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I'm curious on getting some opinions,
I'm looking at picking up a bike to race O-Cup with next season and I'm on a limited budget. So a fair bit of research and a few test rides I've come to narrow down my selection to 1 of the following bikes. Giant XTC (I think at the lowest price with comparable specs is a great buy, GF Paragon or E-Cal 29er (the extra speed carried on the flats and ability to pound through rocks is attractive), and GF Big Sur.
I started mountain biking last and bought a 7inch freeride bike (I was looking for a bike to provide an adrenaline and survive some lift access) and loved it, but to my supprise I also loved XC riding as well (even with a 40+ pound bike). Raced a 24 hour race and now I'm hooked and want a lighter bike that I can race the O-cup with. other info 5'10 weight between 155 and 160.
I'm actually leaning towards the 29ers as that is what I rented for the 24 hour race and like the bike with the exception that I thought it felt a little big and comberson a couple really tight section, but I think that was more due to the bike being a large and I should of been on a Medium then the tires. I hope to get the shop that carries gary fisher to let me take out both a Med 29er and Big Sur to some single track so I can try them back to back and get a really good feel for the difference between the two. My only concern I'm having with the 29er is the slower sprint everyone talks about that may cause a disadvantage at the start forcing me to fight my way through more traffic as well as sprinting hard out of corners.
Any feed back would be great, however I would appreciate it if we could hold the comments from those who decide to bash or support the 29er to those who have ridden them a significant amount vs. simply read about them or heard from others (I've done that research already).
I'm looking at picking up a bike to race O-Cup with next season and I'm on a limited budget. So a fair bit of research and a few test rides I've come to narrow down my selection to 1 of the following bikes. Giant XTC (I think at the lowest price with comparable specs is a great buy, GF Paragon or E-Cal 29er (the extra speed carried on the flats and ability to pound through rocks is attractive), and GF Big Sur.
I started mountain biking last and bought a 7inch freeride bike (I was looking for a bike to provide an adrenaline and survive some lift access) and loved it, but to my supprise I also loved XC riding as well (even with a 40+ pound bike). Raced a 24 hour race and now I'm hooked and want a lighter bike that I can race the O-cup with. other info 5'10 weight between 155 and 160.
I'm actually leaning towards the 29ers as that is what I rented for the 24 hour race and like the bike with the exception that I thought it felt a little big and comberson a couple really tight section, but I think that was more due to the bike being a large and I should of been on a Medium then the tires. I hope to get the shop that carries gary fisher to let me take out both a Med 29er and Big Sur to some single track so I can try them back to back and get a really good feel for the difference between the two. My only concern I'm having with the 29er is the slower sprint everyone talks about that may cause a disadvantage at the start forcing me to fight my way through more traffic as well as sprinting hard out of corners.
Any feed back would be great, however I would appreciate it if we could hold the comments from those who decide to bash or support the 29er to those who have ridden them a significant amount vs. simply read about them or heard from others (I've done that research already).