To be honest, I feel that I should have and would have without inserts. This has its time and place, but some of the front wheel compressions I’ve gone through while living here have been truly horrific - yet I haven’t sliced a tire yet or killed a rim. I still haven’t really accepted just how slow you need to ride these things and often default back to off the brakes and let the bike do the work. The only notable exception is the security afforded to me for riding rock features for the first time. Having lived in Squamish for the last six months, that hasn’t really changed. My conclusion from the two part insert group test earlier this year was that you run an insert in the back for reliability and in the front for performance. Very specifically though, it’s the Rimpact Pro. Price: Transition Spire GX Carbon - $6000Īnother product that I’m on the campaign trail for is inserts. If I’m lugging around big wheels and all that travel that’s exactly what I would expect, but that’s not to say all bikes in this bracket deliver that. For me, with my seemingly always off-beat riding style that's more about hitting things than floating over them, the 170mm 29er seems to give my riding a much needed nip-and-tuck to make it appear so much better than it is. I’ve ridden this bike most days for a long time now and it’s still going well. It just has all the dimensions I would like in a relatively lightweight and seemingly reliable package.
It just fits me well as much as anything. Honestly, think of this how Brian Park thinks of his 3D printer - yes, I know you don’t care and yes, I’m going to tell you about it anyway. Yes, I’m going to bring up the Spire that I reviewed in the enduro bike field test, how could I not? This is a bike I seem to be on the campaign trail for and I renew my vows of dedication every time I ride the thing.