Thoughts on these three MTBs ?

[Stax1970]

Thoughts on these three MTBs? My budget is about £3800 so these three are a bit below my budget. But my local bike shop has these in stock.

Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt Alloy 10
https://www.bikes.com/en/bikes/thunderbolt/2021?ti...


Rocky Mountain Attitude 50 Alloy 10
https://www.bikes.com/en/bikes/altitude/2021?tid=7...


Giant Stance
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/6590/products/giant-...

[FunkyCEO]

Depends what type of rides you enjoy/location etc i.e mini downhill/enduro racing or gentle rides on a Sunday down a canal path?

[joshleb]

The Giant Stance and the Rocky Mountain Attitude are very different bikes!

As mentioned above, what sort of riding do you do and what would be the most extreme?

As that Rocky Mountain would be suitable for full on enduro racing, DH tracks and time in the Alps.
The Stance is more for all day riding, uphill and moderate downhills. Good efficient bike but can nowhere near take the abuse of the Rocky Mountain.

The other Rocky Mountain, the Thunderbolt is somewhere in between the two!

[Stax1970]

It's mainly off road for leisure. Lots of wooded areas, towpaths, footpaths, wooded downhills and a few small jumps, etc

[Stax1970]

Usually do about 15-20miles on a single ride, once or twice a week.

[take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey]

Have a look at the Privateer 141 if you're not in a hurry. Hell of a lot of trail bike for the money. I really don't need another bike...but it's a bargain and the perfect UK do anything trail bike.

[joshleb]

The Giant seems like it could be a better fit for that sort of use or if you want a bit more travel the Giant Trance would be a good one.

What other manufactures does your bike shop supply?

[England87]

I would also recommend propain, mail order from Germany and great spec for the money. I have had mine for 2 years now and it’s been faultless.

[pete]

I'm going to do a very Pistonheads thing, and recommend something you haven't asked about :-) Have a look at Bird Bikes, based in Hampshire, so designed and assembled in the UK. I bought a Bird Aether 7 earlier in the summer, and it's awesome for a mixture of pedally XC and singletrack, and great fun on woody downhills. Only 130mm travel at the back, but it goes downhill beautifully. If you want something with more travel, the 29er Aeris AM9 gets rave reviews too.

[fathomfive]

pete said:

I'm going to do a very Pistonheads thing, and recommend something you haven't asked about :-) Have a look at Bird Bikes, based in Hampshire, so designed and assembled in the UK. I bought a Bird Aether 7 earlier in the summer, and it's awesome for a mixture of pedally XC and singletrack, and great fun on woody downhills. Only 130mm travel at the back, but it goes downhill beautifully. If you want something with more travel, the 29er Aeris AM9 gets rave reviews too.

Another thumbs up for Bird. They're a great bunch of guys and, if you're near Swinley HQ or the Consett factory, they'll lend you a demo.

I cannot fault my Zero 29.

https://www.bird.bike/

ETA: there's a good owners group on Facebook too, if that's your thing.

[Stax1970]

Thanks. I love the bird bikes, I will give them a call. I am in Maidenhead so not far from Swinley.

The two bike shops nearby are Mountain Trax in Wokingham and AW Cycles in Caversham. MT just don't have anything available and are struggling even to get bikes on order. AW had the Giant in the shop and the Rocky Mountain on order.

I am not keen on ordering a bike online without seeing it first.

Edited by Stax1970 on Wednesday 28th October 17:49

[CharlieAlphaMike]

Stax1970 said:

It's mainly off road for leisure. Lots of wooded areas, towpaths, footpaths, wooded downhills and a few small jumps, etc

Why not just buy a good hardtail?

[pete]

Stax1970 said:

Thanks. I love the bird bikes, I will give them a call. I am in Maidenhead so not far from Swinley.

