Like others have stated this is a great bike for the money. I want to point out the Deore components work very well. This is the new Deore and not like the pre 2010. I spent about 2 months researching 29er's before taking the plunge on this Sensor 9r. I am 6' 33" inseam and the Large fits me really well. I was a bit concerned this bike at 33# would be very hard to move around and on the uphills. It may weigh 33# but it sure does not feel like it. I test rode many bikes before deciding on this one. Hopefully they will get in some more, I know of several people that are wanting this bike.

I was a little hesitant on doing a mail order bike, but Giantnerd made it a very pleasant experience. Shipping was Fast and free, and pre sales phone support was very prompt and very pleasant.

Very Happy Nerd :)

very pleased with overall performance, did not want to stop riding, Definitely a five star bike and the price is just another plus. ManyThanks to everyone at giant nerd...... received the bike on time, I was skeptical about ordering on line ,turned out to be a great buying experience, Excelent bike!!!!

First off, I must say that am am very pleased with how fast I received my order.
I ordered the bike on night of the 17th and received it the 23rd using the free shipping option.
10-14 days my patootie. If you count the night I ordered it which was after they closed, it took 6 days to receive the order to my door which is half the time they tell you.

Pulled the bike out of the box, I did not buy the genius build.
Had to bolt on the handlebar but all the controls were mounted.
Seat was already mounted to the post so I just had to slide it in.
Rear wheel was already mounted.
Had to bolt the front rotor to the front wheel and mount the wheel.
Had to take the reflectors off the wheels but the others were never put on. ;)
Tighten headset and check and tighten a few other screws.
After that just adjust the brakes, adjust the derailleur, adjust the suspension to your weight.

Tools you will need are a few allen wrenches, torx screwdriver, phillips head screwdriver, pedal wrench.
If you can't adjust the brakes and derailleur yourself, it is not expensive to get it done at your LBS (cheaper than the Genius Build and they still may not have it right). As far as suspension goes, you would have to do that yourself no matter if you paid for the Genius build or not.

Build quality of the bike is top notch. GT added some nice touches and I do not just mean the color scheme.
Lets face it, some of the components may be slightly lower end. What the heck do you expect got this price point? They are not bad though but if you think you can get a better deal on a new bike, then go for it.

I got a large. I am 5'10.5" with about a 31" inseam.
Stand over height is fine. Better than my Lg Hardtail.
I think the size chart is pretty spot on but I am sure I could also ride a Med comfortable.

Without riding yet, would I recommend this bike? Yes.
Would I recommend getting it from Giant Nerd? Hell Yes
Do you need to pay for shipping? No, it will come pretty darn fast.
Should you buy the Genius build? That is up to you, but I think if you have very basic knowledge don't by it, put it together, then take it to your LBS for a tuneup.

Thanks Giant Nerd, Excelent bike , great color its better live than pictures, This bike is a Great. The Sensor boasted more travel than other bikes in this group—120mm. Easy to lean into corners on tight singletrack sections and pretty much rolls over anything with little to no effort. excelent quality components, some reviews says for this price its excelent, i ll recomend dont buy any item only for cheap price, this bike its a 2012 editors choice top 10 ranked ,

Just took my Sensor out for her maiden voyage and I was thoroughly impressed. The bike was solid and climbed like a GOAT! The suspension was dialed in and it screamed downhill. I have to say that this bike is 100% worth the money. I can’t even believe GN is selling these rigs at this rock bottom price. I wish I could have bought two!!!

Always remember that the sensor 29’ers run a little on the large side and are not sized like the hardtails.

Just took my Sensor out for her maiden voyage and I was thoroughly impressed. The bike was solid and climbed like a GOAT! The suspension was dialed in and it screamed downhill. I have to say that this bike is 100% worth the money. I can’t even believe GN is selling these rigs at this rock bottom price. I wish I could have bought two!!!

Always remember that the sensor 29’ers run a little on the large side and are not sized like the hardtails.

Bike looks awsome! Purchased the genius build, hoping everything goes as smooth as the ordering. Should have it in ten days then its off to the trails. cant wait..... keep you posted

Especially considering the price here at Giant Nerd, this is a fantastic bike. I previously rode a 26" hard tail and the jump to a 29" FS is night and day! I am 6'1" and 250 pounds (and losing it fast!). After dialing in the front and rear shocks with the correct sag, this bike easily goes over small logs; it is so much easier to go uphill, even with the weight I have to drag up there!

