€2000 to spend on a new full suspension XC / AM bike

[beanbag]

A friend of mine is looking for a new bike to replace his aging piece of crap!

We have a budget of €2000 and could possibly by €200-€300 if it's really worth it.

I've already told him to check out the Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp which sells for about €2199, but I was wondering what you chaps recommend....

My friend will do mostly extreme XC, trails but he's not interested in anything too heavy so we're leaning more towards XC rather than AM.

Ideas!?

Cheers,

BB

Edited by beanbag on Tuesday 28th October 15:22

[vz-r_dave]

A number of the Marin bikes have excellent components and are super cheap if you buy last years models.

[beanbag]

vz-r_dave said:

A number of the Marin bikes have excellent components and are super cheap if you buy last years models.

What are the frames like? You can change components but you can't change your frame. Plus he wants something nice and light as we do a lot of steep mountain riding.

[Akers]

Ooh I enjoy these 'what bike' threads!

Nirvana Cycles have a new '08 model Lapierre X-Control 410 going for £1559 down from £1949. It's tasty as is, but he could trick it up a bit with the spare £440
http://www.nirvanacycles.com/news_salebikes.htm

Full Spec
http://www.lapierrebikes.com/lapierre/en/VTT/produ...

I'll see what else I can find!

ETA: Bugger, just realised you're not in the UK so specific deals are no good for you.

Edited by Akers on Tuesday 28th October 15:26

[pdV6]

Akers said:

stuff in £

Note the OP was talking of a budget of €2,000 - €2,300 i.e. about £1,600 - £1,850

[beanbag]

pdV6 said:

Akers said:

stuff in £

Note the OP was talking of a budget of €2,000 - €2,300 i.e. about £1,600 - £1,850

Ta! I was about to point that out. Either way that's still a substantial budget and I can order from these places quite easily:

Evans, CRC or Wiggle. If you also know of places that do international orders then I'm happy to consider them.

However to be honest I'm looking at specific bikes rather than places to buy them. I just need to know what I should be looking at for a good XC/AM full suspension bike.

[WildCards]

Neil, may I do the honours?

Meta 5.5

[Parrot of Doom]

I can heartily recommend the meta 5.5 frame. Its good fun

[vwsurfbum]

just as they have started the Comical 5.5's i will throw in the Scott flag.
what your mate needs is a Genius or a Ransom. a genius is a full on XC bike and a ransom is more towards the all mountain / DH?
you could get a very well spec'd one for that money?

[pdV6]

Was looking at the Ransom in Mud dock the other day. Nice looking bit of kit.

[nervous]

WildCards said:

Neil, may I do the honours?

Meta 5.5

I simply could not reccomend this transaction less.

[beanbag]

nervous said:

WildCards said:

Neil, may I do the honours?

Meta 5.5

I simply could not reccomend this transaction less.

Hmmmm....been checking it out and it's not ideal for XC riding. Even commercial say so although it looks amazing for the trails.

This is the problem I'm facing. My friend doesn't really know where to start and he's placing a lot of trust in me to help him choose the right bike so I'm being very careful and thorough with this.

As well as having good trail capabilities, it really must be an excellent XC bike and according to what I've read on bikeradar, it's too short for this and excels more at the trails. (Please correct me if I'm wrong).

Still....it's a great looking bit of kit.

Keep those suggestions coming. I'm having trouble getting the info I need over here....

[beanbag]

I'll let you all know shortly but I think we made have found our bike and what a bike and deal it was!

A 2008 Specialized Enduro SL Expert for just £1599 including delivery!



That is IMHO, an absolute bargain and a cracking bit of machinery for that price!!! It also works out at €2010 which is just a smidgen over our budget but considering they are still selling the bike for €3500 here in Austria, I'm considering buying a couple and selling them on!!!

Edited by beanbag on Wednesday 29th October 11:36

[PhilLL]

What about a Cannondale Rize?