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Trying to get the ideal one bike fits all or as much as it can do like lots of people.
Currently have a Transition scout and its enjoyable on flat, twisty, flowy trails, moderately gnarly but will be out of its depth (or at least with me piloting) when things turn more rocky. Ride it around the famous descents of the lakes and Peaks and its okay but my old Capra coped better of course.
Its no slouch but not a mile muncher and I like to do 30 mile plus rides quite regularly and would like to be fresher for the descents then I am after climbing on the Scout.
Typical rides are days out around the Lakes and Peaks, Calderdale etc with the occasional trail centre thrown in. Always the red or black options.
in a position to pick up a new bike and was looking towards the Stumpy 2016 29 or 650b in Expert mode or Jeffsy CF comp, pro and cons with each.
I wondered if anybody had ridden both and could suggest which may be best to my needs or if any of them may fit the bill.
Might be useful to look at the thread I started yesterday looking for a 29er with my preferred geometry.
The 2017 trek fuel ex looks very promising, but the Jeffsy looks very good, if it fits you.
Thanks but your quest for the perfect geo doesn't really mirror my query as you are after a rather specific geo.
Im more interested to hear people's feedback on the bikes mentioned for the type of riding I described.
I've got a '16 Stumpy 29 Expert which I absolutely love. Sounds like it would be a good match for the riding you're describing too.
Ride the 650b and 29 if you can. I rode the 29 back to back with the 650b version, expecting to prefer the 650b, and was pretty surprised to find I preferred the 29 in every way.
I had the enduro 29, loved it on the downs, climbed okay for the amount of travel but you always knew you was losing a certain amount of pedal input climbing and generally everywhere lee that wasn't gravity assisted which over a long ride the balance of effort to get to the few good drops felt a bit wrong.
If the stumpy is a much better climber more lively on flatter stuff and twisty trails and gives up a tad on the rougher steeper descents then it sounds good.
Only trouble is with riding both back to back on the exact same loop I'm finding it hard to get a comparison and people mention it climbs better, which of course it should do but struggle to suggest by what degree. Words like miles, lots, markedly better would be more suggestive of the ideal bike.
Mate with a Jeffsy absolutely loves v out, he went from a 650b mega and reckons is a big improvement, he test rode a few bikes, not sure about spesh? And then took a plunge on a Jeffsy anyway.
I've just replaced a Yeti SB95 with a Stumpy Carbon 29 frame also hoping to achieve the 1 bike to do it all thing. The Stumpy pedals and climbs better despite the 10mm extra travel, not because the suspension is better (the Yeti was brilliant) but because the seat angle is a few degrees steeper on the Spesh which puts you in a better position over the pedals. I think you could do some really long rides on it and it wouldn't be a burden.
I get the impression the Jeffsy is designed more with descending in mind but haven't ridden one so I could be wrong. The thing that swayed me was the 142mm back end, I have 2 set of wheels (Easton ARC27 with Minion 2.3/2.5 for gnar-core and LB carbon with RR/NN 2.25 for mince-core duties).