Which trail bike - Canyon/Cube/Giant?

[TheGreatSoprendo]

I'm currently thinking of getting rid of my fairly aged Boardman HT and my downhill bike which gets very little use and replacing with one 'do everything' bike. I ride mostly local trails, here in Sussex, a bit of XC type stuff on the South Downs and 2/3 trips a year to BPW (mostly blues and reds) and Afan.

So the challenge is that I'm trying to cover a reasonably wide range of riding. Here are the bikes I've narrowed it down to at the moment (although I'm open to other suggestions):

Cube Stereo HPC TM - £2879 (with voucher code) https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Cube-Stereo-140-HPC-TM-27...
Canyon Neuron CF 8.0 - £2,349 https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/trail-...
Giant Trance 1 - £2,303 (with voucher code) https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/trail-...

Any thoughts/advice/suggestions welcome

Edited by TheGreatSoprendo on Sunday 1st September 19:22

[h0b0]

TheGreatSoprendo said:

I'm currently thinking of getting rid of my fairly aged Boardman HT and my downhill bike which gets very little use and replacing with one 'do everything' bike. I ride mostly local trails, here in Sussex, a bit of XC type stuff on the South Downs and 2/3 trips a year to BPW (mostly blues and reds) and Afan.

So the challenge is that I'm trying to cover a reasonably wide range of riding. Here are the bikes I've narrowed it down to at the moment (although I'm open to other suggestions):

Cube Stereo HPC TM - £2879 (with voucher code)



Canyon Neuron CF 8.0 - £2,349


Giant Trance 1 - £2,303 (with voucher code)



Any thoughts/advice/suggestions welcome

[Tall_Paul]

It would be between the Cube and Canyon for me.

The Cube (I've ridden one, it's awesome) is VERY similar to the Canyon Spectral: 27.5, 140/150mm travel, burlier fox 36 forks.

The Canyon is lighter, less travel, 29er, fox 34 forks so a bit more flexy/less suitable for proper gnarly trails.


Decide if you want a shorter travel 29er or a longer travel 27.5 which will take on more demanding trails.

[TheGreatSoprendo]

Links now fixed

Cube Stereo HPC TM - £2879 (with voucher code) https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Cube-Stereo-140-HPC-TM-27...
Canyon Neuron CF 8.0 - £2,349 https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/trail-...
Giant Trance 1 - £2,303 (with voucher code) https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/trail-...

[TheGreatSoprendo]

Tall_Paul said:

It would be between the Cube and Canyon for me.

The Cube (I've ridden one, it's awesome) is VERY similar to the Canyon Spectral: 27.5, 140/150mm travel, burlier fox 36 forks.

The Canyon is lighter, less travel, 29er, fox 34 forks so a bit more flexy/less suitable for proper gnarly trails.


Decide if you want a shorter travel 29er or a longer travel 27.5 which will take on more demanding trails.

Cheers. I definitely want a 27.5, not a 29er, however, the Canyon comes with 27.5 wheels in the XS and S frame sizes and 29 in the M and L frames. I need a small, so all good there. I suspect the Canyon will be better for local riding but may get out of its depth at the like of BPW where the other 2 are likely to be better. Decisions decisions....

[lufbramatt]

Bird aeris 145?

[Tall_Paul]

TheGreatSoprendo said:

Tall_Paul said:

It would be between the Cube and Canyon for me.

The Cube (I've ridden one, it's awesome) is VERY similar to the Canyon Spectral: 27.5, 140/150mm travel, burlier fox 36 forks.

The Canyon is lighter, less travel, 29er, fox 34 forks so a bit more flexy/less suitable for proper gnarly trails.


Decide if you want a shorter travel 29er or a longer travel 27.5 which will take on more demanding trails.

Cheers. I definitely want a 27.5, not a 29er, however, the Canyon comes with 27.5 wheels in the XS and S frame sizes and 29 in the M and L frames. I need a small, so all good there. I suspect the Canyon will be better for local riding but may get out of its depth at the like of BPW where the other 2 are likely to be better. Decisions decisions....

