because i trust you guys...

i'm looking for some advice regarding bike value. I'm looking for something more of a trail bike... leaning towards XC. my brodie is 24lbs so weight is kinda big for me.

any advice on these? all three are $1500.

first up, a Chinese carbon:

less than 10 rides since new, internal cable routing, also comes with carbon fork (not pictured), Fox Float 29 G2 Evolution Series fork with lockout, Chris King hubs laced to Salsa Delgado rims, LX shifters with new XT Shadow rear derailleur, XTR ti cassette, Raceface Deus Gold series crankset, Rtichey WCS carbon bar, Bontrager 90mm carbon stem, ABR Arc carbon bar ends, carbon seat post, limited edition neon Avid Elixir 3 hydraulic disc brake set, WTB Silverado saddle, near new IRC Mythos XC 2.1 tires, SPD M520 pedals,

next a 2008 chromag sakura:

Newer SRAM XO rear derailleur X9 front derailleur and shifters Newer SRAM 990 cassette and chain 3x9 Truvativ stylo crank Chromag fubar bars New mavic 319 rims with xt hubs Wtb rocket saddle Rock shox Reba QR 1 1/8" steer tube Avid juicy 7 brakes with newer pads Conti race king tire 2.2 26" Newer Truvativ gxp BB Ritchey headset Thomson stem and seat post Will include 3 sets of mildly used tires kendas maxxis and wtb, miscellaneous drive train parts, used mavic 717 wheel set with xt hubs, juicy bleed kit. Very fast 24lb ride.

finally, a 2003 epic synergy ti at:

X9 shifters
XO rear derailleur
Deore front derailleur
Gore RideOn cables
XT cassette
XTR chain
XTR crankset with new rings
Hope Mini Pro ti disc brakes
SID Blackbox motion control w/ remote lock out and threshold floodgate (new) NRG $90 Taster's Choice pedals Schwalbe folding Racing Ralph Tires Easton XC1 wheel set (top of,the range; new) WTB ti railed Shadow saddle Answer ProTaper carbon handlebar (new) Chris King headset


any advice greatly appreciated.

That chinese carbon one looks almost exactly like my carbon 456. It wouldn't surprise me if they were made in the same factory.

All three look very nice - and decent value. Simple personal preference, subject to a test ride (in my experience some Ti can be on the harsh side), I'd go with the Epic Synergy. Its looks will last!

appreciate the input. again, just wondering if there is any obvious problem in value of the components and such as i'm a little out of touch regarding the newer stuff.

If it was me, it would be the Ti hands down - tidy frame and tidy wheels which is essential. A few tweaks to get it more colour co-ordinatied* and you've got a timeless bike. A new Ti frame is anything from $700 to $1500 new, and the SIDs are probably over the $300 region.

thanks woz, i do like the synergy and hopefully geometry will be good for XC.

As I've owned two (cheaper) Chromag frames, my heart says Chromag. The Sakura was welded up in Squamish by Mike Truelove http://www.miketruelove.com/ and will have great geometry for BC XC. While probably not the fastest of the three, it would be the most fun on the right trails. I also own an Everti (Epic) road frame which I've turned into a hipster killing single speed with 740mm riser bars... Pretty sure all Epics, while designed on the Island, were welded up in Taiwan. Not a bad thing but it's not going to have the same cache of something like a Moots, if that matters.

My brain says buy the Chinese carbon 29er :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:
It would be worth trying to take it for some sort of ride though to see if it has geometry for racing around fields and nothing else. But if you want performance over any sort of heritage and it feels good, then that would be the logical choice :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:
I'm off to kill myself

walleater, you're spot on. indeed, as my favorite bike at the moment is my '94 brodie expresso then the sakura seems like the same bike... but with suspension and disk brakes! there is the lure of titanium with the epic which I believe is a 2003 and so was manufactured in Colorado with production moving to Russia in late 2005. not sure where they make those now. and then the Chinese bike looks to be such an efficient XC machine.

I guess i'll just have to buy all three!

Love the Chromag

raidan73":31x231ss said:

Love the Chromag

Click to expand...

Same here. Their stuff oozes quality.