I’ve got a 26 Scott Scale and I like it. The whole alloy/carbon thing isn’t a big a deal with MTBs compared with road.
The Scale is extremely comfortable and the significant reason is that I have a carbon seatpost.
2013 rocky mountain vertex 970 for $2960 or 950 for $2650 or so on bike exchange… depends on size, but they are the XC beasts that I would be going for if i had coin, no doubt about it. Mate got a 970 recently (only XL left, i think) and man, its a nice rig for $3k.
I think theyre all nice bikes… agree that the honzo is a bit of a gnar beast for xc and bikepacking duties, but people seem to have a lot of fun on em.
No interest in a krampus? $1650 or whatever on clickbike… bit more bikepackin focussed, but i bet you could whip that thing around the singletrack in canb super quick… especially with some choice upgrades to drop the weight a bit.
yes.
ntbd
Vertex is nice but a bit more $$$
Re: krampus I’d rather get an El mar (can’t find many online in australia though). Don’t feel the need for 3.0 tyres for type of riding I do.
The Fyxation Quiver is kind-of the idea:
Wrong thread fred!
There’s a secondhand 18" one on BikeExchange (2011 “2” model - with upgraded X9 cranks), asking $1.5k.
Salsa El Mariachi - medium (18") | Salsa | 29er Mountain Bikes for sale in Lalor | 102472723
Nice spec and only need to swap out the Elixir 5s.
FWIW I contacted Dawson Sports re the 2014 Fargo 2 and Brent Dawson gave me a Australian RRP of $3110 - so considering the El Mar 2 has the same US RRP as the Fargo I’d assume the price would be pretty similar. FWIW when you remove the GST portion this is only 16% more than the US RRP. Not bad for what is quite a niche bike I thought.
That Focus Black Forest is a bloody good price if you decide to go with aluminium.
Anyone shipped from these guys?
El Mariachi 2 2014 from the states for 2299
Universal Cycles – Salsa El Mariachi 2 Complete Bike - 2014
^the quote for shipping that I got was $600USD. $2899 = $3102AUD. And then add to that GST and customs fees. Its cheaper to go through the Aussie distributor, and then you get a local warranty for when your Fox’s CTD damper packs out.
Damn, that’s way above my budget. Might just end up with a superfly 8/black forest or similar. Tonnes of carbon giant xtc’s keep popping up second hand but nothing I want wah.
On the upside I’m borrowing JP’s kona 29r from friday!
Universal cycles also has the 2013 El mar model for $1479.
I would love to offer advice Aeons - but I’m not really a rigid bloke.
Have you thought about any On-One frames?
Not sure if it’s useful information, but Bio-Mechanics in Adelaide seem to like the El Mariachi. They just started listing the single-speed version: BMCR | Salsa, so they might have one in stock or be able to get one.
Yeah they all seemed to have super steep head angles and didn’t really wow me enough to not buy local.
Been snooping on the internet and have spied localish superfly 8 for 1800 bucks and that focus raven for 2100 as well as a couple carbon meridas with xt for 2100.
http://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/29er-mountain-bikes/merida/wa/cottesloe/big-nine-carbon-xt-edition/102495232
Thanks for the tip off.
hehe… just googled rugged bloke. Love the fact that the top few hits are FOA trolling.
User tom. rode a 29er inbred for a few years but has just swapped it for a El Mariachi. I guess you could ask him.
agree with all of said above.
Kona Unit is also one to keep an eye out for and very upgradable.
+1 for the salsa cause steel is real. Lighter than the surly alternate and more focused on doing the job (as opposed to a billion jobs like surly’s generally are). I have an older casserole and it rides seriously nice AND the finish is awesome.
I know, and its in my size too. I’m trying to think of how I can broach the topic of a new bike with my dearly beloved. :eek:
How tall are you mate? Just found what could be the raging deal of the decade for taller types