# Sentinel vs spire?



## megablue (Jul 20, 2020)

Hey guys, has anyone ridden both the new sentinel and the spire and can tell me the real world differences? On paper they really aren’t that different but I’m curious about on trail feel.
I currently own a spire, which is definitely too much bike for 90% of my riding but I have a lot of fun on it. I got it because due to storage restraints, I can only have one bike and I travel into pisgah, carvins cove, snowshoe, etc semi regularly. I also do multiple bike park trips in the summer so I wanted something to handle everything I could ride. So I’m wondering if switching to a sentinel would be beneficial to the majority of my riding or if the two really don’t feel much different and it would be a waste of time.

Im really bad about changing frames pretty often mainly due to FOMO on something better and because I genuinely enjoy trying new companies and frames. So I want to see if this is even rational. Thanks!


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## VThuckster (Jul 10, 2010)

Might want to post in the Transition forum. I was on a V1 Sentinel with the cascade link which is basically a V2 Sentinel. I have ridden the V2 and it felt very similar. I prefer the Spire everywhere. Climbs as well, and is somehow more stable in slow speed tech whether it’s on a climb, a flat section or down. And for down hill there is no comparison. It’s not the best bike for smooth flowy trails, but neither is the sentinel. In short, F FOMO and keep your frame.


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## HEMIjer (Jul 17, 2008)

Never ridden either but did some recent research in my search for a longer travel baike recently nad had both on the list, at first wasn't even interested in Spire but they were in sotck with some vendors I trust. Bottom line conclusion I came to was as trail bike the Spire was going to be long and maybe not ideal with tight twisty stuff we have here on east coast but stable on long descents. For park type stuff or fireroad up singletrack down spire gonna be great options for cross between trail and almost but not quite modern endure sentinel gonna be great choice. So many other bikes in the 160ish category also that you should at least consider. In the end I went totally different direction. probably cant go wrong good luck. There are good reviews in the transition forum and multiple you tube videos comparing the 2


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