[Closed] Marathon bike for long easy rides. Enduro Rig for short mountain routes... what

Buy a geometron g13 and ditch both other bikes

Something booked the new Whyte s120?

My answer was a titanium 29er hardtail with a 140mm Pike and ~66 degree HA.
Light and direct for saving energy, but capable downhill too.

Something similar but with 100mm rear wheel travel might work too. But I could afford higher spec components by not buying a full sus frame

Mid-travel 29er.
Something like 130mm rear and 150mm front.
Well be quicker on a lot of the descending too. I had the Strava kom on the descent from grisedale tarn for a while on that kind of bike.

I've done those routes with a mate.

He was on a rigid 29+ bike and I was on a 170mm coil sprung giant reign.

We both had fun!

Personally I'd lug the heavy bike about.

Since then I've bought a g13 so I would recommend doing exactly the same 😀

Is a cheaper option sticking a bigger fork on the anthem, or putting lighter wheels and tires on the enduro?

I'm kind of doing the opposite to you. I have a Scott Spark RC for long days out (can handle techy descents in it's stride). My first go on Jacob's Ladder was on my Spark and it handled it really well!

For shorter rides, messing about and trail centres, I'm going to be building up a slack, steel hardtail. I have my eye on a Pace 529 at the moment and as soon as my Hightower frame and Cube XC bike sell, I'll be building it.

I think the Anthem will be fine to compliment the Enduro, but if you're like me and are using it to disguise a shiny new bike, then what about sticking to what you know and having a look at a Spec Epic Evo?

I've a cannondale scalpel SE which I - recently - bought for multi-day rides in Scotland, I think it fits what you're after pretty well. Although I'm generally a big believer of riding what you already have (which in my case was a rigid 27.5+ Stooge) but I was seduced by the scalpel and had to have it 😎

Why would an Anthem fall to bits?

I can’t see the Enduro being terribly hard work compared to your XC bike, in pure efficiency terms. May require a change in mindset though.

I'd maybe try tweaking your Anthem before looking at other bikes, like:
- Wider bars with more up and back sweep
- Bigger front tyre with maybe a wider rim fitted to your existing front wheel
- Shorter stem
- Change your fork for one with a little more travel

Hi
I have a Trek Slash 29er which is an absolute steamroller for rides with big descents and also had an Anthem 29er for longer days out.
Similarly to your thoughts I found the 100mm travel of the Anthem a bit limiting on big long days in the Dales, NYM etc.
Picked up a Santa Cruz Tallboy LTc frame off here and swapped the bits over and put a 150 fork on it instead of 130mm.
Don’t regret it for a minute and it does exactly what I wanted it to do.
Cheers
Steve

I'd use either. Depends what your frame of mind is.

Cheers all. To clarify, I already bought bought the anthem and love it.

Why would an Anthem fall to bits?

On another current anthem thread one or two posters both said their carbon Anthem wheels were made of cheese, fell apart and had to be replaced at expense. I love the way the bike rides, got huge wide bars, happy do the the travel but just worried it will get knackered quickly.

I’ve done those routes with a mate.

Hi Martin. Not sure if you were referring to the HS, H & S; but I'm referring to it as one route rather than multiple. I'm content riding up them individually on any bike, but was just wanting to do them all together in one big day out. My quandary was what to do when you combine the two "oposite" ends of the recreational mountain biking spectrum. The ride would probably have 25 miles odd on road. I guess the simple solution is to dump the roadie at Poole Bridge.
Apols if I misunderstood you.

I can’t see the Enduro being terribly hard work compared to your XC bike, in pure efficiency terms. May require a change in mindset though

The enduro is quite good at short bursts of uphill, but exhausting. The 3kg weight difference is really obvious and would add up over a long day ( approx 100kj!, doesn't seem much written like that)

“The enduro is quite good at short bursts of uphill, but exhausting. The 3kg weight difference is really obvious and would add up over a long day ( approx 100kj!, doesn’t seem much written like that)”

It doesn’t seem much because it isn’t much. It feels like a lot more because of you and the bike not being firmly attached, so you perceive the momentary difference in inertia. The ‘slowness’ of heavier bikes is mostly in the mind, not reality. And the obsession with bike weight exaggerates it further.

