[takeouttonys]

I've been riding a Kona Unit X for a year and a half and would like to add something with some suspension. I live in Portland and have generally been riding at various trails outside of town. Post Canyon, Wilson River, Stubb Stewart, and Hagg Lake are places I've ridden and enjoyed. Wilson River trail was a bit rocky for the Unit. I'd like to check out some of the area around St Helens and the Mt Hood bike parks as well. At 42 I'm not aiming to do big jumps and drops. I'm more about flow trails, some fun downhill, and getting out in the woods.

So, the eternal question, hard tail or full suspension? What is a good bike for this part of the country? I really only have room for one more bike, and I'd like to keep the Unit. I can swing a full sus, should I just get that so I don't feel the need to upgrade down the road? I was eying the Ibis Ripley AF. At $3200 - $3500 it seemed like a good value. Now that its price has gone up to $4000, at least for the NGX version, that stings alot more. Other thoughts are a used Stumpjumper Comp Alloy, or perhaps a Fuse Expert or the new Chameleon if I could find one.

I spent a week riding around the Ashville NC area on a friend's Hei Hei trail, which is a full sus. I have not spent any considerable time on a hard tail.

I'm curious what other folks around here ride, thanks in advance for your input!

 

[shakazulu12]

Ripley AF sounds perfect for the riding you do.

 

[zooman]

Well I currently ride a 2003 Kona Bear but it's not exactly "modern geometry"! Really like the Konas and they are PNW and based just North of where I'm at in Seattle-Tacoma area. Have you considered the Kona Process 134? Just thinking it's Kona and you may find it familiar to your Unit X. I'm currently looking at that along with the Polygon Siskiu t8 (mail order Indonesia) as well for the value. Both in the same $2500 price range. Bet I'm riding very similar terrain here closer to Mt. Rainier and the Olympic Peninsula. Guessing either of those might be cost-effective options. Happy hunting.

 

[WHALENARD]

The Polygon is a good recommendation.

I'm 49, live in Portland, and currently ride a Stumpjumper Evo. Fantastic all around'er, but would prefer more bike still If it pedaled as well. A full suspension bike will allow you to ride more aggressively and in fact you likely will to achieve the same thrill. If bike purchases are rare for you I would strongly consider that moving forward.

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[takeouttonys]

Fantastic all around'er, but would prefer more bike still If it pedaled as well. A full suspension bike will allow you to ride more aggressively and in fact you likely will to achieve the same thrill. If bike purchases are rare for you I would strongly consider that moving forward.

Thanks for that input. So you are saying you would prefer a bike with even more travel if it pedaled as well? That is good food for thought, maybe I should lean towards a used Stumpjumper Alloy Comp, there are a few out there from 2021, which beats the current price increase in bikes.

Yea ideally i don't plan on making alot of bike purchases. So a full suspension sounds it would cover all possible bases

 

[WHALENARD]

Thanks for that input. So you are saying you would prefer a bike with even more travel if it pedaled as well? That is good food for thought, maybe I should lean towards a used Stumpjumper Alloy Comp, there are a few out there from 2021, which beats the current price increase in bikes.

Yea ideally i don't plan on making alot of bike purchases. So a full suspension sounds it would cover all possible bases

Keep in mind the stumpjumper and stumpjumper Evo are radically different bikes.

But yes if it pedaled and climbed well I would probably take 10 mm more travel at either end for the ideal "do-it-all" bike.

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[Simplydown]

I would just keep the UnitX and upgrade it with a -2 Works Angleset + Marzocchi Bomber Z2 120mm fork and a dropper if you don't already have one.

 

[takeouttonys]

I would just keep the UnitX and upgrade it with a -2 Works Angleset + Marzocchi Bomber Z2 120mm fork and a dropper if you don't already have one.

Yea, that does sound fun. I'm definitely not selling the Unit either way. I don't know that I want to go down the rabbit hole of upgrading the Unit, though it does sound fun. When I emailed Kona about adding a suspension fork they said 100mm tops. I don't know much about this stuff, but would an angle set with a 120mm fork keep the geo intact for that frame?

That would get me something with suspension without spending a ton of money, then I can worry about another bike later down the road after I have ridden more.

 

[Simplydown]

Yea, that does sound fun. I'm definitely not selling the Unit either way. I don't know that I want to go down the rabbit hole of upgrading the Unit, though it does sound fun. When I emailed Kona about adding a suspension fork they said 100mm tops. I don't know much about this stuff, but would an angle set with a 120mm fork keep the geo intact for that frame?

That would get me something with suspension without spending a ton of money, then I can worry about another bike later down the road after I have ridden more.

Yep, a -2 angleset + 120mm fork keeps the front end height virtually the same and just slacks out the head tube angle. The Unit is a really nice frame for the money so it's worth upgrading imho. This is an article worth reading if you haven't done so already: https://meatengines.com/f/my-dream-unit-a-recipe-for-min-maxing-rigid-shore-single-speeds

 

[MyDadSucks]

Some of the gnarliest trails ive ever ridden are within 1-2 hours driving from portland metro area. If i lived there and could only have one bike, it would be a long travel 29er.

Seems like you want something that climbs well and isn't expensive. Ripmo af seems like a good option, alloy sentinel is also pretty good.

