It’s finally time to bite the bullet and replace the trance that has served me well for the last 12 years.
I’m looking at trance X or stumpjumper 15. Something with a bit more travel but not a pig to climb. I’m open to new or used depending what pops up for sale. Any others I should be researching?
If you haven’t really spend time on anything from the last 5 years or so, I expect you’ll really be blown away by the capability of modern 29er/mullet bikes at any travel number in comparison to a 12 year old Trance. You could probably get onto a modern full suspension XC-ish bike and find it is faster than your current bike everywhere - up and down, like the Rocky Mountain Element or the newly released Norco Revolver.
If you’re still looking for something a little bit more capable, nothing wrong with the Stumpy or Trance X, but I’ll thrown in the previous generation Norco Optic C2 into the mix. They are currently available for 4 grand CAD from Norco (down from 6k retail) and they have all sizes currently available. I’d consider it a “do it all” East Coast bike for someone who doesn’t want to race either XC or DH.
Yeah that’s what I’m looking forward to, I haven’t ridden anything newer than this one.
I was looking at an optic c3 I think it was at sport wheels on the weekend.
For $150, see if they can order a C2 or beat the price.
The spec difference between the 2 and the 3 is worth it for the DT hubs alone (everything else is a wash IMO) - the Bear Pawls are essentially a generic hub that you might be able to find parts for through Norco, but you’re equally likely to be SOL if you ever need a replacement and the MSRP for a DTswiss 350 rear alone is like $500, plus rebuild, etc.
Plus the blue and silver of the C2 are better than the purple, but that is extremely subjective.
It’s not in the budget until the spring anyways. The one they had was red. Looked pretty good
The Transition Smuggler falls into that category. They are fun and capable bikes. Transition has also been doing sales on and off on a lot of their bikes recently. Granite Suspension is now a Transition bikes dealer and we can offer the same, or sometimes better pricing, than Transition has listed on their website for both regular priced bikes and sale bikes.
Thanks Andrew! I will definitely look into them
I’ll second the Smuggler. I recently moved from the UK with a 27.5 wheeled 160/150 Tr Scout. I previously had access to more gravity fed riding but found the Scout heavy going here in NS by comparison.
I picked up a 23 Smuggler on sale from TR, my first 29er and (apart from the Float X shock being a pain) I’ve been absolutely blown away by the bike. IMO it’s utterly perfect for round here. TR do have a formula for bikes that are super fun to ride. I’m not aiming for KoMs, I’m not the fastest fittest rider out there but I get a grin with this thing sending it where I can which it is very capable of.
It’s a bit under travel for the lift zone at Wentworth but everywhere else in NS I’ve ridden it so far it’s perfect. If you’re not prone to launching it maybe consider a Spur, slightly lighter and less travel. A mate has one back in the UK and raves about it.
Once the woods reopen you’re welcome to swing a leg over this one, I’m 5’11” and ride a large if that’s any help.
@RyanHutchinson and if you want to swing a leg over a medium smuggler I have one. I personally ride XXL bikes, so I bought my wife a smuggler so that she could have a new bike and also to double as a size medium bike to have in the shop for people to sit on.
I might take you up on that! Thanks! I normally run a large frame too