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars instead of 4 stars is that the thread on one of the screws on the stem wasn't working. But the excellent customer service here actually turned this into an almost non-issue, as they contacted GT and had a new stem shipped to me within a few days. No problem, they are definitely easy to work with.

ps Kuddos to the Genius build and the box the bike came in. I had the bike rolling in less than 10 minutes. And I am keeping the box, it will come in handy if I ever want to ship the bike myself to go hit epic trials somewhere else.

I just recently had to exchange by Large sized bike for a Medium. I am 5'10''. I took it on the trails for the first time last weekend and I loved it!. I could not expect any more from the bike considering the price offered by Giantnerd. I would recommend this bike to anyone. My only complaint was a very hard seat, but that was easily fixed for $20.

At first when I saw this I thought of the old saying if its to good to be true it probably is. A 2000 dollar bike for almost half off, no way. I ordered expecting an out of stock message but instead two days later the box arrived.

Now about the bike. AWESOME. Have been out twice on intermediate trails. I had my local bike shop assemble it for me. Slapped on some egg beater candy 2 pedals and this bike rocks. The suspension really comes alive at speed. I'm more of a spinning, flat open, kind of rider. But it does well on the rocks. I swapped the tires out for fold-able KENDA small eights and put in the STANS system. With about 30 psi they climbed up anything I was ready to tackle.

At 33 pounds, I figured it would be a lot heavier than my 20 pound roadie... Great bike, great buying experience.

this is one of the best gt bikes ever

First impressions after a short test ride around the neighborhood streets... will try to post a more comprehensive report once I get the chance to get her on the trail (turning cold here in the Midwest!).

BUILD & APPEARANCE:
This being my 1st online bike purchase, I was a little nervous about finishing the assembly, but the GeniusBuild worked great. Everything went on quickly and easily (bars, front wheel, seat post and pedals). Only additional step I had to take was adjusting the front hydro brakes, but I had kind of expected that would be the case. Simple adjustment and the wheel spun smooth and quiet. The rest of the build seemed spot on out of the box... so great job on the GeniusBuild!

The Sensor is my 2nd MTB... I also have a 2013 Trek Mamba hardtail so a lot of these initial impressions are influenced by my experience with the Mamba. As my Trek has a gloss black & orange color scheme, the Black & Orange Sensor really appeals to me as well. It just is a sharp-looking bike, both in terms of the paint scheme and the lines of the frame itself. Haven't weighed it yet, but it seems very close in weight to my Mamba, which is around 33-34 pounds, nearly bone-stock. Frame looks and feels to be a solid build, but we'll see how it feels thrashing around on the trails. The stock pedals are OK, pretty similar to the Diamondback Bigfoot pin platforms I put on my Mamba, but with a slightly thinner profile.

SIZE & FIT:
Again, since I've never bought a bike online, and couldn't test ride this model for size and fit before I purchased it, I was a little nervous in selecting the right size. After I had already placed my order, I started seeing comments about how the size chart seemed to be a little off, so that kicked up my anxiety even further. I'm 5' 9" and 160 lbs, and according to the site's chart, the Large was recommended for my size. That seemed kind of suspect, but the LBS where I bought my Mamba told me I was kind of a tweener size (I guess because I have a little longer legs than a lot of people my height). But from my experience with the Mamba, I knew I prefer to feel like I'm "IN" the bike, rather than perched on top of it, so was hoping the Large was the right choice. After the first ride, I'm feeling vindicated in going with the Large. The overall fit of the bike feels very similar to that of my Mamba (which is a size 17.5 frame), so it felt very comfortable to ride. The bars are slightly narrower than my Mamba (690mm compared to 710mm), and while it's noticeable, I don't think it'll affect transitioning from one bike to the other.

RIDE, BRAKES & HANDLING:
As the test ride was nearly all on pavement, take these first opinions with that in mind. My first thought after I started off was that it pedaled very smoothly and efficiently. It's a 3x10 drivetrain (42/32/24T), whereas my Mamba is a a 3x9 (44/32/22T). The Sensor has Deore front & rear derailleurs, which shifted very quietly and smoothly for me. I shifted a few times while pedaling under a moderate load (seated, short climbs) and it was still very responsive and smooth. My Mamba has a Deore rear / Acera front setup, and so far it seems that the Deore / Deore setup on the Sensor feels a little smoother overall.