There could be a bigger difference due to hysteresis losses in the tyres but you don’t need a new bike to fix that, just different tyres. But I wouldn’t run flimsy fast tyres when riding big descents in the Lakes!

Just ride one of them and see how you go. I keep toying with the idea of a burlier Xc bike but if nino can chuck a 100mm carbon ht down some of the most technical stuff around it’s not the bike limiting me.

Kinesis FF29 is my bike of choice for 50miles plus tech rides, done plenty in the lakes, burly tyres you can run a smidge softer than usual and a dropper help. Has a pike on the front now at 120mm and 2.4 protection rubber /2.2 rear and with a dropper and x01 I don’t feel I really miss the enduro bike that much.

Not sure how helpful it is to tell the OP that he's wrong because of science - if he already knows the Enduro feels too heavy and slow.

He's talking about riding something a bit beyond what I'd attempt as an epic. Basically a bloody massive effort.

I'd probably have a crack at that in midsummer, after a bit of training, on my stage 6 - but only because it pedals very efficiently.

This thread has put an idea in my head now.

By the end of the day you’ll have eaten all your food and drank all your water, which is probably 3kg. Problem solved. 🙂

By the end of the day you’ll have eaten all your food and drank all your water, which is probably 3kg.

Ha ha. You haven't read my ancient WHW picnic thread have you.... on a ride like this i'd probably be eating/drinking around 8kg in total. Certainly on a hot day.

Chakaping. Let me know if you want to come along on my picnic/cycle ride 😁

How far and how much climbing is it fella ?

The anthem would be perfectly robust for that or anything else like it - could be a bit of a handful off Helvellyn depending on what route you chose, though. You'd get down OK but it's the difference between picking your way down slow and letting things go a bit more. That is the conundrum, though - is that 2% of the ride with proper descents such a highlight for you that you would inferiorise the other 98%? I wouldn't, but plenty would.

I have an older enduro bike that I find a real drag to take out on any mixed, bigger ride. Sure part of it is mental as it even has a rear travel adjust to 90mm, but just feel like I'm perched on it spinning uphill whereas the anthem gets ridden up hill.

Totally agree Garry with what you say on having to be cautious on descents.

Weeksy. I'd guess it's be around 3000m of ascent, maybe a bit less if you don't do the Dodds ridge on Helvellyn.

Distance would probably be 40 or 50k but pretty immaterial really. It's the up that would hurt

Just grab whichever bike is clean on the day, get out and enjoy the hills.

Often the most inappropriate bike is the most fun. I did the South Downs Way this summer on my fatbike - 3000m climbing and 100 miles - great day out 😁

Take the Enduro - you'll be pushing up most of it all anyway

Just grab whichever bike is clean on the day,

Wife'd kill me if I took her bike. Besides it's too small 🙂

you’ll be pushing up most of it all anyway

It's frustrating. Both helvellyn and high street are 95% rideable along their north ridges, but of course you can't easily get to the north ridge of one having done the other.
Certainly pushed most of skiddaw though I do remember someone recalling it was rideable.

I get where you're coming from OP. I'm looking at bikes like the new trance 29er, Marin rift zone and the 2019 Norfolk fluid for longer technical rides and short blasts. I

Chakaping. Let me know if you want to come along on my picnic/cycle ride

OK might just do that. my biggest ever climbing day in Lakes is about 2,500m with a double Helvelleyn & Boredale Hause, so maybe not that far off what you're talkign about.

IN ONE GO!

Doffs cap!

I'd still get a G13 in that case.Mine was ace on the Jen ride and would have been loads better with out all my tat strapped to it.