[oceanminded]

I'm in the market for a mid-travel 29 all-mountain trail bike. Looking for a do-everything bike here in SoCal. Probably won't do too much Park stuff although we do have a few local trails that can get rowdy but 90% of my riding will be single track, fire roads, etc. Interested in other bikes to consider since these are quite pricey. What ultimately made you go with the Offering vs other bikes in the same category? Also, I'd be getting an entry level build most likely (GX Eagle) or equivalent so bang for the buck is also something I need to consider in terms of going direct mail as an option. So far I've considered Yeti SB 130 and Transition Smuggler but haven't had a chance yet to demo anything.

Cheers!

 

[cheezwhip]

GG Smash

 

[Wuntee]

I got to demo a bunch of bikes before pulling the trigger on the Offering.

Sentinel - Decided I don't like the feel of the super slack head angle for most of my riding. It's harder for me to maneuver over slow tech. It's also pretty heavy compared to others. Great bike though. I never rode the Smuggler, but a friend of mine has the Sentinel and says it's just a more capable and all around better version of the smuggler. He also works at the local Transition shop.

SB130 - This was my second choice (really close second). Loved everything about it, but ultimately decided I wanted a bit more plushness. The new Lunch Ride build might just be perfect though...

SB150 - So much fun. Found myself looking for bigger and harder lines instead of going around them. Like the sentinel, it just felt like too much bike for 90% of what I ride. Climbs surprisingly well though.

YT Capra - Didn't like this bike at all unless I was going down steep chunk. Just didn't feel right. Probably a setup thing though.

Ibis Ripmo - Awesome bike and my 3rd choice. Can't go wrong here, I just felt more comfortable on the SB130 and Offering.

Evil Following MB - Pretty good overall, but the Offering puts me in a better climbing position and is more fun going down.

*EDIT* Giant Trance 29 - This was also on my short list. This bike is SO GOOD. For a 115/130 bike it is very capable and I liked it much better than the Following MB. I'm a bigger guy (240 lbs with all my gear) so I just blow through the travel too fast. That's why it was just never really a finalist for me. However, my wife ended up with the Trance advanced pro 29 2. Great value for the money, and she LOVES it.

So really, the Offering seems to take the good things I like between all of them and mash them together. I really like the Yeti SB130 and 150, and for me the Offering perfectly split the difference on paper, and in how they feel on the trail. In my opinion it's the best "one bike quiver" to date, meaning it has the smallest amount of compromise for every type of terrain. I should also mention I have a 160 Lyric on my Offering.

 

[bdundee]

Ripmo.

 

[NHMB]

GG Smash

+1
with the warranty, price, made in america, supposed to be strong as sh#t, and changing into a different bike if you want down the road. Im all for this new company and frame!

 

[raoul duke]

Rode an SB130 and really loved it. Pedals so well! Makes techy climbs easily and handles the downs extremely well! Didn't feel quite as bottomless as some other bikes though. I did Mag 7 on it and I could feel the travel being used up coming down Portal. Still handled the chunk of that trail perfectly fine, just felt a bit bonier than my Nomad.

Tranistion Sentinel was a fun bike too, but I felt you need to really get it up to speed to make it shine, it felt a bit sluggish otherwise.

Evil Following was super poppy and playful, but for me the Offering was just as playful, but it was more bottomless and composed in chunk, plus I thought it climbed better because of the seat tube angle, so I'm not sure I'd ever go for the Following over Offering.

Revel Rascal - I really really loved this bike! Best pedalling bike I think I've ridden. All the power you put into the cranks felt like it went right to the back wheel. It was very fun on jumps, and extremely precise in slow tech...both up and down. Just a super versitile bike. Accelerated like mad through pumpier sections of trail. Unfortunately I didn't get to do any high speed chunk with it, but I don't think it would have any issues bombing through it. Really like the folks associated with this project, and also enjoy their tasteful component spec. Would have ordered one, but the larges were out a few months.

I just ordered a medium black Offering yesterday, since they are finally back in stock. Gonna run a 150 Lyrik on it and a Push coil. One of the appealing things about this bike was the ability to run a coil on it. I also got to ride with the Black Collars for a video shoot in Utah, which was so much fun and inspiring. That definitely tipped the scales to getting an Evil.

