Opinions sought on a "Best XC/Trail MTB" award shortlist...

[yellowjack]

...taking a little topical inspiration from the Oscar awards ceremony.

AKA - a heavily (or perhaps lightly) camouflaged "What bike?" thread. Sorry


So I need a new MTB. This has been true for over a year, but now it is becoming urgent.

The riding I want to do on it ranges from long, gentle canal towpath all-dayers on the Basingstoke Canal, Wey Navigation, and Thames Path to half-day Swinley Forest Red Trail fun. In between I'll be looking to ride all the local 'good stuff' - Tunnel Hill, Porridge Pots, Minley Manor, etc, and it needs to be comfortable enough to do a L2B off road or South Downs Way type ride too. Most of it's life, though, will be spent on the smaller local MOD training area single track, trying to have fun on twisty stuff, and to go fast without falling off on 2 to 4 hour rides. There will be no deliberate attempts to "get air" nor any jumps and suchlike.

So I want a lot, from one bike. I realise that no one bike is going to be ideal for ALL of the above, but I can only have one bike, and I am maxxxxing myself out at a budget of £1000. I'm also racing the "Battle On The Beach" in South Wales on March 20th, which is the cause of my urgency.

So...

...I've narrowed it down to four bikes. Two of them seem more focused toward speed and racing XC-style. Two seem more trail-focused 'fun' bikes (going on what shop staff and other riders have said, anyway). Time to reveal the nominees, then, in true Oscars style...

1. Orange Clockwork (100mm/29" or 120mm/650B) - Both @ £1000. RockShox Recon Silver Solo Air fork and Shimano Deore drive train.
https://www.orangebikes.co.uk/bikes/clockwork-120


2. Bird Zero TR3 (130mm/650B) - from £999 (but issues with out-of-stock wheels mean it might not be available for the race). X-Fusion Streat RL2 fork and Shimano Deore/SLX drive train.
http://shop.birdmtb.com/zero-tr/zero-tr3.html


3. Trek Superfly 5 (100mm/29") - @ £1000 (but with ca. £200 of free gear through Podium Points reward scheme). RockShox Recon Silver fork and Shimano Deore/Deore XT/SRAM X7 mix drive train.
http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/trek-superfly-5-...


4. Scott Scale 960/760 (100mm/29" or 100mm/650B) - both @ £899 (with ca. £170 of free gear through Podium Points reward scheme). Rock Shox XC 30 Silver air fork and Deore/XT drive train.
http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/scott-scale-760-...


Now, if the Academy members would kindly retire to a secret location to cogitate on the shortlist, and hand me the golden envelope containing the name of the winning bike when they're ready, that would be very much appreciated.


The Bird was the long-time front runner, but now I've seen the Orange I prefer it looks-wise. Trek seems to be the go-to bike for racing, and has the benefit of not needing to haggle to get 'free stuff'. The Scott is cheaper, and there's free stuff there too (same shop), but the tyres are not ideal for this time of the year. Both the Trek and Scott would likely be crying out for immediate tyre upgrades. I'm also erring on the side of 650B wheels (I'm a short-arse) and all bar the Trek are available in 650B. Only the Bird is not available as a 29er.


Sorry to dump yet another thread like this on you all, but I thought I knew what I wanted. Then I got the go-ahead from the wife to spend the cash and found that I wasn't so sure anymore. Any opinions, especially from owners of the listed bikes, would be very gratefully hoovered up by this shambling, confused old man.

[yellowjack]

Oh!

I forgot. There's a "wild card" option too.

Keep my powder dry on the 'expensive' (well it is by my reckoning) bike, and buy a "lightly used" Saracen Tufftrax Comp 29er which is available locally, from a shop, used only by the owner of the shop as a "stopgap" bike.


http://www.saracen.co.uk/bikes/mountain/sports-mtb...

