Death Road bike needed. Santa Cruz, Specialized, Trek or...?

[neilski]

As luck would have it, I've only gone and landed myself a job as a mountain bike guide on Death Road in Bolivia. This is pretty much my dream job at the moment and I can't wait to start but I do have a small problem, I need to arrive for work equipped with my own bike and the only MTB I have is a 26 year old steel framed Raleigh with rigid forks so now is as good a time as any for an upgrade.

Since getting the job offer two weeks ago, I've spent countless hours on the internet reading up on the differences between wheel sizes, hard tail vs. full suspension, amount of travel, who makes what groupset and what the latest trends are, fad or not.

Having already ridden Death Road once, it's not particularly challenging, being a hard packed dirt road for most of it so in all honesty I could do it on my 26yo Raleigh but given that there are a few other more technical rides I'll be guiding as well, I'm leaning towards a full sus 27.5+ as then I'll have the option to buy a 29er wheelset and swap them out as and when required. In other words, two bikes for the price of one.

There are quite a few bikes that fit into this category so I've narrowed my choice down to the Santa Cruz Tallboy Aluminium D+ build, Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp 6Fattie and Trek Fuel EX8 27.5 Plus.

https://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-US/tallboy

https://www.specialized.com/gb/gb/118413

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/mountain-...

All look like great bikes and do well in all the reviews I've read / watched on YouTube but does anyone have any real world experience of any of them or of those brands as a whole? Any to avoid?

Whatever I buy has to be a real workhorse so needs to be pretty decent but I don't want to spend £8k on some carbon bling machine that's going to live a harsh life in all the dust and mud that Death Road is going to throw at it so my budget is £2.5k give or take so what would you choose out of the above three or suggest instead if none of the above? Main criteria is it has to be both fun to ride and can take a bit of abuse day in day out. Being able to use it for a bit of bikepacking later on would be a plus.

[AlexIT]

Just to put some more doubts in your mind, I'd go for this:
https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mtb/strive/strive-al-...

[Don1]

Why are you looking at full suspension? If you are guiding, aren't you going to be carrying a lot of kit, a full sus needs far more fettling than a hard tail (etc).

Personally I would see what shops there are local to the areas, and what brands they stock. I would also go hard tail, on a 650b+ wheel size - that means you can take 29er and 27.5 wheel sets, if you have a breakage. The 650b+ wheel rolls as fast as a 29er but is still a lot of fun and stong. The only issue with that is you may have an issue getting the rubber and despite the fact prices for that size rubber is coming down, they are still blooming expensive!

I would look for Shimano or XRAM component sets, as they are the most popular throughout the world, I would do the same for the brakes etc as you will need to replace pads easily.

But finally - have an amazing time. Take photos and keep us in the loop! What an amazing thing to do.

[neilski]

Don1 said:

Why are you looking at full suspension? If you are guiding, aren't you going to be carrying a lot of kit, a full sus needs far more fettling than a hard tail (etc).

Not that much, just some puncture repair stuff and a couple of multitools to get people going again. For Death Road we're followed by a minibus with more spares available, maybe even a spare bike or two.

The reason I want a full sus is that Death Road isn't the only ride I'll be doing, with some technical singletrack rides on some days and the guides manager told me that while a hardtail would be fine for most stuff, there'll be times when I'll wish I had / need suspension front and back. In an ideal world I'd buy two bikes but that would cost twice as much and flying with one bike is already a bit of a ballache and can be expensive which is why I like the idea of being able to run two different wheel sizes on the same bike.

[syko89]

I'd avoid the canyon personally. Nice bikes to ride but build quality lets them down and their customer service is shocking.

[TwistingMyMelon]

My worry would be how readily are parts available and warranty claims?

Be a PITA losing a bike for a few weeks/month due to the above.

[Don1]

Ah, that makes perfect sense then!

OK, I LOVE my Mondrakers, but Ihave no idea what support they would offer, despite them being a Spanish brand and you in South America!

Bike Radar and the like have just done their yearly tests - BR the 1st was Canyon, then Scott Spark and then the Commencal Meta. Personally I wouldn't go for a direct brand due to potential issues with support.

[joshleb]

I would probably recommend something from the big global brands, Trek, Specialized, Giant, Scott etc, more chance of spares, bearings if they're odd sizes etc.

