Best Bike to ride before a good listening session

Hey alright, a MTB thread!! Jose21, a Seven eh!? Very nice. My brother rides a Merlin XLM...to me that's about as good as it gets. Rob Vandermark (pretty sure that's the guy who ran Merlin and then started Seven) makes art in the form of Ti MTB frames...perfect geometry, bends, welds and tubes.

I'll put in a vote for my Klein Attitude Race (with the Blue fade paint...sweet!), full XT, Judy fork and some extras. I spent 6 months searching for the right MTB bike and to me that was it. I used to be a bike builder/mechanic and I also raced MTBs. Boy those were the days! Now I am lazy and just work on my bike or clean it from time to time. It's been at least 1.5 years since I was last on the trails....sigh.

I am considering selling my bike for $$ towards a turntable...times have certainly changed.

I'm currently on a Klein Attitude, pre Trek. Climbs like a mountain goat. Downhills are fast but rough, my old bones are begging for a full suspension. I'm thinking about building up a Mantra or Adept with my current groupo, then converting the Attitude to a single speed.

The Truth really is an amazing bike though. I have yet to ride a better XC bike. A friend of mine races for Ellsworth (Steve Zdawczynski - aka Steve Z) and has a fleet of their various designs, mountain and road. Lucky duck.

I've still got my old Cannondale Super V SL with full XTR & Crossride wheels.. It's a beast but I just can't seem to destroy it. I can come home in pieces but the bike just won't die..

It climbs well for a bike of its size - around 28-30 lbs.. But with those older FS rigs you need to learn how to pedal to reduce that annoying bob.

An Ellsworth would be REALLY nice!

I always thought that an Id would be better for me than a Truth. I figured I was just too heavy (225 lbs) to smash around a Truth..

Jdr999, just up the pressure in the shock! ; )

I'm probably 190, although I'd like to believe 180, and haven't had a spot of trouble. Although riding today, I decided I definitely needed to lube the joints... You could hear me creaking a 1/2 mi. away.

Klein? Won't touch one. Not after my buddy broke one... All I hadda do was saw off the top tube and got a nice stool out of it...

Well, I ride a Santa Cruz Heckler offroad and I ride an Airborne Zepplin Titanium Road bike and sometimes my 1988 Mino Dente Master w/full Campy Super Record Groupo. The Zep is sweet, but the Dente is special. It was a 20 lb. Columbus SL bike in 1988, which was VERY light at the time. Italian masterpiece!!!

Enjoy the ride!!

TIC