I live in central PA.
I used to try to MTB quite a bit back around '98-'05. Had a hardtail 26er with NORBA geometry back then. Switched to road biking then to trail running. Got tired of rolling ankles and took the old bike out onto the trails. Was able to put bigger tires on it then I had on it back in the day. Found I could ride pretty good. But, a 18 year old bike is........well, a 18 y/o bike. So I started looking for a new one.
I was able to demo or test several bikes including two of the Guerilla Gravity bikes on parking lot rides, a Specialized Stumpy, and a Giant Stance or Trance. The Giant was a 27.5.
I spent a lot of time setting up the Stumpy and Giant because I was able to get them on the trails I actually ride. The Stumpy just seemed to wallow along and handled "heavy". It just seemed like I was perched on top of it. The GG bikes had somewhat of the same feel but still were more lively. The Giant didn't have much better roll over then my old 26er. The GG bikes handled better then both when jumping curbs and tight turns in the parking lot.
So I was all set to order a GG bike when they did their updates in January of 2019. Then they quit making Aluminum. I don't want a carbon MTB. So then I had to go looking and riding season was coming up.
Then I stumbled onto Foes. Did a lot of research and decided to take a chance on the Trail Mixer.
I got it set up with DVO suspenison. The Topaz3 and a Sapphire up front. That's all I got through Foes, building the rest of it up myself. I'll spare the fine details on the build with the exception of the Tires. I'm running a 2.8 Terrene Mcfly upfront and a 2.6 Maxxis Recon in the back. Tubeless of course. I run pressures between 15-18 lbs with less in the front then the rear.
I mostly ride in the area of R.B. Winters and have been on most, if not all of the trails that are on MtBproject.com. That includes some of the trails with a lot of long rock gardens like Old Tram and Top Mountain. I'm very pleased with how it handles on the rocks. Much better roll over then the Stumpy and Giant. To tell the truth the Stumpy was not much better then my 26er HT. When it's time to climb on the trails it does better then my much lighter 26er, it just feels snappy when getting on the pedals. I also will ride some over at the Rattling Creek trails in the Lykens area and want to get up to Rothrock sometime this year.
Overall I'm sold on the Mixer concept especially when a bike is designed from the ground up for that.
The one thing that I do not like about it is the way the shock is mounted. You can't mount a waterbottle on the frame. I don't really mind a pack but I think I would ride lighter without one. At the same time 1 or 2 water bottles won't get me very far so for any ride over 15 miles, and mine all are I'd be taking a pack anyway.
So hopefully that helps you somewhat. I would not be afraid of ordering one without a Demo. If you get a bike from any of the smaller builders, chances are you will have to order it without a Demo because here in PA most people just get bikes from whatever shop(s) is close to them.
Sorry about the long dissertation. I work in healthcare and routinely get exposed to COVID. Just spiked a fever yesterday and am locked in my bedroom with too much time on my hands.
