Why does Mrs C dislike her Ripley, and a search for low rolling resistance

[Conundrum]

FWIW my wife just moved from a Canfield trail bike to a more XC oriented bike for the same reason and has gone from not enjoying MTB’ing to riding daily by herself. Seems like the Canfield was too slack and she struggled climbing.

Rad and sad.

[The Reverend Floater]

Rad and sad.

I know, I know. But K is not the Mogwai in her 2 wheeled skills. They might both be hobbits, but one is a bit more skilled than the other.

Plus side is she’s now really into MTB, so I’ll take that any day!

[El Chupacabra]

FWIW, just rode the Canyon in flip flops up and down our road on plastic flats. I haven’t ridden anything XC oriented in a long time but I can say it climbs like a goat in terms of efficiency—Not that the Scout is supposed to be an XC bike but the difference in climbing up our road is pretty wild. I’ll hopefully get a trail ride in tomorrow evening and will report back.

I dislike the flattish handle bars but that’s likely because I’m used to some rise. Will likely swap those out. I’m having a hard time with the thought of charging my drivetrain (electronic, wireless shifters) but fuck me, the shifts are lightning. It also came with Maxis dick skinner tires and I like a bit more bite, especially up front. The saddle is ruthless. Maybe if my ass was steel, but it is far from it. Definitely need to find a more comfortable saddle.

Regardless of whether or not I keep it, I’ll say the craftsmanship is beautiful. The LBS mechanic couldn’t stop talking about it, especially relative to the price. I told him I had been considering the Blur (which they sell) and he said, “It’s not even close to that thing.”




I’ll report back after I ride it. If I don’t love it, it’s going back, so we’ll see.

Ooh, fancy version. CF 8? How long did it take for yours to be delivered after ordering?

Mrs C rode a borrowed Blur TR tonight, loved it. As I mentioned above, the medium in the Blur TR is within a couple mm of a small Canyon Lux Trail.

The Blur we borrowed was a GX build, Performance (Grip) fork, DT 370/ Race Face AR27 wheels, Level brakes - perfectly acceptable other than the brakes, nothing fancy, but somehow SC wants $5900 for it.

The Lux Trail CF7 is full XT including brakes, Perf Elite fork, DT carbon wheels, $5300. Going to be hard to pass that up.

[The Reverend Floater]

Ooh, fancy version. CF 8? How long did it take for yours to be delivered after ordering?

Mrs C rode a borrowed Blur TR tonight, loved it. As I mentioned above, the medium in the Blur TR is within a couple mm of a small Canyon Lux Trail.

The Blur we borrowed was a GX build, Performance (Grip) fork, DT 370/ Race Face AR27 wheels, Level brakes - perfectly acceptable other than the brakes, nothing fancy, but somehow SC wants $5900 for it.

The Lux Trail CF7 is full XT including brakes, Perf Elite fork, DT carbon wheels, $5300. Going to be hard to pass that up.

The short of it is that my old boss gave me such a screaming deal that I bought a way nicer bike than I need. But because I’m coming up on a lot of free time and my wife is suddenly into MTB, I plan on spending a lot of time riding.

I ordered the bike via phone on Friday and the dude was every helpful with size, etc. It showed up two business days later. They have crazy customer service.

I love a good LBS but D2C bikes are going to evolve the industry. The amount of bike the consumer can get in 2 days with free, no questions asked 30 day returns is hard to beat. Most folks will always prefer to ride in person first, but that’s what they used to say about clothes, then skis, then cars, then houses…

[El Chupacabra]

Thanks! Two days is awesome. I'm going to call them in the morning and ask a few questions about sizing, confirm that a small really is the right pick for Mrs C.

Another Q for you: did your bike come with a regular Transfer dropper - where you can stop partway down? Or the Transfer SL, which apparently is only full up or full down?

[The Reverend Floater]

Reverb AXS, no transfer.

[El Chupacabra]

Thanks Rev.

Called Canyon this morning, discussed sizing and their 30-day test ride policy - which is 100% free to the buyer, Canyon refunds everything and covers return shipping. Hard to pass that up.

Trigger pulled on a Lux CF 7. Phone rep said 2-day shipping to Nevada (me). Selected a small, based on how close the numbers are to a medium Blur TR, which she rode yesterday and loved. A medium Lux might fit, but would probably need a very short stem, and still might be too long ETT.

