In December I had a new bike day but that bike was a bit too small and there were no larger sizes in stock. I returned it and then focused on rafting in Mexico and snowboarding for the winter. I kept looking at used bikes online, but nothing was inspiring me to spend over $3k on a full suspension bike.
So I started considering a hardtail. I’ve always owned hardtail mountain bikes and have never had an issue keeping up. I like the simplicity of a hardtail as there are fewer parts to maintain. I also don’t need to really go any faster downhill than I already go. A crash at faster speeds just means you are looking at a larger hospital bill.
Then I saw the Canyon Stoic. Canyon is the manufacturer of the bike I returned in December. They make a lot of full suspension bikes and a couple of hardtail maintain bikes. The Stoic is a hardtail that is meant to ride the same trails as full suspension bikes. It’s geometry is similar to a full suspension bike just without the rear shock.
At $2k it’s not a cheap bike but it is also not anywhere near the most expensive. I could have bought 2.5 of these for what the December bike cost. Its aluminum frame is indestructible and the components are good quality. It also comes it a very nice green and the Stoic name is kinda badass.
I have been able to take it out on the trails 2 times now and this thing is like a cruise missile. The wheels are 29″ which is considerably larger than the 26″ wheels on my old bike. They roll over everything with much less effort. The suspension fork has 140mm of travel which is probably double the 25 year old fork on my old bike too. It just eats the bumps up and lets me stay focused on what is coming up.
I do my best to practice non-attachment but in this case I love my new bike.
