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RSD Sergeant V3 Review
Pros and Cons
Pros:
Cons:
Cons:
Who it's for:
Who it's NOT for
More thoughts on the RSD Sergeant V3 Hardtail
today we are reviewing the rsd sergeant in fat mode now fat bikes aren't just for riding in the snow a lot of people like them for bike packing touring and desert terrain where there's a lot of sand has a different feel to it than a traditional hard tail so we're gonna continue our review in dirt now with the fat tires once again these are Max's prototype tires they are essentially an f BF 27 5 by 3.8 southern I mean most fat bikes if you're not familiar with them are 5 inch wide tires these aren't quite there they're kind of in-between Plus tires and true fat tires but this should still give us a pretty good expectation of what this bike can do even with the chain stays all the way slammed there's clearance right there I probably have a quarter inch of clearance which won't be a problem in here there's plenty of clearance in here and plenty down in the chainstay as well
these have got to be the world's heaviest fat tires even though they're only 3.8 I'd probably go with something less aggressive and lighter so it rolls a little faster got these at about 26 psi I'm gonna lower up them real quick fat bikes can go as low as 5 4 or 5 psi in the snow since there aren't rocks they really squish out and flatten out in the dirt I don't like to run them that low they just are way too squirmy and they get bouncy they like get this rhythm going on them
yes I'll experiment through the day but that's softer than I run my plus tires this is probably 13 psi maybe 12 on that and that's the real benefit of fat tires there's no no reason to buy fat tires if you're not going to air them down I know a lot of people that run plus tires and run them at 30 psi and there's no benefit to that the reason we run wider tires is so that we can air them down and get them to squish and conform to the terrain a little better I'm guessing we're at 10 to 13 maybe 11 to 13
that's definitely a smoother ride in these rocks
the rigid pork
a one-foot drop in the rocks pretty good
it's fun this sound that big old fat tires me there's so much grip
so here's a little bit of money for trail riding like this I don't feel the fat bike tires add a whole lot over a 3.0 plus tire they really just add weight which makes you more tired I'm getting a tiny bit of self steer with these ciders like typically do solid bike I like if it does give you a little bit of cushion even compared to the plus tire on drop but a lot of fat bike when you run them low they start to get self steer and they're so there's so much mass rotating there and maybe self steers not the right term man traction is unreal
bouncing around a little more now this is a pretty chunky section of trail
self's tear I feel on that bikes a good amount but the slacker head angle I feel counteracts that ironically it wants to keep it a little bit flatter I've always wanted to try a fat bike with the middle child's geometry super short chain stays like 64 degree heading life it's heavy so fun you're not gonna win any races with your friends running big heavy tires like this but it still carries that same sense of adventure maybe even a little bit more then run into 3.0 plus tires traction is insane it's not nearly as peppy as when I had the 3.0 zon these are big heavy meaty tires and with so much rubber on the ground I don't think you need is aggressive of a tread as these happen so this loses some of its peppy nasteria has but in this format this this is a mule not as slow as a donkey but it's no race horse
still fun though it's a little bit bouncy your ride then the 3.0 as well cuz I'm running them so low you kind of get these oscillations on the terrain and there's no rebound damping cuz it's just the tire doing all the work plenty of traction that's one I feel the way to these big old tires on the climbs and sprints but it gets moving it gets rolling I personally think I prefer these 27 five fat tires over 26 55.0 especially for trail riding it smells a different beast altogether cuz you want maximum flotation but these feel less squirmy with less side walton
and truth be told this rights more similarly to the 3.0 and different the main difference being just a weight of tires not tons different otherwise does give you a lot of comfort having that big front tire and it's cool to look down and see it you feel like you get through anything but if I were blindfolded aside from the weight of the tires I honestly would have a hard time telling the difference between this and three O's aside from the tire pressure I'm gonna head down to the wash to the river to ride some of the sand out there see if we can unlock some of the benefits of these tires
it's pretty neat on big technical slow grippy moves have so much grip you can you can stick the tires in other places where I would normally be sliding it still steers really well lean the bike steer like this that's how I prefer to steer or you can steer keeping it upright and using the bars to steer and how bikes back in the early 2000s and late 90s steered that's still how a lot of people ride and boy if that's one skill I could teach people would be how to turn by leaning your bike and keeping the bar straight
I dropped the tires another three psi so we're probably eight psi maybe nine and on regular trails there's no advantage this bike still encourages me to goof around all I need that in a bike that's one reason I don't ride cross country race bikes I just I like to goof around and play and have fun and traditional fat bikes don't give me that this is my first time riding the maxis FBF that bike dhf essentially I like the normal dhf fine I love the DHR love the asagai I like the dice sector but I don't love this tire I feel it's too much and it doesn't quite add the cornering that a real dhf would have you know I like the cornering knobs I think I don't need the weight and that weight is significant
but the traction is not significantly better than the 3.0 swabby knobby legs as far as I ski cornering stuff like this if anything it doesn't corner quite as well that's how my you buy a fat bike but I thought it'd be worth mentioning all right we're getting down close to the river to the creek oh yeah if you're riding a lot of this stuff I'm rocking sand really loose your ice and like this
the fat tires really help even more than Plus tires so let's get into Explorer mode
to me this is where foul bytes really come into their own when you're exploring especially if you're exploring cross country or you're in the desert like the Mexico Arizona Utah and there's sand and you still want to make progress
the fat tires really help just keep you rolling
do you like exploring like that and you don't care about a small weight penalty it's a good way to go also if you're loaded up bike packing and your bikes 50 pounds anyway a little bit heavier tires now gonna be night and day difference but it completely grips in deep blue sand
if I were writing a lot of this stuff I'd be tempted to put the suspension fork back on it's fun it's just like a little tractor it's like a little Willys Jeep it just kind of crawls everywhere then fun to try this bike with three or four different modes just show how versatile this bike is and I did it all without swapping any of the wheels I'd love to try this as a 29 plus but I completely get why RSD didn't do that in my mind this bike is for the person that wants three bikes in one without having to buy three different wheel sets or a whole bunch of different parts I ran this in three different modes with the same wheels so I wouldn't even need a snow wheel set I can just throw fat these 3.8 to 4.0 fat tires onto the same rims I'm running with 20 75 by 3.0 and that saves an awful lot of money when you don't need more wheels 29 Plus would require a different wheel set