Shimano Altus 3 x 9 gearing, Suntour XCM coil-sprung fork. Asking price = £290 (Saracen list price = £450)

Not sure how well this would stand up to punishment and abuse, though. By the shop owners own admission the groupset fitted is "more of a 'leisure riding' component set than a 'proper mountain biking group' really", and is pretty much the modern equivalent of the GT Avalanche 3.0 that this new bike will be replacing.

[yellowjack]

Chirpsean said:

I was in a similar boat recently but I was looking more XC than Trail. The Scott is a great bike and I nearly bought one, in the end I went for a Giant XTC on 650b wheels. Dont regret it for one minute.

Damn it! Winstanleys have one in budget...

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/76403/Gi...

...Grrrrrr! This was supposed to narrow down the shortlist, not boost the number of bikes on it!!!

[yellowjack]

Woody said:

Do you want a 29'er?
What size frame are you looking at? Thy sometimes look 'oddly proportioned' on smaller frame sizes.
I'd probably avoid the Saracen unless you're going to splash the rest of your budge on upgrades straight off - the forks are dire....

Having only ridden the previous Bird Zero (briefly) they're a cracking bike and seem well made.
Have you spoken to the guys a Bird to see if they have a set of wheels you could 'borrow' until the correct ones arrive?

I like the look of the Orange - always had a bit o a soft spot for them though although never tried one.

It coms down to if you want a full on XC machine or something that'll be at home n trails and steeper stuff.

Still not entirely sure on the wheel size if I'm honest. But I'm leaning heavily toward 650B rather than 29er. Which, given the "smart wheel sizing" design of the Trek would rule out the 17.5" frame I'd need for a decent fit. The next one down (15.5" frame) is the largest of their 650B Superflys.

The Saracen was a true 'wildcard' - there'd have been no upgrades, just an El Cheapo bike to get me mobile and ride the race until I made a proper decision later in the year. It's currently not looking like "a plan" though.

The Zero? I popped in to Bird today at close of business. Ben was in - I only just caught him. So we had a brief chat, and there are some options, including your idea of borrowing a set of wheels until their ship comes in with new stocks aboard. So the Bird is firmly back in the frame, and Ben asked me to come back to ride a demo bike some time this week so that's another trip out sorted.

The Orange? That was out of the running as of 4.30pm, when the lad at Mountain Trax phoned their supplier (Orange direct?) and found out that there were no medium Clockwork 100/120 bikes available. But then 'wobert' linked to en ex-show Clockwork 100 (29er) direct from the factory. So that's a possibility again if I can live with the 29" wheel on what's quite a tall top-tube.

I'm not after an out-and-out XC racer really. The bike needs to be as much at home on local trails and twisty stuff as it is on a race lap to be honest, as I'm only going to ride the occasional one-off race or series. So a more trail-focused machine would likely be a good bet, as that's where it'd spend most of it's 'working life'. But I'd like it to climb well more than I need it to take Black Run downhill hits.

[yellowjack]

Silver940 said:

The smallest Trek Superfly is a 650B then they are 29er, you'd have to check your size to see which frame suits

Already been there, and briefly ridden the 29er in the 17.5" frame. The 15.5" bike was just too small, as I was left sitting like I had a broom handle up me chuff. Short legs but a longer torso (bike fitters description, not mine) seems to put me onto a size medium in all of the bikes I've shortlisted. Ben at Bird was insistent that their 'small' ex-demo bike (£600 ) was too small for me, and he wants me to come back to ride the medium Bird Zero Mk1 demo bike to prove the point.

[yellowjack]

Silver940 said:

Lefty..

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s155p5411/CANNOND...

Full suss, air forks..

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s183p5823/GIANT-A...

Carbon, Air Forks.. seems a bit of a bargain

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s182p5504/SCOTT-S...

Hello you!

