I bought a new Specialized Enduro 29er 7 years ago. I did not get rid of my 2009 Enduro 26er. They both got the same amount of love from me. The tough thing with the newer enduro has always been how much weight I can put over the front end. All of my other bikes are old and they require my weight to be towards the back in the steeps. That 09 Enduro was a great bike. It was a lower spec but still lighter than my 29er enduro. Of course it didn't handle the chunky stuff very well but it always was fun to flick around and play with. It was my favorite bike for laps at Mt Pinos. Sadly, I did finally break a seatstay earlier this year. For now, it's just hanging in the garage. Thanks for showing some respect to an older bike.
Modern riding techniques applied to 15+ year old bikes is actually surprising. They ride far better than you remember. You are right, the cornering is amazing, but riding them as you say takes more effort. Fun to do occasionally and must offer some benefit to switching back to modern bikes. I like using mine on easier trails when riding with less experienced riders than myself. It levels the playing field a bit.
I think you 100% nailed what bikes of that time were like - the shocks and kinematics were very optimised towards pedalling, which always felt like there was a firm point at the top of the stroke that you had to push through before it really moved out of the way. I had a few Turner 5 spots which were great but the suspension was nothing like what I was used to on a DH bike. I remember around 2014 the V3 Nomad with the debonair air can and the "new" Pike was the first big step towards suspension that resembles what we have today. It felt like there was actual grip and the wheel could follow the ground! The short cockpit was spot on too - felt like we had to run the bars as low as possible due to the short wheelbase, which wasn't perfect so I really had to trade off front wheel grip and not feeling like I was going over the bars all the time. As bikes got longer (and seat angles steeper) it was nice to bring the bars up much higher! I also had one of those 36 Van forks in the shop just a couple of weeks ago - it was 2011 and still worked MINT. You could legitimately use it today if you found the right spring
Funny you mentioned the v3 nomad. Had a similar experience on that bike, with the first 11 speed sram stuff coming out around that time 27.5, long travel and better geo that bike felt like it propelled enduro bikes a few steps forward
I did something very similar to you. I bought a 2013 Evil Uprising 26" and upgraded it a lot to see if the older frame rides well. Then I eventually broke it and moved to the 10 year later version. The old bike climbed really really well but just like yours, it had worse small bump sensitivity and was completely linear when compared with the new model. I was bottoming out A TON even with a fully loaded air shock. Cornering was really really good. It was super easy to find grip on the old bike. I also tried the 27.5/26 mullet and I found the front end too high. The reach was shortened from 410mm to 400mm 😶 I find the new bike much much better on jumps. It's just so stable, feels like it's jumping for you. 8 degree steeper seat tube angle helps a ton while climbing on the new bike.
I had an HD3 and it sounds very similar to that HD. The leverage curve was progressive (a bit) to start, then linear through the mid and slightly regressive at the end. 3 things I found that were vital to setup: 1. Sag needed to be precisely set to the point where the curve changed from progressive to linear (about 27%/40mm). Too little sag and small/mid bump was awful, too much sag and the bike was a wallowy mess. I've not owned another bike so sensitive to sag setup. 2: Low volume shock! It seems like around the time of those bikes, there was quite a few lower volume air shocks availalbe. This really helped with mid stroke and bottom out support. I put an early X2 on the bike and it just killed all the liveliness and fun for little benefit. 3: Minimal to no LSC. Use HSC liberally. Winding on too much LSC again just removed all small bump, minimal LSC worked ok with a lower volume air shock , with the X2, (even stuffed full of spaces and bands over what Fox says is allowed) adding LSC improved pumping support , but again , small bump goes out the window.