Have you ridden the Spectral? The Cube is very similar in geo, it's extremely playful and agile, the wheelset is light (1650g) and I don't think it would be too much of a burden on local trails. I'm in the south east so my local riding is fairly mellow, but I'd want fox 36 or pike level forks for the welsh rocky trails.

The Cube is better specced everywhere, for me it would be the Cube. It was actually going to be my next bike but having ridden a YT Jeffsy 29 Pro Race, I'm going 29er - at 6ft 3in it makes sense, and it's an awesome trail bike, capable of long days, climbs well, and flies along uphill or downhill. I wanted the same things from the Cube, the only thing that lets it down is the reach, at 478 on the XL - the Jeffsy XXL is 510 reach and my current bike is 495.

Edited by Tall_Paul on Sunday 1st September 21:30

[troc]

The canyon is more xc than trail geometry and the cube is indeed more akin to the spectral.

I’d probably go cube from that list but when I was looking I ended up with a whyte s150 instead

[h0b0]

TheGreatSoprendo said:

Links now fixed

Cube Stereo HPC TM - £2879 (with voucher code) https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Cube-Stereo-140-HPC-TM-27...
Canyon Neuron CF 8.0 - £2,349 https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/trail-...
Giant Trance 1 - £2,303 (with voucher code) https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/trail-...

The Giant link is still wrong. I think I got close
Though with my guess above.

[yellowjack]

lufbramatt said:

Bird aeris 145?

If I were making this choice, this ^^^ is where I'd spend my money...

[anonymous-user]

For what you describe I’d get the Giant Anthen not the Trance, Or, as much as it pains me to recommend a Specialized, this Specialized Epic Comp Evo 2019 because it’s just over 2k, has a Rockshox Reba fork and like the Anthem, is fast as buggery around UK trails.

https://www.rutlandcycling.com/bikes/mountain-bike...

[TheGreatSoprendo]

h0b0 said:

The Giant link is still wrong. I think I got close
Though with my guess above.

D'oh! You're guess was quite right though:

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Trance-1-27-5-Mount...

[yellowjack]

pablo said:

For what you describe I’d get the Giant Anthen not the Trance, Or, as much as it pains me to recommend a Specialized, this Specialized Epic Comp Evo 2019 because it’s just over 2k, has a Rockshox Reba fork and like the Anthem, is fast as buggery around UK trails.

https://www.rutlandcycling.com/bikes/mountain-bike...

The Giant Anthem is a good call. When buying mine, it was £1500 list price, which was above my maximum £1000 budget. I couldn't afford a Bird Aeris, so was looking at a Bird Zero hard-tail instead. Ben at Bird was being helpful above and beyond the call of duty, but on going back to confirm details and place an order, the "other two" weren't being nearly as flexible in Ben's absence. (They were having issues with the supply of wheels back then, and were in the process of introducing the "Mk.2" Zero frame, so what I was trying to buy was a clearance Mk.1 bike)

Then I found the Anthem reduced from £1500 to £900. It's a great bike, flatters me no end, and has been more than up to the task whatever I've pointed it at. I've done 6,134 miles on mine now, including XC and Enduro MTB races and a beach race. I'd like a Bird Aeris still, but have no regrets about trading my ambition to own a Bird for the reality of living with my Giant Anthem, especially given the price I paid. It was a 2015 bike bought in March 2016. Apart from a few component issues (not of Giant's making) it's been a completely hassle-free ownership experience, and it's a very comfortable bike to do 2,000 miles per year on off road MTB trails. I had to jump on the Anthem straight away because it was one of only two left in the country in my size, and it was less than a week until a MTB race and I didn't have a bike for it! Ben at Bird later got back to me with a solution to get a Zero with wheels, but it was too late as I'd already bought the Anthem in a rare moment of decisiveness.

[Gilhooligan]

I’d rule out the Giant purely because that frame looks so ugly. The Cube is pretty well spec’d. Kashima coated dropper and suspension is pretty good at that price point. I’ve ridden a Canyon Strive which was a lovely bike. Doubt it little brother will be a decent ride too.

[Minnsy]

Maybe look at this..

https://www.yt-industries.com/uk/detail/index/sArt...


I have a Capra, mate has the Jeffsy. Lovely bit of kit. And currently £500 off list...