New Bike advice

[Racingguy04]

So as I was tuning up my old faithful Raleigh hardtail the other day, I found a pretty substantial crack on the seat tube. It's a kind of a bittersweet feeling, because that bike and I have been alot of places together, but a new bike is kind of exciting, especially considering all the advances in technology since my bike is an 01 model.

I'm just not quite sure what to get. My first choice right now (pre-test ride) is the diamond back overdrive carbon expert, I'm going to try and test ride one or at least the same frame. I mostly do long day rides and some bikepacking. I'm a little worried about beating up a carbon fiber frame bikepacking, also if I have a crash, anybody know how prone the frames are to breaking? Any other good suggestions for bikes? some of the surly and salsa models look nice. I'm leaning towards a hard tail 29er, but I'm not opposed to a FS bike.

[wahday]

The 2014 Salsa El Mariachi 2 is an excellent bike with great specs, especially for its price point ($2300). That's less than the bike you listed and pretty damn bombproof (steel frame). I have a 2012 El Mar and its a fantastic ride. Mine is a custom build, but the El Mar 2 either new or 2013 version (which you can still find new if you poke around - they have come down to around $1300) come with solid componentry. I find it a great bike for long rides and bikepacking. Very comfortable and unlike carbon or aluminum (and I also have an aluminum bike so I am not dissing that material) steel does not degrade and become brittle over time - and I love the way the steel flexes. The Diamondback (and that company has seen better days in terms of overall quality) is also a race-oriented design which may not be as comfortable for long days in the saddle.  I just love my Salsa!

Note that Salsa offers this bike in a 3, 2 and Ti version with 3 being the most affordable (and with some components I would want to upgrade). But the 2 is a totally solid bike right out of the box.

I have also been impressed with reviews on the Airborne Goblin and they seem to have excellent customer service as well. They are mail order only which is one way they keep the costs down.

Good luck on your quest!

[SlowRide]

I got myself a Yeti ARC Carbon 29er last summer to ride for TDR this year. Getting a Yeti is an expensive endeavor but well worth it in my opinion. The company and my LBS have been extremely supportive of my endeavors and extremely attentive to how the bike has been running for me. I was also very pleasantly surprised with how lively the ARC Carbon hardtail frame is(Yeti is truly becoming a company that has mastered sculpting carbon). Last summer I was in the saddle for extended rides almost every day while training(to the tune of 9000 miles ridden on it so far) and the bike has been extremely comfortable. I've only crashed once on this bike and it bore it well. Beating up a carbon frame bike comes with the territory, if you don't want to beat it up cosmetically you can put helicopter tape on the bottom tube, under the bottom bracket and on the chainstay to protect from rocks kicked up on dirt roads and single track, and heli tape on any tubes you're mounting bags on. Personally, I like bike scars. Have fun deciding, a new bike is always exciting!

[Racingguy04]

Thanks for the replies! I do get a deal with diamondback so I can get the overdrive carbon expert for $2100 shipped, which is a big part of it's appeal. Also diamondback does warranty their frames for life, which I'm sure doesn't cover crashes, but it is some reassurance that the company stands behind their products. I will look into the salsa El mariachi though, it sounds interesting. I also found a moots mooto X ybb for $2800 that is kind of tempting, but I'm not too sure about the pivotless rear suspension.

Any thoughts on the 2x10 drive train for bike packing? it seems to me that it'd be nice to have the granny gear of a 3x9,10 for big climbs, and nice to have the big ring for road sections, but the 2x10 seems popular in the shops.

[wahday]

The gearing issue depends on the cassette and chain ring sizes and not just how many rings/cogs are on the crank/cassette. My El Mar is 2X9 but its really just a 3X9 with a bash guard on the biggest ring. So I have the middle ring and granny up front. The only shortfall is not being able to really crank it up on big paved downhills. Which is not something that happens a whole lot so I am happy to save the weight and my calves. Never needed anything taller for steep dirt descents.

In general, many manufacturers have found 2X9 or 2X10 to be a more appropriate setup, especially for 29ers. I'm sure someone can wax more philosophical about the particulars of the ratios, but a good place to start might be to identify the drivetrain on the rides you are considering and then search it with the word "review" and see what comes up. MTBR has what I find to be the most helpful user reviews, but there are other good sites out there as well. I find it very useful to hear what others' experiences are.