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im in the process of convincing myself it'll be a great idea to add a full susser to my bike garage of 1 (plus an old retro racer thats on the wall). currently riding a blue pig (that im keeping for local trails) with 2x10 trans and 140 fox floats which is great, but i got seriously bashed around up at antur stiniog and coed y brenin (beast) a few weeks back and think it maybe time to get another bike before my back gives up. from what ive read the bandit sounds a right ol' giggle. i was tempeted by the covert but that'll probably be too much bike.
what are peoples views on how the bandit performs? any chance of a few pics and build specs to help with my convincing?
thanks
nick
n+1 eh Nick ?
It's a slippery slope mate !
Enjoy the search and the shopping !
Probably not what you want to hear, but I test rode one in the Peak for about five hours and wasn't blown away, I thought it was good, particularly downhill and steered and handled nicely, but not £1400-worth of my money good if that makes sense. It didn't have that really shiny-eyed brilliance I was looking for and it felt trundly on climbs.
That said, I didn't really like the fork set-up or the tyres and maybe if I were a more talented rider, I'd have appreciated it more.
It's a bit of a 'Jesus bike' at the moment, everyone seems to love it, but I didn't. To be fair, my main bike is a Ragley Ti and it's ridiculously good, so I'm a bit spoilt - maybe I was expecting too much.
Anyway, I guess I'm saying that it's worth test riding one. I'd have bought one on the basis of other people's reviews, but it didn't really do it for me. Loads of people love them though.
+1 for what BWD said. Probably demo'd the same bike. So I got a covert instead. Why ride a cat round the garden when you can ride a mother****ing lion....
Or something like that. I honestly found the covert a lot easier to ride and most importantly a lot more fun
I've got one and its awesome. By far the best bike I've had, nimble on the flat, confidence inspiring down and a solid climber. Feels playful encourages you to pop and manual off things. Yes there are lighter bikes with that travel about but worrying about weight misses the point a bit it's a rugged do everything machine that feels at home amongst longer travel bikes. It's faster everywhere than my blur 4x was too.
I'm running x fusion velvet 140mm upfront, 2x9 SLX/xt mix, XT discs, flows on hope pro 2s, reverb and a haven bar stem combo.
[img] http://m.flickr.com/lightbox?id=8701661561 [/img]
cheers for the info so far. hopefully going to demo one soon. i had a quick look at plush cycles website and there not too far from me so fingers crossed
just noticed plush cycles only have a 29er bandit but they do have a 26er covert. think i may have to phone them up and see what they can do for me
Mine was their ex demo, they're a good bunch.
[url= http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/mr_hoppy/8701661561/ ]Pics of mine[/url]
I would definitely recommend a test ride. I love mine, makes me feel a bit faster everywhere (just 🙂 ha ha! Definitely more nimble and fun than my previous 160mm bike plus it feels just as plush. Not once have I missed the extra travel. Makes me want to attack things more both on the ups and downs. I've also got x fusions, 2x10, reverb, Easton haven stem, havoc bars.
I guess it comes down to what you want really. I can't see where on the trails I'd ride that I'd need more than 140/130mm travel
I was torn between the bandit 29 and Covert 29. Decided to go Covert as my hardtail is a bit of a cross country racer so no point in having a cross country orientated full Susser as well. The covert is a brilliant bike, I'm loving it. I was a bit concerned about being overbiked (does it really matter?), maybe I am, but its a good all rounder - it pedals cross country well, handles technical stuff brilliantly and will take whatever downhill and jumps you throw at it. A proper do it all, all rounder. The bandit is of a similar ilk I think, but more trail/cross country orientated. You can't go wrong whichever you choose, both brilliant bikes, up there with the best that any other brand has to offer in the same category. There is no such thing as the best bike, there comes a point when they're all as good and capable as each other, and you choose on softer, more subjective aspects. I really wanted a 140mm 29er Rocket, but it may be a while till we see one of those, if at all. The covert 29 was the closest thing to that I could find. I'm sure I would have been just as pleased with a bandit.
after hearing back from plush cycle im going to organize a demo on there 26er covert. if its any good to me maybe see about taking it of there hands when it comes to the sales. if not maybe just go the frame route and build my own up. just gotta find a free weekend now 🙂
Collect my new one on Sunday, can't wait!
My Bandit 29er, it replaced a Covert 26 that was a superb bike but I fancied a change. It has taken alot of work to get the Fox units to work but now they are sorted it is fantastic, plenty of pop and nimble too... I would say that Transitions are great but they are a hard charging type of bike rather than a calm and composed ride so get some test rides and be sure to get a bike that suits your style.
If you love your Blue Pig then maybe something that is a little longer in the toptube might suit...
I am sure you will enjoy whatever you get and thanks for the chance to post some pics of my bike 😀
Nice "family" day out in the Shropshire Hills coming up then, Spudnick ? 😉