and at the end of the day is another 3/4 of an inch tall we all gonna make a world of a difference no it'd be fun to try but if you just want to get out and ride your bike and stop thinking about components and your bike and all that this bike definitely encourages you to do that there's so many ways you can run this and I think this bike will really be well-suited to someone who's gonna have multiple ways to run it if you just want it for the fat bike I don't know that it beneficial to have a super versatile bike like this where you could just get one fat bike exactly how you want it or if you just want one plus bike but if you want the option to be able to swap it out or maybe throw on some big tires to do some or snow biking or you want to throw some slicks on it to commute it is so versatile and it really is like having multiple bikes in one it does really well on sand side hill sand is not easy oh cool there's still ice on the river here
yeah that's significantly more flotation than 3.0 on the sand now it's time to climb you're gonna regret having these pickles heavy tires they're not that bad but you're not gonna want to do a cross country or enduro race or even a bike packing race on these tires they're just heavy so if I were running it and fat bike mode I'd get some 4.0 that were a lightweight that don't have quite such an aggressive tread it does it it's still motors along lot more sluggish than the 3.0 especially the swabby three-point else which you're super light no matter what tires are on this bike encourages me to just slow down and take it in definitely has it a big adventure feeling to it love that aspect of this bike
gone so well with these tires it's fun you can wrap around the rock and just hang on this is loose very loose gravel with one to two inch size loose rocks and it just tractors up it there's no slipping of the wheel fat tires do have a point
well this concludes our ride of the rsd sergeant on fat tires pretty cool to be able to run fat tires without having to change your wheel set or anything else on your frame or if you want to explore it slow speeds on gravel or sand fat tires can do things that plus tires can't for everything else I feel like plus tires are much more suited for this bike and in general riding but like I said all this cost was the cost of the tires to throw it on and try it super fun if you want to have a bike that you can ride in the snow as well without having to change anything all right let's break down the review climbing I'm gonna give it an 8 out of 10 tons of traction it can claw up stuff where you'd normally spin the heavy tires make it sluggish so you do get more tired cornering let me give it a 7 out of 10 with the fat tires as far as traditional trail riding like this playfulness in all honesty this is really close to the 3.0 plus setup just a little bit slower rolling a little bit more energy to get going but it's still fun but it can claw up stuff a little bit better what a cool thing that you can just keep your stock wheel set and put fat tires on it and get snow capability and sand capability for bike packing I'd run the 3.0 for most trail running I'd ride the 3.0 s but for snow biking to be able to pop just tires on that's a game-changer for me and I can make your three season bike a four season bike really easily it can still be run single speed you can adjust the chainstay length I would love if it was even shorter chainstay but I'm not sure that's possible I'm a small guy and the chainstay is longer than the reach for me which means I feel like when I'm standing up my body is further forward than back so it's harder to lift it up play around with it around but it does mean when you're seated it's stable climbing and went cornering to that that wheels a little bit further back and it just wants to make sweeping corners a little bit more super fun that it's got that capability I really like this fork there's plenty of clearance in here I like that you don't run the super wide spindle of a fat bike and that you've also got the narrower 157 mil superboost plus rear hub and not the 190 I think it's 197 it's more playful than a traditional fat bike which I like I also like the 27 five fat tires whereas 26 the sidewall was so tall it would get a lot flexor and squirmy er now these are really stiff sidewalls they're d hf s-- so even with low pressure they stay hold up well and they didn't fold or roll and so I like that so the 27 v fat bike has lower sidewall so less squirm but it's still got that wide tire patch and I prefer that over 26 stay tuned for my summary of everything and a final recap of this bike there's a party in the mountains and you're invited.
today I'm reviewing my RSD Sargent version 3 the rsd Sargent version 3 is like getting 8 bikes in one it is super versatile and usually when you pick a versatile bike it's not really great at anything it's OK at a lot of other things but the more I ride this the more I realize it is great at so many things today we are reviewing it in trail mode stay tuned for upcoming reviews as I swap out a rigid fork on it review it in that format and then I'm gonna run it with fat tires as well to kind of show you its versatility and how it rides different in different formats so today's review is in trail mode this is the Manitou Matic comp 140 Mill fork we're running 27.5 by 3.0 tires 1 by 11 drivetrain 125 mil dropper fantastic build for the price it's insane how good of a bike you get for such a cheap price alright let's go hit the trails we're here in Sedona we're gonna ride chuck wagon and a couple other trails as we do this review today my riding partner is fender my dog you ready fender let's go he is excited as am I recently happened some rain and we've given it a day or two to dry out perfect so despite this bikes long-chain Steel II it's you can see I still like to get the front end up jump over things manual across things it feels way shorter than it really is this has a sliding dropout so just like my rst middle child you can run it single speed you can change the chainstay length it's adjustable super versatile I'm gonna be comparing it to my middle child a lot because that's been the main question I get is do it by this over a middle child and this thing just the motors up stuff the Schwalbe knobby Nick's are not my favorite tire for Sedonas terrain we have a lot of slick rock and sand and they're great in the sand are great in lomé and soft dirt but on the rock they're a little bit squirmy on the side hills so I'm on a size small frame and that's the right size for me on this bike I ride a medium middle child and
this is the bike I grab when I want to put down some miles and unwind and have a relaxing riding experience where I'm not pushing it as hard as possible on every obstacle
it's plenty capable of that it's got a 65 and a half degree head angle which is slacker than most hard tails really balanced comfortable feel this is a bike that no matter your skill level you can just get on and ride it's an easy riding bike even when the trails aren't easy you can't see it but these are all 12 to 18 inch rocks I'm going over here go over the twisty chunky down here
this bike is quicker pedaling than my middle child for some reason probably these light knobby Nicks