There is a romance to the cornering of an old short snappy 26er!! I think the feet more centred is a part of that too. I was a 26 holdout for a long time. Mid-late 2010s i had chilled out from freeriding and was mostly rallying with my then gf. I was riding a late 2000s rocky element 100mm travel, that thing flew though haha! Even rode ladies only on it. Fucked that relationship and that bike then didn’t ride for like 5-6 years. Recently got back and am on my first semi modern bike. 2018 carbon altitude on 27.5s all specced out. That thing is a rocket for sure compared to the old shit and way way more capable of an all mtn/enduro ride. Shout out to the 2010s van rc2 36 for sure dude, unreal fork. At one point i had Richie Schelys old RMX and it had a mid 2000s marz 66rc the old made in italy stuff. Coil with air assist, open bath damper, possibly a “worx” for cause it was crazy good. Most supple fork ive ever rode
My first "expensive" bike was a 2014 Marin Attack Trail, which I built up with a cost of around $1750 back in 2020. It was probably one of the first years where manufacturers started mentioning reach numbers. I'm 5'9" and the bike was a size medium. It should be the perfect size nowadays, but the reach was a hilarious 412.5mm. I made do with it by putting on a 50mm stem to balance my body position and handling. It was a 27.5 bike using a twin link suspension design. I don't know if 3 years is enough of a difference from your Ibis to my Marin, or it's just a difference in suspension design overall, but my bike was wallowy to pedal. To best describe how it handled trails, I'd say it was the monster truck kind of bike; where you just let gravity do its thing and the bike will go over chunder and you won't feel it much. The rear suspension was soft, and it got even softer when I upgraded the inline shock to a RockShox Monarch Plus RC3 piggyback. Same sag, way softer. Of course, being a short bike, it was very sketchy, as every drop felt like my face is gonna be the first object to hit the ground and not the tires. As for the geometry, we have basically the same experience. My bike had a 170mm fork, as opposed to the stock 160mm, so the wheelbase increased from 1152mm to 1197mm. Still short for modern standards. Shorter wheelbase=more body English required to stay in the bike's center of gravity. If you want the bike's weight back, you have to move your body back. Same as forward. This is in contrast to my 2023 Canyon Spectral 29. Its wheelbase is longer at 1222mm, reach is longer at 456mm, and the body English now evolved from rocking back and forth to keeping my body as centered as possible while endlessly pumping because it's just that much easier to physically manipulate the balance of the bike. If I want a bit of rear weight bias, I just pump my legs down and slightly backwards and it unweights the front easily. It's like a wrench. It's easier to apply torque when the lever is longer. In my opinion as someone who's also owned an enduro bike of that Ibis' generation, bikes back then probably were already really fast in the hands of a truly physically fit rider with insane body control. So, maybe extending the front triangle really was the revolution of MTB design. Now that same elite rider can be so much faster with modern bikes that act like longer levers, and riders like me who are much less fit and are much less skilled can now make our bikes do what we want them to. Modern bikes, because of their length, are more responsive to rider input. Simple lever physics. Maybe that's why lanky riders and old school riders who are deliberate with their body movements are so freaking fast and stylish, like Ronan Dunne, Olly Wilkins or even Rob Warner.
I started with a 2008 stumpjumper 26" 2 years ago. I absolutely loved it and every here and there I take it to my local trail and shred on the guys with 10k bikes. 😂😂
Same I have a 2007 and I just now getting the shock bill to go up to the top of the world in Laguna CA every one just looks at me and asks questions sometimes 😂
The geometry differences are crazy now. I have a 2013 GT force LE size large with a 66 head angle and 72 seat tube angle. A 612mm ETT but the reach is like 420mm which is the average for a x-small to small size bike nowadays. Wheelbase is around 1160mm. It is super manoeuvrable and really poppy if you pump and weight the bike right but does not like finesse. Turns on a done but you really need to weight the bike.
i have an old banshee scream with three settings for three different wheelbases plus adjustabe travel 150 180 and 200 and i love the geometry i have tried modern bikes but prefer the retro bikes way more fun
Sick bike, and interesting insights about chainstay to front end relativity. Definitely need a 26" front wheel to sort the front rear balance, will also climb better. I'm running a 2010 aluminium Nomad, choosing to ride a 26" bike for fun over stability🤙Great videos man
Sup COUS!!!!! Greets from UK :D Bruv LUV this shit!!! You really deserve an "Honoury Pkye" Award for your efforts with the 1k buy and kit blagging in the pits n stands .... STERLING STUFF.... real MTBER a behaviours .... Showing the real underbelly of the MTB scene the mainstream media refuse to report on. #mtbfreedomfighter 😁👍
Weird question: Does choosing a stem length relate at all to F/R center ratio? Tall guy with my first proportional geo bike incoming (dreadnought v2 / S4). Been on (proportionately) tiny chainstays forever I’m wondering if I should stray from my typical 50mm stem.
My first full sus "good" bike was a 2000 Santa Cruz Bullit purchased for $700 in 2019. Size medium (laughably small). Still have it. Don't ride it. Scary AF compared to the worst modern bike.
The problem is not the 26 wheels is the geometry, bikes back then where to short and to steep HT, $1000 for that bike is to much any 2024 agressive Hardtail is much better
