Full suspension bike - £1500ish.

[cramman]

Hi.

After the swing arm (is that the correct term?!?) failed on the Boardman FS I’m in the market for a new bike.
The bike will be used in trail centres and mainly on reds but some blacks. No down hilling here but I do think I push the bike a bit.
I never thought the Boardman was holding me back so not looking to spend a fortune.

I don’t think I want another Boardman, the Halfords experience has put me off and parts are impossible to get a hold of.

So, what to look for? Any deals? 29er?

Cheers,

Cramman

[With these feet]

I recently bought a Cannondale 29er, went for a hardtail as I already have a Spec Induro FS.
TBH unless youre doing big drops and jumps, is a FS bike what you need?
I ride Bedgebury on it and its superb. Sure the FS is a bit more plush but in reality the HT is faster/lighter and has a similar spec drivetrain but was significantly cheaper.

I paid £1300 for last years bike with the new style Lefty on it. This is this years model. http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Cannondale-Flash-29er-2-Mo...

For £1500 a FS is going to be fairly low specs and heavy. My Enduro is about 28lbs and was nearly £2.2k the 29er about 22lbs.

[P-Jay]

You might get a Lapierre Zesty 214 in the sales for budget, can't be long now!

[ysnnim]

If you don't mind 2nd hand, then Ebay throws up a few Orange 5's for around that figure... ticks most of the boxes...

[timbo48]

Have a look around for a 2012 Spec Camber Expert (26", they're 29" this year). I think I've seen them for around £1.5k but can't remember where, sorry. Excellent bike for trail centres and all day rides, weigh in at approx 26lb so not bad on the ups either.

[andySC]

Paul's Cycles have some bargains. Mrs Andy has had a Trance X4 delivered today....£899. Plenty of higher spec machinery on there well within your budget.

[TheGreatSoprendo]

I've got the 2012 model of this and it's been fantastic for me and even held it's own doing a spot of downhill at Antur Stiniog.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/norco/sight-3-...

[Mr Gearchange]

andySC said:

Paul's Cycles have some bargains. Mrs Andy has had a Trance X4 delivered today....£899. Plenty of higher spec machinery on there well within your budget.

I have a Trace X4 and its a fantastic bike but a little limited by the Rockshock fork.

Pauls are doing a Trace X2 with Fox suspension all round for 1300 quid rather than 2 grand.
That's where my money would be going

Ooh - actually there is an X0 for 1750 rather than 3400 THAT is what I'd buy...

[Gren]

If you can stand to buy direct then Canyons are bargains. Got my Nerve XC just over a year ago and its a dream to ride. They are selling off some of the 2013 models now

[cramman]

Thanks for the replies, some good suggestions.

I do like the look of the canyon's so may try and navigate the site later.
Also, sounds like Pauls is worth a look.

[Raven Flyer]

Just avoid 29ers.

It's all going 27.5 now, as people have realised MTBs that don't go round corners aren't much fun!!

Unless you live are doing serious downhill riding (Morzine, Les Gets etc) I would still buy a 26.

£1500 should get you a good spec bike.

[JayHeal]

Raven Flyer said:

Just avoid 29ers.

It's all going 27.5 now, as people have realised MTBs that don't go round corners aren't much fun!!

Unless you live are doing serious downhill riding (Morzine, Les Gets etc) I would still buy a 26.

£1500 should get you a good spec bike.

Downhill World Champs at the weekend and all podium places on 26 wheels.
Proves for now that for going down hill fast 26 inch wheels are still the fastest!
Dont believe all the marketing hype about bigger wheels been faster.
But for trail riding i'd say just try before you buy.
Evans cycles have the Saracen Ariel on sales in your price range and they've had some good reviews.
As already said if you dont mind 2nd hand then Orange Fives are always a good option.

Edited by JayHeal on Tuesday 3rd September 19:05

[With these feet]

Raven Flyer said:

Just avoid 29ers.

It's all going 27.5 now, as people have realised MTBs that don't go round corners aren't much fun!!

Unless you live are doing serious downhill riding (Morzine, Les Gets etc) I would still buy a 26.

£1500 should get you a good spec bike.

Thats a fairly sweeping statement. Have you ridden one?

