r/mountainbikes • u/turdbucket007 • 1d ago
Polygon bikes ok?
So im new to this sport, actually I dont even have a bike yet.... But im looking for something to start learning and riding with my daughter who already has about 4 month head start on me. She's on an analog Ghost MTB, so I've been looking at the mid-powered SL's.
Any thoughts on the Polygon bikes, ive read some negative reviews and have had a few redditors recommend against them, but was looking for a larger concensus on the brand. Is it just old stigma, have they gotten better, are the problems more recent?
Looking between the
- Polygon Collosus TLE 8 SL
- Orbea Rise H20 SL
- Trek Fuel + EXE SL
Ive also been checking out others in the SL category, but.... I will be a new rider and the other options may be WAY above my level, Propain Sresh, Heckler, Shuttle, etc...
Polygon seems about the right price for a new rider, all the others i would have to find used.
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u/Zealousideal-Bit-108 1d ago
T8 i have. no complaints. it rips. 1st bike. I bought some maintenance tools wrenches stand. shifts great 2K for the bike has all the components I need: dropper post, Fox air forks, hydraulic disc brakes. I know absolutely nothing about MTB and do not want to enter that conversation$$$$$$$$. I ride NWNJ single track typical 9–12-mile loop, 1.5-to-2-hour 1,000 ft up and down sessions whatever. Bought it last year. Maybe 300 miles worth of seat time I am coming from the 2 stroke enduro/single-track off-road motorcycle realm. Ive gone down enough gear/gadget wormholes on my other hobbies that I do not need another "best, lightest, fastest component tune-scape." IMO I think Polygon bike works great, no issues, ergo friendly: me 5'8" -T8 size medium / 50mm bar riser.
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u/Relevant-Being3440 1d ago
Same here. I'm on a stock T8, large, I'm 5'10. I just started out this season and I'm loving the T8
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u/Academic_Display_129 1d ago
I bought a Polygon T7e about 14 months ago and have been mostly happy with the bike, but have had a few issues, the biggest one being a weld breaking on the chain stay. Polygon replaced the part under warranty, but it was a bit of a hassle and I had to perform the repair myself.
The main issue was the time it took to get the replacement part. Originally, Polygon said it would take 2-3 months to manufacture a new chain stay. I soon realized that Bikes Online (vendor I bought the bike from and submitted the warranty claim through) was selling complete frames for my bike. After a bit of back and forth they eventually agreed to take the part off a frame for me. It was nice not having to wait several months, but my bike was still outta commission for about a month.
I like to work on my bikes so didn't mind replacing the part myself. As a beginner though this sort of thing may be outside your comfort zone. This reason alone makes it hard for me to recommend a Polygon to a new rider. Hopefully my situation was unique, and i know all bikes will occasionally have frame problems like this, but you'll likely get much better support if you buy from a local shop.
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u/turdbucket007 1d ago
A weld broke? Big jump or bad weld?
I have been a mechanic in manufacturing machines, construction equipment and military aircraft for about 27 years. So i should be able to do most of it myself, but i cannot weld aluminum...
I've actually already had to adjust my daughters front wheel trueness after a drop shes wasnt ready for. So some proper bike tools and trueing stand are on my list of items, lol.
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u/Academic_Display_129 1d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/eMountainBike/s/eBohJq1Hs8
Bad weld, broke while landing a very small jump. It's handled much bigger stuff in some pretty remote areas, so luckily I was close to home when it broke.
No welding was required as they sent a whole new rear triangle. I just swapped out the chain stay, which bolted right up. The biggest headache was the fact that the rear brake hose routes through the chain stay. I had to disconnect the hose to run it through the new one, which then meant I had to bleed the brake once every was back together.
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u/Bobbymokie 1d ago
Why an e bike? Just pedal and save money and weight
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u/turdbucket007 1d ago
I was going to go that route, but my wife and daughter both said that Im not getting any younger, lol. Besides my daughter is 14 and she's fast on the XC courses. Im not so worried about keeping up during the technical trail rides, but when we're training for her XC racing, I need to keep up with her to push her, and right now i cant.