but when I want a long day and I just want to put some miles down and get some exercise this is what I grab thank you very much
when I Ryan want to ride the double black diamonds hit the pumptrack or get really rowdy I grab my other bike not that this can't handle it it totally can that middle child is just so aggressive
it wants to be pushed whereas this bike is comfortable whether you're writing it to temps five ten to ten tenths thank you
busy day here hello so here we've got some fairly smooth flowy single track and it does great on it in my experience longer wheel bases carry loads better they put your balance in the middle of the bike a little more and I would call this a longer wheelbase
it weights your front wheel a little bit more so when you're climbing you don't have to lean forward as much it's a little bit harder to get to find up just a little as you can see it's not something I'm struggling with but it does feel differently but this feels more stable a little more planted and especially in sweeping corners like this it just kind of rails the corner and holds its line which is really fun this bike is so fun it's a different kind of fun than my middle child for me this is what makes me want to go out have an epic adventure go see how far into the backcountry I can get see how many miles I can crush out in fact in the future I'm pretty sure I'm going to put my clipless pedals on this I think it would just kind of suit the way that I ride it was it just go on a solo ride for long distance to cover some ground see some sights like I said you can run this in 29-plus mode you can run it as a normal 29er if you don't want to buy a separate fat bike and buy a separate bike packing bike in a separate trail bike this is the most versatile bike I know and like I said the most versatile most bikes that are pretty versatile are Jack's of all trades and master of none but this bike has a special feel but I haven't felt on another hardtail before it's just it brings back that enjoyment I used to have in the 90s with just riding a trail about trying to get the fastest time down the mountain or session the hardest thing over and over and over it's just a plain enjoyable bike ride alright Chuck Waggin we're gonna stay on Chuck Waggin I like this trail that takes more effort to get into a manual but it's doable anyway like I was saying on the sizing this is a size small and it's the perfect size for me it's more comfortable for long days I'm not reaching as far on my middle child I'm a little more stretched out it's a little more tiring on big days it's a little bit less agile when it's long but when I go on the super steep downhills and even up hills I like having it longer it's a little more stable that way so for this intended purpose I'm glad I'm on a small so I love fatbikes I think they're really fun and I think they serve a great purpose but I haven't found one that's that's playful most of them ride like a road bike they're just super long chain stays super steep head angle hard to wheelie immanuel they're just kind of like mules here's a ton of fun climb but this bike retains the slack head angle 66 and a half it's got pretty short chain stays so I'm really excited to try this in fad mode one day and I can do it without changing rims all this will be fun in the wet hello
bike climbs really well and some aluminum hard tail frames are harsh and beat you up this frame does not a lot of that is due to the plus tires but it's not an overly stiff frame but it is light the wheels especially feel lighter than my other heart tails it's crazy but on long rides I get less tired and I just feel like this picks up speed and holds it better than my other bikes you can see the massive amounts of clearance that this has to be able to fit 4.0 tires in there and I thought that meant I'd be rubbing my feet on these seat stays all the time and they get fairly close to this little break tab the brake hose tab I wish that was in just a little bit more so the hose went a little bit more under but I still not rubbing it so it's not a problem like I thought it would be on paper I'm running the chain stays all the way forward because I like a short rear end and there's plenty of clearance in there it's taken a little while to get used to the Manitou matic fork up front
it's not my favorite force but when you consider the price of the entire bike with a dropper and that fork it's an incredible fork it takes some getting used to though it took some setup for me look at that view
man it's spectacular here if you're just looking for good intermediate trail when you come to Sedona chuckwagon check it out beautiful anyway the fork taking some getting used to I've had to run the rebound a lot slower than I normally do and it's starting to feel good I think I would recommend buying this with the rigid fork I have to ride it with that first and then upgrading to the fork you would really want that's gonna add you know six hundred bucks so it's completely rideable and remember I'm comparing this to my $5,000 hardtail with a $900 fork on it that's half the price of this bike so when you consider as a complete package I can't complain it's not bad and it's not junk but what I'd probably get is like a fox 34 or a cheap RockShox throw a good damper in it but one cool thing about this mattock it will fit 29 plus tires it'll even fit it's pretty wide it's not rated for it but it can fit some really wide tires so that's pretty cool that you still have the option to run this in a bunch of different configurations with that suspension for him I'm excited to try this with our SDS aluminum rigid fork in some upcoming videos
yeah this bike encourages me to stop thinking about riding and just soak in the views get some fitness put down some miles it's an experience I'm not thinking I wish the head angle was slacker or
or I wish the stack was taller I'm just forgetting about the bike and riding and I know a lot of you out there choose hard tails for simplicity and you also choose them because you're not trying to set the fastest record down the mountain
you're not trying to prove anything anyone you just enjoy riding your bike and getting exercise and getting out there this is such a great bike for that yeah I think I'm gonna put my clipless pedals on it because this isn't the bike I grabbed when I want to try the most daring double black diamond stunts there's my bike to go for a spin take off the stress and unwind and I think it's perfectly built for that just bite corners so well that long rear end when you weight the pedals right it keeps your your weight centered and balanced and it really grips around the corners
I really like long wheelbase bikes for that there's creepy corners like this
and then taming its flow it's really fun this is a burly bike but it doesn't feel heavy and clunky feels light on its feet it's gotta be the light knobby necks all right here comes a big move let's set up the camera so much about bike reviews comes down to where you ride how you ride and why you ride so just because I do a shoot out of 10 bikes and I like bike number three the most doesn't mean everybody will we all like different things in bikes so in my reviews I try to explain what I like about it and what I don't and if you hate what I like and you like what I hate maybe my reviews can still help you even though it's not my favorite pic that being said I really like this bike all right let's get up these
