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Went to the Stif Demo Day up at Stainburn and came away with a few questions answered. Due to getting there late and having a hangover I only tried three bikes, Orange 5 Pro, Santa Cruz Tallboy carbon, Orange 5 RS but I was happy with that as it was the 650b 5 I wanted to check out.
Being a Fox fan I was very disappointed with both the 32 Evo and 34 Factory. They don't seem to have moved on from years back. The 32's especially felt like they help the bike back. Pikes on the other hand really are worth the hype. Best forks I've ridden. Would have liked to check out the Fox 36 and Boss but ran out of time.
For the riding I do Sram 1x11 does not have enough range. The shifter ergonomics are awful as well. Won't be changing from Shimano any time soon. Speaking about levers, the one on the Reverb is not as good as the one on my Thomson dropper. Works well enough though.
650b is not nearly the same as 26". It actually felt closer in style to 29" imo. It offers some of the benefits of both but with a blunt edge if that makes sense. It's a compromise, good or bad depending on the rider. I'll probably go for one when I next get a new bike but I am not in a huge rush to change from 29".
Santa Cruz..... What a huge disappointment. Bearing in mind it was the carbon frame with decent spec I expected it to be a nimble flying machine. Wrong. It didn't feel any lighter then the 5's to ride and got flustered in sections the 5 gobbled up. It felt like I was sitting on top of it and the riding position was far to forward for me. Say what you want about fancy rear suspension design, the main factor in how any system performs is the shock. Speaking of which I was suprised just how much difference small spec changes make to the same frame. The 5 Pro had Fox 32's + the basic CTD shock with standard stem + bars. The 5 RS had the Pikes + decent RS shock and wider Renthal bars with shorter stem. The Pro was ok but the fork really held it back. It rode like an Orange and I like Orange. The RS however was another level. Very confident, comfortable and quick. I need some Pikes ASAP.
interesting read, were you comparing the 100mm Tallboy XC (near race bike) with a couple of AM oranges?
Having ridden a few bikes with 32's I probably wouldn't even bother comparing it with the Pike, completely different league of fork really.
To be honest I just grabbed the first Santa Cruz available in my size as I'd not tried on before. I seemed to remember WMB raving about the Tallboy as an allrounder so didn't think of it as a race bike. It was ok but just nothing special imo. Agreed with the forks. The TB had the 34 Kashima's.