Problem is in your first five words. It is a basic bike, built to a budget. Every part will be a bit heavier than high end parts, which all adds up. Looks like a nice bike though, especially at that price. Total bargain. Modern geometry also doesn’t lend itself to tamer, flatter trails and as a result the bike feels sluggish on them. Point it down something steeper and it’ll be a different story. There’s a lot more variation in geometry these days. In the early 90’s most bikes were 71/73 and handled very similarly. Today angles vary a lot and it’s not as simple to know how a bike will handle.
Have you gone tubeless yet? Not for the weight savings but for the reduced rolling resistance and ride quality.
Wolfpack Cross or Race are nice and light. They do a 2.2 which isn’t too big.
Careful of going much narrower, that bike probably had 30mm internal width rims. Narrower tyres will square off badly on wider rims.
My enduro bike came with heavy but strong wheels and tyres with inserts. Bike feels like a steamroller through the rocks but not very sprightly in tighter woody stuff. Bought a spare set of light wheels with Wolfpack tyres (Trail front and Cross rear) and it transformed the way the bike handled on flatter rolling trails.
Main thing is to give it time. Too many retro bikers dismiss modern bikes and trends just because they feel so different, without really giving them a chance.
does anyone know of a 29er tyre that's still made narrow and light?
