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Spent the last few Sunday mornings pottering about in the local woods on my totally old fashioned bike. Kinesis Maxlight XC pro 2, running 1 x 9 xtr, DT Swiss XMM120 forks, no dropper, etc. The sub 700mm bars are ideal for threading through trees....
My, what fun!
yes, most people do IME
I'd say yes but depends on what you're after on a ride. If you want to flatten the terrain as much as possible then no but I quickly get bored of that.
Absolutely, but, it's all pretty variable. I was out doing standard Pentlands XC last week on my trailfox- a 150mm travel , 65 degree head angle, 29er #enduro bad mother******. On paper totally the wrong tool for the job but I had a great time. I rode it a bit different to how I'd ride, say, my old Scandal which is much more a "pentlands bike" but I had just as good a ride. I did the same ride on the fatbike the week before and had a great time then too.
Some big bikes trample things a bit and can make easy trails less fun. Others carry themselves better. I wouldn't use it for an XC race any more than I'd use an XC bike for an enduro race but there's plenty of bikes that can turn their hands well to all sorts.
I would go by the better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it rule, upto a point
When you consider what some people can get down on a rigid bike then there's a good many of us who are over biked and I definitely am. My Camber 120mm fs is more than I strictly need but it means I don't get battered so I can pedal further and harder and the extra grip means I go a bit quicker for given terrain. I don't think it blunts but it does smooth. It's a different experience to my rigid/hardtail.