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I'm looking to buy a new bike soon and have decided on either a 170mm travel Swoop 29er or 150mm/140mm (front/rear) Slide Trail 29er.
Both have similar geometry and great spec but the slide trail is lighter. Most of the riding I do is trail riding, but I would like a bike that is capable of the odd uplift day, or a trip to the Alps or Finale and give me the confidence to ride them and have fun. I can't decide which one to go for - any advice? Ta
Yes.
More than enough. Fit some strong tyres and decent brakes, and let rip!!
(no you won't be able to go quite as fast at all times as a 200mm downhill bike, but you'll be able to go quite fast enough to excite/scare/hurt yourself (delete as appropriate 😉 )
Depends on your alps, some stuff you'd be better served with a dh bike but for every ride I've ever done out there something exactly like you describe is perfect (for me it's a Trek Remedy 29)
We ride mostly more natural, technical, steep rocky stuff really eg guided Les arcs stuff, Briancon, Finale. Not into the dh bike park stuff. The 150 bike sounds like it'd be a better fit.
May I suggest that the real question is not "will a 140mm bike do for the Alps?", it's "will a 170mm bike do for my normal riding?".
You can answer this best, but I suspect that unless you live somewhere like the Lakes, Highlands or Tweed Valley, it's probably best to get the shorter travel bike.
My pal has the Swoop 29er, it pedals pretty well but it's a proper enduro bike and not ideal for our local trails.
Slide trail will be absolutely fine.
150 mm travel fork is plenty! You will have fun for sure.
If you are the biker for big jumps & drops and bike parks the Swoop is a great bike.
But takes fun away when doing trail biking on tamer trails.
Uphill: 150/140 is already quite some travel for good uphill performance. You will enjoy the lower weight of the Slide trail.
And some 150/140 bikes are extremely capable on downhill runs as well - but no idea if the Slide is one of them.
how about buying a bike for the everyday stuff ...
then renting a two wheeled monster truck for the Alps?
Makes way more sense ( I lived in CH for 8 years on got by on a Gen 1 Bfe with 140 mm forks ...)
I mostly ride Cannock as it's on my doorstep, although not the main trails, mostly "off piste". Also ride Eastridge, Wrekin and occasional trip to Wales or Hopton. Rarely do uplift days now or dh as I'm too old to risk major injury! Perhaps an Alps or peaks trip once a year. Sounds like the 150mm will be best.
yes, absolutely fine. unless you are a pro downhiller.
I’m hoping my 110/130 Anthem will be enough 😄😄😄
150mm will be fine. I'm doing the same this year with a week on Morzine on a Whyte S-150 and knowing the guys I'm with this will mainly involve bike park laps and burning brakes down the Pleney loam tracks. I've also done uplift days at inners, rheola, hopton etc and it's been grand.
That said, the bike will take a complete beating. I'm going to be using dh tyres with a huck Norris on the back, and upsizing the brake rotor on the back to 200mm.
Last year I still ended up half a dozen dents in my rims and had to bleed my not enduro enough XT brakes twice in the week there. I also found heat build up in the non-piggyback shock to be a pain as the rebound speeds up on the longest runs.
My first week in Morzine many years ago was on a 125mm bike. OK the trails have progressed somewhat since those days and slacker, longer, more travel etc. means you can tackle bigger stuff with a bit more comfort but I'm sure 150mm is plenty. If you plan to spend all your time only on fully uplifted DH graded trails then you'll probably benefit from a DH or 160mm+ bike.
Yes you will be fine. I did 2 weeks in Morzine on my 130/140 29er. It was fun.
I tended to stay away from the big, wide open DH tracks, as the braking bumps are savage, even on a DH bike.
I'm not a particularly heavy rider and don't tend to ride too hard. No problem with wheels or punctures when I've been to the Alps before, and the xt brakes were faultless last time I was there on a 650b YT Capra with 160mm travel. The bike I'm looking at has mt5 magura brakes and Dtswiss e1700 wheels so hopefully should be ok with some decent maxxis on.