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9 Posts
Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I am in the market for a 27.5. (I tried a ton of 29ers and they didn't seem to fit, even on S or XS frames; one ride on a 27.5 convinced me that it's the right size for me.)
I likely will only ride trails a few times a year, but will use the bike a lot to ride with my kids around town, on pavement, grass, and gravel. So part of me thinks I should just buy a bottom of the barrel bike, although the part of me that has a reasonably nice road bike wants a Deore-ish level mountain bike. (Did I mention I'm a bit schizo?)
This leaves me agonizing over the bike to buy. Part of my problem is that the local shops have very few 27.5s to try, and I don't want to buy something I've not ridden. So my choices seem to come down to the following:
LOW END: Scott Aspect 750 ($600), Felt 7 Eighty ($600)
MID: Scott Aspect 740 ($700), Scott Contessa Scale 730 ($850)
HIGHER: Scott 770 ($1100), Felt 7 Sixty ($1050)
Any thoughts on just how lousy the low end bikes are? In other words, am I one trail ride away from needing to replace parts?
In the middle range, am I really getting anything worth the increase in price over the low end? (As an aside, I know the Contessa is a woman's bike, but it seems to fit me well, and it doesn't have any obvious "women-specific" features that won't work for me.)
At the top, I assume the Scott is a much better buy than the Felt based simply on components, but I don't have a good way to figure out how the frames compare.
Any and all thoughts welcome, as well as any advice about other 27.5 bikes I should search out to try. (Having said that, I think I've tried every one in the greater DC area, including a Novarro at REI that I didn't care for.)
Thanks!
I likely will only ride trails a few times a year, but will use the bike a lot to ride with my kids around town, on pavement, grass, and gravel. So part of me thinks I should just buy a bottom of the barrel bike, although the part of me that has a reasonably nice road bike wants a Deore-ish level mountain bike. (Did I mention I'm a bit schizo?)
This leaves me agonizing over the bike to buy. Part of my problem is that the local shops have very few 27.5s to try, and I don't want to buy something I've not ridden. So my choices seem to come down to the following:
LOW END: Scott Aspect 750 ($600), Felt 7 Eighty ($600)
MID: Scott Aspect 740 ($700), Scott Contessa Scale 730 ($850)
HIGHER: Scott 770 ($1100), Felt 7 Sixty ($1050)
Any thoughts on just how lousy the low end bikes are? In other words, am I one trail ride away from needing to replace parts?
In the middle range, am I really getting anything worth the increase in price over the low end? (As an aside, I know the Contessa is a woman's bike, but it seems to fit me well, and it doesn't have any obvious "women-specific" features that won't work for me.)
At the top, I assume the Scott is a much better buy than the Felt based simply on components, but I don't have a good way to figure out how the frames compare.
Any and all thoughts welcome, as well as any advice about other 27.5 bikes I should search out to try. (Having said that, I think I've tried every one in the greater DC area, including a Novarro at REI that I didn't care for.)
Thanks!