How Much Travel Do You Need?

Hi, I'm Counter from Bikers Edge and I'm Brock. Today we are here testing three different bikes to determine what amount of

travel

is right for you, so for our trail bike we use the Santa Cruz Tall Boy with 120. millimeters to

travel

the mountain bike we use the Santa Cruz Tall Boy and the endurance bike is the mega tower, each type represents that class quite well and they all have a new and more modern geometry for that category of bike, okay, so on all three. For these bikes, we wanted to keep them as consistent as possible so that all three steering angles are within half a degree of each other.

The reach numbers are almost identical across the line, so it really left us testing just suspension travel with similar geometries alone, so we rode these three bikes on three different trails in a row, rode one climb that had some pants loose, some technical parts, steep beds and then an uphill section of road we rode a daily flow trail that has some jumps. and signatures drop or two and then we type in a technical downhill, a hard, tough, steep hill with lots of roots and drops, hairpin turns, flat corners, you know it's a pretty challenging trail, especially on the shorter travel bike, but we rode the three bicycles. back to back on the same trails so we could really get a feel for how

much

suspension you really

need

we started on the big bike, went up on how you would expect a big bike, the customer, the enduro bike, sat on his ride a little bit more, your more relaxed ankles were obviously heavier and not as efficient.

What do you think was pretty obvious from the beginning when going from the Adira bike to the wall mounted bike and then to the trail bike? And really, noticing the difference in weight between the three bikes, it became very clear that ditching the endurance bike for the mountain bike seemed like a bike for longer days, bigger climbs, and that's probably what I'd choose if I were doing a long long day on the bike yeah going from the enduro bike to the mountain bike it felt faster it just felt a lot lighter and accelerated faster and then I noticed that difference again going on the bike of shorter course trails where it simply was. a lot less effort to go the same speed or faster, so we started on the big bike and I personally quite liked it.

I felt very safe, very comfortable, I was able to ride over jumps, lean too flat and feel Very good, the disadvantage I saw was out of the corners where the other bikes accelerated very quickly only to accelerate again coming out of the corner. The big bike felt a little slow. I had to pedal pretty hard to get up to speed again. on the other bikes that just came naturally, so for me on the enduro bike on that first flow trail, it felt pretty weird, it was a narrower trail and my overall feeling was that I didn't

need

that.

A lot of riding on that trip, I definitely felt like my Connors was a little sluggish coming out of the corners and I had the feeling that I needed the bike to be handled in the corners and stuff like that, and then the number one thing I think I noticed . It was that rocky rocky section I felt like I really gained speed on the rocks, it didn't slow down the bike and then I moved on to the mountain bike, the three pound weight difference is very evident. I felt

much

better. On that bike I was able to get in and out of corners faster and still had enough travel to get over jumps.

She felt very balanced. You know, it had a little bit of that big bike plow feeling through the rocks, but it also had a little bit of that trail bike pop feeling on the jumps and in the corners, things like that, it felt fast. I didn't feel like I was slow or wallowing on my ride anywhere so it felt like a pretty balanced ride overall, then we got to the trail bike and I started off, it feels very fast, your perceived speed is much faster. tall, you feel like you're going faster, you can get a lot of air out of even the smallest lip, which is pretty fun, so whether you're looking to play or you're not looking to be the fastest person, you just want to have fun and jump off things.

It's very good for that. I think I had more fun that way. on that bike Mike Connor said it was really fun that the bike started scanning the trail and looking for anything coming off that bike. I felt like he found his number one limits on those bigger jumps by hitting her. and landing and bottoming out the suspension and then coming out of one of the drops to definitely bottom out, certainly the suspension in general, although I felt like it was a very fun and playful bike for a flow trail type casing that we go to now, we move on to the difficult technical descent was very Rudy, there were some flat, tight corners, some high speed sections and some really steep stuff and we started on the trail bike and I felt like I did pretty well, you know, I felt like I was going fast enough.

Through the routes, but then once things started to get steeper, that's where I started to notice that I wasn't as comfortable or confident on that bike. I think a lot of that came down to the head of the bagel and just a little bit less travel. less forgiving, you really had to be on your lane. I crashed into a tree because I lost control of the bike and crashed into a tree, and I didn't hate the trail bike on that trail, but I think you have to write it differently. You have to go a little slower and then maybe look for other opportunities to have fun instead of just going as fast as possible.