Until I rode it I didnt realise the massive difference. If youre using 6" of travel then theyre not the right thing to have, but for cross country/fire trails and smaller drops my 29er beats the 26er easily. So much so that Ive not ridden the 26er for a few months now. There are benefits and negatives, plus to the OP, how tall are you? Some say you have to be tall to ride a 29er, bullst. Im 5'7" with a 31" instep so hardly tall.

If 29ers are so bad, take a look at the Specialized website - theres options of 26ers on some bikes, only a selection of all mountain and downhill bikes that are options on the smaller wheels. Pretty brave to swap the main bread and butter bikes to 29ers if theyre not popular - or the way Specialized see the way forwards seeing as its a completely different frame for the bigger wheels.....And not a single 27.5 in sight.... But go off to Giants site and theyre talking of getting rid of 26ers and 29ers..... All marketing bull to get you to buy a new bike each season!

[Eski1991]

Saracen Ariel

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2013-Saracen-Ariel-161-F...

I've had the older model for nearly 2 years and it's held up well and outperforms me most of the time.

[anonymous-user]

Specialised are a US brand first and foremost and over there, where the trails tend to be a little wider at least so I've heard, 29ers make a lot of sense. Here we seem to like the tight and technical singletrack and descents which suit 26" wheels, plus as others have said its all marketing gumpf, magazines have to support the manufacturers decisions or they cease to be. Also, at the last Olympics, there was a 29er, a 650b and a 26 on the podium, suffice to say if you are fast, you are fast regardless of the wheel size!...

Have a look at Ghost and Corratec from CRC, both Euro brands but good bikes, this looks good, same shock as the lapierre x-control and the fork is ok. Good finishing kit and drivetrain too.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ghost-asx-5100-...

[P-Jay]

With these feet said:

Raven Flyer said:

Just avoid 29ers.

It's all going 27.5 now, as people have realised MTBs that don't go round corners aren't much fun!!

Unless you live are doing serious downhill riding (Morzine, Les Gets etc) I would still buy a 26.

£1500 should get you a good spec bike.

Thats a fairly sweeping statement. Have you ridden one?

Until I rode it I didnt realise the massive difference. If youre using 6" of travel then theyre not the right thing to have, but for cross country/fire trails and smaller drops my 29er beats the 26er easily. So much so that Ive not ridden the 26er for a few months now. There are benefits and negatives, plus to the OP, how tall are you? Some say you have to be tall to ride a 29er, bullst. Im 5'7" with a 31" instep so hardly tall.

If 29ers are so bad, take a look at the Specialized website - theres options of 26ers on some bikes, only a selection of all mountain and downhill bikes that are options on the smaller wheels. Pretty brave to swap the main bread and butter bikes to 29ers if theyre not popular - or the way Specialized see the way forwards seeing as its a completely different frame for the bigger wheels.....And not a single 27.5 in sight.... But go off to Giants site and theyre talking of getting rid of 26ers and 29ers..... All marketing bull to get you to buy a new bike each season!

My 2p - 27.5 *cough* is total bullst to entice people to buy new bikes, there's nothing wrong with 650b bikes, there's just nothing particularly game changing about them either. They're a barefaced marketing push to sell more bikes and make 'old' 26" bikes look obsolete.

The 2014 bike ranges are going to be a watershed moment, if the big bike manufactures that have backed 27.5" have a good year, 26" is dead, if buyers flock to the few remaining 26" sellers like Spesh, 27.5" goes the way of the 1.5" fork steerer tube.

Oh and the cough? here's a simple fact, in order to sell 650b (as they're really called) sized wheels the marketing people wanted it to be a clear mid-step between 26" and 29" hence the 27.5" name, truth is 650b is in actual fact 27.1" and will most profile tyres coming in a little shorter than there 26" counterparts, there's very, very little in it. Does .4 of an inch make any difference? No, unless you're more interested in making a clear "best of both worlds" statement.

[Fluffsri]

P-Jay said:

With these feet said:

Raven Flyer said:

Just avoid 29ers.

It's all going 27.5 now, as people have realised MTBs that don't go round corners aren't much fun!!

Unless you live are doing serious downhill riding (Morzine, Les Gets etc) I would still buy a 26.

£1500 should get you a good spec bike.

Thats a fairly sweeping statement. Have you ridden one?

Until I rode it I didnt realise the massive difference. If youre using 6" of travel then theyre not the right thing to have, but for cross country/fire trails and smaller drops my 29er beats the 26er easily. So much so that Ive not ridden the 26er for a few months now. There are benefits and negatives, plus to the OP, how tall are you? Some say you have to be tall to ride a 29er, bullst. Im 5'7" with a 31" instep so hardly tall.