 

[oceanminded]

Rode an SB130 and really loved it. Pedals so well! Makes techy climbs easily and handles the downs extremely well! Didn't feel quite as bottomless as some other bikes though. I did Mag 7 on it and I could feel the travel being used up coming down Portal. Still handled the chunk of that trail perfectly fine, just felt a bit bonier than my Nomad.

Tranistion Sentinel was a fun bike too, but I felt you need to really get it up to speed to make it shine, it felt a bit sluggish otherwise.

Evil Following was super poppy and playful, but for me the Offering was just as playful, but it was more bottomless and composed in chunk, plus I thought it climbed better because of the seat tube angle, so I'm not sure I'd ever go for the Following over Offering.

Revel Rascal - I really really loved this bike! Best pedalling bike I think I've ridden. All the power you put into the cranks felt like it went right to the back wheel. It was very fun on jumps, and extremely precise in slow tech...both up and down. Just a super versitile bike. Accelerated like mad through pumpier sections of trail. Unfortunately I didn't get to do any high speed chunk with it, but I don't think it would have any issues bombing through it. Really like the folks associated with this project, and also enjoy their tasteful component spec. Would have ordered one, but the larges were out a few months.

I just ordered a medium black Offering yesterday, since they are finally back in stock. Gonna run a 150 Lyrik on it and a Push coil. One of the appealing things about this bike was the ability to run a coil on it. I also got to ride with the Black Collars for a video shoot in Utah, which was so much fun and inspiring. That definitely tipped the scales to getting an Evil.

Not sure if I would need the extra travel up front. Is there any disadvantage with going with the 160 Lyrik over the 140 Pike? I heard I can add convert the Pike later on to a 150 with more travel.

 

[delarosa]

Not sure if I would need the extra travel up front. Is there any disadvantage with going with the 160 Lyrik over the 140 Pike? I heard I can add convert the Pike later on to a 150 with more travel.

Its not going to climb as well. I went with a 150 FOX 36. One I'm a FOX guy, nothing against RS. Two FOX has a shorter A2C measurement, so still going to be closer to the advertised geometry with a 150 FOX vs 150 RS.

 

[raoul duke]

Not sure if I would need the extra travel up front. Is there any disadvantage with going with the 160 Lyrik over the 140 Pike? I heard I can add convert the Pike later on to a 150 with more travel.

It really depends on your riding style and where you ride. I personally like the feeling of slacker bikes, and have often overforked many of the bikes I've owned in the past. In addition to this, my wife and I live on the road full time and base our travels around riding bikes for the most part. We get to see a huge variety of trails by doing this, but we don't have a ton of space to carry around a quiver of bikes...we really wish we did. The goal of this bike build is to make it as versitile as possible in order to handle a 50 mile day and also do fine at a bike park.

My current bike (since I don't have the Offering yet) is a gen 3 carbon Nomad. I truly love riding this bike still, it's just that the industry has provided better options for my riding needs since I bought it over 4 years ago. I originally bought it to be a bike that would be great for a road trip, and have aggressive geometry. Back then to get that kind of geo, you had to go with a longer travel enduro bike. Now companies are making it available in shorter travel bikes that are even more versitile. Combine that with 29 inch wheels and you end up with something that is a blast to ride almost anywhere!

As for the Offering at 140, I rode one set up like this in Sedona for a good part of a day and 18 or so miles. Did some climbs, rode some chunk, and hit some jumps. It did all of these super well. I felt the bike worked well at 140, but I would have liked it to be a little slacker based on personal taste. If you've watched the Offering promo vid (you should if you haven't), those guys are riding @140 and it's certainly not holding them back...though they are on another level when it comes to riding.

You can indeed change the travel of the Pike to 150 by swapping out the air spring. You can even bring it up to 160 if you desired. It's a pretty simple process if you have patience and some circlip pliers. I chose the Lyrik for the beefier chassis, not sure how much I'll actually notice this, but it's just a choice I wanted to make when spending this much on a bike.

 

[Rev. 14]

SB 130, I would not go for due to price and the quality is just not there. Flexy rear triangles and cracked frames and bad cs should not be happening for a bike that pricy. I would recommend the offering. Evil had its issues back in the day but they have corrected this and now quality control is not a problem with them. That bike is made to rip. I would also have to mention the Ripmo. It is a very light frame and super snappy and agile and climbs so so good and on the climbs feels like at 120mm travel bike. I mention QC because I want a bike I won't have to worry about issues with and if it has them, the customer service is stellar to take care of me. Evil and Ibis are that.