[dieseldog]

Hi all,
I had the occasion to demo a 429 out at Dirtfest this year and was very impressed. However, the trails there are very flowy and far less rocky than my home trails. How well do they handle slow, rocky, technical, tight and twisty trails? For reference, I'm on a Ventana El Capitan and like it's stiffness.

 

[Senor StrongBad]

I have a mach 5 on rocky rooty tight and twisty trail and I have tested the 429 on the trail too. The 429 was not as snappy as the mach 5. Have you tested the 5.7? i would think if your trail are like mine then the 5.7 woudl be the better choice.

 

[skiahh]

I've ridden New England tech and now having a 429 would love to get out there again on it! The big wheels would open up different lines that would offset any lack of "snappy" you might experience.

I have no issues going slow over technical rocky stuff out here in CO. I don't think you'd have any issues other than a bit of a learning curve on how to best use the 429's capabilities to your advantage.

 

[ccornacc]

I have a 429 and was on a 5" Waltworks with ventana rear end, which had a very similar geo to the El Capitan. The 429 is far and away stiffer that the ventana rear end. I had carbon wheels on both bikes and you could notice the rear end flex on the older bike, and nothing on the pivot.

The 429 also is much snappier and lively in my opinion. It also has shorter stays and a shorter overall wheels base, which I think contributes to the feel.

I live and ride in colorado as well and it handles everything much better in my opinion. I am not sure what fork you demoed it with, but I have a reba u turn and keep it at about 110mm most of the time and feel it handles better with a fork over 100mm.

The 429 wins in all ways for me.

 

[edbraunbeck]

Hi all,
I had the occasion to demo a 429 out at Dirtfest this year and was very impressed. However, the trails there are very flowy and far less rocky than my home trails. How well do they handle slow, rocky, technical, tight and twisty trails? For reference, I'm on a Ventana El Capitan and like it's stiffness.

I was at Roth Rock last weekend which the name itself should explain the trails. It performed much better than I expected. The suspension handles the technical stuff very well regardless of going up or down.

Rode the same trails on a Niner RIP 9 last year. Certainly a more plush bike but beyond that, the 429 did just as well.

 

[DrDon]

I had a El Capitan. It still remains the king of FS stiffness. My Rey and 429 feel about the same. My Rey is semi- custom. The 429 with a 100mm fork has a racy feel but with a 120mm fork it is more neutral. My El Cap had 4in of rear travel and a Maverick fork up front initially. Never liked the steering but with a 100mm fork it steered fine. Overall I like the shorter chain stays and slacker head tube angle of the 429 but the new Ventanas sport similar geo. If riding your trails doesn't bother you on your El Cap then I think you will like the 429. However if I rode mostly rocky trails I would definately consider a Ventana. I still feel they rule in the chunk. The old gen Ventanas had great bearings and collect less mud than the small link bikes.

 

[Blk02]

I was able to test the following on my last mountain biking trip to Steamboat Springs Colorado: Trek Fuel EX9, Salsa Spearfish, Rocky Mountain Slayer 50, Ellsworth (Full Susp.), Stumpy FSR 29er, Stumpy FSR, Epic, Pivot Mach 429, and Giant Trance X2. I walked away with the Pivot Mach 429 (X9 Spec) specifically because it handled technical terrain and switchbacks better than the other bikes. I didnt even know about the Pivot bike brand and I bought the Mach 429 on the spot without any further research:thumbsup:.