[The Reverend Floater]

Right on. We’re so hurried in smoke that riding isn’t an option at the moment…

[The Reverend Floater]

Took her out for a quick 5 mile ride at lunch today. Conditions we’re extremely dry and extremely loose, not unlike Rontele’s mother. Single track with moderate climbs and a curvy, fun downhill.

First off, this thing climbs like a motherfucker. Love the lockout for the double track ride up to the trailhead. Shifts are instant, even under torque. It just feels efficient.

Downhill was great. Not slacked out Transition great, but the 29s just roll over shit and that bike is slack enough to have a lot of fun. The Maxis tires that came on it don’t have enough bite, so I’m throwing a Minion on the front. My front slid out twice on tight corners.

In the end, I shaved 10 minutes off what in normally a hour ride every time, door to door. So the thing can climb!

Excited to try it with riser bars, different grips and that Minion on the front.

[El Chupacabra]

Thanks for the ride report. Am out of town for a couple of days, but Mrs C's Lux arrived at home today - ordered Friday, delivered Monday.

Horrid smoke at home, so it might be a couple more days before she can get in a ride.

[J. Barron DeJong]

Horrid smoke at home, so it might be a couple more days before she can get in a ride.

An optimist!

[El Chupacabra]

I'm now on Canyon's email list, and they sent out a sale email today - clicked on it, and the bike that I ordered Fri (and was delivered yesterday) is now on sale, $300 less. Call Canyon to ask for a price adjustment:

Canyon: We can't do that, it's only for bikes sold within this sale.
Me: It arrived yesterday and hasn't even left the box. Should I just return it under the 30-day satisfaction guarantee and order the same one on sale? Seems kind of wasteful, but for $300, I'll do it.
Canyon: Let me see what I can do... (clickity clickity type type type). We're processing a refund as a one time exception.

They credited back $300, but not the sales tax on that difference. Guess that's OK overall.

[XXX-er]

be happy with your 300$

[The Reverend Floater]

I’m intrigued to hear what Ms. Chup thinks. Rode mine today with riser bars, Maxis Minion on the front and WTB saddle, plus made some suspension adjustments. It was the absolute teats.

[El Chupacabra]

Will update in a few days. Unpacked the bike last night, assembled enough to be rideable (leaving tubes in for now). Impressive build kit for the most part - full XT (no hidden downgrades), and I'm envious of the carbon wheels on DT 350 hubs.

Unboxing impressions:

Race Face stem bolts seem to be made of cheese - stripped out two of the bolt heads, going to replace all of them. Think it's a "Ride" level stem. It was also installed in a drop position for maximum aero XC raciness.

Bike was missing the seatpost clamp bolt. Clamp was there, no bolt.

You could tell a German company (over)-designed the packaging. Weirdly unnecessary cardboard cutouts, rather than the usual "zip tie everything to a big piece of cardboard". Also the largest spoke reflectors I've ever seen.

[El Chupacabra]

Update after two rides: Mrs C loves the Canyon. She's on a size small, and could probably fit a medium (possibly with a shorter stem), but am not sure if she'd have enough seat tube (seat mast) clearance to fit the dropper - it'd be pretty close if it did work.

So I think this is the bike. Will set it up tubeless in the next few days, and need to order a smaller chainring vs the 34T that it came with.

Sold the Ripley AF too.

[whyturn]

Update after two rides: Mrs C loves the Canyon. She's on a size small, and could probably fit a medium (possibly with a shorter stem), but am not sure if she'd have enough seat tube (seat mast) clearance to fit the dropper - it'd be pretty close if it did work.

So I think this is the bike. Will set it up tubeless in the next few days, and need to order a smaller chainring vs the 34T that it came with.

Sold the Ripley AF too.

Been following this thread and happy wife makes for a happy life. Glad it worked out


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[JPaul]

Great news, thanks for the update!

[El Chupacabra]

Been following this thread and happy wife makes for a happy life. Glad it worked out


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Thanks. That saying definitely holds true...

[alpinevibes]

Been following this too out of curiosity and glad to hear it's come around to a happy outcome. Pretty funny that OP paid effectively $4000 for a great bike with a solid kit. Meanwhile Santa Cruz just released the updated Tallboy v5 with a starting price of $5299 for a NX build...