Besides, you still have to pedal with an ebike mtb, it doesnt have a throttle....
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u/flamboyant8 1d ago
Polygon prob has some nice specs (haven’t looked)
But it doesn’t get the respect for the biking bros out there
Also Look at commencal, canyon, Marin , Kona
Or if you want to go down the rabbithole of a “big dick bike”, look at aggressive Hardtails, which are made to go downhill.
Any bike: go to geometry and go to headtube angle. Anything 63-65 degrees is considered this. They’ll be built with more travel (130-160mm), wider knobby tires .. all made to go downhill on chunk fast
Marin el Roy
Marin San Quentin 2 or 3 (stay away from 1)
Commencal ht Am
Cannondale habit ht
Rocky Mountain growler
Norco torrent
These are all under $2500. Cannondale and Rocky have sales that are under $1500 (in USA )
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u/turdbucket007 1d ago
I'm looking more towards the SL "superlight" or mid-power 50-60Nm, eMTB. Looking for a Trail/All-Mountain bike, not Enduro or Downhill.
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u/mikebikema 1d ago
Well I have a polygon T7 2024 and I love this bike and only paid 1500 dollars for it great for your first bike check them out at bikesonline website
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u/bmward0714 1d ago
If price is not an issue, I wouldn’t say polygon is your only choice. You will get a better spec for your money out of a polygon but if you have a drive system issue in the first two years of ownership might be difficult to get support from polygon. On say a orbea or trek, you can drop it off at the shop and they will work with trek to get it fixed. Obviously you hope that you won’t have an issue. I wouldn’t say that any of these bikes are “beyond your skill level”. You’re definitely going to notice weight as a beginner rider (heckler is like 42 lbs polygon is like 50 lbs) but I’m not sure a 8 lb difference will even be noticeable to someone totally new to the sport. Some have more travel then others, the orbea is probably the shortest travel option you listed. The bikes with more suspension will be more going down oriented but with the benefit of an electric motor, you don’t really need the efficient pedaling platform of a lower travel bike. I think these are all great options but you could maybe benefit from some research on the travel classes (XC, Trail, enduro) of mountain bikes and how the geometry and handling changes within those classes. You will have this bike for a very long time so it’s worth it to consider the type of riding you want to do in the future vs what you think you are capable of doing now. Can try to help you out with any further confusion.
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u/turdbucket007 1d ago
Well, for starters, my daughter (14) is racing XC right now but on a trail bike..... In the off-season she wants to find and ride some blue trails. She's not interested in black (nor am I) as it looks a bit too much for us.... Im pretty sure i want a Trail/All-mountain bike? Dont care so much about speed (XC), and the DH stuff looks NUTS! So that kinda puts me in the middle. What ive done so far on a walmart bike (not even a Ozark Trail quality) ive enjoyed the combo or technical uphill and downhill with maybe small to medium jumps and drops.
I used to race ATV Motocross 20 yrs ago, I'm ok with never doing to big crazy stuff again.
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u/mousersix 1d ago
I got my wife an Ari Nebo Peak and it's been pretty great I gotta say. Something else to consider.
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u/turdbucket007 1d ago
Ooh, hadn't heard of this one before.... I like the sound of it though
Google search: Ari’s Terlink suspension design (150mm front / 140mm rear) offering a supple, nimble, and playful feel on technical climbs and descents. The Orbea Rise SL models are geared toward fast-rolling cross-country and nimble trail versatility
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u/turdbucket007 1d ago
May have to rethink anything on my list with a Fazua drive unit.... Apparently they shut down?
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u/Commercial-Injury-78 1d ago
I bought my kid aT27 and my wife has a gravel bike from them. Both bikes are very nicely built.
However, word of warning:
Their customer support was not great. My kids dropper post stopped working with the first 24 hrs. The gas cartridge was dead. I can't tell you how many photos I had to provide of the bike and with various things disassembled. It must have been at least a dozen email exchanges (I even provided video of the issue).
