MOUNTAIN BIKE Group REVIEW - Five Slack, Short-Travel 29ers - Vital MTB Test Sessions

The Santa Cruz Tallboy, Ibis Ripley, Norco Optic, Banshee Phantom, and Marin Rift Zone 29ers reviewed.

Want a bike that can pedal like crazy and maximize fun on smoother terrain? There are a growing number of short-travel bikes with super slack head angles and steep seat angles that make climbing more of a joy. We corralled five examples of this new-school ride to be ridden and scrutinized in Phoenix, Arizona. In this video, we break down their strengths and weaknesses, what we think of this type of bike, and pick our personal favorites. Welcome to Vital MTB Test Sessions for short-travel 29ers. Click play and DIG IN!

Key Timestamps:
0:56 - Selection Criteria
1:56 - Effective Versus Actual Seat Angle
4:52 - Banshee Phantom Review
8:08 - Norco Optic Review
10:39 - Ibis Ripley Review
13:51 - Marin Rift Zone Review
16:00 - Santa Cruz Tallboy Review
18:32 - Slack Short-Travel 29er Thoughts
19:39 - Our Favorite Bikes

You can learn more about the bikes at:

Video by Shawn Spomer, Brandon Turman, and John Reynolds

[vitalmtb]

Key Timestamps:
0:56 - Selection Criteria
1:56 - Effective Versus Actual Seat Angle
4:52 - Banshee Phantom Review
8:08 - Norco Optic Review
10:39 - Ibis Ripley Review
13:51 - Marin Rift Zone Review
16:00 - Santa Cruz Tallboy Review
18:32 - Slack Short-Travel 29er Thoughts
19:39 - Our Favorite Bikes

[patrickmckellips]

Great to hear an aluminum bike like Banshee mentioned. The prioritization of components and wheels over frame material is a story that needs to be told more often.

[tinoschneider]

One thing is for sure: This is one of the best bike reviews in 2020!
Image quality, amount of riding scenes, tech explanation, price range... everything is just on point. Keep more sessions coming up guys 🤟 !

[b-manz]

Finally someone has talked about effective seat tube angles. Well done chaps!

[cameronmueller]

I have a banshee prime and I absolutely love it, it absolutely crushes descents, but my friend has a banshee phantom and I've ridden it a couple times, it continues to amaze me how fast it climbs and just has so much traction, and then you go to the descent and it almost feels like it has just as much travel as the prime

[stephenshepherd]

Please do this test again! All of these bikes have been updated, so it would be really interesting to see again!

[treyblakeandrew]

Shout out to vital for putting out the best reviews with the most qualified reviewers in the industry

[epicTPR]

Definitely the best bike group test I've watched or read, really well done. This helped me pick out my Banshee Phantom a few months ago, and I couldn't be happier.

[SoilworkZA]

Loving the test session format. Pity the Giant Trance 29 was not included. Would love to see how it compared to the rest of the bikes in test.

[brboyden]

Phenomenal review. Honest and thorough. Wish the Pivot Trail 429 made it.

[esdubya]

Best review I’ve seen this year! Love to see a quiver killer 5 bike review ? As bikes are getting expensive to say the least I’m finding myself looking to have one do it all rig!

[Kevin]

I recently got the 2021 Tallboy. They have it right. I love it so much. A blast to ride.

[tyjacobs]

Wow! THANK YOU! In our current geometry driven world you invest the time to teach people what is actually going on, love it! All the details around pros and cons put this review well ahead of any of the other reviewers. Fantastic work!!!

[eykonabike]

Dang, I was hoping you'd include the Devinci Django in this test, I believe it fits all the criteria.

[Mighty_Marty]

Please make a kind of continuation and include the YT IZZO...
I'd really love a big camparison with it.
Lovely vid none the less. 🤘🏻🐒💨

[andresperez]

This was just awesome. It basically compiled the equivalent of hours of research into one fun-to-watch, articulate and objective comparison. Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together and help us all navigate the overwhelming amount of options and information when choosing a new bike.

[tanpen]

Absolutely brilliant bike review. Love how you all had different opinions as well.

[sohaibyounus]

Thanks for another solid review. You guys really do justice by comparing apples to apples and mentioning stuff that actually matters. Keep up the good work! I would like to see a comparison between 140-150 travel 27.5 trail bikes. At 5'8" I don't feel comfortable on steep trails on a 29er.

[xandercl]

It would be awesome if you guys made a test with mid travel 29ers in the future. Bikes like the Yeti sb130lr Pivot Switchblade, Ibis ripmo and Santa Cruz Hightower would make for an great comparison.

[junboo]

This video was awesome. Taking a second watch. That Marin for the money really looks nice.