I'm really struggling to determine which bike to purchase. I'm currently on a 7 year old Yeti 575 and ready to pull the trigger on a new bike. I'm looking at the SC Bronson (X0-1 kit), Troy RR build or Mach 6 (XO-1). Due to weather it's going to be awhile until I can ride so I was looking on any input from anyone that may have tried or owns these bikes.
SC Bronson vs Devinci Troy vs Pivot Mach 6
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I came off a 9 year old jamis hardtail, and went with the bronson. I purchased it last June. Best decision of my life. I went with the aluminum RAM kit with the kashima rear shock cus i'm not a balla. But it sounds like you can get the cream of the crop. Go with the Bronson. I was originally looking at speci enduro's but am glad i went with my decision. It climbs well too and i can charge the bike park on it. I have zero complaints with it other than i do drop chains with the 3x set up and vpp. I need to convert it to a 1x/poor mans x01.
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I have a troy and it's sick. I haven't ridden the others, so I can't objectively say it's the best of the bunch. What I will say is it's firm under pedaling and plush on descents. I think all of those bikes will be that way for you. I think it would be a matter of figuring out what angles and sizes fit you best, along with aesthetics and spec value. Obviously, riding them is the way to go, but at least with regards to Devinci dealers; they are not plentiful in the states.
If you go the troy route, you might want to look into the XP spec and upgrade from there. The only reason I mention that is, you get the Pike with the XP kit. You can get it with the carbon frame for a $500 up charge from what the XP alloy build is($3500 total). Depending on what the prices end up being, it might make more financial sense to get that build and swap parts.
Good luck with your choice. You won't make a bad decision. It's nice to know that regardless what you pick, you'll get a sick looking, sick riding bike that will likely do pretty much anything you want. Take care.
If you go the troy route, you might want to look into the XP spec and upgrade from there. The only reason I mention that is, you get the Pike with the XP kit. You can get it with the carbon frame for a $500 up charge from what the XP alloy build is($3500 total). Depending on what the prices end up being, it might make more financial sense to get that build and swap parts.
Good luck with your choice. You won't make a bad decision. It's nice to know that regardless what you pick, you'll get a sick looking, sick riding bike that will likely do pretty much anything you want. Take care.
Thanks for the suggestions and I know it's very subjective. tokarsky thanks for the info on the build kit; I'll take a look at that option. I was going to go with the Pike as the LBS told me that Devinci will do the Pike or the Fox for the same price.
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Sure thing. Happy to help.
I forgot to add the types of trails. I mainly ride trails in Park City, UT, Las Vegas, NV and Fruita, CO if that makes a difference. I know a lot of it comes down to personal preference and I don't think I can go wrong with the selection that I'm looking at.
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I was bored with some downtime at work and I figured something for you. Troy Carbon XP($3500)+ X01($1200ish I think)+Reverb stealth($450). That puts you at $5150 vs the RR price of $6599. Now, you either need at XD driver for the X01 or get wheels that are 1X11 compatible. If you went with light-bicycle carbon wheels with Hope hubs, that puts you at $6050. New Ibis 41mm carbons: $6350. ENVE AMs: $7650. Who knows what money you could get back or get credited from your LBS with the parts you wouldn't use. If you set up that build with the Light-bicycle wheels and a RaceFace Next SL crank, you'd have a seriously light, seriously capable ride, and it'd be the same as the RR build. It could be very interesting. I suppose that's the fun of building up a sweet custom ride.
Thanks for all the great info. Funny that you sent that we had already discussed the Race face next sl and upgrading the brakes. There are only a few (2) Troy's left in stock for medium which I think is my size. Otherwise, I can wait until May but it will be in next years color (green). Of course there is also a new devinci coming out, but I still think the Troy is going to be the best for my riding. I was getting the RR for ~$5900, but it still sounds like it makes sense to look at the custom build you mentioned. Now I need to research wheels. 
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Haven't rode a Troy, so can't comment there, visually it looks nice. Have a Bronson and overall I'm pretty happy. But I looked at the Mach 6 and two things just really bothered me. As someone with years on the Nomad, why is anyone still making 6" bikes with 71 degree seat angles? All these bikes are so versatile and can be ridden both up and down. However, if you set the bike up with 25-30% sag, then are climbing, you can easily be at 35-40% sag which equals a crazy slack seat angle and really uncomfortable climbing very long. The more progressive companies now are at 74 or 75 degree SA and the difference between the Nomad and Bronson in terms of a comfortable saddle position climbing was very noticeable. Santa Cruz address this in the new Nomad, but Focus, LaPierre and others are are ahead of SC IMHO.
Second, the only Mach 6 I've seen had crazy tight tolerances on between the bottom linkage and the carbon and sand was already getting stuck and grinding away. Looked like over the long term it would be at least cosmetically hammered.
Second, the only Mach 6 I've seen had crazy tight tolerances on between the bottom linkage and the carbon and sand was already getting stuck and grinding away. Looked like over the long term it would be at least cosmetically hammered.