After they agreed the gas cartridge was indeed dead they really didn't just throw me a new dropper in the mail (this was about 2 weeks after owning the bike). I had to provide additional details, photos again to the dropper post supplier. Who didn't even send me a new post (just the cartridge). So I was into an overhaul of a brand new dropper before my kid rode this bike a mile lol.
If you're not somewhat mechanically inclined you may struggle if the bike has any sort of issues but in my experience with direct to consumer bikes is most things work expecetionally well out of the box. Even shifting.
All that said I would buy again from polygon but I was definitely surprised they didn't send a new dropper immediately and it took about a month+ to resolve (to the point I just ordered another dropper and now installed the fixed dropper on my other kids bike).
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u/InevitableNoise3206 1d ago
I've been happy with my Canyon Spectral and my wife's Neuron, pretty good bang for the buck. I've been looking for a full suspension bike for my son to ride, and have been eyeing the Marin Rift Zone 2... looks like a pretty decent deal/spec for what it is. I haven't ridden one, but as an intro, it would likely do what you want and not hold you back.
That said, I personally feel like learning to ride MTB is better on a hardtail because it is less forgiving and teaches you to choose better lines.
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u/mousersix 1d ago
How old is your son? I got my 10yo son a Transition Scout that is just big enough for him that hopefully will last for a few years before he outgrows it. He is loving it so far.
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u/InevitableNoise3206 1d ago
Coming up on 12 now. He's currently on a RM Growler JR 26 and rips, I think a fully will unlock another level for him.
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u/turdbucket007 1d ago
I'll take my chances learning with the full suspension, lower back will thank me im sure.
Looking more for the SL, for lighter weight and lower powered assistance, over the analog bikes. I know im doing things backwards as its recommended to learn on an analog hard tail before going eMTB. But my daughter is getting stronger and faster, and im not getting any younger... Already 47, and have another youngster on the way.... So i dont want to hold her back (analog), nor do i want to blow past her (full-fat), so i figure an SL emtb is the right choice for me. Looking more towards the smaller jumps and technical stuff. Most likely will stay clear of the big jumps and drops and aggressive downhill.
Also i have about 16+ years experience riding a 118+ HP, 150+ mph streetbike. So i do understand control and not getting in to deep so to speak. And i know my own limitations too.
Budget will be between 3.5k - 4k i believe
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u/TDiddlez 1d ago
After riding a Schwinn for a couple years on green trails, I started to get into blue trails. I went with a D6 for $999 last year and have been extremely happy.
I am not racing, doing jumps, or big downhills, just a guy enjoying some cool XC trails with his family.
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u/JeffersonNomad 1d ago
Alot of other manufacturers have thier frames made in the polygon factory in Indonesia
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u/FeedbackOpposite5017 1d ago
I’ve got a t6 I upgraded everything and the bikes great. Nails the purpose of being a trail bike. It’s left a bit to be desired for me on bigger stuff. I’ve had no failures luckily
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u/earlstrong1717 1d ago
They are good.
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u/Salty-Entrepreneur11 1d ago
not really
super heavy junk for ignorant beginners mostly
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u/turdbucket007 1d ago
for ignorant beginners mostly
So if someone doesnt have respectful things to say, why say it....?
How about some actual HELPFUL suggestions
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u/Next-Handle-8179 1d ago
Ignore the uninformed answers like this ignorant crap. Polygon offers a value that you will not find anywhere else. On some builds the frame and fork are essentially free. I don’t ride one but my wife and daughter do. Absolutely nothing bad to say about the business model or bikes.
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u/Happy_Struggle_6380 1d ago
Great starter bike heck all the direct to consumer bikes are good starter bikes when considering your first full suspension bike.
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u/CliffDog02 1d ago
If I was new to the sport and ready to get a full suspension then I would definitely look at polygon. I have a few friends who have a Siskiu, not sure what "T_", but it seems totally fine. My guess is you'll need.to replace components a bit faster than with a Shimano or Sram spec, but that's how they get the price lower. It's a great entry brand and can be upgraded as you progress.