[Minnsy]

Would also look at the Whyte T130S and the YT Jeffsy AL One.

Both cracking bits of kit.

[anonymous-user]

I can recommend the Spesh Stumpy, I was 26 stone when I first started riding mine and it's done around 2500 miles without any serious issues.

They are very solid, thick seat and chain stays and the Roval rims are very good for factory wheels, although mine's a 29er and not a plus sized rim so I can't vouch for that size wheel.

Change the bottom bracket for a Hope would be the only recommendation you'd need to do out of the box.

Great job by the way, wish I was 25 years younger.

[neilski]

TwistingMyMelon said:

My worry would be how readily are parts available and warranty claims?

Be a PITA losing a bike for a few weeks/month due to the above.

The company I'm going to work for also has South America's biggest bike workshop with loads of spares on the shelf and some good relationships with suppliers in the US to get bits shipped down there if I / they need it.

[neilski]

Insert Coin said:

Great job by the way, wish I was 25 years younger.

Thanks, and how old are you then? They didn't mention any upper age limit to me LOL.

[joema]

Tall boy gets great reviews and has a small amount of travel so best of both worlds and no real punishment for having full suss. I'd just go for 29" wheels from the off though. Not heard good things about 650+ tyres and their strength of casing (they compromise strength as they'd be too heavy).

Santa cruz have an amazing warranty too. Free bearings for life too.

[Mr Gearchange]

They are all solid choices - its going to come down to which one you like the most, all of them are going to do the job.

Despite what others may say you don't want a hardtail - a FS is far more versatile and will be much more comfortable and with modern shocks and tuning options you are going to lose next to bugger all pedalling efficiency.

In addition to your list YT are worth a look - I've got 2 YT bikes and they have been super reliable and truly excellent things to ride - but as I said, your shortlist of three is solid.

[Gren]

syko89 said:

I'd avoid the canyon personally. Nice bikes to ride but build quality lets them down and their customer service is shocking.

Not in my experience. I have 4 Canyons and none have put a foot wrong. One is a 4 year old mtb that has been ridden constantly over that time though all seasons and has never gone wrong other than stuff wearing out.

Customer service has been fine too. Cracked forks due to a crash on one of the road bikes - crash replacements were with me less than a week later. Email responses are usually within a day and the UK team are really helpful.

[Bill]

neilski said:

The company I'm going to work for also has South America's biggest bike workshop with loads of spares on the shelf and some good relationships with suppliers in the US to get bits shipped down there if I / they need it.

Just from an ease of getting bits perspective I'd start with a list of manufacturers they use regularly.

[tjdixon911]

Gren said:

Not in my experience. I have 4 Canyons and none have put a foot wrong. One is a 4 year old mtb that has been ridden constantly over that time though all seasons and has never gone wrong other than stuff wearing out.

Customer service has been fine too. Cracked forks due to a crash on one of the road bikes - crash replacements were with me less than a week later. Email responses are usually within a day and the UK team are really helpful.

I've had my Canyon Spectral for a few years now, I've not had anything seriously go wrong but from experience their Customer Service has been excellent, firstly, after about a year I realised they had sent me the wrong mech hanger as a spare, a new one arrived within a few days FOC (luckily the original hadn't broken, but I beleive the one originally sent still fits, albeit slightly longer). Secondly within the last month or so I lost one of the cable guide clip things, I couldn't find a replacement anywhere, quick email to Canyon and a few replacements were sent straight out, again FOC. I know these are very minor things and wouldn't have cost alot but its good customer service.

Wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

It may be a different story trying to get the bits shipped out to you though if needed....

Say the worst thing that happens is a cracked frame, my replacement with Giant still took 6 months... Although I hear they are generally very good normally and they did give me a complete new bike in the end having only dropped the frame off with them...

[mickymellon1]

can you not get a work bike as part of the deal?

the occasions I've been down the death road, the guide has had the same as us?

[neilski]

I have to provide my own bike, helmet, pads etc. but they can get me a good discount on Santa Cruz & Kona. I'm waiting on a price for the Tallboy at the moment.

Speaking to a previous guide this morning, he said all the guides have a relatively inexpensive hardtail for Death Road that they beat the st out of and a full suspension "fun bike" for all the other tours they do and days off so now I might be buying two new bikes at once. If I wasn't confused before I am now.

[mickymellon1]

nice job and nice part of the world!