I wanted to touch back in on this, because I'm sure at some point someone will be Googling and it will lead to this. For reference, my other bike is a 150/160 "trail" bike with a wheelbase of 1260.
So, I've had exactly 5 rides on the SB160. The first two were on blueish black XC type trails, and I definitely felt over-biked. That said, with the rear shock set to the firm position, if I wasn't comparing directly to a very lively bike, I don't think I would have noticed. The next two rides were on legit black/double black enduro and downhill trails.
Here are my take-aways:
- Climbing/pedaling. The bike climbs surprisingly well. Yes, it's a more muted and truck along feel, but in terms of efficiency, it climbs really well with the shock open or "firm." It feels really, really good out of the saddle on short punchy sprints. I honestly think the only thing that could/should be improved is to include a remote for the "firm" setting. Why not? I'd love to snap it on and off during punchy sprint climbs. Maybe on the V2.
-As to what the suspension is "good" at- I would say if you think about a graph, where Y is "goodness" and X is "speed+chunk" there is like a bimodal curve. For cruising along on moderately rough ground, slow to up to maybe 8-12mph let's say, the suspension is like riding on air. It's amazing. Pick up the the chunk a bit, and it starts to feel much firmer. Not bad, but definitely firmer in that riding envelope and it doesn't feel particularly plush.
Keep going with speed and chunk and you get to this zen like place where the travel feels infinite and you just seem to glide over everything. This includes cornering. It is like you're stuck to the ground, but at the same time hovering above all the rough stuff. Everyone's already said it before, but it's really amazing.
After the infamous fallout in a thread I started in General Discussion and mentioning actually knowing empirically how fast you're going, I'm not going to mention specifics, but empirically this bike absolutely flies down chunky, technical legit double black downhill- exactly what I was looking for. Confidence inspiring is an understatement, even without DH casings or inserts, and having tire pressures fairly high.
- I can't say enough good things about the Fox 38 so far. I'll probably take it in to our local shock wizard, but it feels really good from the get-go, especially in terms of stiffness compared to the Lyrik I'm coming from. It took me a while to get it dialed, and it still feels a little too firm, but that's just fiddling with it more.
-I love the X2 rear shock as well.
- Weight with Exo+ Assegai + Exo+ DHR II on DT Swiss 1501s and sealant, was 15.2kg with the stock saddle. Pretty dang good.
- This is the fastest bike I've ever ridden in and out of corners. I can't explain how it not only seems to hold speed, but generate speed effortlessly.
-Every review I read mentioned that the bike seemed to want to stay stuck on the ground, and my experience is the same. That's exactly what I was looking for, but if you want a "poppy" bike, this doesn't seem to do that very well.
-SRAM Code RSC brakes are horrible. Even coming from absolutely average XT brakes, these are terrible. Sram is just not impressing me with much these days. Extreme fade on even short downhills, an exceptionally stiff lever pull, and all the while it feels like trying to stop with two glass plates rubbing against each other. Zero bite whatsoever, except when you're going super slow and could actually use the modulation- then they have this insane bite. Ughh. Replacements are already ordered, these things would kill me at some point.
- The only thing this bike is just outright bad at so far (which is like saying a Ferrari is bad at towing) is climbing over technical stuff. While the geometry and balance are perfect for getting around corners and downhill fast, that makes the front end feel really heavy on climbs. I only mention in because to climb up to the great downhills around my area, there is usually some tech and I definitely noticed it. Not impossible, but it definitely takes a substantial amount of effort.
Your mileage may vary
