would replace it with the same thing all over again!
$
Overall Rating:
