This is the starting point of 29eronline's review of the Intense Tracer 29er. We wrote a report from Sea Otter about who and what the Tracer 29er was about here.

In our usual fashion we start by building the frame. Below are some pictures of the Intense. One of the first things I noticed was how awesome the craftsmanship is. This bike has many years of experience built into every dime of weld! I have zero fault with the Intense. You will not find sloppy workmanship on these bikes.

Intense hand builds the Tracer 29er in California USA. All the design is done in house. TheVPP suspension technology is licensed from Santa Cruz bikes who bought the patent from a company Outland Bikes that went belly up in early 2000(I don't have the exact date) I wanted an Outland really bad and have been a long time believer in the suspension design. The problem with the Outland design was durability. I saw a bunch with seat tubes just above the bottom Bracket cracked. Intense has opted to use a top tube mounted swing link instead of the original walking beam that Outland employed. Needless to say I am super exited about this bike!

How did it build up? Almost perfect. The Bottom Bracket literally threaded in all the way by hand. No tools necessary.  The threads gave a little resistants but no binding or catching. Smooth and even all the way to the last thread. Perfect!

The seat tube is a tight 31.6 mm. It is tight but there are no burs. Tight is good. This means there is no play between the seat post and the internal part of the seat tube. But not so tight to mark up the seat posts finish.  Reamed to perfection.

The cable routing makes sense . Not my favorite type but was easy enough to figure out with out looking online at other peoples work. Thank you for not doing goofy under the down tube and bottom bracket shell.

Intense knows that a 5.5 inch travel 29er needs cable guides for a remote dropping seat post. They are nicely tucked under the top tube and shock.

The front dérailleur is a top pull, direct mount. This was the hardest cable to run. It really wasn't bad. I just had to think a little bit and it made sense after looking at it for a minute or two.

We opted for a 135mm spaced rear G2 drop out. If you are building up an Intense Tracer 29er from the ground up I would opt for the 142mm option that is also available. If you already own a wheel set, check with the maker as many hubs are convertible relatively cheaply. There is always going to be a debate when we see new standards. Some people are not happy about the 142mm x 12mm drop out. I like it and have from the first time I saw the drawings on the Syntace website. If you have used the 15qr system that Fox uses then you are already familiar with the 142x12 set up. It really is easy to use and as an added bonus should help stiffen the rear end of your bike if your bike was designed well. I foresee a 142mm rear conversion on the Tracer 29ers future, along with a 140mm fork.

The Headset caused me some head ache and a few days. How hard is it to take an order, then send the correct head set?  This cost a couple of days. This is no fault of Intense.

The Intense is speced with a 1.5 head tube. I really wish, after working with this, other company's would adopt this set up. You can run any steer tube on the market by simply changing parts or all of the headset. It adds alot of weld surface and stiffens the front end if executed  properly. Cane Creek even makes a headset that allows you to change the head angle.

29eronline opted to use a external bearing lower and a direct set upper. I am not a fan of super low front ends and don't feel as a taller rider a low stack height is a big deal. I end up putting an inch of spacers and running a low rise bar. On the Tracer so far I am wishing for an even higher front end. this is Easy to remedy, just use a higher rise bar.

So credit should be given to Intense for  the 1.5  head tube. The ability to swap bearings will allow for a creak free front end for many years and it  is of course cheaper to replace a headset cup and bearing then throwing away a front triangle if a creak should develop on a integrated head set type frame.

Unfortunately the newness of the Tracer 29er Model and reducer top bearing caused a build delay as Storm Endurance could not get the parts from a distributer. They orders the parts direct from Cane Creek then then sent the wrong crown race(a reducer instead of a 1.5). It was of course not the end of the world but delayed the process. Make sure you have part numbers and model names on your own before you order the parts.

I really like to ride the bike for a week or two before I post the build report. In the web age the reader is used to instant everything. 29eronline has stepped back from the temptation to compete to make sure we are working on our quality.

I have ridden the bike for a couple of weeks and have started getting testers some time on it. I have not had a single tester not walk away impressed with this bike. It is plush even with the sub par Fox RP23 shock(universal on most bikes we are testing not unique to Intense)

Plenty of clearance.

It does almost everything  to my very high expectation of this bike. It is easy to control. Confident on steep trails, takes small, medium and big hits with no hesitation. Corners awesome and is well mannered at walking pace and on slow tech maneuvers....so far. We need time to really put it through the paces.

Things I had to work out: First is set up. Figuring out sag. There is no set up data base on the Intense website. I am finding the sweet spot to be 25% sag. 30% seems good also and with a 140mm fork there would be plenty of ground clearance. 20% was not good. The bike rode harsh and lost compliance.  take time to set the bike up correctly. There is no magic body weight ratio. you have to take a percentage of the  stroke and add or subtract air until you hit the sweet spot. I find it is easiest to start at about 3/4 of your body weight and go up from there. Also if letting air out undershoot and re pump up. Don't trust the pump when you let air out.

I am also having an issue with one pivot loosening up on me. Intense is staying in touch as I try a couple of things on my end. I am confident it will be remedied.

Second Issue: We run DT-Swiss RWS skewers. The RWS skewers will not clear the dérailleur without first removing the nut and pulling the skewer. One more reason to get the 142mm option.

In short the Intense Tracer29 has been a blast to ride.  There are a couple of kinks but the craftsmanship has overall been beautiful. As we ride more we will be in tune to it's strengths and weakness. In our usual style we will be changing parts as we go to see how versatile this frame is.

7 LBS 13 OZ

29eronline received a Titus Rockstar. We did a write up on it here. What is the Titus Rockstar? It is an Aluminium front triangle mated to a carbon fiber rear triangle. It has 4 inches of travel front and rear. Titus bikes allows the use of a 120mm travel fork but it is designed to use with a 4' fork. here is a link to the geometry chart. If you decide to buy the titanium version of this bike custom geometry is available.

What is the Titus Rockstar made for? It is designed as a trail bike that can be taken anywhere you want to go.  How is it different then any other bike we have tested like the Niner RIP9 , Specialized Stumpjumper, Pivot Mach 429 or any other bike we have ridden up to date?  We don't know yet.  So this is where we start our review.

How did the Titus do in our build process?  This is a very impressive part to me. It is so simple. I understand that alot went into the building of and  designing of this bike. It takes alot to build a bike that performs high tech but is simple at the same time.  The cable routing is simple. Under the top tube. When I ran the cables I kept thinking I missed something....it was so easy.

Tuning the top pull traditional(top swing) front derailer was a fast and simple experience. The rear derailer has no weird kinks in the cable routing. The rear derailer does sit close to the Horst link drop out but does not really make a difference when setting the limit screws. Again easy.

The RockStar uses a 30.9 seat tube. This allows the use of most popular dropping seat posts.

The headset was not the normal 1 1/8 standard. You need to get a 1.5 inch lower and a 44mm inset top bearing in 1 1/8 sizing. This was easy to get even at Storm Endurance Sports our local small Independent bike shop.

The frame weighed a modest 6 Lbs 4 oz and our complete SLX mix kit had the bike weighing 28 LBS 10 oz.

The rest of the build was uneventful for the most part. There were only two things I can ding the Titus for.

First is a real issue. The Bottom Bracket shell was threaded poorly. It took alot of effort. If I was impatient I would have cross threaded my bottom bracket bearing cup. I am pretty sure that after this is read by Titus poorly threaded bottom bracket shells will no longer be an issue.

Second problem I found is relatively minor. Where the swing link is, the cables flair out towards the rider when pedaling. I am not really sure how this could be solved. Maybe just by putting the cable guides closer together?

So those are the only negatives....really thats all I have. Pretty minor in my opinion since the bottom bracket can easily be fixed at the factory before shipping.

Titus bikes has been really easy to work with, they always answer the phone or call back in a timely fashion, which is very encouraging.

How does it ride. I cant comment much as we are riding it with a 120mm fork until our Fox TALAS 29er fork comes in. Since the Rockstar is built around a 100mm fork it would be unfair to make any comments until we spend a good amount of time with the properly speced fork.

plenty of room for large tires!

What I can say is it feels like quality. No flimsy feeling bike here! The front is stout but never feels harsh The rear end is plenty stiff but has a pleasantly damp feel to it. I have  a feeling I will be crying for a large volume air shock so the begging may commence shortly.

I would say I am pleasantly surprised but I am really not. It is funny that some company's I don't expect alot from. With the Titus I expected alot and am not disappointed.

29eronline has been riding the Stumpjumper for a couple of months now and I finally feel that I have enough data to confidently write a review. Our build report can be found here.

After giving the 2009 version a terrible review I decided that I needed to spend as much time as possible riding the Stumpjumper. So for the first month it is the only bike I rode. I put the previous experience behind, opened my mind and just rode it. I am glad I did. There is a lot going for this bike so here is the information and educated opinion we have formed.

The first feature I noticed and decided to play with is the BRAIN shock . What does it do? If you want to read the marketing lingo look at the bottom of this review and follow the links. Here is what I felt and a description I came up with. It is part filter and part lock out. It seems to act as a valve choke. When you run the BRAIN shock fully open it acts like a classic Horst link bike. That is plush but not super efficient. It will bob around and occasionally have a floating kind of motion of the ocean feeling. Where I like this is when I am decending  really technical terrain and under heavy braking. From this point I slowly worked my way to the firmest setting.

I went against Specialized advice and put a 140mm fork on it and I have to say I had fun. The 130mm travel rear with the BRAIN open  felt at home with the long fork . DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME IT DEFINITELY VOIDS YOUR WARRANTY!

Matt R Testing the Stumpjumper FSR at San-Lee park

Lets go back to the softest setting and set a 120mm fork back on the bike. Especially in technical climbs I felt the rear end of the bike needed a little filtering. Kind of calm it down for the quick pedal snap to get over  and through rocky climbs. I ended up settling on 4 clicks from fully soft. it is still really plush in this setting but creates a little bit of resistence to the rear end sagging  on every pedal stroke.

From this point the BRAIN got used and abused! I rode it fully firm and started trying to see where  the BRAIN kicked off to allow the suspension to do it's job including doing 2-3 foot drops.  Very cool. It actually works.  At times it felt like I was pedaling a hardtail. I cringed a little when I would hit a big root and ...nothing just a  little click and bump no more. Pedals like a hardtail but still eats up bumps hmmm not finding a draw back on this one.

Now on really rocky sections I was much happier with the BRAIN with less platform on(less hardtail like) and when I knew I had a long smooth ride coming up I wanted the firmest setting that I could get. I really used all the Brain Settings and found myself dialing the firmness per ride I did. This really could be the only mountain bike you own as long as you aren't riding in the extremes.

If you are  considering the Specialized Stumpjumper do yourself a favor, ignore the 130mm travel number and think more about what the bike is made for. This is a trail bike in the truest sense of the word. This was illustrated best on yesterdays ride. I rode 8 miles to a trail then rode the trail. The 130mm and slack head angle would tell you this would be miserable. In actuality I was very happy. Why? the Specialized pedals really light. Much lighter then the actual scale reads. I can not explain why as the frame is over 6 pounds and the total bike weight is about 29 LBS as I have it set up now. Every rider that tested it, besides the rider that rode it as the first mountain bike he ever rode, thought that it felt light. One commenter even was worried about the durability it felt so light. I can not explain why but like it.

The Specialized is also a very good handling bike. Again ignore the numbers. It rides switch backs as well as any other bike besides the RIP9 in its trail bike class. The slack angles take a bit to get used to but really don't hold the Specialized back at all when the trail gets tight.  It bunny hops well and is easy to get in the air. For some reason I had a hard time staying on my rear wheel for wheelie's but never was bothered on the trail. It really has the playful feel that I love in a trail bike. After riding the slack head tube angle I am a believer. During the coarse of our testing we made a couple of converts. I now have a hard time switching back to steeper angle bikes.

Climbing the Specialized was very good. The front end is a little tall for some but I was not bothered by it at all. This is easily remedied with either a flat bar or negative rise stem. We run zero rise stems and a 15mm riser Truvativ bar.

Decending the Stumpjumper is great. It is on par with the best trail bikes. Here is where noticeable credit can be given to the low center of gravity and slack head angle. As my confidence built I started riding further and further towards the center of the bike. I found I didnt need to hang off the back of the bike like other bikes we have tested. Compared to other 29ers this is a standout feature of the Stumpjumper that, other then the Niner WFO9, stands apart from other bikes in our test.

Here comes the complicated part. While decending the Stumpjumper was very confident it could be potentially negated on rough trails with the BRAIN set too firmly. While cornering on rooty corners with the BRAIN on I could feel the rear end chatter around the turn kind of like a hardtail. Not surprising as that is what you are mimicking when you use the BRAIN in the first place. Same corner with the BRAIN soft and the issue is no longer a problem. While the BRAIN is effective and I used it a lot,  you will need to find the happy medium or be willing to compromise. The way I see it is that it is nice to be able to pick what and when you will compromise. The BRAIN in the firmest setting seems to do better when there are well spaced hits or smoother trails with larger hits but less of them.

As usual no bike is perfect. Where the Specialized falls short is that the shock seems to be over sprung. Coming through sections where the trail is rutted out, if you dont have the rebound dialed back the suspension would pop you all over the place. Without the right technique some riders actually popped out of the seat on these types of climbs. I rode the bike with the rebound 1 click from fully slow.  Still at times I would sink to the bottom of a rut, the suspension would fully compress and pop me, and at times, the rear wheel in the air. The only way I can describe it is if you have 2 springs. 1 spring is tightly coiled with thick steel and the other is loosely coiled with thinner steel. The one with the tighter spring rate will return after being compressed at a faster rate then the loose one. We are dealing with air springs and it seems that  similiar rules apply. My suggestion to Specialized is  to tune the spring rate a little more linear with the same bottom out.

Here is something cool. When I mentioned this to Specialized PR man Nic Sims he set me up with Mick Andrews, Specialized suspension guru. Evidently they are refining the design and tuning the Stumpjumper. In other words they are not sitting still and saying good enough(and it is truly good enough as it sits) but are always improving their designs. The fact that they would spend the time talking with our little site really makes me rethink the corporate monsters I had envisioned them to be.  Here is the deal though if we wait till next years newer supposedly better design we will always be waiting and not riding a sweet bike. There is always a promise of bigger and better but since this bike is so strong as is, I wouldn't necessarily hold back from buying this year. There is no guarantee that next year will actually be better just different.

Four other things I would like to see. First the ability to run a 140mm fork without voiding the warranty.  In Specialized defense this would mean steepening the head angle so it does not ride like a chopper when you add a longer fork. With the longer fork the bottom bracket height would be a little higher which for us east coasters wouldn't hurt. I understand why they wouldn't but it would be nice especially since Rock Shox is offering  the Reba in a 130 and 140mm option for 2011.

Second is getting away from an internal head set. From a consumers stand point I worry about the internal types starting to creek. In Specialized defense the creaking we discovered seems to have been from over tightening the headset not the head tube. However we are getting some creaking in other brand bikes and it kind of makes us nervous. Plus the choice of a headset is nice. If an external type starts to act up, worse case scenario it is a $150.00 fix for a Cane Creek 110 or Chris King Headset. These makers allow the use of a 1.5 lower and a 1 1/8 upper with the press in variety.

Third: The linkage that holds the shock came very loose. It had blue Locktite on the threads from the factory so it is not an over site  or a quality control issue. I reapplied some blue Loctite and it has held now for a couple of months.  If you buy a Stumpjumper FSR 29er and the rear end feels flexy check your pivots. This frame is plenty stiff.

Lastly our Specialized Stumpjumper paint job started to chip around the disc tabs and the seat tube at the seat post clamp. I am a big anodize fan as it eliminates these sort of problems and saves weight in the process.

So do we like it. Yes there isn't much not to like. Specialized delivered a go anywhere do any thing bike that, short of the extremes, with a couple of parts changes can be almost anything a rider wants it to be.

Helpful Links: Specialized Stumpjumper 29er Expert Overview

Brain Brain Washing

Ben the guy Ed Norton is trying to look like, explains the BRAIN

(mindbender: If Ed Norton looks like Ben does Ben's ex girl friend look like Salma Hayek)

I have a little more Sea Otter for you out there. Today we will be showing the Titus Rock Star 29er.

Titus Bikes were approachable and cool guys.  Thanks for spending some time showing me the Rock Star.

What do you the reader want to know about this bike and why is it different from the other bikes on the market? First things first. Titus has bumped the travel of this bike from their previous offering the Racer X 29er. Instead of 80mm the Rock Star has 100mm. This makes the Rock Star a bike I want to test. 80mm is too little 100 is within the ball park of what most guy's will get the most out of. Titus designed the Rock Star around a 100mm fork. You can run a 120mm fork with this bike. This is important to me especially with the release of the new Fox 32 Talas 29 fork.

This brings up the point; what is the Titus made for? It is not a race bike. It is not NOT a race bike either. It is a bike designed to do what you want it to do all day long.  Again we see a company that understands the real strengths of a 29er. So you can get a TALAS for this bike. If you are riding rocky steep terrain on the climbs you can lower the front end to 95mm and climb with the best of them.  On the down hills put the TALAS in 120mm mode and the extra height slackens your head angle and raises the bottom Bracket for a more confident technically capable riding position. Versatility. This is becoming more and more important to me when I am looking at bikes to review.

Now when you look at the Titus Rock Star you may think this is an old suspension design. It is a Horst Link design. The style of suspension has been around for a long time. No it is not outdated. This design has been refined for a long time. Shocks have gotten better to really play up the strengths and down play the few negatives. One huge positive is simplicity. This is a relatively simple design that has years of refinement. The Horst link bikes are easy to work on and ride really well when done right.

In the pictures take a look at the head tube of the Titus.  It is a tapered head tube with a press in lower bearing. Here are the cool features of this style of tapered head tube. If you have a 100mm front fork with a 1 1/8 steer tube it is an easy swap over to the Titus. Just press in a lower bearing with a reducer . Next thing I am really beginning to appreciate is that if the headset gets creaky on this system replace the bearing and cup assembly not the frame. The press in bearing is the lower bearing because this bearing takes the most load. The top bearing is integrated. It seems this is done to lower the front end of the bike.

Next is the carbon fiber rear end. I am still not 100% sold on Carbon as a material for the average rider. However if you are going to use it this makes more sense to me than a complete bike. Because of the Horst link set up,  if you break a piece of the rear end like a chain stay,  you can just buy the part of the chain stay you broke. While I am sure it is not cheap, it isn't as bad as replacing a one piece rear end or a front triangle. All this is IF you break it.  I am excited to test Titus Bikes' carbon rear end to see what advantages it really offers.

The main triangle is hydro formed aluminium. The Rock Star does come in a titanium version. I know there  are some people who are not into titanium on suspension bikes. I have to say I am a sucker for it. I think it is beautiful. I wont kid anyone that any bike will be the last bike I own but if I wanted it to be it could be. Well that is if the industry doesn't out date every standard and make it impossible to get parts that will fit it,or if the rear end holds up as it should.... well let's just keep it because titanium is cool and makes me  feel really special. Isn't that enough!

29eronline should be getting got a Titus Rock star for review.  Follow the RSS feed for updates on 29eronline testing the Titus Rock Star.

Back to posting cool stuff at Sea Otter. We have been testing and compiling video for a couple of other  reviews so have been absent from posting.

At Sea Otter I had the privilege to meet Jeff Steber(pronounced STEEBER. Yes I made the mistake and was kindly corrected). Here is why it was a privilege.   How many company owners will come out during race week and spend one on one time to explain a bike to a small website like 29eronline? The crew at Intense was laid back but was willing to spend time to talk to us and answer our questions. I also met Stickman who was super laid back and a nice guy. Some companies were really snobby and not accommodating so it is  always appreciated when a company is cool. Remember,  if a company doesn't treat you good to your face how are they going to treat you when you call them for a warranty or tech question?

That is not the only reason Intense made a great impression. Their Intense Tracer 29er and prototype 29er down hill bike are impressive. These bikes are made in the USA. These bikes are made in house. These bikes cost about the same as a high end Taiwanese made frame from some small manufacturers that out source their bikes. These bikes are handmade by people who obviously take alot of pride in their work.

I have been following this evolution for some time. The first frame Intense made was a Intense Spider 29er. I did not want it because at the time they were using really steep geometry. It was a cool bike otherwise. Intense was also one of the early adopters of full suspension 29ers with the Spider 29er. Then I noticed a couple of pictures floating around of a 5.5 29er prototype which seamed to disappear.  Intense brought the concept  back with a vengeance! This is by far one of the most technologically advanced  and forward thinking bikes out on the market. This is why we are most excited about the Intense Tracer 29er.

Lets start at the head tube. It is a full 1.5 head tube. Why? Besides the obvious strength...options. You can run a 1 1/8 steer tube fork using headset reducers. You can use a tapered steer tube fork using a head set designed to adapt and in the future, if any company will sack up, you can use a full 1.5 steer tube fork. this is forward thinking ! Why limit the customer to one component? Also with technology changing and demand increasing,  the customer that buy's the Tracer 29er will be able to upgrade with out changing frames. No throw away frames here. These are built to be used for a long time.

Intense does some beautiful craftsmanship. These frames are gorgeous!

Suspension type is a Virtual Pivot Point. Intense licences the VPP technology from Santa Cruz Bikes. It seems to me when Intense Bikes makes an improvement(like redesigned linkages) then miraculously so does Santa Cruz hmmmmm. The travel of the Tracer is adjustable between 5 and 5.5 inches. Again options. You can run a 140mm fork and have a 140mm travel in the rear and use it as an all mountain bike. Or you can run a 120mm fork, steepening the head angle, and lowering the Bottom Bracket and use it as a all day trail bike.

Moving down the frame. We go to the rear drop outs. Once again Intense thought ahead and didn't pigeon hole the buyer. You can use a 150mm spaced rear end. This wider rear axle allows you to stiffen the rear end of the bike and build a stiffer rear wheel. You can use a Syntace  12x142mm rear end.Information on that here. This is a cool system. Think Fox 15mm QR for the rear. When installing the rear wheel,  you slip it into a notch in the rear drop out, push the axle through like a 15mm QR and spin the axle into a threaded drop. From there you tighten an over sized 12mm QR axle(or bolt on). If I was buying this bike for my personal use this is the option I would choose. Very Good system!  It is much more secure them the standard drop outs the industry has been using. Speaking of which,  135mm is the third option. If you are heavily invested in wheels(like 29eronline) you can use the standard 135mm rear wheel.

The Tracer 29er is set up to be run with a direct mount front dérailleur.

The Intense is a hand built beauty that can be set up to suit a huge number of preferences. Versatility.  I love seeing this.

Intense is going to be allowing us to test this bike with our 29eronline kits. We are chomping at the bit and will be filling you in on the details . Watch for our test in the near future. Please don't back out on us Stickman, we have a fragile heart!

29eronline had a whirl wind tour of Sea Otter this year. Of course we did not to get near as much done as we wanted to. So the next couple of posts we are doing is on the items and company's we felt were our priority and why.

The first company I am writing about is Yeti Cycles. Yeti is the first because I wrote down a bunch of info and dont want to forget any of it. I am trying not to be partial here or make a bigger deal out of one company over the other.

Rumors of a  Yeti 29er were circulating around the Internet and with the trails by Yeti's home base in Golden Colorado being so heavily used prototypes were being reported on.  I contacted Yeti Cycles and heard that they would be releasing the 29er at Sea Otter so I strolled by the booth.

