Which XC full-sus for under £2k?

[tom g]

I've decided to treat myself to a new bike, wondered if anyone had any advice which one....

I've only ridden hardtails before, currently I have an orange P7 with fox vanilla r, it feels like a big beast, long wheelbase and weighs around 30lb. I'm 5ft10 and weigh just over 10st, so really want something as light as poss. Also I want full sus so i can get traction over the bumps, and for comfort :-)

Will be used mainly for forest singletrack, ditches, drop-offs etc with the occasional all-mountain excursion and some XC racing.

I'm undecided on whether to get a super-light-weight race XC bike with 100mm travel (eg cannondale scalpel or specialized epic) or a slightly heavier (but more capable?) all-rounder with 130mm (eg trek fuel EX8 or speshy stumpjumper elite)

It would be great to try a few out but it doen't seem to be possible to try a few out on the trails back-to-back

any advice appreciated, cheers

[anonymous-user]

as i said on another thread the last issue of what mtb had a sub 2K all trail bike test which might be worth hunting for including;

lapierre zesty 314
trek ex8
stumpy elite
meta 5.5.2

you wont go wrong with any of those but personally i would grab this whilst you can....its a bargain! its £2445 at Evans but Merlin are charging just £1749!! http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&prod... might not be totally suitable for everything on your list but a real hoot on the singletrack and the way down!!!

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 2nd April 20:22

[Chris71]

Orange 5? Might be a touch freeride-lite perhaps, but I think they're awesome.

[CooperS]

Chris71 said:

Orange 5? Might be a touch freeride-lite perhaps, but I think they're awesome.

+1 (very happy owner here, although under 2k? Just don't look at the options list)

[snotrag]

You need to decide what kind of bike your looking for.

From what you've written, Orange 5's, Meta 5's etc are not what you are looking for. They are not light or XC fast.

Bearing in min d I sell these things for a living, and have ridden lots of them, know the specs, know the various companies etc... If it was my money, looking for a fast XC bike. I'd go for an Anthem X1 anyday.

The Giant Maestro is THE best suspension system about and the Giant specs are always very well though out.

The X1 is lovely at £2.2, the X2 comes in at £1.7ish IIRC and has the same frame.

Others I'd consider would the Commencal Super 4 or maybe on Orange ST4 but I've not ridden that one and not familiar with the prices

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mount...

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-GB/bikes/mountain...

In fact, there so bloody good that not all models and sizes are available as Giant have sold out of many. Worth digging for though.

Superb bike.

[LRdriver II]

I agree, no need to go with crazy travel freeride bikes.
Trek do a range of xc full suss racers, as well as the scott spark range.

I happen to have an Intense Spider XVP framed bike for sale, 100mm of california's finest travel! Never used, built it for kicks but gonna stick with hardtails.. (see classifieds)

[R1 GTR]

Would be interested if anyone has tried a Cube?

£2k would get you an AMS Pro, either the R1 Mag or HPC K18.

This is my dream bike right now, I just love the look of it.

[tom g]

Good call on the anthem x2! It has the same frame as the £3k+ versions, still weighs 26lb, @£1600, time to arrange a demo methinks

[snotrag]

tom g said:

Good call on the anthem x2! It has the same frame as the £3k+ versions, still weighs 26lb, @£1600, time to arrange a demo methinks

Yep, the frame is superb.

[anonymous-user]

as someone else said, nail down what you areally want. when someone says they want a light xc racer or maybe something with a bit more travel, i always suggest the latter as the number of times you will use the former in the manner intended is low. put it this way, are you planning to race? whats the likely distance you plan to do in a day? sure the meta 5 and the orange 5 are hard work on climbs and not xc light but is that really really an issue or do you just want to think that a lighter bike will somehow make your legs go faster?

[beanbag]

OK, this is an all mountain bike but it's very capable at XC. The Specialized Enduro SL Expert 2008.

http://www.mikevaughancycles.co.uk/products.php?pl...

Look for 2008 bikes in general. You can pick them up for nowt and they are stonking bits of kit.

Just £1699 so you have change left over....

[Chris71]

CooperS said:

Chris71 said:

Orange 5? Might be a touch freeride-lite perhaps, but I think they're awesome.

+1 (very happy owner here, although under 2k? Just don't look at the options list)

Conceeded they may be a tad heavy duty for XC, but I've had my Sub 5 for over 5 years now and the only thing of a vaguely sane price range I'd consider swapping it for is a fully tooled up Specialized Enduro. The handling is superb, although I guess it comes at the price of a slightly low bottom bracket (and the occasional stubbed toe).