Sorry, but no love for the Cannondale from me, I'm afraid. Just can't get over the aesthetics, no matter how sound the science behind the engineering. Same with the Scale 735, although that's also out "because budget". I've pushed it as far as I dare, and have to be absolutely strict at £1000 (although it's actually more like £972.82 - I know because I've done the maths. )

The Giant Anthem, though, I've found at £899.99 (Winstanleys) or £1099 (Pedal On) as well as your link to Pauls Cycles (£919.99)

The think with that is the added complexity, and I'm not sure full suspension is what I'm after?

[yellowjack]

BadgerBenji said:

The trek looks nice, but have a soft spot for oranges.

In other news I will see you there at Battle On the Beach, I'm racing my singlespeed mtb on the Saturday evening, and racing the singlespeed cyclocross on the Sunday. I know I own a fat bike but just fancied getting the file treads out.

I'll look out for you there, Benji. Is that a cyclocross class within the main race on the Sunday? Or a separate event? Matbe I don't need a new MTB after all - I'll just stick 28mm tyres on the old Falcon and gurn my way round on a 53/39t chainset? If I can make it round a Brass Monkeys lap on it Pembrey must be easily achievable, no?

As far as I can tell both the Trek and the Clockwork are only available in 29" flavour, and I'm leaning heavily toward the 650B wheelsize now.

[yellowjack]

tjdixon911 said:

pablo said:

Personally I'd have a look on bike-discount for a Radon...

...the 2016 Radon ZR Race 7.0 is has a Fox 32 fork, mavic Crossride wheels, XT components and its just over 11.5kgs.... and the best bit, its 1156 Euros...

...credit to Bird who are doing something different though.

If I had £1k, I'd be on that ZR Race 7.0 though, its so much bike for the money its impsssible to then buy something else which has every single part down spec'd.

I'd recommend a Radon, not that I own one but my brother owns a Team and his friend has the latest ZR Race (Think its the 7.0) - excellent bikes for the money, they arrived just over a week after ordering if not within the week.

That said, I am tempted by the Bird AM currently, either that or an Orange Crush...

Thanks for the suggestion on the Radon chaps! I hadn't thought of them to be honest.

But I'm going to pass on them if I may. I really need to see, touch, and if possible ride this bike before I buy it. Plus the RADON ZR Race 27,5 7.0 is £1062.44 and above budget. The ZR Race 29 7.0 *Opening-Deal* is £939.75 but needs shipping and whatnot adding, so it'll be £964.04 delivered which is a big decision to make, and a lot of money to spend, as I'll not know if the 29er frame is something I can live with until I unbox it.

Both of you mention the Bird, too. There seems to be a lot of love for the Bird Zero in this corner of Pedal Powered

[yellowjack]

Kermit power said:

If it were me, it would have to be the Bird, if only because it's the only one you've posted up which has a dropper post. I really wouldn't go back to riding a bike without one now that I've got them...

Sadly no dropper post at my budget, Kermit. But I'm sure I can talk over a future upgrade with Ben. They say they only sell the dropper posts with complete bikes, but Bird are very local, and I can be very vocal. I'll point him to this thread and see if he can't be a little lenient with policy seeing as I'm raising the profile of Bird within this thread, and I probably won't shut up about it if I do buy one...

JustinF said:

I'd be buying the Bird because it's everything you want from your budget but more than that it's built by a little local indie and that would be worth a lot to me; a little personal service, some local kudos riding it round your local area, an RTB warranty like nothing you'd have by post, that little smile that having something a little different almost bespoke gives.
I know you like to mull all the options and take your time, but you say it's urgent and sometime it's best to dive in and get on with it. None of your options are bad.

The more I think about it, the more it's looking like the Bird will come out on top. The 650B wheels seem more right and the lower top tube appeals to my inside leg measurement in simple "crush avoidance" terms.

wobert said:

Bird or Orange for me.

Both Britsh designed and/or made. Personally I try to go for less mainstream makers, "another" bike from a large manufacturer doesn't do it for me (IMHO). I've ridden a Current Clockwork in 100mm/29er flavour and it rode nicely, uphill especially so. My first proper MTB was a ''94 Clockwork, so that would help the decision making.....

