Your thoughts? (Need help quickly please!)
 

I've narrowed it down to 3 bikes...test rode them and they all feel awesome. This is where you guys come in. I'd be using this bike for aggressive all mountain riding with maybe a little beginner FR (4ft drops once in a while and maybe a 6ft once in a blue moon kinda thing) and the occasional DH but nothing hardcore and no racing. I weigh 165lbs so I'm not a heavy guy and I would say that I land smooth most of the time off jumps. I still want to be able to ride the bike uphill easily.

Gary Fisher Fat Possum LX $2150.00 CND

Cannondale Gemini 900 $2800 CND

Specialized Enduro $2800 CND

Any input would be awesome and please respond quickly cause I can get a good deal on the GF but it’s the last one that the store has and it’ll cost me more to order in.

i've always been a little partial to cannondales...but if you can get the gary fisher cheap, i'd say go for it...you should ride each bike and pick the one you like the feel of, but if these are all about the same to you , i'd say go for the cannondale, unless you can get a good deal on the gf

Ya I test rode them all and they all feel awesome. I'm leaning toward the GF mainly because its cheaper. The only consern I have with it is the shock in the back (mainly cause I don't know anything about it). It's a Manitou Split RP. Anyone have any experience with it or anything? Thanks for the quick responce Breitling. Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter?

I know you have to take bikes tests with a grain of salt b/c of partiality, but Mountain Bike Action just reviewed the Fisher Fat Possum X.0 and they gave it a big poo poo.

"The all-mountain category is tricky. A bike with six inches of travel needs to pedal well, but tackle terrain nearly as well as a downhill bike. Furthermore, in a couple more years, who knows what qualifications will warrant placement in this dynamic category?. On paper, the Fat Possum X.0 looks amazing. It has a top-shelf component spec and six inches of travel. However, a couple of blemishes are too glaring to ignore. We feel the Maverck forks are of the boutique variety, catering to an older, les-aggressive rider. The six-inch-travel Possum would handle better in the terrain it's designed to tackle with a fork like the Fox 36 TALAS, Manitou Minute or RockShox Pike Air.
The single-pivot design is nothing new, and traditionally laterally stiff. Not here. On numerous occasions, our swingarm made contact witht he seat tube (on both sides) when hammering technical trails or carving a berm. Holding the saddle and lightly pulling on the rear wheel would result in the swingarm making contact with the seat tube.
The Possum was dissapointing. It often handled like a bike with half its travel. It's not on par with all-mountain category leaders like the Specialized Enduro, Santa Cruz Nomad, or Kona Coil Air."


So, the bit about the fork won't apply, because the Fat Possum you're looking at doesn't utilize the Maverick fork but the frame sounds like a flexy piece of junk.

I haven't been super keen on Cannondale b/c they are so pricey compared to some other bikes in their class, but the Gemini has been used locally for Freeride and urban by at least two people in my general vicinity. They seem to like them and they have held up very well.

My favorite would be the Specialized Enduro with the Fox 36. If you can go that high on spec, you can't go wrong. The standard Enduro, though still sounds like a real winner especially compared to the Fisher. For your intended purposes, I would go with the Specialized. It would be a better "all around" bike than a heavy old Gemini due to weight and pedaling efficiency.

The Enduro with a 36 on it would be awesome but that would be way out of my budget...but the specialized and cannondale are already a bit over. I'll have to look into the issue with the suspension. Does anyone know how the Nixon rides? Thanks for posting the article chelboed!

go for a cannondale prophet. Its more in the same class as the fisher, which seems to be what you are looking for. as a fisher/trek/cannondale dealer, i know a few things about the cdale and the fisher. the fisher is tooo flexy. dont get it.
the gemini sounds like a bit of overkill. its more of a dh/fr bike than trail bike, but whatever floats your boat

i'd agree with that guy.. look at a cannondale prophet.. its probably a little closer to what you want in a bike... or maybe the '07 cannondale perp.

I'd go with the Specialized Enduro. The Cannondale isn't even an All mountain bike! It's like Shore Freeride.

What were your previous bikes? What upgrades you've done to them?
Have you looked at Norco, Trek, Devinci?

I've been to every single bike shop in Edmonton test rode a hell of a lot of bikes and those were the ones that felt good...I'm gonna take a look at the Santa Cruz Heckler tomorrow. I'm hoping it's not too expensive. I'll deffinetly take a look at the prophet. Thanks for the help guys!

I think both, Specialized and Cannondale are fine. Only one thing I would do, is to choose one component brand. Shimano or SRAM. I know this will start an endless debate here about these two. But one thing for sure, it will be easier to upgrade later on if you'll have shimano-only bike. Try to bargain, ask salesperson to install you XT deraillers and casette with nice compatible shifters for no extra charge. Trust me, they'll do it if they want to sell the bike.

wrong. it was originally cannondales DH racer. was sold with a floating brake, and was very light/fast. not quite as burly as many shore bikes. the perp or prophet mx are more of shore capable type bikes.

if you dont like the lefty fork, get the prophet 400. i think now its the prophet 6. comes with a marz am fork, and is around 1200-1400 depending upon where you get it. so you will have cash leftover to get parts you really want. very good deal