The stock Maxxis Aspen tires seemed to ride quieter and roll slightly better than the stock Bontragers on my Mamba. I know and some point I'll upgrade the tires, as the Aspens are basically a stock level tire, but we'll see how they perform on the trail. On pavement, I think I'll give them a slight edge over the Bontragers at this point. On one stretch of pretty steep street, I was able to get the bike up to almost 31mph and it rolled smooth & stable.

The Avid Elixir 1 hydraulic disc brakes performed comparably to the Hayes Dyno Sport hydros on my Mamba. No squealing on this first ride, and the modulation and stopping power felt very, very similar to the Hayes Dyno Sport brakes. I've seen many complaints about the Avid Elixir line on various MTB forums, so I'm curious to see how they'll perform for me on the trail.

I did take the bike up & over quite a few medians and curbs along the route, to get an initial feel for the Marzocchi 44 TST2 fork and X-Fusion rear shock. The PSI on both the fork and shock will definitely need to be adjusted to get the suspension dialed in for me (I'm getting a shock pump next week to do just that). So while I can't speak too much yet to the stiffness/plushness of the suspension, I did try the Lockout feature on both fork & shock and they worked pretty much as expected. I just think that like most settings out of the box, YMMV and you'll have to expect to perform some adjustments to suit your tastes. My out-of-the-box experience wasn't too bad overall, but even on the pavement ride i can tell it'll take some tweaking.

As for general ride performance and handling, I'm not sure if it's the full-suspension or the frame geometry, but the Sensor just seems to ride & handle like a smaller bike than my hardtail Mamba. First impression is that it feels like a more nimble bike than the Mamba. Again we'll see how that translates onto the trails.


Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about jumping on the great deal that GN offered on the Sensor 9r Elite. Like most people, it's tough shelling out this kind of money for a "sight unseen" bike, but first impressions have left me feeling excited about this bike.

instead of xl!

Yeah I heard the size chart was a little off. Im 6'5" and got the large instead of the medium.

I just built my bike and it seems and feels like a great bike. Unfortunately the size is too big for me. I ordered a Large because per the size chart that is the size bike I should get. I am 5'10'' and I am going to have to exchange my bike for a Medium.

This bike is a beast. Easy to lean into corners on tight singletrack sections and pretty much rolls over anything with little to no effort. Its way faster than my last full suspension 26er and the front fork combined with the rear air shock feels great. The momentum from the 29" tires carries you up steep climbs and pushes you on the dh. I upgraded to some better grips for only $20, had to get the brakes a little tighter then all you need are some decent pedals. Great bike from GN!

awsome@#$%$#@ bike it is everything i could ask for in a sbike and its a pretty beast love the smooth ride travis my boy handeld the order great and geniusbuikd did an awsome job setting it up and shipping it love u guys what a #$%^%$price toooo .

This bike is pretty awesome for the price. I added so grips to the previously mentioned items and I have no complaints. So it has handled everything. I did notice slight pedal bob when I exited the trail onto pavement but that was until I got back on the dirt. This is one slick piece of kit. Oh and I finally set the sag and it is even sweeter. When we ride the Colorado Trail in May I will update.

First ride today and I was pretty impressed considering the price I paid. I need to scrap the grips and get shorter cranks but everything else appears fine until it breaks. When I took it out the box I installed my own pedals and saddle everything else is stock. This is my first FS and I really like it. I previously rode fully rigid 29 and 26 singlespeeds so this is a nice change. Excellent value for money. Initially I was torn between this bike the Spearfish and SC Superlight D. This bike undercut those by quite a bit plus I like the fact the IDrive has been around for so long and it is tried and tested. The only downside I can see is maintenance if I every need to rebuild or repair the frame suspension system according to the tech manual appears to be a chore.

This bike provides a great overall value and riding experience for a 29" full supension bike.
Good off road trail bike with significant front and rear suspension travel of +5" and effective adjustments
plus lock out for both ends. I Drive rear suspension provides great peddling effieciency with almost no peddle bob
feedback in the bumps. Not as manuverable as a 26" but rolls faster and easier over the rough stuff.
Good customer service by the GN guys on a couple of issues also.

Overall two thumbs up!

Great mountain bike for downhill and street riding i can haul soooo fast this is better than a road bike