Not sure on your sizing requirements, but Orange sell ex-show models which are usually better equipped for less than RRP, this one is on their website in a Medium:

https://www.orangebikes.co.uk/shop/factory/ex_demo...

I had a look at the link, and it's the 29er with 100mm fork travel. So I'm not sure about it. The top tube on the 650B Clockwork 120 was high as it was. I just fear that the 29er 100 will be 1½ inches too far for my short legs. But I'm with you on the 'British designed' local company thing. I haven't seen a bad word written about Bird, their bikes, or their service, and I've met Ben, Dan, and Dave at various times and they're all pretty good eggs, very easy to talk to and more than willing to go that little bit further in the name of customer service. I just need to identify some hills now to roll the Zero up on the test ride. If it climbs well, and isn't too slack then I think, if all goes well when I go back for a proper chat and a test ride, that it'll be the one I end up with.

Silver940 said:

Might be the angle of the photo but that head angle looks pretty slack on the Bird, more trail bike than XC racer. Not entirely sure that fits the requirements as well as the Trek/XTC/Scott bikes

Bird looks damn cool though!

Kermit power said:

YJ's not after a race bike though. He's after an all round trail bike that he can also do a race on.

Scott - I think it's true to say that the Bird has the slackest head angle of all the shortlisted bikes. And it's certainly aimed squarely at the trail side of things. But that's what it'll be doing the most, local twisty turny single track and the Swinley Trail Centre Red and Blue trails. The race on the 20th is certainly the trigger for the purchase, but as Kermit says, it's not the primary reason for wanting the bike. Plus most of the races I'll do on it will be local, so if it's suitable for the local trails in 'peacetime' then I'm sure it'll hold it's own during the war fighting phase of any local races.

Next step, though, is to see Ben and Dan, and get a demo day arranged so that I can ride it to be sure that it's what I want to be riding for the foreseeable future. I need to get this right because there's no real 'slack' in my finances to sell this next bike at a loss to have another crack of the whip. It's very much a one-shot-deal.

[yellowjack]

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. Even if I've disregarded your advice and suggestions, it's nice to see what other people are thinking WRT what they might do, or even what they did do, when it comes to spending what is a very large chunk of money on a bicycle.

I went out this afternoon on my road bike, and did a little loop to see all of the contenders back-to-back, as it were...

https://www.strava.com/activities/505742266

...three shops, four bikes, and now a shorter shortlist. The Scott is gone. Might as well have been on the end of Dan Biggar's boot when I looked at it again, back-to-back with the Trek and the Bird.

The Orange Clockwork? Apparently out of stock in size Medium. Which is a shame, as I was pretty close to pulling the trigger on a Clockwork 120 (650B) - it just looks sooooo right 'in the metal'.

The Trek? Well I'm still struggling to commit to the 29er wheelsize if I'm honest. Which would also rule out wobert's link to the ex-factory Clockwork 100 S, sadly. Despite a £350 saving on what is essentially a brand new bike that's been on display at industry shows a few times.

It's looking more and more like the Bird as a front runner. There are a few choices to make with that, such as whether it should be a Zero TR 3 with borrowed wheels for pretty much ALL of the budget, a run-out Zero XT 11-speed 'clearance edition' with SRAM XD 10-42t cassette for £1095 (yeah, I know! It's over budget and I said I'd be strict with the £1000 cap! ), or there's a possibility that Ben might be willing to release one of the medium demo bikes a little earlier than he'd intended. Around £600 for that, dependent upon the detail of the spec-sheet. I have my fingers crossed that the boys at Bird HQ are in a good mood when I pop back.

I'm in less of a spin now. One down, two to go, but there's a clear leader emerging from the pack. Plus, I have to say, right now, having seen the new TR close up in a work stand this afternoon...

