stumpy or ex9

[gbspark]

hey guys,
just need some expert opinions, i 'm in the market for a new bike swapping from a ht to fs, have seen the brand new stumpy elite, white for
£1650. . or have an offer on eb for 2005 model of trek xp9, not sure of price yet,
being 6ft and 17 and a half stone what would you guys say the best bike is,
your comments are greatly appreciated,
cheers
graham

 

[bonj2]

cove hustler

 

[pedalpusher]

I went to a demo day and rode a Stumpy followed by a Trek Fuel EX8 (looked great in the root beer/white, whatever TF root beer is), and would definitely have got one had I not tried a Santa Cruz Superlight after another demo day a few weeks later - budget right out of the window! I am 6ft and 14 st (I was 15 st when I demo'd the bikes). Are there any retailers near you that can give you a demo? What I think I did wrong was rode three bikes on each demo day - it takes me 5 or 6 miles to warm up, so the first bikes I rode (Stumpy and La Pierre Zesty 314) felt good, then the middle bikes (when I was "in the zone") were great (Trek and Superlight) then the last two (when I was shagged out - Kona 1.20 Supreme and Santa Cruz Heckler) I didn't enjoy. So, if I was trialling again, I would do it on separate days and have a long enough ride to do them justice.

I also converted from a hardtail (Mongoose Super Tyax).

Good luck.

 

[bonj2]

what did you think of the lapierre compared to the stumpy

 

[pedalpusher]

The stumpy was my first ever go on a modern full sus, and it felt so light and agile that it was a eureka moment. However, I preferred the Trek that I rode straight after. Had I not gone Santa Cruz I would have got the LaPierre - it looks awesome, and the acceleration was fantastic, even with me on it. I think I was on a Zesty 314 although they did have some dearer bikes for trial - a 514, plus one from the Spicy range, possibly a 516 which they didn't have in my size.

In LaPierre's blurb it describes their bikes as "skill extending" - I can vouch for this. I forgot any eyewear on the demo, and the demo bikes had no mud guards so I had to come down one muddy and wet descent squinting through the remaining part of my one mud-free eye so line choice didn't feature but I still got down in one piece at a decent speed on lines I wouldn't normally even have walked down. And I was smiling at the bottom. Great bike.

I think they are still rare enough to have a lot of cool factor too and thankfully they do not display the "Zesty" or "Spicy" names too large - a bit naff those, IMHO.