Growler 20

I bought this bike through Jenson for my G.F as a introductory MTB. This bike has great frame geometry for a H.T and for about 1k the components are solid. Unfortunately however, the dropper post has enough travel that even with the seatpost down all the way the saddle is stil too high for her so when she brings the saddle height back up she has to guess seat height while riding. Very combersome but not a design flaw necessarily. The front fork has decent travel but does not have a lockout or other adjustability. On a positive note she got an upgrade of shimano deore drivetrain and MT-200 brakes which was a suprise! Overall this is a solid bicycle and she's very happy with it.

I bought my Growler April of last year, I upgrade my tires to minions and my forks to Rockshox recons and this bike shreds on the trail. For a trail hardtail it’s deadly handles jumps great same for tech and climbs and descents amazing. Only reason I don’t give this bike a 5 is because the frames paint chips easy and I’m not to fussy on that. Other than that worth getting. If you plan on shredding this bike it is worth going for the growler 50 but if you are planing on doing casual trail stuff the 20 will do fine. I used to do casual stuff around when I got this bike but I quickly got better with more confidence and upgraded it to make it good for shredding and more confident.

This is a good platform to upgrade from, or if you are slow(like me) you can ride it as is. The XCM34 coil is very rigid and performs surprisingly well for have no dampening system at all, and is sprung pretty much perfectly for me at 190lbs, and has good bottom out resistance. I lubed it with slickoleum which helps its small bump smoothness.

The brakes, dropper, and 1x10 drivetrain work well enough, the tires aren't great for grip, but roll fast. I'm going to upgrade the tires first to tubeless and then see how I feel about the fork.

This may be the best aggressive hardtail on the market, especially for the price. This bike slays the descents! It is super stable and begs to go fast! It climbs perfectly fine. It is fairly light weight (mine is sitting around 30lb). This is a bike that can ride almost any trail and can stay in your fleet forever. If you buy the 20 and add on your own upgraded fork and tires, then you can have a epic ride and save a lot of money. If you plan to upgrade, then it is not worth buying the Growler 50.

I've owned mine for about a year I had to replace shifter cable, but all around tough an great ride up an down the trail highly recommend this bike for it's affordable an great quality. Only possible issue be weight of forks.