If 29ers are so bad, take a look at the Specialized website - theres options of 26ers on some bikes, only a selection of all mountain and downhill bikes that are options on the smaller wheels. Pretty brave to swap the main bread and butter bikes to 29ers if theyre not popular - or the way Specialized see the way forwards seeing as its a completely different frame for the bigger wheels.....And not a single 27.5 in sight.... But go off to Giants site and theyre talking of getting rid of 26ers and 29ers..... All marketing bull to get you to buy a new bike each season!

My 2p - 27.5 *cough* is total bullst to entice people to buy new bikes, there's nothing wrong with 650b bikes, there's just nothing particularly game changing about them either. They're a barefaced marketing push to sell more bikes and make 'old' 26" bikes look obsolete.

The 2014 bike ranges are going to be a watershed moment, if the big bike manufactures that have backed 27.5" have a good year, 26" is dead, if buyers flock to the few remaining 26" sellers like Spesh, 27.5" goes the way of the 1.5" fork steerer tube.

Oh and the cough? here's a simple fact, in order to sell 650b (as they're really called) sized wheels the marketing people wanted it to be a clear mid-step between 26" and 29" hence the 27.5" name, truth is 650b is in actual fact 27.1" and will most profile tyres coming in a little shorter than there 26" counterparts, there's very, very little in it. Does .4 of an inch make any difference? No, unless you're more interested in making a clear "best of both worlds" statement.

http://singletrackworld.com/blogs/2013/04/a-time-of-change/

Just had read of this, interesting. Ive not tried the 650b but have tried a 29er Cube and I didnt get on with it, just wasnt a flickable as my 26". Saying that I now ride the same stuff on a CX bike at 700c (29") and love it!

[DMN]

Merida 140 900d:

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Merida-One-Forty-900-Mount...

A very good bike IMO, I've ridden a Giant Team AC and Trance FS bikes and this beats them both. It also feels lighter than my Orange Crush Hard Tail.

Edit: heres a review of the 2012 model:
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/m...

Edited by DMN on Wednesday 4th September 14:02

[P-Jay]

Fluffsri said:

http://singletrackworld.com/blogs/2013/04/a-time-o...

Just had read of this, interesting. Ive not tried the 650b but have tried a 29er Cube and I didnt get on with it, just wasnt a flickable as my 26". Saying that I now ride the same stuff on a CX bike at 700c (29") and love it!

I'm pretty angry about the whole 650b thing, more so than I ever thought possible for such an abstract subject.

Beware, reading must wear a tinfoil hat past this point:

'Something' is going on with 650b, I have never known such a massive over-night sea change in standards, especially one that flies completely in the face of consumer demand.

Take for example the big bike mags, especially MBUK, when 650 landed they wrote questioning the need, but within 6 months they're spunking themselves over anything 650b, at first they slammed bikes they'd previously loved in favour of 650 versions, now they seem to refuse to acknowledge their existence, they run endless polls for "the greatest trail bike" "the great XC bike" etc both on their sites and via social media, not one single option to choose a 26" bike, they're just not on the list, write up's now talk about "there's even an old school 26" version for traditionalists" there seems to be a huge effort going on to make 26" old before it's time.

I'm not against 650b, I've ridden one, it was nice, but it was nice because it was a shiny brand new bike and not because the wheel diameter was a inch larger, is there a performance advantage? Well Nico Vouilloz rode a 2013 Spicy (26") and a 2014 Spicy (650B) over the same section of a world endure course in Punta Ala - he was just under 2 seconds quicker on the 650 over a 4 min course, an advantage yes, but one that a normal rider would notice, or even within the realms of any number of variables. Bear in mind it was Lapierre that released the data, a back-to-back test, which one of the greatest MTB'ers of all time on a prototype custom built bike and the best they could come up with was a 2 second advantage.

No the real reason 650B exists for the sake of selling new bikes and bits, and unlike any other of the new standards that have gone before it changes everything, very little is interchangeable from a 26" bike to a 650B.

[Fluffsri]

It does seem everyone is jumping onboard with it. Nearly all of the Euro bike reports have 650s mentioned with a sprinkling of 26/29. Start a new thread...Why 27.5"? and see what eople come up with. Is it a fad? Will it be the beall and end all? Why has the support gone out of 29er?