I think if I had to describe this bike in one word it would be balanced it's just neutral you don't have to get over the front you're not moving around a whole lot you just kind of get on and ride in it takes you there it'll still move around when you want to be spicy on it but you don't have to you can just kind of sit in the neutral position let it do its thing
it's a good time it's I wouldn't say it's the bike for the adrenaline junkie who wants to get maximum air on everything and it's super rowdy like I said it can handle that but I'd go for the middle child it's got spirit you're the a de adrenaline seeking rider yeah it's just really balanced really neutral feeling yeah what a great bike all right thing you nailed it it's amazing how it has a different personality than the middle child and even though it kind of looks similar on paper I mean they just have a different feel and I love aluminum for this frame choice I wouldn't I wouldn't pick carbon over this I wouldn't take titanium or steel it just rides so great
and I like a metal bike where you can lean it against the tree and if it falls over you don't worry cuz it's metal and this is a lot lighter than steel and with the plus tire like I said it doesn't beat you up
so you just feel like you're on on an adventure on this right if this bike were a car it'd be a forerunner it's super versatile it can take you wherever you want dead reliable it's not a Ford Raptor that's just gonna blast through everything as fast as possible and it's not a Subaru STi but it takes you on adventures and makes memories that's the best way I can describe it whoo speaking of adventures there we go see how deep this is
this bike flows better than the middle child the middle child attacks this bike just wants to flow everything in really exciting news RSV had just announced their alumina middle child and it's gonna be cheaper than the steel and the titanium versions 1,500 bucks for a complete bike a little bit more if you want to drop her with it and I think that bike is gonna be so successful because nobody's got a cheap aluminum hard tail with this with aggressive geometry with a 64 degree head angle super short chain stays room for up to two point eight maybe 3.0 tires that bike is gonna sell so well I can't wait to get my hands on one to show you what it's like and I think a lot of people are gonna be trying to decide between this bike and that bike and
I think the way I would describe it for all of you who watched YouTube if you ride more like B kxe or Paul the punter I think you're gonna like this bike more or mike levy if you watch pink bike if you've got more like you have an X C background or distance or endurance or a road background something like that this will feel more familiar if you ride like Jeff Kendall lead or jeff lenosky like that I would recommend the middle child hopefully that helps you choose both are fantastic bikes and both can be written in any environment but this bikes a little more neutral sure-footed flowy gentle ride whereas the middle child just wants to pull high down everything you take every bonus drop and jump possible if you want to dabble in some bike packing both bikes will be fine for that as they can both run plus tires if you want the ability to run fat tires and have a snow bike without changing anything other than the tires this is the bike for you I think this bikes gonna carry weight better than the middle child to you so when you're loaded up with packs
sorry I'm concentrating on the climate I
think when this is loaded up it's just gonna carry that weight a little better with the longer chains stay this bike also has rack mounts so you can run a bike rack on it the cargo rack carry your tent and food take a look at where we are this is planet Earth people this you having fun buddy you're doing good this is absolutely breathtaking
what a relaxing ride
really well-balanced bike push it a little too hard it'll hang on for more I
don't think in its current configuration I'd feel very comfortable taking it on Highline probably with a different fork and different tires and we may be a bigger rotor up front I feel good about it
so good so good and man yeah it just accelerates so quickly a quarter so well this bike reminds me a ton of that ioniq that I tried in Moe Evan love rides a lot like it except the ioniq had slightly shorter chain stays and was not nearly this versatile I keep forgetting oh yeah you can run this as a plus by two or twenty nine plus or twenty seventy five and then my mind's blown again because it's just so versatile
bike is nice and stiff on the pedaling it doesn't beat you up it's weird it's got better power transfer than my time it'll child it doesn't flex quite as much it needs to be said that this is a thoroughly modern hardtail I'm comparing it to my middle child which is the most aggressive hardtail I know of except maybe a chrome AG dr. Hawk that's a little bit one degree slacker but this bike has a short stem wide bars slack ish head angle it doesn't ride like all those hard tails I had it outer bike they just felt like they were stuck in the 90s this is still a very modern bike I love that it comes back with that when they guess this is a 50 mil stem cockpit is super comfortable I have to keep reminding myself of all the other hard tails I ride all the time and how just effortless this is it rides like a modern bike go home buddy
now we're on the mystical trail love this trail
this bike rides a lot like the ys7 but it's got a little bit slacker head angle and I feel like it steers better and corners better and this bike corner so well whether it's a slow speed switchback or a fast flowy swooping flat turn these tires are coming alive in this soft dirt Hey look I ran into some viewers what's your name Randy Randy Shelley nice to meet you guys so fun to meet friendly faces on the trail all right it's time to finish up my review of this bike in trail mode with the Manitou Matic for 2075 by 3.0 tires as a trail bike this thing is a lot of fun if it didn't come in any other configurations that's how I'm gonna rate it so climbing I'm gonna give this a 9 out of 10 cornering 10 out of 10 descending I'm gonna give it an eight and a half out of ten because it wants to turn everything into a flow instead of into you know just chart the craziest thing it can find
maybe a knife it descends quite well I think with a different fork this would just send a nine and a half playfulness I'm gonna give it an eight it's not the same type of playful as the middle child it's playful in the sense that it tries to turn everything into flow and it tries to keep it speed up everywhere but wheelies I mean it can wheelie and it has a great balance point but it's not quite as bunnyhop jump wheelie manual playful as the middle child so that's where it gets that rating like I said this bike is a fantastic bike for people who just want to put down some miles soak in the scenery have a relaxing calming riding experience but this bike still is not outgunned unless you're on the double black diamond trails but if you're an adrenaline junkie who likes to get as much air as possible and who wants to push it and just ride on the ragged edge all the time I wouldn't recommend this bike for that I'd go with the middle child now all that being said this is a super versatile bike because it can be run with the other setups I'm really curious how this would ride is a 29 plus I would love to borrow a buddy's 29 plus wheel set try it on here I think that would be a fantastic way to run this bike I'm also super curious how it rides with the rigid fork and super curious how it rides with fat tires so I'm going to see if I can get my hands on some of those things and bring you more reviews remember this bike is extremely versatile I've never ridden a fat bike as much fun as this and I hope when I put fat tires on it it feels a lot like it does now cuz it is a fun fun bike thanks for watching there's a party in Sedona and if you're ever passing through Sedona this is my home this is where I live hit me up I would love to join you and take you out on some of my favorite trails thanks for watching there's a party in the mountains and you're invited