One thing I noticed at Sea Otter is that some company's were just kind of rude. This is a shame. I did not introduce myself in the beginning. Unfortunately this is how these company's treat the average fan/ enthusiast.

This is not the case with Yeti Cycles. As usual the staff at Yeti was attentive to everyone passing by!  They were friendly and answered every ones questions. They even included passersby in the conversation I was having about the Big Top with Phil Cramer. This is the kind of service I expect from any company. I understand that in the begining of 29ers they were opposed to the concept but as a customer based buisiness I can not and never have been able to fault them. They are a good company to buy a bike from.

Yeti Cycle is entering the market with an Aluminium hard tail they have named the Big Top. It is a 7005 Aluminium front triangle with a solid carbon fiber rear triangle. The Rear chain stay and seat stay employ the classic Yeti "loop".

The Big Top comes with removable drop outs for single speed or geared options. The geared options have the international standard spaced disc brake mount and the single speed drop out is a "slot" style with a 74mm disc brake mount. The shortest setting gives a 17.1 inch Chainstay length.

The slot drop single speed has a 74 mm disc brake mount

At the bottom bracket you will notice in the picture a black chain guide mount. The Big Top has a removable ISCG mount for use with a Truvative Hammer Schmidt, or a chain tensioner. I love the idea of the tensioner coupled with the single speed slot drops, this should be a pretty trick single speed or 1x9 set up.

direct mount for the front derailuer

Due to the ISCG mount I asked about the max fork travel recommended.  Phil Cramer from Yeti asked an engineer and at this time testing has not been completed. Hope fully it will be cool to run a 120mm fork for a heavy duty trail build. I will follow up soon but don't expect an answer to soon. With the carbon rear end this heavy duty set up  may not be a popular set up however it is always cool to have options. One fact I do know is that the Big Top is designed to be run with a 100mm fork.

Yeti speced the 29er with a direct mount front derailleur for the best clearance for the rear tire. should you choose not to use a front derailer there is a cool Yeti man engraved on the bolt on cover.

The front head tube is a 1 1/8 upper to 1.5 lower taperd variety. Yeti is using a press in style set up. This is good and I hope other manufacturers  follow. This set up allows the user to pick there favorite headset in there favorite color for there bike. You may be thinking Big Deal. But to me it is not about showing off a high dollar nugget of bearings in your favorite pastel color. It is about longetivity. I would rather ovalize and clap out a $150 head set then destroy my frame.

Next question should be " Dosn't that add height to the front end?"  Yes it does. At 29eronline we are using a 15mm riser bar on our test bikes. We have zero rise stems, 120mm forks a 2.4 front tire and most of the time we still need head set spacers. Some times up to 25mm of them. Front end height is not as much of a problem as most people think. Worst case use a flat bar and a negative rise stem. Most of the time this is done only on our small size bikes. The racer types are the ones having problems. most riders can't ride a bike with a 4" drop from there saddle to the handle bars. The average rider's back would be killing them plus it is much harder to pull up on the bars and feels like you are decending a road bike. Dont buy your bike because of what the racers are riding.

Back on point. The external head set bearing Yeti is using is great  for frame longetivity and is fine for most riders comfort.

if you are wondering that is Phil's arm. Contain yourselves and focus on the bike!

The frame was not designed as a race bike. This was a suprise to me as Yeti is known for it's race bred lineage. The Big Top is designed as a do all go any where type of bike. It has a 70 degree head angle, that is slack for 29er. It will also have two water bottle cage mounts. The pre production version you see in the pictures is not showing that but Yeti assured us it would have 2 in it's production version.

People will have mixed views on the Yeti 29er Big Top(geometry is listed on Jensons buy page). But really what's not to like about the bike itself. It is a jack of all trades hardtail 29er designed with versatility in mind. We want to test one and are working with Yeti to get one. Pricing starts at$1100 for a frame only. Yeti will sell this as a frame fox f-29 rlc fork and a headset for $1800. Complete's will be available also but kit's and pricing have not been completed.

Why do we want to test one?  It is our type of bike.This should appeal  to the average guy who loves riding and doesn't want a single purpose bike. Isn't that why we like 29ers in the first place?

Yeti Big Top 29ers were well represented. Test ride anyone?

The Rocky Mountain Altitude is Rocky Mountain Bikes first full Suspension 29er.  I have been really looking forward to this bike. I have had dealings with Rocky Mountain Bikes for many years and hold the company in high regard.

The Rocky Mountain Altitude's one attribute that stands out  the most is the seat tube angle Rocky Mountain Bikes(RMB) uses. It is steeper then most which should put the riders weight bias towards the front of the bike. This should allow the rider a more pedal friendly seating position.  This position is dubbed "Straight Up Geometry".

