///M5

Couldn't believe more than 24 hrs since a hop post

I couldn't not quote that....literally. tried to delete it, site wouldn't let me.

Got some funny looks from the neighbors

20" wheels sure, frame no thanks...although I rode my neighbors 18" frame the other week. Had to show the kids how to jump.

Awesome work dude!

The ultra high end yes. High end no

Bang for the buck in that regard were the quickmills. I have a quickmill vetrano and we use the boiling water a ton. There may be more now or maybe I should upgrade and sell you mine.

I thought it was carbon. Not much of a specialized fan as they don't fit my body but not opposed to them either.

I got nothing else local, but have no facebook to check there...

For $1600 I'd be interested if the Geo fits you. It is a plastic bike though and us big guys and plastic aren't ideal. https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/bik/d/hopkins-2016-stumpjumper-6fattie/6886266179.html

Here is an aluminum you can buy. Offer $350, do it at $400 https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/bik/d/osseo-giant-nrs-1-mountain-bike-large/6908551540.html ...make sure the shocks have been rebuilt however as they will need it.

I want a steel frame for e mobility. Generally I prefer steel to carbon anyways, but for sure with that much power. Aluminum bikes ALL suck

Ha, no. I am too cheap for a that. Bafang even makes torque sensing kits.

X2!! What's new?

2 other comments on this. Perhaps you should change your focus to wanting to have the rear tire leave the ground. Ass dragging on jumps SUCKS. I am about to drop $1500 on shocks to help resolve this on my snowmobile. 29"er may not be the best choice either. Personally I like the bigger wheels for rolling over stuff, but they are way harder to have fun on. A good ole 26" or at most a 27.5" wide is what I would choose. I am going through the same on the BMX. There are plenty of 22" or 24" wheel BMX bikes that fit me, but I want a 20" wheel. WAY more fun.

I am not trying to convince you that you shouldn't buy what you want, just want to make sure you realize what it all means. I am contemplating an Enduro or stiff Downhill bike as well....but to add a 5000w+ electric motor to. Bobbing goes away when you don't pedal. The power assist will also overcome the chainstays for wheelies and it will build confidence with stability on jumps. I don't need another bike or project though. Maybe next year.

I have a cyclocross bike that would fit you easy if you want to try one. It has 26mm smoothies on it though as I use it as a long distance crushed granite cruiser. It is an old school Trek touring bike that I've updated with modern SRAM stuff.

Big travel is disruptive in a few ways. Mostly the problem isn't the potential travel, but the geometry used to enable it. Normally downhill bikes have super slack head tubes. This makes them stable at speed but handle like they are a mile long. They also regularly have longer chainstays which are great for stability, but take all the fun out of a frame. Then there is the shock tuning. The goal of ANY suspension is to use it ALL at least a couple times EVERY time you ride. In order to get a long travel bike to actually use the suspension you have to make it uber soft...in particular for our trails. Once you do this, you will find that with every pedal stroke-even worse for you since you are strong and mash-that the whole suspension will load and unload. This is a horrible waste of energy and feels ridiculous. Right now it doesn't bug you, but it will. I get that you think you like pedaling on a slack, super long, cool ass big suspension bike now...and for that reason you should get one, I just want to make sure you do it used so that after you go nuts and realize it isn't right you can flip it and get what is. The other option is to explain what you are feeling and see if you get it now to avoid that step. The suspension loading on the Enduro's is WAY, WAY more pronounced than the bounce on a fat tire. Fat tires have many disadvantages though, but one MONSTER advantage and that is confidence. You can literally just ride it into shit and it will go over it. It will make you a more capable rider faster than anything else, but at the cost of you won't truly learn you will just be able to do. That being said if you are just starting off jumping and going over stuff that confidence is huge. On that, generally speaking rear suspension has no influence on what you can go over or not. That is all your body position. Front can help, but also hurt. Another generality with some riding competence you will be faster on a hard tail without front suspension in 99% of MN riding...I know you don't care about that, but wanted to point it out. The other question is fun. For me fun is directly correlated with weight. It is a false correlation, but my confidence in clearing things goes up logarithmically as the weight goes down. My old BMX bike weighed in at a hair under 13lbs. I could bunny hop that thing a mile high. Broke a ton of shit on it though...

Once you learn to ride you will flip that all around. I am concerned no matter what you buy you will want some thing else. Suspension hides bad habits. Hardtails are MUCH easier to bunny hop on.

Outside of some $4k hand made CF frames ALL of them are made in China. Mine was made by the same group that makes them for the big names...but they also built their own mold. I bought that as I couldn't see paying the extra.

Same setup from Specialized or a big company would be pushing $13k

And to be fair, at bike shop cost I have more than $5k into my bike and that is with using a $300 chinese frame.

Those trails are aberrations compared to what we normally have. If you focused solely on hitting North Shore I could be swayed, but without power assist up the hill I don't think you will be happy with the suspension bob. Of course, I find that MUCH more disconcerting than the bob caused by the big tires on the fat bike...but mine is dialed in for my weight.

Heavy isn't forgiving. That rear travel is useful for drops over 6', under that a standard cross country setup when dialed in will cover you easily.