Great info. GrooveNinja. Thanks for the info on the two bikes. I've been trying to do a lot of reading to understand the measurements and how they affect the ride so I appreciate the detail. In the past I just jumped on and found something that felt right and didn't really look at the specs, but knew what I liked.
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I've owned a Nomad for 5yrs+ and just got a Mach 6. They both climb well. The Mach 6 sits higher in its travel so the effective STA while climbing is not as slack as the geo chart suggests relative to other designs. I've never understood the criticism of the slack STA and certainly climb great on both bikes.
Tech climbing is my priority which is why I went with the Mach 6 and its DW-Link. Having a bike that's 8lbs lighter than the Nomad doesn't hurt either...
One notable benefit to the M6's geo is that it combines a short CS with decent sized TT in a short overall wheelbase. If you ride tight trails that's great. :thumbsup:
As for the wear around the lower linkage on the M6 two small sections of protective tape solve that in about 60 seconds. The Lizard Skins patches fit perfectly. It's only cosmetic damage, but why not prevent it if it's easy?
FWIW - I wouldn't be unhappy to ride any of these bikes. They are different so it's worth considering which will serve you best, but at least you are picking from 3 nice options.
Wow! That is a beautiful Pivot. The LBS only had the black and from the picture in the brochure I didn't care much for the blue, but after seeing your's I have an entirely different opinion. I'm currently leaning towards the Troy; mainly because I really like working with the shop. They are a small family shop, but go the extra mile and they've been very easy to work with. I like SC, but I had a HORRIBLE experience with the dealer close to be so I'd have to drive elsewhere for that bike.
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Thanks. I ride in the forest 95% of the time so a bright bike is nice.
I considered a Troy briefly when I was looking for a new bike. I thought about getting a shorter travel bike and keeping my Nomad for heavy duty use then decided I was better off with one main bike...so I wanted a longer travel ride.
The AL Troys are made in Canada which is pretty cool and the carbon bikes look very nice.
I've enjoyed my Santa Cruz bikes, but when you drop a lot of $$ on a new ride you want a LBS you can trust to stand behind you if anything bad happens.
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I wrote up an extensive comparison of my experiences having owned a Bronson and now owning a Mach 6 over on the Pivot forum:
http://forums.mtbr.com/pivot-cycles/bronsonc-vs-mach6-my-thoughts-experiences-905338.html
Re: the slack seat angle, I'd echo what Vik said: the DW link on the M6 rides high in its travel and has a lot of anti-squat built in.
IMHO the steep seat angle on many "modern" MTBs is a band-aid solution to cover up squat-prone long travel suspension designs. This makes a bike that will climb OK even when "squatted", but that puts the rider in a non-optimal pedaling position on flatter ground, with too much weight on the hands. The Mach 6's slacker angle feels very balanced when pedaling, and means it has a shorter wheelbase, which makes the bike more playful and fun (again, my opinion.)
http://forums.mtbr.com/pivot-cycles/bronsonc-vs-mach6-my-thoughts-experiences-905338.html
Re: the slack seat angle, I'd echo what Vik said: the DW link on the M6 rides high in its travel and has a lot of anti-squat built in.
IMHO the steep seat angle on many "modern" MTBs is a band-aid solution to cover up squat-prone long travel suspension designs. This makes a bike that will climb OK even when "squatted", but that puts the rider in a non-optimal pedaling position on flatter ground, with too much weight on the hands. The Mach 6's slacker angle feels very balanced when pedaling, and means it has a shorter wheelbase, which makes the bike more playful and fun (again, my opinion.)
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That is a ridiculously good looking bike.![]()
Great review DrewBird and based on my riding I think I'm going to eliminate the Bronson from the list between what I've read and my experience with the dealer. I may wait a few weeks for the full specs on the new longer travel devinci bike before making a final decision.
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I can't wait to see that new Devinci. Even more, I'm hoping someone does a shootout between the Norco Range C, Intense T275, New Nomad, and The Devinci X. What an awesome time that such amazing bikes are coming out.
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vikib: great looking build! Where did you get the custom fork decals?
Protective tape would not have stopped the gouges I saw on the lower pivot. To get the rock out, the guy had to pull the pivot apart and the gouges were 1/8" deep on the linkage and carbon.
That might be our difference, I have basically no flat trails, I'm either climbing for hours or descending. It could be shock tune or setup as well, but at 30% sag on flat I still wanted better small bump sensitivity on the M6, so I hardly wanted more air in the shock and climbing I was seeing 35-40% sag depending on the trail. When measuring how far the seat is behind the BB, it was quite a bit further behind the BB than than the Bronson and quite a few other bikes I was considering. I'm sure this is personal preference, but years of climbs on a Nomad and my knees just can't do that position comfortably anymore and a 74+ SA is ideal for my legs and femur length. Perhaps as you said, this is a more balanced bike on flat terrain than the 74/75 degree SA bikes.
Protective tape would not have stopped the gouges I saw on the lower pivot. To get the rock out, the guy had to pull the pivot apart and the gouges were 1/8" deep on the linkage and carbon.
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