I have what I consoder a pretty nice xc bike that I like riding on tame trails and even paved grenway with my kids. It's a 2013 gt sensor 29er expert, basically a 120mm travel FS.
There are a couple of places here in Houston that have jumps and other more technical features that I would love to practice riding (especially the flying through the air part...) that I just don't think the 29'er is well suited for.
So I am thinking of maybe buying a second bike with more travel for just those features. I wrecked on my 29'er about a week ago and broke some ribs and stuff, and partially blame the bike a little, since I was simply not able to make a mid-corner correction that ended up slamming me into something solid. I would say 80% riding skill and 20% bike is at fault. anyway, enough about that.
I am thinking of several paths:
- trade in the 29'er for a longer travel 27.5'er and have just one bike for everything
- keep the 29'er for cruising, and buy a cheap, used 26" AM/DH bike for the jumping and whatnot
-keep the 29er and also buy an additional (new or new-ish) 27.5er or 26 bike, something like the GT Force or something of that nature
I am kind of going in circles on this decision, and would love to hear thoughts or comments on what you guys think I maybe ought to do. I'm sure "learn how to ride the 29'er without crashing into shiz" will feature prominently in the feedback, but that's ok. I am not sure that the 29'er is the right bike to take to practice jumps and medium to bigger drops.
There are a couple of places here in Houston that have jumps and other more technical features that I would love to practice riding (especially the flying through the air part...) that I just don't think the 29'er is well suited for.
So I am thinking of maybe buying a second bike with more travel for just those features. I wrecked on my 29'er about a week ago and broke some ribs and stuff, and partially blame the bike a little, since I was simply not able to make a mid-corner correction that ended up slamming me into something solid. I would say 80% riding skill and 20% bike is at fault. anyway, enough about that.
I am thinking of several paths:
- trade in the 29'er for a longer travel 27.5'er and have just one bike for everything
- keep the 29'er for cruising, and buy a cheap, used 26" AM/DH bike for the jumping and whatnot
-keep the 29er and also buy an additional (new or new-ish) 27.5er or 26 bike, something like the GT Force or something of that nature
I am kind of going in circles on this decision, and would love to hear thoughts or comments on what you guys think I maybe ought to do. I'm sure "learn how to ride the 29'er without crashing into shiz" will feature prominently in the feedback, but that's ok. I am not sure that the 29'er is the right bike to take to practice jumps and medium to bigger drops.