Definitely give them a call. Bird have a demo fleet at their place in Eversley, and also at the Bike Hub at Swinley. They charge about £40 for a day’s rental from Swinley, but will deduct that if you buy a bike. If you’re on the fence about a few models, I’m sure they’ll be creative so you can pay once and test a few bikes.

[yellowjack]

pete said:

Stax1970 said:

Thanks. I love the bird bikes, I will give them a call. I am in Maidenhead so not far from Swinley.

Definitely give them a call. Bird have a demo fleet at their place in Eversley, and also at the Bike Hub at Swinley. They charge about £40 for a day’s rental from Swinley, but will deduct that if you buy a bike. If you’re on the fence about a few models, I’m sure they’ll be creative so you can pay once and test a few bikes.

Not trying to put you off Bird at all. I'd love one, and very nearly bought a Zero. But if you're going to be in the Eversley area looking them up, it may be worth combining that with a look in at Pedal On in Tadley (near Newbury/Aldermaston). They have a shop that's three shop fronts wide, and last time I looked they stocked Giant, Scott, Trek, and Cannondale bikes, along with bike fitting, clothing, spares, accessories, tools, etc. Great service, good knowledge, and they actually listen to what you want/need before pointing you to a bike.

I ended up buying a heavily discounted Giant Anthem from them when the Bird Zero I was trying to buy didn't have wheels. Long story, it was a time when they were changing from the Mk 1 to the Mk 2 Zero, and changing wheel suppliers, so they had no stock. i needed the bike to race the following weekend, and a price reduction from £1500 to £900 on the Anthem (one of the last two in that size in the UK) was too good to pass up.

I've also bought a Trek Emonda road bike from Pedal On. And they have (or had?) a very generous 'Podium Points' scheme, whereby you got a certain number of points per £1000 spent, which you could then "spend" on anything you liked in store. I ended up with "free" shoes, helmet, lights, cadence sensor, saddle pack, carbon fibre bottle cages, etc with my Emonda. No 'Podium points' on bikes reduced in a sale though.

[beambeam1]

CharlieAlphaMike said:

Why not just buy a good hardtail?

I'd echo this statement. I borrowed a full suspension before buying my hardtail and it seemed like a lot of extra effort for that type of riding. Hardtail has served me perfectly for that type of 20-40km adventure for a year now. (Marin Nail Trail).

[loskie]

Stax1970 said:

It's mainly off road for leisure. Lots of wooded areas, towpaths, footpaths, wooded downhills and a few small jumps, etc

Well you are probably spending 3x too much

[FA57 VWT]

Buy what you like and what fits, buying a bike beyond your capabilities is all part of the process.

My Stumpjumper cost me about £4k in total, I’m not rich by any means and absolutely hopeless on anything more downhill than a kerb, but when I open my garage and see my bike sat there it inspires me to get out and use it.

[Stax1970]

FA57 VWT said:

Buy what you like and what fits, buying a bike beyond your capabilities is all part of the process.

My Stumpjumper cost me about £4k in total, I’m not rich by any means and absolutely hopeless on anything more downhill than a kerb, but when I open my garage and see my bike sat there it inspires me to get out and use it.

Great reply. Thank you.

[mathmos]

Entirely up to you what you get, but with a full sus bike you are carrying about quite a bit of weight that your possibly not getting the benefit from.

I've just picked up one of the 2021 ProCaliber bikes, it doesn't have a direct connection between the seat tube at the the cross bar so you get loads of flex...makes it seriously comfortable to ride on the type of trails you are but with loads less weight.

Might be worth a look

[Zippee]

beambeam1 said:

CharlieAlphaMike said:

Why not just buy a good hardtail?

I'd echo this statement. I borrowed a full suspension before buying my hardtail and it seemed like a lot of extra effort for that type of riding. Hardtail has served me perfectly for that type of 20-40km adventure for a year now. (Marin Nail Trail).

Another hardtail fan here - IMHO for the riding you're doing you really do not need FS.
Couple of grand will get you a very playful Orange Crush Pro or a Santa Cruz Chameleon.