Yeah, it is a tricky little section. You can see the front wheel slide out just before the jump which through me off… this is the same jump that I tore a ligament on earlier this year. I hate it.
Can you, like, fix the jump?
i’ve always liked the trances, has a bit more travel than the anthem so it would handle bigger drop offs, without being an impractical heavy ass downhill bike. that said, if you aren’t really more interested in XC than anything downhill, the anthem would be better. they are reasonably common too, so if you want to save some cash you could probably get a second hand one
i wish i had bought an all mountain bike instead of my kona stinky, sure downhill is fun but it sucks dragging the bastard back up the hill
Not really, the jump is pretty much the lowest part of the hill where all the sand gathers after some rain. You can fix it by sweeping out the run in but it is always going to be shit after rain. Part of the challenge I guess!
Yo squid, my local track is apparently proper trance territory, it’s all steep climbs then LOOOOOONG decents with huge drops and burms, twisty madness and rock gardens. Crazy fun, but yeah my bike just doesn’t handle a lot of the stuff I’m trying to get it to do.
Probably a singlespeed 29 inch issue. Perfect for lysterfield and the yarra trails though, all those mild xc stuff.
Maybe it’s not an XC bike I’m after?
Any youtube vids of your local trails?
I haven’t made any, I’ll have a look on YouTube when I’m no on my phone.
I used to ride a geared 26” hard tail, and I loved it, but I found the race-oriented geo too aggressive for me, especially when doing jumps etc. I ended up getting an Ibis Mojo, now I probably don’t ride a lot of stuff that requires that much travel (5 ½”), but man I ride better. I have more confidence and attack the trails a lot harder than I used to. It does make me a little lazy at times (when I can afford to be) but it generally just allows me to ride a bit harder and faster on the faster sections than I used to. Plus I hit way more jumps (small ones, I’m no hero) than I used to, and since having a duallie have hit my first double, first log ride, first see saw and first downhill run. Neither bike is better, think about what you want to ride, what style, demo a few bikes and make a decision. There’s a lot of awesome 5” trail bikes out there that you could comfortably race and also thrash on more AM/DH oriented stuff. Technology has come a long way.
yeah I reckon you want a trance not an anthem Dylan.
Trance, will see about demo-ing one later this year
competitive cyclist have CURAZY deals on ventana duallies at the mo. Also, fox 120s… I think you can get 5-ish inches front and rear, with high quality for around $1K. And you’d be a part of a smaller brand-owner club.
What did you end up buying? I’ve got a 29er Ventana El Rey and a 29er Titus Racer X if you want to have a pedal on them. I can also arrange the sale and delivery of some fine high end brands. 
Nothing man! Probably won’t for a while either.
I would like to play on yours though…
taken out of context for the lulz…
If it helps with your decision, I recently had the same dilemma and ended buying the Trance. It fucking rocks on all single track and just gobbles up downhill runs like you wouldn’t believe. They have really awesome deals on 2011 Giants now, just check out bikeexchange, perhaps come out for a dirt ride and you can have a burn on it.
Have to say the trance would suit where you live with a good mix of mini downhill runs and xc on your doorstep and the prices are really hard to beat.
yeah, but $$$.
I’ll maybe get a brand newie 2012 one.