Comments on: Taking the Adventure off road

By: Donald

Donald — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:45:52 +0000

Cool… thanks for the good info.

By: Arlyn Asch

Arlyn Asch — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:20:56 +0000

@Firger: Thanks! We’ll have to have a mountain division for TCO next year.

By: Arlyn Asch

Arlyn Asch — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:19:25 +0000

Thanks Donald. On the advice of some good friends, I investigated Santa Cruz (XC and LT) and the Specialized Epic and Stumpjumper. I know my offroad tastes are inline with XC riding/racing a lot more that doing bmx tricks or downhill mega-jumps, and those bikes fit the description. I also looked at Giant Trance, which looked like a good value, but did not get a warm-fuzzy feeling which is my first line buying indicator I think having a Madone 5.5 road bike has ruined me for value bikes.
The Santa Cruz bikes were really interesting cause all they do are mountain bikes and they go the distance, letting you customize you bike completely. In fact, a lot of what they do is just sell their frames and let other people build them up. I like that focus on building the uber-frame.
So, anyways, I was stuck wanting a top-end bike (champagne tastes) but not having the $4,500 to get a new one (beer budget), so I turned to eBay and found a killer deal. After the bike arrives, I’ll write more about how it turned out.

By: Firger

Firger — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:18:38 +0000

Congrats, that’s a really nice bike.

By: Donald

Donald — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:07:17 +0000

Nice bike Arlyn… I have also been thinking about a mountain bike (that doesn’t mean I’ve borken the news with my wife). What other brands did you consider, if any… and why did you settle on the Santa Cruz?