[smartyiak]

Been following this too out of curiosity and glad to hear it's come around to a happy outcome. Pretty funny that OP paid effectively $4000 for a great bike with a solid kit. Meanwhile Santa Cruz just released the updated Tallboy v5 with a starting price of $5299 for a NX build...

Which, since she didn't like the Ripley, she'd ABSOLUTELY HATE!

[alpinevibes]

Which, since she didn't like the Ripley, she'd ABSOLUTELY HATE!

For sure, just speaks to the ridiculous price disparity still being perpetuated by industry heavyweights (as everyone waits for the industry to really cool off).

[El Chupacabra]

Been following this too out of curiosity and glad to hear it's come around to a happy outcome. Pretty funny that OP paid effectively $4000 for a great bike with a solid kit. Meanwhile Santa Cruz just released the updated Tallboy v5 with a starting price of $5299 for a NX build...

I sold the Ripley AF for what I paid, approximately (Jenson gift card promo balanced it out). Net total on that Canyon Lux Trail CF 7, after two price adjustments ($300 sale price reduction and then a refund on the $99 shipping when they were running a free shipping promo over the weekend), came to $5444 with tax. Not the cheapest version of that bike, but it's a hell of a build kit: full XT (derailleur, cassette, chain, cranks, brakes), Fox 34 stepcast perf elite fork, Fox transfer dropper, DT 350 hubs + DT carbon rims. Paper thin Schwalbe racer tires.

It weighs a hair under 27#, with tubeless sealant, SPDs and Mrs C's preferred Terry saddle; still has the stock Race Face stem + 35.0 aluminum handlebar. I have a 31.8 carbon bar to swap in sometime, which will drop a little weight and add some compliance.

For comparison' sake, the Santa Cruz Blur TR that Mrs C borrowed (and liked), is $5900 (pre-tax) for the GX build kit. It's $6900 (pre-tax) for an XT build with parts roughly comparable to the Canyon, except an I9 hub/ aluminum RF rim wheelset. The Blur TR is within a few mm measurement-wise compared to the Canyon Trail, though as discussed above, the Canyon has weird sizing -- the medium Blur is basically the same as the small Canyon.
https://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-US/bikes/blur

[detrusor]

^^^^

When looking at propane, canyon etc it’s pretty hard to justify nearly double the cost


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[alpinevibes]

I sold the Ripley AF for what I paid, approximately (Jenson gift card promo balanced it out). Net total on that Canyon Lux Trail CF 7, after two price adjustments ($300 sale price reduction and then a refund on the $99 shipping when they were running a free shipping promo over the weekend), came to $5444 with tax. Not the cheapest version of that bike, but it's a hell of a build kit: full XT (derailleur, cassette, chain, cranks, brakes), Fox 34 stepcast perf elite fork, Fox transfer dropper, DT 350 hubs + DT carbon rims. Paper thin Schwalbe racer tires.

It weighs a hair under 27#, with tubeless sealant, SPDs and Mrs C's preferred Terry saddle; still has the stock Race Face stem + 35.0 aluminum handlebar. I have a 31.8 carbon bar to swap in sometime, which will drop a little weight and add some compliance.

For comparison' sake, the Santa Cruz Blur TR that Mrs C borrowed (and liked), is $5900 (pre-tax) for the GX build kit. It's $6900 (pre-tax) for an XT build with parts roughly comparable to the Canyon, except an I9 hub/ aluminum RF rim wheelset. The Blur TR is within a few mm measurement-wise compared to the Canyon Trail, though as discussed above, the Canyon has weird sizing -- the medium Blur is basically the same as the small Canyon.
https://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-US/bikes/blur

Right right, my bad. I had hastily looked up the non-Trail CF7 which is $4399 MSRP. Regardless, still a killer deal against a $7000+ Santa Cruz.

^^^^

When looking at propane, canyon etc it’s pretty hard to justify nearly double the cost

I paid just over $5000 net for my Izzo Pro Race in Dec of 2020. Full X01, Factory suspension and dropper, $3,000 DT wheels... At that time that was $9000+ build for the Tallboy v4. YT's since made adjustments to the build and pricing, but the value is still there