...the pictures on the website do not do any justice to how good the Zero looks "in the metal". It's a fabulous looking thing. And as someone said further up the page, it's all the bike I could want at my budget, and although the frames are manufactured in the Far East (much like most of the big players' frames are too), the bikes are put together in a small industrial unit less than 8 miles from my front door. So they're as local a bike manufacturer as I'm ever going to find.

I'm happier now that a decision looks to be within reach. I will keep the thread updated, with pictures of whatever I buy to bring it to a conclusion. For now, though, thanks for all your input. Much appreciated!

[yellowjack]

Woody said:

...as for a dropper post - if you're not a massive weight weenie - the KS eTen for around £90 from bike-discount.de is a bargain. Had mine for around 12 months now and had no issues with it - unlike mates with reverbs and other 'high end' droppers.

I'll have a look for that dropper post at some later date, Woody. It's not top of my list of priorities right now, as just getting a decent bike would be lovely for a start off. Droppers and other potential upgrades could easily wait until my bank account recovers from the pasting it'll get from buying the bike in the first place. I've also got to get the old GT Avalanche back into working order for my son, as the family BSO/College Beater is on it's last legs and I don't want him risking having his nice GT stolen from outside school. Plus that'll earn me brownie points with the wife, for complying with her "You have enough bikes already! One in - one out!" rules...

[yellowjack]

Craikeybaby said:

Have you bought the Bird yet?

Are there any shops with the 650b Clockwork in stock?

With regards to wheel size, I also have short legs and a long torso, I have ridden 29ers, but 650b feels better.

Give a girl a chance dude! I've been washing my hair!!!

Not seen any stock of the 650B Clockwork, at least not local to me.

Wheel size? I think I'm decided now. It'll be 650B. Unless I change my mind and go with the Trek.

[yellowjack]

Update time.

I'm just back from a trip to Bird. Not good news I'm afraid.

Last night, Ben was positive about possibilities ranging from buying a new Zero TR 3 and loaning a set of 10 speed wheels to get me rolling for the race, to an outside chance that he could release a Mk1 Zero demo bike for sale early. Fair play, he made no promises, but his general demeanor was "We'll do what we can to help".

FFWD to this afternoon and Dan and Dave were in, and they were pretty cold toward any of those ideas. So an ex-demo can't be made available, of that I was left in no doubt. Nor are there any Shimano 10 speed wheels at any spec level to borrow, even for a weekend. So that puts a new TR 3 out of reach. Dan was even quite negative toward the idea of test riding a demo bike until they had something to sell me within budget.

All fair enough I suppose. Which leaves me with one choice - the run-out Zero Mk1 frame with SRAM 1 x 11 speed XD hub to run their 10-42t cassette. But it's 10% over budget, so I may well have to bin the idea of owning a Bird. If I do buy something else, then it'll be long term. I don't want this to sound like a 'flounce' because it's not, but if I end up having to buy elsewhere, I simply won't have the space or the budget to buy a Bird at a later date...




I'd pretty much been hoping that I could update the thread with a "deal done" statement. Back to Google now though...

[yellowjack]

Craikeybaby said:

That's disappointing. No chance to buy one without wheels, then source some wheels separately?

That's the next step I suppose. Depends what value they give their wheels though. They probably have a 'trade' value on the build spreadsheet, but I'd have to buy at retail, potentially putting me over budget once again.

A couple of places seem to have stock of the very wheels that Bird use, or I could get some help from them to spec myself a custom build from someone like Superstar Components maybe.

It's on the back-burner now until Thursday anyway, as I'm out tomorrow with the wife.

[yellowjack]

Woody said:

Dissapointing. Is there no wiggle room of the SRAM equipped version? Might be worth asking.

It seems very unlikely that they'll move on the price of the 11 speed XT/SLX build with the SRAM XD 10t freehub. These are run-out models, based on the Mk1 Zero frame, and Dan was pretty insistent that, once the 10 speed wheels come back into stock, this build option would be pulled as it's already a massive bargain. There'd then be a ten-speed 1 x 10 or 2 x 10 build with a standard 11t Shimano/SRAM freehub, knocked out at the sub-£1000 price point. It'll be too late for me, though.