these have got to be the world's heaviest fat tires even though they're only 3.8 I'd probably go with something less aggressive and lighter so it rolls a little faster got these at about 26 psi I'm gonna lower up them real quick fat bikes can go as low as 5 4 or 5 psi in the snow since there aren't rocks they really squish out and flatten out in the dirt I don't like to run them that low they just are way too squirmy and they get bouncy they like get this rhythm going on them
yes I'll experiment through the day but that's softer than I run my plus tires this is probably 13 psi maybe 12 on that and that's the real benefit of fat tires there's no no reason to buy fat tires if you're not going to air them down I know a lot of people that run plus tires and run them at 30 psi and there's no benefit to that the reason we run wider tires is so that we can air them down and get them to squish and conform to the terrain a little better I'm guessing we're at 10 to 13 maybe 11 to 13
that's definitely a smoother ride in these rocks
the rigid pork
a one-foot drop in the rocks pretty good
it's fun this sound that big old fat tires me there's so much grip
so here's a little bit of money for trail riding like this I don't feel the fat bike tires add a whole lot over a 3.0 plus tire they really just add weight which makes you more tired I'm getting a tiny bit of self steer with these ciders like typically do solid bike I like if it does give you a little bit of cushion even compared to the plus tire on drop but a lot of fat bike when you run them low they start to get self steer and they're so there's so much mass rotating there and maybe self steers not the right term man traction is unreal
bouncing around a little more now this is a pretty chunky section of trail
self's tear I feel on that bikes a good amount but the slacker head angle I feel counteracts that ironically it wants to keep it a little bit flatter I've always wanted to try a fat bike with the middle child's geometry super short chain stays like 64 degree heading life it's heavy so fun you're not gonna win any races with your friends running big heavy tires like this but it still carries that same sense of adventure maybe even a little bit more then run into 3.0 plus tires traction is insane it's not nearly as peppy as when I had the 3.0 zon these are big heavy meaty tires and with so much rubber on the ground I don't think you need is aggressive of a tread as these happen so this loses some of its peppy nasteria has but in this format this this is a mule not as slow as a donkey but it's no race horse
still fun though it's a little bit bouncy your ride then the 3.0 as well cuz I'm running them so low you kind of get these oscillations on the terrain and there's no rebound damping cuz it's just the tire doing all the work plenty of traction that's one I feel the way to these big old tires on the climbs and sprints but it gets moving it gets rolling I personally think I prefer these 27 five fat tires over 26 55.0 especially for trail riding it smells a different beast altogether cuz you want maximum flotation but these feel less squirmy with less side walton
and truth be told this rights more similarly to the 3.0 and different the main difference being just a weight of tires not tons different otherwise does give you a lot of comfort having that big front tire and it's cool to look down and see it you feel like you get through anything but if I were blindfolded aside from the weight of the tires I honestly would have a hard time telling the difference between this and three O's aside from the tire pressure I'm gonna head down to the wash to the river to ride some of the sand out there see if we can unlock some of the benefits of these tires
it's pretty neat on big technical slow grippy moves have so much grip you can you can stick the tires in other places where I would normally be sliding it still steers really well lean the bike steer like this that's how I prefer to steer or you can steer keeping it upright and using the bars to steer and how bikes back in the early 2000s and late 90s steered that's still how a lot of people ride and boy if that's one skill I could teach people would be how to turn by leaning your bike and keeping the bar straight
I dropped the tires another three psi so we're probably eight psi maybe nine and on regular trails there's no advantage this bike still encourages me to goof around all I need that in a bike that's one reason I don't ride cross country race bikes I just I like to goof around and play and have fun and traditional fat bikes don't give me that this is my first time riding the maxis FBF that bike dhf essentially I like the normal dhf fine I love the DHR love the asagai I like the dice sector but I don't love this tire I feel it's too much and it doesn't quite add the cornering that a real dhf would have you know I like the cornering knobs I think I don't need the weight and that weight is significant
but the traction is not significantly better than the 3.0 swabby knobby legs as far as I ski cornering stuff like this if anything it doesn't corner quite as well that's how my you buy a fat bike but I thought it'd be worth mentioning all right we're getting down close to the river to the creek oh yeah if you're riding a lot of this stuff I'm rocking sand really loose your ice and like this
the fat tires really help even more than Plus tires so let's get into Explorer mode
to me this is where foul bytes really come into their own when you're exploring especially if you're exploring cross country or you're in the desert like the Mexico Arizona Utah and there's sand and you still want to make progress
the fat tires really help just keep you rolling
do you like exploring like that and you don't care about a small weight penalty it's a good way to go also if you're loaded up bike packing and your bikes 50 pounds anyway a little bit heavier tires now gonna be night and day difference but it completely grips in deep blue sand
if I were writing a lot of this stuff I'd be tempted to put the suspension fork back on it's fun it's just like a little tractor it's like a little Willys Jeep it just kind of crawls everywhere then fun to try this bike with three or four different modes just show how versatile this bike is and I did it all without swapping any of the wheels I'd love to try this as a 29 plus but I completely get why RSD didn't do that in my mind this bike is for the person that wants three bikes in one without having to buy three different wheel sets or a whole bunch of different parts I ran this in three different modes with the same wheels so I wouldn't even need a snow wheel set I can just throw fat these 3.8 to 4.0 fat tires onto the same rims I'm running with 20 75 by 3.0 and that saves an awful lot of money when you don't need more wheels 29 Plus would require a different wheel set