Without going to much into bicycle fit, "The Straight Up Geometry" should enable fit technicians the ability to more easily line the knee to the ball of the foot in reference to the pedal spindle. I was actually taught to line up the bony protrusion just below the knee with the pedal spindle with the pedals at the 3 o'clock position. This allows the best power out put. I am not an expert on bio mechanics but this method has served me well.  Proper bike fit in addition to allowing for more weight over the front end of the bike is the purpose of  "Strait Up Geometry". Scroll down this page to get a little more info.Click on the technology tab.

How did the build go. Fine. The BB could have been a little cleaner. It took a bit of effort to get the bottom bracket to thread in. Threading in the BB is a little difficult. The Non drive chain stay is very close to the BB when it is threaded in. This is a design compromise and as 29er designers start pushing designs we will see tolerances get tighter before they get looser.  Also the seat tube could have been reamed better. The disc tabs were faced and looked great.

Tight Fit. If you find yourself switching you bottom bracket proceed slowly

Scratches on lower third of seat post

The  black paint job is sharp looking.  The frame weight is respectable especially for how stout the frame is. It weighed 7lbs 3 oz for our large test frame.

We stripped the Altitude 29 down to rebuild it with the 29eronline  tests kit. This is not because the build needed any changes. I will do a "value post" on the OEM parts a bit later. The stock parts are  very nice, well thought out and needs no upgrade. One thing I noticed while taking apart the bike is that it comes with a 1 1/8 inch fork even though the frame has  a tapered head tube . I actually called the company when I found out. Peter and Alex spent time explaining why . This leads to the tapered steer tube.

The silver piece inside the frame is a headset reducer. If you want to run a 1.5 tapered fork remove this and install a 1.5 press in style headset

There are evidently a couple of styles of tapered steer tubes. The one Rocky uses is designed to use a bearing that installs directly in the top built in cup.  The bottom is a press in 1.5 style bearing or the stock built in reducer/bearing cup. The RMB uses an internal reducer in the head tube with a 1 1/8 lower bearing. Rocky Mountain Bikes decided they wanted to keep the head tube as short as possible. this allows for the lowest front end that they could spec. It also saved weight going with this set up as opposed to the set up Niner uses which causes Niner and other brands that choose to use this style head tube to use a heavier head tube. The low front end along side the "Straight Up" geometry,115mm rear and 120mm front suspension travel should clue you in for what the bike is made to do. All day in the saddle! This was made to be ridden for long periods of time over rugged terrain in comfort.

Top tube view. You can see the insert from above. Use a headset removal tool to remove the reducer.

I will repeat my thoughts. I believe that this is the style most mountain bikers will get the most out of. I believe this style of bike is comfortable and well mannered. Run light tires and and rims and ride your favorite epic.  Put on beefy tires a dropper post and wider rims and you can ride rooty, rocky  terrain with a few drops in between. You want to do a marathon race? No problem. Trail ride with your friends, again no   problem. Versatility!

I also want to comment on the cable routing. I like it. It works. No need to go under the bottom bracket. Simple and easy to understand. They left areas where there is no housing under the top tube and full housing where it will gunk up the cables if they didn't.

Enjoy the photo's. We will do a spec report shortly.

cable routing. Click the picture for a larger view. Nice paint and tasteful graphics.

Here it is!  Straight from Rocky Mountain Bikes. I'll let some pictures do the talking. Weigh in will be tomorrow. First as a complete bike. Then as a frame. It will be built up after that with our 29eronline test kit and beaten mercilessly!

Side view Rocky Mountain Altitude stock build (minus end caps)

We are working on a component over view. The Rocky mountain has a competitive spec. There is a lot of value. All the parts were well thought out. Over all the Rocky mountain crew put together a smart build.

I feel like comparing the full suspension bikes to other full suspension bikes we have tested would be a good idea.  I see alot of questions about this on forums popping up all of the time. Even some industry guy's have asked so here goes...

Pivot 429-: The Pivot is built for speed. It handles sharp and pedals like a race bike. This bike is really in a class of it's own. Until bikes like the Niner Jett9 becomes available or the Gary Fisher Superfly, Santa Cruz Tall Boy, or Specialized Epic 29er are available the Pivot really is not a great comparison.

Who should buy it. Racers especially the endurance types. Trail riders that keep track of average speed/ heart rate and MPH. If you like twisty trails ride moderately technical trails but want to still feel the terrain that is under you the Pivot is a great choice. If you are a 200 lbs rider that wants to race you will not find a better bike.

There is no shortage of love for the Pivot at 29eronline.  It is a fantastic bike. What ultimately caused most of us to buy different brands is that the Pivot is not plush enough for our taste. The large volume shock helped for heavier riders but still was not as comfortable as the RIP9 . A couple of local riders have bought Pivot's for themselves but these riders are racers and are interested in speed. Compared to their hardtails the Pivot is super comfortable. The other bikes are too plush for their taste. In addition the front end is lower then the other bikes we tested allowing them to easily get in their butt over head body positioning.

