What, exactly, does it mean to be a “Functionality Driven Rider”? As a broad generalization, it means a rider who is already aware of at least one technical aspect, be it travel length or wheel size, that he or she is looking for in a bike. Functionality Driven Riders know what they want to accomplish on the trail. With that in mind, we have prepared what is essentially a primer to your spring demo plans.
The most important thing we do with our MTB demo fleet each season is select best-in-class bikes that will match performance and/or technical expectations. In fact, our 2019 fleet has been designed particularly this purpose. For example, when you visit the shop you’ll find the bikes organized according to travel length and wheel size rather than grouped by manufacturer.
Each of the following formulas is a set of weekend demos designed to provide a thorough experience in four distinct product – or functionality– categories:
Long Travel 29’er
The Functionality:
Anything. Everything. Enduro courses, big and/or technical terrain. Pedaling still matters, but it’s arguably more about the descent and rollover. There is no doubt this product category has had the most attention, if not the most product releases, during the past two seasons. Also referred to as “Enduro 29’er”, ranging between 150 and 165 mm rear travel.
The Formula:
- Santa Cruz Megatower – 160 / 160
- Yeti SB 150 – 170 / 150
- Pivot Firebird – 170 / 162
- Rocky Mountain Instinct, B.C. Edition – 160 / 155
Photo: Pivot Cycles
Classic Enduro – 27.5
Functionality:
Doing anything, everything, and the big terrain like their upstart 29” brothers, but favoring a playfulness and quickness traditionally associated with the tire size. These bikes literally established the sport of Enduro racing. But the following models are anything but relics. All have had frame and/or spec upgrades within the past 18-24 months, most recently the Santa Cruz Bronson.
The Formula:
- Santa Cruz Bronson – 160 / 150
- Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt BC Edition – 140 / 140
- Pivot Mach 6 – 160 / 155
Photo: Santa Cruz Bikes
All Mountain 29”
Functionality:
The all day ride, including backcountry. For the rider that wants to (and will!) ride it all. Needs enough travel to handle plenty of technical terrain, but knows that climbing is a significant – if not the most significant – part of a long ride. Many bikes with this functionality are referred to as “mid-travel”. This category is often charged with living up to incredible expectations as “the quiver bike”.
The Formula:
- Pivot Trail 429 – 130 / 120
- Yeti SB 130 – 150 / 130
- Rocky Mountain Instinct C70 – 140/140
Photo: Rocky Mountain Bikes
Down Country
Functionality:
Backyard single track, cross country races favoring more singletrack, including a growing recent trend towards more technical courses. Bikepacking and long rides. In our estimation, there are two clear leaders in this category, which blends traditional short travel cross-country with a more aggressive fork and head tube angle.
The Formula:
- Yeti SB100/SB100 Beti – 120 / 100
- Rocky Mountain Element – 120 / 100
Photo: Yeti Cycles @annegalyean
Four “Best Practices” for a mountain bike demo experience:
- Pick the bike up on Friday, bring it back on Monday (or Tuesday to Thursday): Give yourself plenty of time to get in a few different rides on each bike.
- Make at least one of your rides the exact same trail for each bike that you demo. For example, if Hall Ranch or the Betasso Preserve is your backyard ride, make sure to hit that on each bike.
- Don’t rely too heavily on Strava to tell you which bike is fastest: there are too many variables that contribute to ride quality that Strava can’t account for. For example, have you already put a lot of miles in that week? Did you have a more stressful day? Did you eat Coco Puffs for breakfast for the first time in 30 years? The important barometer than Strava is which bike puts the biggest smile on your face. Seriously.
- If you’re not in a hurry to start, consider using Front Range Demo Day as a way to narrow the field – Friday’s VIP event will be capped at 100 riders so you can get on as many bikes as you like. We don’t want you to necessarily use Valmont Bike Park as your only proving ground (unless that’s your backyard ride), so use FRDD to narrow your selection of bikes down to the two or three “finalists”, and then book your weekend demos at the shop.
Quick Calcs for Length of Travel: Metric vs. Imperial