and at the end of the day is another 3/4 of an inch tall we all gonna make a world of a difference no it'd be fun to try but if you just want to get out and ride your bike and stop thinking about components and your bike and all that this bike definitely encourages you to do that there's so many ways you can run this and I think this bike will really be well-suited to someone who's gonna have multiple ways to run it if you just want it for the fat bike I don't know that it beneficial to have a super versatile bike like this where you could just get one fat bike exactly how you want it or if you just want one plus bike but if you want the option to be able to swap it out or maybe throw on some big tires to do some or snow biking or you want to throw some slicks on it to commute it is so versatile and it really is like having multiple bikes in one it does really well on sand side hill sand is not easy oh cool there's still ice on the river here
yeah that's significantly more flotation than 3.0 on the sand now it's time to climb you're gonna regret having these pickles heavy tires they're not that bad but you're not gonna want to do a cross country or enduro race or even a bike packing race on these tires they're just heavy so if I were running it and fat bike mode I'd get some 4.0 that were a lightweight that don't have quite such an aggressive tread it does it it's still motors along lot more sluggish than the 3.0 especially the swabby three-point else which you're super light no matter what tires are on this bike encourages me to just slow down and take it in definitely has it a big adventure feeling to it love that aspect of this bike
gone so well with these tires it's fun you can wrap around the rock and just hang on this is loose very loose gravel with one to two inch size loose rocks and it just tractors up it there's no slipping of the wheel fat tires do have a point
well this concludes our ride of the rsd sergeant on fat tires pretty cool to be able to run fat tires without having to change your wheel set or anything else on your frame or if you want to explore it slow speeds on gravel or sand fat tires can do things that plus tires can't for everything else I feel like plus tires are much more suited for this bike and in general riding but like I said all this cost was the cost of the tires to throw it on and try it super fun if you want to have a bike that you can ride in the snow as well without having to change anything all right let's break down the review climbing I'm gonna give it an 8 out of 10 tons of traction it can claw up stuff where you'd normally spin the heavy tires make it sluggish so you do get more tired cornering let me give it a 7 out of 10 with the fat tires as far as traditional trail riding like this playfulness in all honesty this is really close to the 3.0 plus setup just a little bit slower rolling a little bit more energy to get going but it's still fun but it can claw up stuff a little bit better what a cool thing that you can just keep your stock wheel set and put fat tires on it and get snow capability and sand capability for bike packing I'd run the 3.0 for most trail running I'd ride the 3.0 s but for snow biking to be able to pop just tires on that's a game-changer for me and I can make your three season bike a four season bike really easily it can still be run single speed you can adjust the chainstay length I would love if it was even shorter chainstay but I'm not sure that's possible I'm a small guy and the chainstay is longer than the reach for me which means I feel like when I'm standing up my body is further forward than back so it's harder to lift it up play around with it around but it does mean when you're seated it's stable climbing and went cornering to that that wheels a little bit further back and it just wants to make sweeping corners a little bit more super fun that it's got that capability I really like this fork there's plenty of clearance in here I like that you don't run the super wide spindle of a fat bike and that you've also got the narrower 157 mil superboost plus rear hub and not the 190 I think it's 197 it's more playful than a traditional fat bike which I like I also like the 27 five fat tires whereas 26 the sidewall was so tall it would get a lot flexor and squirmy er now these are really stiff sidewalls they're d hf s-- so even with low pressure they stay hold up well and they didn't fold or roll and so I like that so the 27 v fat bike has lower sidewall so less squirm but it's still got that wide tire patch and I prefer that over 26 stay tuned for my summary of everything and a final recap of this bike there's a party in the mountains and you're invited.
today I'm reviewing my RSD Sargent version 3 the rsd Sargent version 3 is like getting 8 bikes in one it is super versatile and usually when you pick a versatile bike it's not really great at anything it's OK at a lot of other things but the more I ride this the more I realize it is great at so many things today we are reviewing it in trail mode stay tuned for upcoming reviews as I swap out a rigid fork on it review it in that format and then I'm gonna run it with fat tires as well to kind of show you its versatility and how it rides different in different formats so today's review is in trail mode this is the Manitou Matic comp 140 Mill fork we're running 27.5 by 3.0 tires 1 by 11 drivetrain 125 mil dropper fantastic build for the price it's insane how good of a bike you get for such a cheap price alright let's go hit the trails we're here in Sedona we're gonna ride chuck wagon and a couple other trails as we do this review today my riding partner is fender my dog you ready fender let's go he is excited as am I recently happened some rain and we've given it a day or two to dry out perfect so despite this bikes long-chain Steel II it's you can see I still like to get the front end up jump over things manual across things it feels way shorter than it really is this has a sliding dropout so just like my rst middle child you can run it single speed you can change the chainstay length it's adjustable super versatile I'm gonna be comparing it to my middle child a lot because that's been the main question I get is do it by this over a middle child and this thing just the motors up stuff the Schwalbe knobby Nick's are not my favorite tire for Sedonas terrain we have a lot of slick rock and sand and they're great in the sand are great in lomé and soft dirt but on the rock they're a little bit squirmy on the side hills so I'm on a size small frame and that's the right size for me on this bike I ride a medium middle child and
this is the bike I grab when I want to put down some miles and unwind and have a relaxing riding experience where I'm not pushing it as hard as possible on every obstacle
it's plenty capable of that it's got a 65 and a half degree head angle which is slacker than most hard tails really balanced comfortable feel this is a bike that no matter your skill level you can just get on and ride it's an easy riding bike even when the trails aren't easy you can't see it but these are all 12 to 18 inch rocks I'm going over here go over the twisty chunky down here
this bike is quicker pedaling than my middle child for some reason probably these light knobby Nicks
but when I want a long day and I just want to put some miles down and get some exercise this is what I grab thank you very much
when I Ryan want to ride the double black diamonds hit the pumptrack or get really rowdy I grab my other bike not that this can't handle it it totally can that middle child is just so aggressive
it wants to be pushed whereas this bike is comfortable whether you're writing it to temps five ten to ten tenths thank you