Your fun comes from maybe finding a little natural double or you know, jumping from this route to that route or something like that. I think you just have to change the way you ride to really enjoy the short bike ride on the difficult descent, yeah, so for me starting on the trail bike on that ticketed climb was a lot of fun, I think I mean seriously. It was really fun, especially in the upper section where it gets into deep stuff and it's Rudy, you get this feeling of popping in and changing lines and stuff like that once you get into this deep section, that's where I noticed the limits of That Bike I felt. very safe until I got there and that's where I noticed like Connor said I headed a little bit but then also the short ride bottomed out a couple of times and then I moved on to mountain biking.

It felt great, still maintaining the light feel of what the trail bike did, but it was nice to have a little extra travel on the trail bike. I felt much more comfortable, there was a big jump for me with just those 20 millimeters. The difference in rear travel was completely felt. I felt like I could really push the bike through the routes through the slopes into the corners. I felt much more comfortable on that bike even though the head tube angle is the same, straight, 65 and a. half a grade hasn't changed anything there it was just that extra ride that made me feel a lot more comfortable biting and then moving to the enduro bike man it's so good I had my best time of the entire day on the enduro bike on that technical descent, so I was able to go through the roots as quickly as possible, you know, I didn't have to hit the brakes.

I didn't have to slow down once things started to get steeper. It had a lot more traction. I had a lot more control over the bike and felt better. I was riding a little hesitant, I think because of the previous near-crash, but from the start, on the difficult service section, I was picking up speed with that extra travel, taking it all in on those steeper, twisty descents. And, um, the hold felt really at home, carrying a lot of speed and then going into the corner and where you don't really need to accelerate coming out of the corner, I was doing it just on the trail, that bike felt really, really good.

I trust that you are doing well on that path, so final thoughts on my choice. If I could have a bike, I would choose the enduro bike. I put a big emphasis on downhill performance and am willing to take a small penalty on the climbs. I perform better downhill, that doesn't mean I don't go uphill. I rarely make transfers. I rarely take the elevator. I climb almost everything I ride and just the other day I took my enduro bike and did a 20 mile 3000 foot ride and I had a blast because the downhills were incredible so personally I'll take the enduro bike any day of the week and I'll ride anything I ride on that bike.

I don't know you, brother, so after setting up yours. I felt very, very good on the mountain bike. I was fast on the climbs. I had a good time on the descents and I liked it because I think the lower weight of the enduro bike, so I think the way I would conclude is that If I had a bike, it would be suitable for all types of mountain. I think the middle ground is that you have a hint and you have trail bikes. Having two bikes makes this possible. I understand that not everyone can do that in a one bike situation.

I think I'd go mountain biking just because of the completeness of that bike, you can climb well, it would handle great days in the saddle and plus if you use lifts or shuttles it's enough of a bike to handle that sort of thing, yeah. yeah, I guess the way I look at it, if I can only have one, I'm taking the enduro bike and taking the fun poppy skateboard II trail bike. I felt like that mountain bike just didn't take enough from either bike. To really benefit from it, you know I was slower on the part than on the enduro bike, but then it didn't have as much pop or it wasn't as easy to corner as the trail bike, so for me, maybe I want one. extreme or the other.

I don't really mind that kind of drop in the middle. Complete bicycle. This answer is going to suck and everyone will hate it, but really how much mileage you get is up to you. It all comes down to how you like to ride your bike based on your preferences. It's kind of funny that Brock and I ride the exact same bikes on the exact same trails and we both have very different thoughts about it. You know, I'm an enduro biker all day. or trail bike and I'll write it differently but Brock is in that middle category where he wants that mountain bike so you know I feel like it's all up to you if you want to do the climbs on a bike well that and we'll do it .

Flat, calmer trails are fine, but every now and then you face a difficult descent. You know the trail bike will do it. You just can't write it the same way. You can't just go through everything and write it down really fast like you know it all. mountain bike or enduro, but it will work and it's a great bike for that and it's a lot of fun, but on the other side of the coin, if you want a bike that descends really well but you have to pedal 3000 feet to get to that gnarly descent, enduro bike will work.

I mean, you can pedal it, it will pedal uphill and it's really not as bad or much worse than the lighter trailer or mountain bike, so I think it just comes along. It all depends on preference and where you place your priorities regarding your riding. It's a long day testing bikes here, but in the end it was amazing to ride them all back to back and really notice the differences between the bikes and I'd be happy if I could. I had any of these three bikes, if not all, I bought the best one they call