 

[yakswak]

Anything 120-140mm travel range works as an all arounder here. I have a 130mm Hardtail and a OG Hightower at 150/135mm travel. I’d be happy with just the Hardtail too but I already owned the Hightower and it’s fun to mix things up. I ride around Mt Hood mainly (Sandy Ridge mainly, or on XC rides linking the trails and gravel roads around Mt Hood National forest for 40-50mi hammerfests).

 

[Sparticus]

I live in Salem.
Sandy Ridge, 44 Trails, Post Canyon, Falls Creek, Black Rock, Alsea Falls and Silver Falls are a few of my go-to riding zones.
I've got a singlespeed hardtail, a mid-travel 29er (140mm GG Smash) and a long travel 29er (163mm Canfield Lithium.)
If I had to pare down to one bike, I'd keep the mid-travel 29er for these riding areas as well as everything else here in Oregon.
It'll do everything I'm capable of doing on the longer travel bike, I just won't be quite as comfortable on certain super-tech, high speed trails.
Though the previous sentence may say more about my riding inabilities than it does about the longer travel bike's capabilities.
The singlespeed is fun where it's fun... not where it's not. During the past 5 years I've learned to get my wheels off the ground.
Once I did that, the sport of mountain biking fundamentally changed for me. For the better.
Anymore I'm pretty bored riding trails that don't provide opportunities for such entertainment, and FS is the best way to exploit said opportunities while pegging the grin factor.
There are lots of good mid-travel bikes on the market these days and they don't need 29" wheels to be good -- I'm on wagon wheels mainly because I'm tall.
The Ripley is worth the coin, IMO.
=sParty

 

[Le Duke]

If I was back in Hood River, I’d have a 120mm bike for long days and a bigger bike for shuttle days.

Spur or Ripley built up light, plus something built like a tank.


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[takeouttonys]

Thanks for the input folks, great stuff and this is super helpful. So it sounds like most of you all are riding full suspension. Maybe I just need to spring for that Ripley AF then..

 

[WHALENARD]

Thanks for the input folks, great stuff and this is super helpful. So it sounds like most of you all are riding full suspension. Maybe I just need to spring for that Ripley AF then..

Hey takeout, I don't know if you're on Facebook but there's a fantastic buy/sell group called pnwbikeclassifieds. You can find absolutely killer deals on there. I've bought and sold a bunch on there and every transaction was smooth with zero flakes thus far

PNW Bicycle Classifieds! | Facebook

Let's get one thing out of the way first. If your location on Facebook is not public, you must message an admin or moderator to be approved. There are too many requests daily for us to search...

www.facebook.com

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[takeouttonys]

Thanks! I'll check that out. I was looking at the Pink Bike Buy and Sell for my area, lots of good used deals out there for sure. Seems to be a way to maybe lessen the $500+ increase in bike prices the past year

 

[WHALENARD]

Pinkbike can be good but it's definitely a little more Craigslist esque. Most everything on pnwclassifieds is between Portland and Seattle. I just looked on there, there's a Megatower, a Sentinel, and an SB-130LR all priced very well. The Megatower is a smoking deal. Not that either of those bikes are something you might be after but just an FYI.

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[FortOrdMTB]

I've been riding a Kona Unit X for a year and a half and would like to add something with some suspension. I live in Portland and have generally been riding at various trails outside of town. Post Canyon, Wilson River, Stubb Stewart, and Hagg Lake are places I've ridden and enjoyed. Wilson River trail was a bit rocky for the Unit. I'd like to check out some of the area around St Helens and the Mt Hood bike parks as well. At 42 I'm not aiming to do big jumps and drops. I'm more about flow trails, some fun downhill, and getting out in the woods.

So, the eternal question, hard tail or full suspension? What is a good bike for this part of the country? I really only have room for one more bike, and I'd like to keep the Unit. I can swing a full sus, should I just get that so I don't feel the need to upgrade down the road? I was eying the Ibis Ripley AF. At $3200 - $3500 it seemed like a good value. Now that its price has gone up to $4000, at least for the NGX version, that stings alot more. Other thoughts are a used Stumpjumper Comp Alloy, or perhaps a Fuse Expert or the new Chameleon if I could find one.

I spent a week riding around the Ashville NC area on a friend's Hei Hei trail, which is a full sus. I have not spent any considerable time on a hard tail.

I'm curious what other folks around here ride, thanks in advance for your input!

My vote is the Ripley or go with an AL Santa Cruz Tallboy. You won’t be disappointed.

 

[milehi]

I lived in Mcminnville in the late 90s/2000s and rode the secret trails at the end of Baker Creek Road (long gone), Hagg Lake, Browns Camp and MRT ect. A full rigid MB1 was fine, and later a RM Element 100/80mm, both of which were perfect. I also rode my free ride bike on these trails, a RM DH Race with 150/140 with one of the very first PUSH tunes on the Vanilla RC. It was really overkill for the trails which are all XC. These days, I ride my full rigid single speed when I visit family there.

 

[WHALENARD]

I lived in Mcminnville in the late 90s/2000s and rode the secret trails at the end of Baker Creek Road (long gone), Hagg Lake, Browns Camp and MRT ect. A full rigid MB1 was fine, and later a RM Element 100/80mm, both of which were perfect. I also rode my free ride bike on these trails, a RM DH Race with 150/140 with one of the very first PUSH tunes on the Vanilla RC. It was really overkill for the trails which are all XC. These days, I ride my full rigid single speed when I visit family there.

Check out Fear and Loaming next time you're over at Brown's

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