busy day here hello so here we've got some fairly smooth flowy single track and it does great on it in my experience longer wheel bases carry loads better they put your balance in the middle of the bike a little more and I would call this a longer wheelbase
it weights your front wheel a little bit more so when you're climbing you don't have to lean forward as much it's a little bit harder to get to find up just a little as you can see it's not something I'm struggling with but it does feel differently but this feels more stable a little more planted and especially in sweeping corners like this it just kind of rails the corner and holds its line which is really fun this bike is so fun it's a different kind of fun than my middle child for me this is what makes me want to go out have an epic adventure go see how far into the backcountry I can get see how many miles I can crush out in fact in the future I'm pretty sure I'm going to put my clipless pedals on this I think it would just kind of suit the way that I ride it was it just go on a solo ride for long distance to cover some ground see some sights like I said you can run this in 29-plus mode you can run it as a normal 29er if you don't want to buy a separate fat bike and buy a separate bike packing bike in a separate trail bike this is the most versatile bike I know and like I said the most versatile most bikes that are pretty versatile are Jack's of all trades and master of none but this bike has a special feel but I haven't felt on another hardtail before it's just it brings back that enjoyment I used to have in the 90s with just riding a trail about trying to get the fastest time down the mountain or session the hardest thing over and over and over it's just a plain enjoyable bike ride alright Chuck Waggin we're gonna stay on Chuck Waggin I like this trail that takes more effort to get into a manual but it's doable anyway like I was saying on the sizing this is a size small and it's the perfect size for me it's more comfortable for long days I'm not reaching as far on my middle child I'm a little more stretched out it's a little more tiring on big days it's a little bit less agile when it's long but when I go on the super steep downhills and even up hills I like having it longer it's a little more stable that way so for this intended purpose I'm glad I'm on a small so I love fatbikes I think they're really fun and I think they serve a great purpose but I haven't found one that's that's playful most of them ride like a road bike they're just super long chain stays super steep head angle hard to wheelie immanuel they're just kind of like mules here's a ton of fun climb but this bike retains the slack head angle 66 and a half it's got pretty short chain stays so I'm really excited to try this in fad mode one day and I can do it without changing rims all this will be fun in the wet hello
bike climbs really well and some aluminum hard tail frames are harsh and beat you up this frame does not a lot of that is due to the plus tires but it's not an overly stiff frame but it is light the wheels especially feel lighter than my other heart tails it's crazy but on long rides I get less tired and I just feel like this picks up speed and holds it better than my other bikes you can see the massive amounts of clearance that this has to be able to fit 4.0 tires in there and I thought that meant I'd be rubbing my feet on these seat stays all the time and they get fairly close to this little break tab the brake hose tab I wish that was in just a little bit more so the hose went a little bit more under but I still not rubbing it so it's not a problem like I thought it would be on paper I'm running the chain stays all the way forward because I like a short rear end and there's plenty of clearance in there it's taken a little while to get used to the Manitou matic fork up front
it's not my favorite force but when you consider the price of the entire bike with a dropper and that fork it's an incredible fork it takes some getting used to though it took some setup for me look at that view
man it's spectacular here if you're just looking for good intermediate trail when you come to Sedona chuckwagon check it out beautiful anyway the fork taking some getting used to I've had to run the rebound a lot slower than I normally do and it's starting to feel good I think I would recommend buying this with the rigid fork I have to ride it with that first and then upgrading to the fork you would really want that's gonna add you know six hundred bucks so it's completely rideable and remember I'm comparing this to my $5,000 hardtail with a $900 fork on it that's half the price of this bike so when you consider as a complete package I can't complain it's not bad and it's not junk but what I'd probably get is like a fox 34 or a cheap RockShox throw a good damper in it but one cool thing about this mattock it will fit 29 plus tires it'll even fit it's pretty wide it's not rated for it but it can fit some really wide tires so that's pretty cool that you still have the option to run this in a bunch of different configurations with that suspension for him I'm excited to try this with our SDS aluminum rigid fork in some upcoming videos
yeah this bike encourages me to stop thinking about riding and just soak in the views get some fitness put down some miles it's an experience I'm not thinking I wish the head angle was slacker or
or I wish the stack was taller I'm just forgetting about the bike and riding and I know a lot of you out there choose hard tails for simplicity and you also choose them because you're not trying to set the fastest record down the mountain
you're not trying to prove anything anyone you just enjoy riding your bike and getting exercise and getting out there this is such a great bike for that yeah I think I'm gonna put my clipless pedals on it because this isn't the bike I grabbed when I want to try the most daring double black diamond stunts there's my bike to go for a spin take off the stress and unwind and I think it's perfectly built for that just bite corners so well that long rear end when you weight the pedals right it keeps your your weight centered and balanced and it really grips around the corners
I really like long wheelbase bikes for that there's creepy corners like this
and then taming its flow it's really fun this is a burly bike but it doesn't feel heavy and clunky feels light on its feet it's gotta be the light knobby necks all right here comes a big move let's set up the camera so much about bike reviews comes down to where you ride how you ride and why you ride so just because I do a shoot out of 10 bikes and I like bike number three the most doesn't mean everybody will we all like different things in bikes so in my reviews I try to explain what I like about it and what I don't and if you hate what I like and you like what I hate maybe my reviews can still help you even though it's not my favorite pic that being said I really like this bike all right let's get up these
I think if I had to describe this bike in one word it would be balanced it's just neutral you don't have to get over the front you're not moving around a whole lot you just kind of get on and ride in it takes you there it'll still move around when you want to be spicy on it but you don't have to you can just kind of sit in the neutral position let it do its thing
