[older and slower]

Mostly ride in East Bay, Marin, 2-3 trips/year to Downieville.

Asking here for opinions from those I know.

Thanks.

 

[Loll]

For the price you have to pay for an Ellsworth...you get alot more of an LT2, perhaps with the X-9AM kit.

Ellsworth makes nice bikes. But the LT2 is a super-D machine that is perfect for D-ville, Demo, You-See-As-See,

However, think about how you like your landing to feel on a drop, or how you like to feel going through rock gardens. Do you go big?

VPP and the 4 bar?? system on Ellsworth feels different through their travels.

 

[Prettym1k3]

Blur LT2 is an awesome trail bike. Go with that.

Ellsworth linkage is an old design that I'm not terribly fond of. They make great bikes, but they're WAY too overpriced for me to ever buy one.

 

[William42]

Another vote for the LT2. Its a pretty sick bike. You can do jumps and drops and stuff. and pedal to the top. and sometimes it will make you waffles and bacon in the morning if you cuddle with it.

 

[grrrah]

BLTc

 

[zorg]

Never rode the Ells so I can't comment. The Blur LT I rode last year fat Downieville elt pretty harsh though. It pedaled great and the geometry was great on high speed stuff, but the lack of small bump compliance was subpar. So, at the end of the day, it depends on what you're looking in a bike. Plenty of great bikes out there with 5.5" of travel.

 

[Cycledelic]

I can't be more helpful but to say that I am happy with my LT. It handles the most challenging terrain in Marin with aplomb. That's right, aplomb.

With a Talas it climbs like a dream - Willow Camp no more, you will say Pillow Camp.

 

[d-bug]

Never rode the Ells so I can't comment. The Blur LT I rode last year fat Downieville elt pretty harsh though. It pedaled great and the geometry was great on high speed stuff, but the lack of small bump compliance was subpar. So, at the end of the day, it depends on what you're looking in a bike. Plenty of great bikes out there with 5.5" of travel.

Gotta agree with Zorg. I ride a Mojo and demo'd a LT2 at D'ville and was super disappointed with the suspension when compared to the Mojo. It was a bone jarring ride. I even let out a bunch of air to try and get a smooth ride.

Have a look at the Mojo and new Turner 5 spot too.

 

[DanT]

I have a blur classic with a 5th element, so this may not be completely relevant, but I found out that the recommended pressure settings turn the bike into a hard tail and the sag is only 5mm instead of the recommended 20mm or so. I had to decrease the pressure from a recommended value of 120 psi to 80 psi in the main chamber to get a plusher ride. That said, I still prefer my Spot to my Blur...

 

[J]

Ride them both and pick one, if you know folks that'll let you borrow one. PTB has them for rent, I think...(blur)

 

[tburger]

I currently have 2 horst link bikes. An Ellsworth Moment and a Turner XCE. It's a tried and true suspension design and I find it handles big and small hits very well. It also climbs very efficiently IF you stay in the saddle and spin. I think that's what makes the Epiphany a great XC bike, especially for long distance rides. However, for my riding style now, I would go with a DW-link or a VPP bike. For the short steep climbs and rolling trails, I like to be able to descend fast, and then stand and power up a short climb. The Ibis Mojo and the Intense Tracer I've demo'd were great for this. With my current bikes, I feel like I lose a lot of momentum.

 

[CrashWorship]

Blur LT2 is an awesome trail bike. Go with that.

Ellsworth linkage is an old design that I'm not terribly fond of. They make great bikes, but they're WAY too overpriced for me to ever buy one.

Actually there is only a $200 difference in frame price when you compare anodized finish LT to Epiphany. So all you folks saying there's this huge price difference are flat wrong. Also 4 bar may be "old" but it's still smoother than VPP and tends to have much fewer problems.

I'd go with a Moment over a Blur LT2. If you step up to a Nomad there's nothing really comparable, particularly with the latest more climbing friendly Nomad.

 

[oakhills]

another option

Think about a Foes XCT 5. They are solid, no flex, pedal well and made in CA.

It is hard to fault a Foes...

 

[iheartbicycles]

Think about a Foes XCT 5. They are solid, no flex, pedal well and made in CA.

It is hard to fault a Foes...

I agree with Katana - but more important that anyone's opinion is to do some rides on the bikes you're interested in. Get multi-day test rides of each bike you're interested in. This is sometimes difficult to do, as demo bikes aren't easy to come by - but it is worth doing - even if that means making lots of phone calls and driving a bit...

My vote would be for any bike but Ellsworth as Tony is simply evil. Scan the Ellsworth forum for war stories of their terrible customer service.

 

[CrashWorship]

I agree with Katana - but more important that anyone's opinion is to do some rides on the bikes you're interested in. Get multi-day test rides of each bike you're interested in. This is sometimes difficult to do, as demo bikes aren't easy to come by - but it is worth doing - even if that means making lots of phone calls and driving a bit...

My vote would be for any bike but Ellsworth as Tony is simply evil. Scan the Ellsworth forum for war stories of their terrible customer service.

I'm an Ellsworth owner and I think all this type of stuff is misplaced ancient history (~yr. 2000) from people who never owned one. Granted Tony Ellsworth puts his foot in his mouth a lot and that doesn't help matters.

If you were to go via your line of reasoning you probably wouldn't by Santa Cruz either. Virtually everyone I know who has had a Blur LT has had that main pivot bolt strip out on them. There are quality problems this year with the Heckler. So every company out there has quality problems.

 

[iheartbicycles]

I'm an Ellsworth owner .

Then you're obviously biased and can't be trusted!

 

[SVSocrates]

There is no substitute for demo-ing the bikes in question. They will feel different and ONLY you can decide what feels better for you.

 

[CrashWorship]

Then you're obviously biased and can't be trusted!

As opposed to someone who has no idea what the hell they are talking about and makes $hit up they go?

 

[iheartbicycles]

As opposed to someone who has no idea what the hell they are talking about and makes $hit up they go?

unencumbered by nuance is more accurate.

 

[Jefe74]

From someone that has owned a Truth and Moment, here in another vote for checking out a DW bike (Mojo, Spot, or Pivot). ICT is a good linkage design, in my mind definitely better than faux bar and single pivot. Havn't spent enough time on VPP to judge. But ICT has been surpassed by DW Link

As someone else noted, ICT works pretty well when your seated and spinning, but once you are mashing slow or standing, it REALLY bobs. When you transition from seated to standing, there is this weird little shift or wobble, unless you run a fair ammount of platform/propedal. I have a Mojo now, and it is just amazingly consistent, uphill or down, and without any platform.

And the problems with EW is not all ancient history. Check out the forum and look for cracking Mg rockers (Epi comes with heavier Al now), telling people to run 27.4mm seatposts because the spec'ed 27.2 is slipping/creaking, high replacement costs for frame parts (I was quoted $400 for just a chainstay). Sure all bikes can have problems, but Turner, Ibis, and Pivot all have great CS reputations.

For a bike like this, I would also want the option of using a remote adjustable post. While there are a couple that fit a 27.2, having a bike with a bigger post gives a lot more options. I've got a Kind Shock one that is infinitely adjustable and 5" of travel, and you can't get something like that for 27.2.