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Epic Marathon/Tall Boy comparison

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#4 ·
Thanks for the review/comparison..........

Just one thought though......


While reading the only thing I could think of, was this review was being done by a guy that prefers to ride a HT SS. Seems a little biased.

You stated that you don't want an active riding FS bike, that you leave your Propedal on 90% of the time, that you like to climb out of the saddle. Yes, the Specialized is going to ride more like a hardtail.

Turn the Gate on the Monarch on Full adn it will be just as stiff as the Specialized while climbing out of the saddle.....not so much with the RP23.


Yes, I do agree that FS 29ers are finally hitting their stride.....and yes, i do happen to enjoy my Tallboy.
 
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Discussion starter · #5 ·
mtnbikej said:
Thanks for the review/comparison..........

Just one thought though......

While reading the only thing I could think of, was this review was being done by a guy that prefers to ride a HT SS. Seems a little biased.

You stated that you don't want an active riding FS bike, that you leave your Propedal on 90% of the time, that you like to climb out of the saddle. Yes, the Specialized is going to ride more like a hardtail.

Turn the Gate on the Monarch on Full adn it will be just as stiff as the Specialized while climbing out of the saddle.....not so much with the RP23.
Click to expand...
I don't really prefer to ride a hardtail SS, but I do love riding a hardtail SS. I also love an FS bike...I would never NOT have an FS bike in the quiver. It is about 50/50 as to what I ride on a given day, depending on the ride planned.

All tests are biased...at least you know where I am coming from.

Yes, I do ride my Lev with PP on most of the time and I do enjoy a bike that feels snappy out of the saddle. Not too many FS bikes do. However, I sit and climb for hours on long fireroads and I prefer that the bike not float around there either. My Lev with PP on will not cycle the shock at all when pedaling smoothly in the saddle.

Even with the Monarch Gate to the 'Full Gate" position, the Tall Boy is not the same as the Epic. It just is not. It is not bad (it is really VERY good), but it is different, and a lot of that I think is coming from the anti-sqaut that is designed into the bike.
 
#7 ·
A question.

Nice review Mike. Your work is refreshingly thorough and objective compared to much of the prattle shoveled at the masses by the "media".

And reading between the lines, I can't help but wonder if all of these FS designs aren't somehow at the mercy of the rear shock manufacturers/tuners.

Isn't an RX 29, for all intents and purposes an Epic Marathon w/ less advanced rear shock damping circuitry? Isn't that really where any real advantage lies with the Marathon? If this is incorrect or somehow an oversimplification, how so?

Further, looking at the equation from a dollar/performance ratio, with a $6K budget, isn't an "obsolete" RX 29 w/Edge XC/DT240's, A Reba Race, "Pushed" RP 23, Formula R1 brakes, and an XT/SLX drivetrain going to be lighter, less expensive [slightly] package, and likely to preform as well or better than the Tallboy/Epic?

What's your take?

In the interest of candor, I am biased, owning a sub 25 lb RX 29, sigh, that sits mostly, because it's a "stone" compared to a 29er hardtail I have on climbs.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
jms said:
Nice review Mike. Your work is refreshingly thorough and objective compared to much of the prattle shoveled at the masses by the "media".

And reading between the lines, I can't help but wonder if all of these FS designs aren't somehow at the mercy of the rear shock manufacturers/tuners.

Isn't an RX 29, for all intents and purposes an Epic Marathon w/ less advanced rear shock damping circuitry? Isn't that really where any real advantage lies with the Marathon? If this is incorrect or somehow an oversimplification, how so?

Further, looking at the equation from a dollar/performance ratio, with a $6K budget, isn't an "obsolete" RX 29 w/Edge XC/DT240's, A Reba Race, "Pushed" RP 23, Formula R1 brakes, and an XT/SLX drivetrain going to be lighter, less expensive [slightly] package, and likely to preform as well or better than the Tallboy/Epic?

What's your take?

In the interest of candor, I am biased, owning a sub 25 lb RX 29, sigh, that sits mostly, because it's a "stone" compared to a 29er hardtail I have on climbs.
Click to expand...
Thanks.

Yeah, I suppose that might be a reasonable thing to say about the Racer X. I really like the RX, always have. It has a solid frame like the Epic, the FSR, etc, and about the same amount of travel. I got a great deal on my Lev 3.0 and I bought it used-like-new, but those deals on the old RX frames that have been around last year? Killer buy IMO.

I hope to be on a Rockstar soon, so we will see how that goes.

What I don't think you can get...and I may be wrong...is the total effect that the Mini Brain gives on the trail. It is not like ProPedal, at least to my thinking it is not. It goes one step further with the platform thingy going on. But, honestly my Lev with PP on still feels really, really good when I get on it and ride hard...but I can't quite get full travel AND great pedaling performance with it...unless I flip the switch. The Brain just is unique that way.

The bad side? Well it is proprietary so if it fails...there you are. It has happened before.

There is another thing that I have been thinking about and you mentioned it with the shock tuning thing: Maybe synergy is the word, but the thought is a bike package that works as a whole because each part was designed to compliment the other, not just a bunch of good parts hung on a frame. I think the Marathon is a peek at that - the Roval wheels and the OS 28 hubs that work with the custom Reba with CF crown and Ti guts, the Mini Brain tuned JUST for that bike...etc. It is an interesting approach at a way of building a bike if the builder/designer has the $$, resources, and control over as many parts as possible.

The bad part of that can be too many proprietary parts and no options to run another part, etc. I dunno...just what has been bouncing around my head.
 
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