I'm going to have a think on the options now. I can't do anything tomorrow, so I'll try to come up with some innovative work-around that no-one has thought of yet. If I can't come up with a plan that accommodates both my needs and theirs, then plan 'B' looks like buying the Trek Superfly 5 and learning to live with a 29er...

[yellowjack]

richardxjr said:

And I'm sure YJ won't mind my mentioning he's not quite 5'10 either. I'm a bit taller with 26 and 29 bikes and in his shoes I'd be avoiding 29ers too.

In my shoes, Richard, you'd not have enough room for your toes...

[yellowjack]

yellowjack said:

Silver940 said:

<snip> http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s183p5823/GIANT-A...

Carbon, Air Forks.. seems a bit of a bargain </snip>

<snip> The Giant Anthem, though, I've found at £899.99 (Winstanleys) or £1099 (Pedal On) as well as your link to Pauls Cycles (£919.99)

The thing with that is the added complexity, and I'm not sure full suspension is what I'm after? </snip>

So. More updates time.

Thanks to all who suggested pushing the budget. I'd love to have done that, but seriously. The maths was soooo tight on this one. I'd done all the pushing and corralling of funds that I could manage already. Plus, today I bought the wife a necklace, so the budget has shrunk again.

Anyway. We went to see the Snowdrops at Welford Park today because my lovely wife had a rare day off. That didn't take all day, so on the trip home I engineered the route to pass through Tadley. You can see where this is going?

So long story, erm? Well, the same length as it always was...

I walked in to have a chat with Matt M, and to have a confirmatory look at the Trek Superfly with a view to ordering it. Then I asked about their size 'M' 2015 model Giant Anthem 3. Matt has one. He loves it. £1099 on the ticket, SRP had been £1499. I decided I loved it. It looks fabulous, and seems to be far less complex to set up and fiddle with than many a full-susser. The 'M' wasn't on the shop floor, so I looked at the 'XL' frame they had in store. The 'M' will be built, tuned, and checked for me to sit on, and possibly ride, tomorrow afternoon. It is sold, subject to it fitting right... http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/giant-anthem-27-... ...which is why it now shows as 'Sold Out' in that link. I have a tiny nagging doubt about the size, because I'm right on the edge of needing a small according to Giant's size guide, but we'll answer that question tomorrow.

It reviewed well at the time, too... http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/m...

BikeRadar review said:

4/5 Stars - Very good: one of the best you can buy.

Highs: Light, naturally quick but smoothly trail connected ride at a cracking value price

Lows: Not as aggressively rapid and agile as the Anthems of old

Buy if: If you want a standout value short travel trail bike rather than a rabid racer

The best news of all? It's coming in under budget!!! They weren't ecstatic at the prospect, but Matt disappeared to consult his boss and yes. They are going to match the Winstanley's price of £899.99. £600 off list! The only downside I can see is the ~1kg weight penalty over a hard tail from the shortlist.

So a huge apology to anyone who's been following this sorry saga. I've done exactly what every "What bike?" OP seems to do, and made a shortlist only to buy something completely different. I really did want to buy local, or even just British, but stock issues have put paid to that. If it weren't for the upcoming race I might have decided to wait for the Bird. I might well have still done that if Ben's customer service attitude were typical of Dan and Dave too, but that's academic now.

To say that I'm happy at the prospect of getting on a new bike by the weekend is an understatement. I know it may well be less than ideal for racing, but I've spoken to two people this week who've both said they've raced the '12:12 TORQ in your SLEEP' race at Minley on hard tails, and wished they were on a full suss bike. Minley is my back yard, and most single track hereabouts is similar. I'm pretty confident that, subject to it fitting me well, I've made the right choice. I'll update tomorrow with a "did he, didn't he" statement, but it is looking promising at the moment...