Turner Sultan: Compared to the WFO9: The sultan was close in its ability to absorb trail obstacles. This bike is super plush. It pedals as good as the WFO9 and the RIP9(although Donn, Jamin and Joel would disagree). It handles faster. In tight corners and berms I would take the Turner.

In super steep section with large boulders, I would take the WFO9.

In flatter rock gardens, the Sultan is really close and some may even prefer the Sultans handling.

Drops go to the WFO9 the Turner blew through its travel on pretty much everything.

Stiffness: First the WFO9, the RIP9 and the Pivot 429 tie, the Sultan narrowly gets third. The 2009 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR does not even register and the Ventana gets a close 4th and ties with the Ellsworth Evolve(I have ridden it but no one else here has) The margin between the Sultan, Ventana and Ellsworth are slim.

Over all I loved alot about the Turner Sultan. Why I sold it is the fact that it blew through its travel. I am fine with the frames stiffness. The fit and finish truly are second to none. The all business no frills is very attractive to me(form follows function) It fit me like a glove. Handles exactly how I want a bike to. The suspension is by far the plushest most sensitive of the bunch we have tested. Plus there is a certain feel to the Sultan that I cant explain. I believe it is the Non Hydro Formed aluminium tube set. It just feels different. I want to put the Turner in first place. However every time I tried to jump/pump/ manual/ bunny hop I got the dreaded flat tire sensation. I ended up in the woods to many times because of it. I like the linear feel at the top of the stroke but some where there needs to be a progressive rate . There was no resistance to pre-loading the suspension to the moves described. In the end as much as I wanted to I could not live with this. The other guy's dismissed the bike after the first couple of hours on it. If that issue was solved while I could not give it first because of the other testers preference, it is the bike I would be riding.

Who Should Ride It? This is really hard to talk about. Turner Bikes has a fiercely loyal fan base. Talking to any of these Homers will quickly convince you there is no other bike out there worth considering other then a Turner. I would say the rider who spends all day in the saddle over rough terrain and has a more XC oriented riding style will love the Sultan. This means that you spend most of your time seated climbing and roll over trail obstacles rather then jump/ bunny hop. You like a more classic mountain bike geometry.  If you happen to be a Homer and are a devoted Sultan owner, please don't show me how So and So is hucking himself off 911 drop. There are some riders who are just really good no matter what they ride. For the rest of us 29eronline's verdict remains the same.

Ventana El Rey: This frame is light, stiff and comfortable. It climbs well and is well mannered overall. It is simple, low maintenance and well built. I enjoyed this bike for the most part. Compared to the WFO9... Come on! There are way more differences then similarity. Compared to the Pivot. The Pivot is stiffer and lower. The Pivot handles faster, pedals better and is every bit as stable. Compared to the El Rey the Pivot is not as plush. The RIP9 handles more predictably, pedals more efficiently,  and is less affected by braking.  Overall the Niner RIP9 is more suited to aggressive riding then the EL Rey. The El Rey is much lighter then the Pivot and RIP9. the only full suspension bike that we have tested that was lighter is the Specialized 2009 Stumpjumper FSR.(more on this later.)

It is the overall opinion of the handful of testers that the El Rey Is a nice bike that ultimately none of us want. The suspension works fine but it is out done by its competitors like Pivot, Niner and Turner. One response was that it rode like a camel! Yes we used the rebound dial. The statement did not apply to "bobbing" It was more a reference to how tall the bike sat.

I had problems with flat tight turns and feeling like the bike sat to tall. It wasn't nearly as confident on tight switch backs or our tech rock garden at San Lee. I actually preferred my Kona Exsplosif 2-9 hard tail. I would love to see this frame tweaked as I am a Ventana fan in general and feel that they make a very high quality domestically made frame. In addition they were one of the early adopters of 29ers and full suspension.

The Specialized Stumpjumper FSR 29er got completely destroyed in this test. In its favor. Light weight. Comfortable supple suspension. surprisingly good handling even with the slack head angle. Actually I have to give praise to Specialized for introducing me to a 29er with slacker head tube angles. No one who rode it complained about the head angle or handling. It rode excellent in bermed out fairly steep down  hills.

Overall the Specialized Stumpjumper FSR was to low to the ground  squeaky and  creaky for our taste. The new Stumpjumper seams to have addressed these problems but I wont comment until we ride one(If that ever happens).

Niner RIP9: No it was not perfect. But it was pretty close for most recreational,enthusiest' and aggressive trail riders. If you ride aggressively and don't want to be limited anywhere on the mountain then the RIP9 is for you. It climbs excellent handles very well in all but the extremes of terrain. The geometry is fast without being twitchy. The suspension is plush without being vague. The amount of travel is in 29eronline's opinion what most mountain bikers will get the most out of. The perfect combination of comfort, confidence and performance.

We at 29eronline hope this information helps the readers of these articles, thank you for your support.