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Afternoon,
Currently pondering a new bicycle, looking for a short travel FS, like the look of the Commencal Meta V4 Trail Origin and the Scott Genius 750.
Commencal seems to get good reviews and looks good value for money on paper, Scott looks nice aswell and gets a fairly good review.
Just wondering if anybody owns with bike and can shed some light on them as an owner, I also looked at the Bird Aeris but it looks to be quite a heavy bike. I don't like hauling heavy bikes uphill and as I am quite light on the bike and tend to skim around or over the bigger stuff (I prefer carrying speed than hitting the rough stuff). So any opinions from the STW guru's?
Obviously test riding will be recommended but just looking for opinions just now.
Thanks.
FWIW I dont think an Aeris would be heavier... of course that depends on the spec. For example the Aeris.3 is nearly a lb lighter than the base Commencal Meta AM V4 Plus.
I wouldn't consider any of those bikes as short travel. They all seem to be around 150mm travel which I would consider as mid or long travel bikes. To me a short travel FS bike is 100 / 120mm travel something like a Giant Anthem SX, Specialized Camber Evo, or Trek Fuel EX.
The reviews for the Commie state the frame is a bit heavy and while a great descender not the best on the climbs. The geometry also looks like it very slack designed to plough trough the rough stuff rather than skip around it. So not sure if this fits your requirements?
I think Bird state their Aeris is intended as a enduro bike not really a all round trail bike which would be quick up the climbs so again I'm not sure it fits with your requirements?
Have you had a look at any of Transition's offerings? Again not sure I'd call them short travel but they are designed to be nimble and could skip around or over obstacles a bit better than some other bikes designed to just straight line through rough sections.
Currently pondering a new bicycle, looking for a short travel FS,
None of the bikes listed are short travel....they're all more than capable AM (all mountain) bikes, suitable for Enduro racing and the odd uplift day too!
If you want shorter travel, generally better pedaling efficiency and sharper handling there are bikes similar to what you listed that have less rear travel like the Transition Scout with 140mm foks but 125mm out back, likewise the Nukeproof Mega TR has 150mm forks but 130mm at the rear....also consider the Orange Segment with 29 inch wheels and a 120mm fork with 110mm (or 100mm?) rear bounce which would be ideal for blatting around trail centres and general wheels on the ground riding.