it's a good time it's I wouldn't say it's the bike for the adrenaline junkie who wants to get maximum air on everything and it's super rowdy like I said it can handle that but I'd go for the middle child it's got spirit you're the a de adrenaline seeking rider yeah it's just really balanced really neutral feeling yeah what a great bike all right thing you nailed it it's amazing how it has a different personality than the middle child and even though it kind of looks similar on paper I mean they just have a different feel and I love aluminum for this frame choice I wouldn't I wouldn't pick carbon over this I wouldn't take titanium or steel it just rides so great
and I like a metal bike where you can lean it against the tree and if it falls over you don't worry cuz it's metal and this is a lot lighter than steel and with the plus tire like I said it doesn't beat you up
so you just feel like you're on on an adventure on this right if this bike were a car it'd be a forerunner it's super versatile it can take you wherever you want dead reliable it's not a Ford Raptor that's just gonna blast through everything as fast as possible and it's not a Subaru STi but it takes you on adventures and makes memories that's the best way I can describe it whoo speaking of adventures there we go see how deep this is
this bike flows better than the middle child the middle child attacks this bike just wants to flow everything in really exciting news RSV had just announced their alumina middle child and it's gonna be cheaper than the steel and the titanium versions 1,500 bucks for a complete bike a little bit more if you want to drop her with it and I think that bike is gonna be so successful because nobody's got a cheap aluminum hard tail with this with aggressive geometry with a 64 degree head angle super short chain stays room for up to two point eight maybe 3.0 tires that bike is gonna sell so well I can't wait to get my hands on one to show you what it's like and I think a lot of people are gonna be trying to decide between this bike and that bike and
I think the way I would describe it for all of you who watched YouTube if you ride more like B kxe or Paul the punter I think you're gonna like this bike more or mike levy if you watch pink bike if you've got more like you have an X C background or distance or endurance or a road background something like that this will feel more familiar if you ride like Jeff Kendall lead or jeff lenosky like that I would recommend the middle child hopefully that helps you choose both are fantastic bikes and both can be written in any environment but this bikes a little more neutral sure-footed flowy gentle ride whereas the middle child just wants to pull high down everything you take every bonus drop and jump possible if you want to dabble in some bike packing both bikes will be fine for that as they can both run plus tires if you want the ability to run fat tires and have a snow bike without changing anything other than the tires this is the bike for you I think this bikes gonna carry weight better than the middle child to you so when you're loaded up with packs
sorry I'm concentrating on the climate I
think when this is loaded up it's just gonna carry that weight a little better with the longer chains stay this bike also has rack mounts so you can run a bike rack on it the cargo rack carry your tent and food take a look at where we are this is planet Earth people this you having fun buddy you're doing good this is absolutely breathtaking
what a relaxing ride
really well-balanced bike push it a little too hard it'll hang on for more I
don't think in its current configuration I'd feel very comfortable taking it on Highline probably with a different fork and different tires and we may be a bigger rotor up front I feel good about it
so good so good and man yeah it just accelerates so quickly a quarter so well this bike reminds me a ton of that ioniq that I tried in Moe Evan love rides a lot like it except the ioniq had slightly shorter chain stays and was not nearly this versatile I keep forgetting oh yeah you can run this as a plus by two or twenty nine plus or twenty seventy five and then my mind's blown again because it's just so versatile
bike is nice and stiff on the pedaling it doesn't beat you up it's weird it's got better power transfer than my time it'll child it doesn't flex quite as much it needs to be said that this is a thoroughly modern hardtail I'm comparing it to my middle child which is the most aggressive hardtail I know of except maybe a chrome AG dr. Hawk that's a little bit one degree slacker but this bike has a short stem wide bars slack ish head angle it doesn't ride like all those hard tails I had it outer bike they just felt like they were stuck in the 90s this is still a very modern bike I love that it comes back with that when they guess this is a 50 mil stem cockpit is super comfortable I have to keep reminding myself of all the other hard tails I ride all the time and how just effortless this is it rides like a modern bike go home buddy
now we're on the mystical trail love this trail
this bike rides a lot like the ys7 but it's got a little bit slacker head angle and I feel like it steers better and corners better and this bike corner so well whether it's a slow speed switchback or a fast flowy swooping flat turn these tires are coming alive in this soft dirt Hey look I ran into some viewers what's your name Randy Randy Shelley nice to meet you guys so fun to meet friendly faces on the trail all right it's time to finish up my review of this bike in trail mode with the Manitou Matic for 2075 by 3.0 tires as a trail bike this thing is a lot of fun if it didn't come in any other configurations that's how I'm gonna rate it so climbing I'm gonna give this a 9 out of 10 cornering 10 out of 10 descending I'm gonna give it an eight and a half out of ten because it wants to turn everything into a flow instead of into you know just chart the craziest thing it can find
maybe a knife it descends quite well I think with a different fork this would just send a nine and a half playfulness I'm gonna give it an eight it's not the same type of playful as the middle child it's playful in the sense that it tries to turn everything into flow and it tries to keep it speed up everywhere but wheelies I mean it can wheelie and it has a great balance point but it's not quite as bunnyhop jump wheelie manual playful as the middle child so that's where it gets that rating like I said this bike is a fantastic bike for people who just want to put down some miles soak in the scenery have a relaxing calming riding experience but this bike still is not outgunned unless you're on the double black diamond trails but if you're an adrenaline junkie who likes to get as much air as possible and who wants to push it and just ride on the ragged edge all the time I wouldn't recommend this bike for that I'd go with the middle child now all that being said this is a super versatile bike because it can be run with the other setups I'm really curious how this would ride is a 29 plus I would love to borrow a buddy's 29 plus wheel set try it on here I think that would be a fantastic way to run this bike I'm also super curious how it rides with the rigid fork and super curious how it rides with fat tires so I'm going to see if I can get my hands on some of those things and bring you more reviews remember this bike is extremely versatile I've never ridden a fat bike as much fun as this and I hope when I put fat tires on it it feels a lot like it does now cuz it is a fun fun bike thanks for watching there's a party in Sedona and if you're ever passing through Sedona this is my home this is where I live hit me up I would love to join you and take you out on some of my favorite trails thanks for watching there's a party in the mountains and you're invited
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