[helenforsdale]

howdy kids.


i'm looking to upgrade from my hardtail to an aggressive trail riding bike. the trails out here are rocky, tight and super tech. lots of climbs and rocky decents. ideally, i want to build up a light bike strong enough to handle this. the four bikes i've been thinking about:

turner 5 spot
turner 6 pack
santa cruz blur lt
santa cruz heckler


thoughts, anyone?



-joshua...

 

[ronny]

Nice list. The Turner 6 pack is the heaviest frame of the four and slightly overkill if you are not doing drops and light freeriding, but still makes for a good hd trail bike. The Spot and Heckler are proven performers for the conditions you describe. The Heckler is built a little stronger than the 5 spot and is by far the cheapest bike on your list. I have owned a Heckler and it is a great choice for super tech terrain. The Blur Lt is burlier than the classic Blur and will do well on your trails also.

 

[Biker75]

No-mad on your list?

The SC Nomad seems like it fits your genre as well...I test rode one-verrry nice.

 

[metaldork]

you outgrew that hardtail pretty quick. i'm in the market for a similar bike myself. there are a couple turner and yeti dealers in nj and westchester. lemme know if you wanna do a test ride road trip some day.

anyhoo, i'm also looking at an ellsworth moment or intense 5.5. i tested out a blur last week at ringwood and found the top tube too short.

 

[helenforsdale]

i think the nomad may be way too beefy for what i'm looking for and probably an overkill for how i ride.

-dave - hah, you caught me. yeah - a combination of learning the trails, my old bmxing days catching up w/ me and getting annoyed w/ my bike. has more to do w/ my poor research then me actually becoming an amazing rider. i'd love to do some test rides. how does that work here in the city?

re: intense 5.5 - i had my eye on those as well - but the research i've turned up on it says that it rides pretty close, if not identical to the blur lt - i heard there might be a bit more clearence though on the 5.5 - can't remember, and i haven't looked up it's geometry - but i was told that the 5.5 is basically a more expensive lt. i've also heard really negative things about the ellsworth - poor welds and poor customer service. damn nice looking bikes though.



-joshua...

 

[metaldork]

i think all the bikes we're talking about are very similar, so it's really just a matter of finding the one that fits you best and how much you can pay. if you know anybody that owns one, that's a good place to start. i've either ridden with or ran into people i know on the trails with a 5 spot and blur, both in my size. i was able to ride the 5 spot for about 20 minutes on skyline drive trails but the blur basically 100 yards up and down a not too technical singletrack. both rode about the same, near as i could figure, but like i said, the blur's top tube felt very short, almost like i wanted to ride a bigger size just to get a longer tube. i was also able to do a downhill run at diablo on steve's 6 pack and that gave me a good idea of what that bike is about, even though it wasn't my size. you may want to give him a call. i'm sure he'll give you a test ride. he lives on the upper east side. but i think a 5 spot is probably more our speed.

as for bike shops around here. there's a place in bay ridge that carries ellsworths and one just over the gwb in jersey that carries yetis and i've also been told to check out some place in southern ct, maybe around greenwich or stamford that carries a large selection of turners, etc. but i haven't called any of these places yet to see what they have available for test rides. probably not gonna do any serious looking til january, but i think i still have yer email, so i'll hit you up before i go anywhere.

 

[synkronized23]

I see you guys are from NYC. My dad recently moved to New York and during breaks and in the summer, I spend my time there (senior in boarding school up in new england). i ride pretty regularly up here and was looking to continue riding in the summer while in new york. the problem is i do not have a car and can't drive, but the good thing about nyc is that everything is pretty central, so meeting up and carpooling is easy. do you guys think we could do a ride when i'm down there?

also, i am also in the market for a bike. i'm looking at the heckler right now. from the comments from people who own them, it seems like a really reliable and proven bike.

 

[Johnny Hair Boy]

Blt

A friend of mine road a Heckler last year and got a BLT this year. He says the BLT is the best bike he has ever road and he owns a bike shop. I havn't road it yet but he raves about it. For the ridding you described I think it is your best bet.

 

[metaldork]

summer time is a long ways away, but we're always putting together group rides either on the ny/nj boards here or on wmba.org. also, i'm selling my small giant nrs 1 pretty cheap if that would work for you.

 

[Techfreak]

Check out the Sinister Splinter ER. Handbuilt in New England. Insane quality and superb feeling bike. It has a feature that lets you adjust the geometry from XCish trail bike numbers (~70* Head Angle) to DH angles (~67*) without any tools. It is a truly superb bike and will take pretty much anything you throw at it.

www.sinisterbikes.com

 

[fsrxc]

I know it's not a Chi Chi bootique bike, but an Enduro would do that pretty well too...

 

[synkronized23]

summer time is a long ways away, but we're always putting together group rides either on the ny/nj boards here or on wmba.org. also, i'm selling my small giant nrs 1 pretty cheap if that would work for you.

i will check out wmba. well i'm actually in the market for a higher end bike. i just sold my full xt/xtr giant vt, so i'm either going to go with a heckler-ish bike. or a santa cruz chameleon hardtail and throw on a talas so i can ride from xc to freeride and do some urban stuff too.

have you been to NYC Velo in manhattan? it's a pretty cool shop and the guy who owns it races. they only sell kona and bianchi and ridley though.