...so it came completely out of left-field, but thanks to Siver940 for the heads-up on this bike

[yellowjack]

Arrrrrgh!!!




An option has opened up with Bird! Damn it! Just when I thought I'd settled on the Giant, which has a great spec, save for the wire beaded tyres and sub-Deore level OEM Shimano brakes, I get a phone call at 0935hrs from Dan at Bird. So they've sorted out converting their SRAM XD hubbed Race Face Aeffect wheelset to Shimano 10-speed. I can have a (slightly 'shop soiled') Mk1 Zero frame, Shimano Deore 2 x 10 kit throughout, with X-Fusion Streat forks for only slightly more than the Giant Anthem (which'll be £900).

The big difference will obviously be full-suss versus hard tail, with longer travel on the Bird's forks. Plus better brakes and tyres on the Bird. And it ought to be a tad lighter too.

Arrrrgh!!! (again ) - I'm confused and torn now. I HAVE to go to Tadley, to see Pedal On's Giant. I've put a work order in for it to be built up specifically for me to try it, and I hate to mess people about. So that's the next step. Do I go see the Bird this morning, and sneak a test ride before trying the Giant this afternoon? Non-availability of other bikes made the decision easier, but now there's an alternative I'm doubting myself again. Both are good bikes. Dan said himself that the Giant looks like a steal at the price.

Worse still, I've told the wife I'm 90% certain that the Giant is the one now. Only "being the wrong size" will mean I don't buy it. She'll go nuts if I run off chasing another hard tail, as she's pressing me to get on with this and buy something sooner rather than later.

[yellowjack]

And the winner is........




The 2015 Giant Anthem 27.5 3





A strong late showing from the chaps at Bird just wasn't strong enough to shrug off the Giant in the end. And it's such a lot of bike for the money. Riding it threw up no real flaws or issues, although to be fair it wasn't really an extended 'off road' test ride. Today should be the first ride and a real confirmation (or otherwise ) that I've made a good decision.

Bird's offering in the end didn't feel like great value - they horse-traded me down to a Mk1 Zero frame on the TR3 spec, but the Mk1 frame is far more of an "All Mountain" beefy thing, than the current "Trail Focused" TR model. I will look to buying a Bird at a later stage, but I'll give my wife a break from my frankly unreasonable bike-buying behaviour for a little while at least. That, plus I only had funds available for the one bike right now. Shamefully I've had to set up the shock pressures at the shop for now, as I couldn't even stretch to a shock pump at the moment!

After I'd bought it I was sat in the shop calming myself down with a nice cup of tea when another customer came in. "Nice bike!" he said. "I've got one of them. It's ace - you'll love it!" Several of the shop staff also said they had Anthems (no surprise maybe, as they sell them, but they have a choice of Trek, Scott and Cannondale off the shop floor too). So far I'm pleased with my selection. All that remains now is for me to apply some frame protection and get it ridden. Photos, of course, to follow...


Thanks to everyone who's contributed to the thread with opinion and advice. Much appreciated!


(Oh - and the price I paid? SRP = £1499; Pedal On's 'last season' clearance sale price = £1099; but they price matched Winstanleys at £899, a saving of £600 off the 2015 list price! Well happy with that! Superb service from Matt M too, nothing too much trouble, and as much time as I needed spent to get everything adjusted and explained. Anyone near Aldermaston/Reading/Tadley really ought to give them a try next time you're in need of a new bike. I can't recommend them enough.)

[yellowjack]

Silver940 said:

Nice one, that really is a lot of bike for the money!

Where are you riding it first?

Lots of shock pumps on ebay for not much money

First ride will probably be fairly local, so Minley/Hawley/Fleet Pond gentle stuff to ease myself back into off-road riding. But no plan ever survived contact with the enemy, so we'll see what happens...

As for shock pumps? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fox-Racing-Shox-Forks-An...