[MagyarBika]

Would love to hear from any early Vertex 29er owners and how they are liking their ride.
Pictures, upgrades and weight would be very special and most likely bring tears to my eyes.

 

[rockyuphill]

Somebody's got an addiction, somebody's got an addiction! We're all enablers here.

 

[MagyarBika]

Yes, but you are the ring leader without a doubt.:nono:
You should hear my calm and well thought out justification to my wife on why I need another mountain bike for different conditions. She said, isn't all dirt the same?

Ok, back to our regular programming, Vertex 29 owners speak up. Don't make me be the first one. Besides Peteypete of course.

 

[leggatt]

I have a Vertex SE 29'er on order and I should have it by the end of January. They haven't built up too many of them. I heard about 42 or so were being built, at least in the 18" version. I will be on an 18" so as soon as I get it I will post up a review.

 

[MagyarBika]

Thanks Leggatt. I had to order one. So, after talking to my local RM rep, and hearing that they are virtually sold out, but there is one 19" available, I had to do it.
Should be arriving within a week or so, and then I'll move all my parts over from my current 29er. I am really looking forward to this one. After this I am DONE. That's 3 RM bikes in 6 months amd since I fell under the spell of RU and his beautiful bike room. Thanks Rocky.

 

[rockyuphill]

Just don't tell your wife where to find me, I don't want the beat down...

 

[MagyarBika]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: LOL. We were gonna go to Whistler for the Olympics but it was very pricey, so you are safe for at least until summer.

 

[leggatt]

Thanks Leggatt. I had to order one. So, after talking to my local RM rep, and hearing that they are virtually sold out, but there is one 19" available, I had to do it.
Should be arriving within a week or so, and then I'll move all my parts over from my current 29er. I am really looking forward to this one. After this I am DONE. That's 3 RM bikes in 6 months amd since I fell under the spell of RU and his beautiful bike room. Thanks Rocky.

Sorry man! But, I was vacillating on it until I heard quantities were low and then jumped. I am expecting the bike next week and will be on it as soon as I swap on some of my 26'er parts.

I am putting my XT M770 crankset, XT 11-32 Cassette, Ritchey WCS Carbon bar and XTR brakes. I am expecting that will shave some good weight off of the bike.

I am really excited to give it a try! This will be my first 29'er and first Rocky of my own. My wife has an ETSX so I get to join the Rocky club too!

 

[MagyarBika]

Stock components are not great on that bike, and supposedly it weighs 25.5lbs out of the factory so we should, hopefully get her down to 23-24lbs with a little TLC. My current rig weighs 29lbs so that will be a nice improvement.

 

[rockyuphill]

The wheels in the spec look a bit chubby in the hubs, but they have to use the steel freehub to survive the 12-36T cassette torque (something to keep in mind if your're swapping bits around), but the rims are super light. And Race King 29"x2.2" tires is a good spec.

 

[leggatt]

The wheels in the spec look a bit chubby in the hubs, but they have to use the steel freehub to survive the 12-36T cassette torque (something to keep in mind if your're swapping bits around), but the rims are super light. And Race King 29"x2.2" tires is a good spec.

Yup, I am little disappointed on the hub choice. I am used to lugging a 44lb Norco Six up Burnaby Mtn's cardiac hill and several other lower mainland steep climbs, so the 12-36 seems a little too crazy to me.

My current HT is about 23lbs, so if I can hit that I will be very happy.

 

[rockyuphill]

The 12-36T steel cassette is quite heavy as well, it's something like 450gms, so you can gain a big savings if you switch to an XTR 11-34 cassette and can push those climbs. With the 29" wheel diameter 12-36 is about the same crank effort as 26" and 11-34.

 

[c-record]

I've had mine for a few weeks and all I've been doing is throwing money at it which I said I wasn't going to do.

Losing weight and making it bling in gold. Should be a fun bike and hoping I can race it often this summer. Shooting for #24 after I order my Stan's wheels. :thumbsup:

 

[leggatt]

I've had mine for a few weeks and all I've been doing is throwing money at it which I said I wasn't going to do.

Losing weight and making it bling in gold. Should be a fun bike and hoping I can race it often this summer. Shooting for #24 after I order my Stan's wheels. :thumbsup:

How does it ride? Are you impressed with it?

 

[c-record]

Socked in with cold and horrible air quality so I haven't ridden it yet. I did ride one earlier and was really impressed. The Stan's 355 rims help it spin up quicker than about any other 29er. That ride is what helped me decide I wanted to get one. Great handling and well balanced. It wasn't on my short list until then.

I think mine should be really nice with the upgrades I've done. First race is in March. :thumbsup:

 

[RMB-PM]

Swap the cassette! 32t =/= 29'er friendly. You lose 2 gear inches out of the gate, so gear down.

That is all.

I am putting my XT M770 crankset, XT 11-32 Cassette, Ritchey WCS Carbon bar and XTR brakes. I am expecting that will shave some good weight off of the bike.

 

[leggatt]

Swap the cassette! 32t =/= 29'er friendly. You lose 2 gear inches out of the gate, so gear down.

That is all.

I'll see how it goes. The bulk of my riding on my current XC could be done with and 11-27.

 

[MagyarBika]

The 12-36T steel cassette is quite heavy as well, it's something like 450gms, so you can gain a big savings if you switch to an XTR 11-34 cassette and can push those climbs. With the 29" wheel diameter 12-36 is about the same crank effort as 26" and 11-34.

You got that right. I am putting a SRAM PG-990 11-32 gearing on mine. Plenty for even the steepest of climbs, and it weighs 270 grams.

 

[MagyarBika]

Here she is. I picked up the Vertex 29er 2 days ago after moving most of my components over from my old 29er. It was a 7 month old bike so everything was in like new condition.

Went out this morning on my first ride. The hills were still quite muddy from last week's heavy rains in California and the trails were quite tore up.

Even though conditions were less then ideal, I was impressed with the handling and climbing abilities of the bike. It was a short 8 mile loop, so I look forward to my next test ride to tweak things and get her dialed in.

 

[c-record]

Looks snazzy. :thumbsup: And, I'm jealous of your weather. Want to go for a ride in the morning. Will be 7 degrees. Yep, cold.