[tom g]

pablo said:

as someone else said, nail down what you areally want. when someone says they want a light xc racer or maybe something with a bit more travel, i always suggest the latter as the number of times you will use the former in the manner intended is low. put it this way, are you planning to race? whats the likely distance you plan to do in a day? sure the meta 5 and the orange 5 are hard work on climbs and not xc light but is that really really an issue or do you just want to think that a lighter bike will somehow make your legs go faster?

I currently have an old full rigid bike for XC racing, which weighs about 25lb, which gets me round a lot quicker than my P7, and I'd like one bike that can do both.

I've never had a full sus before, so i don;t know how much of a compromise having 4" travel is, to me it sounds like plenty, i think I'll try an anthem out and see if I like it

Gotta love PH, I've had 5x the help here compared to a dedicated MTB forum, thanks chaps

[ratbane]

I tried the following this week:

Orange 5
Trek EX8
Kona Hei Hei

My preference from and XC/distance point of view was the Trek. The Orange was nice, but more of a clunker. The Hei Hei was fabulous, but more costly, with less travel, and looks less durable. The Hei Hei was so light. It would be nice to go for the Hei Hei to go with my other Kona, but the Trek was pretty much spot-on. Haven't tried a Zesty 314. Who sells them in South Wales??

[chrisga]

I think the zesty was the pick of the bunch in the WMB sub 2k full suss shoot out. Ive got a stumpy fsr and not ridden either the zesty or trek but something niggling in me that think the treks look v v nice indeed! (Must hide c/card away...)

[anonymous-user]

ratbane said:

I tried the following this week:

Orange 5
Trek EX8
Kona Hei Hei

My preference from and XC/distance point of view was the Trek. The Orange was nice, but more of a clunker. The Hei Hei was fabulous, but more costly, with less travel, and looks less durable. The Hei Hei was so light. It would be nice to go for the Hei Hei to go with my other Kona, but the Trek was pretty much spot-on. Haven't tried a Zesty 314. Who sells them in South Wales??

lapierre in s.wales....
Gwent Ryder's Mountainbikes 01495 270 623
Rhondda Bicycle Doctor 01443 683 052
[e-mail] www.thebicycledoctor.net

what did you think of the trek?

[ratbane]

pablo said:

ratbane said:

I tried the following this week:

Orange 5
Trek EX8
Kona Hei Hei

My preference from and XC/distance point of view was the Trek. The Orange was nice, but more of a clunker. The Hei Hei was fabulous, but more costly, with less travel, and looks less durable. The Hei Hei was so light. It would be nice to go for the Hei Hei to go with my other Kona, but the Trek was pretty much spot-on. Haven't tried a Zesty 314. Who sells them in South Wales??

lapierre in s.wales....
Gwent Ryder's Mountainbikes 01495 270 623
Rhondda Bicycle Doctor 01443 683 052
[e-mail] www.thebicycledoctor.net

what did you think of the trek?

It was superb. The rear end looks very mud friendly. Treks of old were not known for their wet durability, but the EX8 looks right. I like the Horst type sussy, as most of the shock load is downwards, pushing your BB into the trail - good tracking grip.

Light enough (though most feel heavy next to the Hei Hei!).

[Beyond Rational]

ratbane said:

I tried the following this week:

Orange 5
Trek EX8
Kona Hei Hei

My preference from and XC/distance point of view was the Trek. The Orange was nice, but more of a clunker. The Hei Hei was fabulous, but more costly, with less travel, and looks less durable. The Hei Hei was so light. It would be nice to go for the Hei Hei to go with my other Kona, but the Trek was pretty much spot-on. Haven't tried a Zesty 314. Who sells them in South Wales??

I was looking at the Zesty but the non QR15 Fox Float put me off a bit, I've heard that this fork is a bit flexy without.

[moles]

Not tried any of these but back in December I bought a AMS Comp 100 for £1200 and am loving it, build quality is excellent and spec is unbeatable for the money compared to what you get from other manufacturers. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Par...

R1 GTR said:

Would be interested if anyone has tried a Cube?

£2k would get you an AMS Pro, either the R1 Mag or HPC K18.

This is my dream bike right now, I just love the look of it.

[R1 GTR]

That is the exact one I'd get. Nice to hear a good review.

Now I really really want one