Show us your 650b (27.5)

I like my Range alloy, it is a very capable AM bike. My only issue is that the suspension pivots (several of them) have come loose, which the Pinkbike review also mentions, so I have gotten used to checking them before every ride. That is something I didn't have to think about on my Stumpy. The carbon is supposed to be 1.5lbs lighter, but appears to be the same geometry. Personally I'm gonna wait at least a year for them to work out any production issues before thinking about upgrading.

 

Thanks for the info on the Range. Dayum, a full 1.5lbs lighter!? Do you have any other suspension designs to compare it to other than FSR?

 

Same thing with my Range. Norco replaced the rear triangle with 2014 part. Good thing the 2014 parts were painted for 2013 models.

 

Coming from a Range, I'd really like to try a Warden.

 

My 2 choices of yet to be released 650beasts... Which looks best?[video=youtube;zpjA5UgQs9U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpjA5UgQs9U[/video] [video=youtube;phA6-E_dO3I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phA6-E_dO3I[/video]

 

My next bike is gonna be Rocky Mountain Altitude, rally edition in aluminum. http://www.bikes.com/en/bikes/altitude-rally-edition/2014#/models/altitude-750-rally-edition
with a few changes: wtb i25 rims, my old saint brakes, granny ring, and xfusion vector air shock

warden looks really good tho!

 

Knolly commits to things that other mfgrs don't think about. Short headtubes on a 27.5 to keep the front end reasonably low, Forward mounted seat-tube which allows for short chainstays and keeps it out of the way of the tire at full compression, lots of similarly smart geometry and engineering choices that add up to a different sort of handling, not just slapping bigger wheels on the previous design and making it fit. It will also be slightly heavier than a lot of offerings because it's aluminum and it will be built to withstand some real riding demands.

That said, I don't believe you can go wrong either way. Great reviews from some knowledgable, neutral sources on the Norco.

 

Alls I know is whatever bike you pick up is going to have real nice set of derbys!

 

Fun times.

 

Lots of nice bikes in this thread. Seems like 650b is quickly taking over the AM market.

 

See post #43. Seems we won't have a choice.

 

My Bronson. Such a great bike that climbs well and descends even better.

 

Has anyone looked into the Transition Bandit 27.5? It looks like a great bike and everyone seemed to like the 29er version of it. Would like to hear some thoughts on it, I am narrowing it down between this a Foes F275 or a Ventana Zeus.

 

Here's mine. This thing rips! Turner Burner

 

I ride a Bandit 26 and love it. From the looks of it the 27.5 is closer to the 26 than the 29. Nice low BB, corners awesome, plenty strong and not too heavy.

 

Intense Carbine 275

Started as the 26" version, rode for 3 months and recently converted to 27.5". This replaces my Intense Tracer.

Here's the build specs

Intense Carbine 275 medium frame
Rockshox Pike RCT 2014 650B
DT Swiss XM1501 650b wheelset
KS Lev Integra seatpost
Cranks Bros Iodine carbon bar 780mm
Spank Spike 50mm stem
ODI Ruffian grips
XT brakes 180mm frt 160mm Rr
XT shifters
XT frt der.
XTR Rr der. Shadow plus
Sram XO 2x10 carbon crankset 26-39 teeth
Sram chain
Hutchinson Toro 2.3 650b tires(820 heavy grams each)
XTR trail pedal

Weight - 27.5

 

I completely agree. I don't give a crap about 29ers but when new parts are coming out and I can't get them in 26" wheel size S%it just got real! All I can do is school people at Super D on my 26" POS and post terrible pics while talking trash online so nothing has really changed I guess.

 

Thanks and...ummm, thanks?

 

Thats a beaut!

 

I really like that look! Very clean lines/cable routing, nice color combo.