Mountain Bike Advice

[Hamperman]

Hi all, I don’t know much about bikes but I’m wanting to buy a mountain bike. I want something decent but not crazy money. Seem to be plenty at sub £1k and then plenty at £6k+ but not a lot in between.
I’ve been looking at this
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/trance-29-1
I’m 6’2 so I’m thinking I need an XL. This will just be used for leisure rides and nothing else but on some proper trails on moorland, not just on canal paths.
Any advice greatly received as to if this is any good or if I should look at something else?
Cheers

[lufbramatt]

29" trail bike you say?

https://www.bird.bike/product/aether-9-shimano-12-...

change the spec to suit your budget and intended use.

[Pulse]

lufbramatt said:

29" trail bike you say?

https://www.bird.bike/product/aether-9-shimano-12-...

change the spec to suit your budget and intended use.

Just won the BikeRadar group test, and the beauty being that you can spec it yourself.

The other option I'd look at, but only because I've ridden one and loved it, is the Specialized Stumpjumper Evo. My mate has the 'base' version, and it's lovely to ride. That came in at £3900, with a carbon frame.

[GravelBen]

Hamperman said:

Hi all, I don’t know much about bikes but I’m wanting to buy a mountain bike. I want something decent but not crazy money. Seem to be plenty at sub £1k and then plenty at £6k+ but not a lot in between.
I’ve been looking at this
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/trance-29-1
I’m 6’2 so I’m thinking I need an XL. This will just be used for leisure rides and nothing else but on some proper trails on moorland, not just on canal paths.
Any advice greatly received as to if this is any good or if I should look at something else?
Cheers

I've got one of those (a couple of years older but same frame etc) and its brilliant - though it depends on the nature of your riding, if you are frequently hitting drops more than a couple of feet high then something with longer travel may be better suited.

If you're new to mountainbiking then you're probably better off to start with a mid range hardtail (ie front suspension only) though - you will learn better technique, be less heavily invested while you are still figuring out what sort of riding you prefer, have lower maintenance costs and simpler bike setup etc... and still have just as much fun.

I have one of these as well https://www.merida-bikes.com/en-gb/bike/2012/bigtr... , objectively the Trance is better at most things but it was about double the price, and on most trails I think I have just as much fun on the hardtail (just a bit slower at times). There are plenty of other good bikes in that category too - Giant Fathom 2, Specialized Fuse etc.

Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 21st April 10:04

[Hugo Stiglitz]

At your budget the world is your oyster.

I'd definitely say 29er, full sus but keep travel upto 150mm.

No one in the UK really needs more travel. It just soaks up any trail engagement over 150mm.

If you are spending close to 3.8k I'd definitely recommend test riding and NOT listening to what the bike shop guy tells you. Their onus is to make sure you walk out with at least something from them. Nice guy who looks the part, seems genuine etc. Bike salesman are more subtle than carsalesman.

[Evanivitch]

For that use I'd be getting a hardtail and saving a lot of money and weight!

[Hamperman]

Thanks for the replies all.

I think I’m not keen on building a bike myself even from a position of picking options as I don’t know what I’m looking for.

I wonder if I would be better off on a hard tail as I’m definitely a beginner to mountain biking although I do a bit of road biking. I live very close to moorland and see lots of people out mountain biking and I want to join in! I also have a 7 year old boy and want to go out on trails with him which I can’t with my road bikes.

Any suggestions/recommendations on a hard tail bike?

Cheers

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Up until last week I had a 2020 Genesis Tarn 20 with Pike forks and a 29er. It was amazing. I'd ride alot on that.

My Santa Cruz full sus is great but in a different way.

I say get a 29er hardtail but with the best fork and decent wheels/groupset and you can't go wrong.

At least Fox or Pike I think forkwise.

[Evanivitch]

Scott Scale seems to be the current pick of the lightweight hardtail, and has a Fox fork.

https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/hardtail/scott-scale...

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Evanivitch said:

Scott Scale seems to be the current pick of the lightweight hardtail, and has a Fox fork.

https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/hardtail/scott-scale...

That looks good

[louiebaby]

Hamperman said:

Any suggestions/recommendations on a hard tail bike?

I'm absolutely not an expert, but I picked up a Canyon Grand Canyon last year for chucking around the local trails with the kids, and also on my own.

I paid £1k for the (red) 2020 version of this:

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/trail-...

Apart from the colour it seems relatively unchanged. I'm lead to believe that the fork is the weak link, but I need to up my game to justify an upgrade.

I've also fitted (in a pretty ugly way because I'm a noob) a dropper post, which I've found quite useful.

Maybe in a couple of years I'll upgrade to something with rear suspension, I don't know. But I know it's a fun thing to chuck about and I'm certainly learning how to control it properly. I'm also exploring the local area more, and with the kids too. It's fun trying to link together as many bridleways, unmetalled roads and field access lanes as possible to get a route that is tough but doable.

[GravelBen]

Evanivitch said:

Scott Scale seems to be the current pick of the lightweight hardtail, and has a Fox fork.

https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/hardtail/scott-scale...

Thats a fairly hardcore XC race bike, it wouldn't be my recommendation for the OP. XC race bikes are good for XC racing, but not necessarily so good for casual recreational trail riding fun (as I learnt when I bought one thinking it would be a good all-rounder).

Better to go for a trail rather than XC hardtail IMO - more relaxed riding position and more capable and fun geometry for descending.

[louiebaby]

GravelBen said:

Thats a fairly hardcore XC race bike, it wouldn't be my recommendation for the OP. XC race bikes are good for XC racing, but not necessarily so good for casual recreational trail riding fun (as I learnt when I bought one thinking it would be a good all-rounder).

Better to go for a trail rather than XC hardtail IMO - more relaxed riding position and more capable and fun geometry for descending.

I'm learning here today, thanks for this.

Canyon seem to group by Trail, Cross Country and Enduro. In relatively simple terms, what's the difference?

[lufbramatt]

Cross country- focus on sharp handling, light weight, shorter travel more suited to XC racing on fast courses than comfort.

Trail- medium travel, fun all-round bikes suited to all day rides where you can cover lots of miles but still do more technical trails without feeling too under-biked. Medium travel, slacker angles than an XC bike

Enduro- "mini downhill" bikes with more travel, heavier, more durable parts, aimed at tackling bigger trails, bigger jumps but still being vaguely pedalable uphill (Enduro racing is kind of like rally racing, a big ride with timed sections that count towards the competition but you have to ride between the sections within a time cutoff).

Having said that, the lines between each discipline are pretty vague, some XC bikes make great trail bikes, some XC courses are getting so technical that XC race bikes are getting more travel and burlier parts. Some trail bikes would work great as enduro bikes.

[GravelBen]

louiebaby said:

I'm learning here today, thanks for this.

Canyon seem to group by Trail, Cross Country and Enduro. In relatively simple terms, what's the difference?

There is a fair bit of crossover and lines do get blurred between categories, but heres a simplified summary (bearing in mind that I'm no expert either):

XC - lighter weight, short suspension travel (usually around 100mm), steeper geometry for fast steering in tight corners and optimised more for going uphill as thats where races tend to be won. Usually quite a leant-forward riding position for athletic performance and aerodynamics.

Enduro - enduro racing has mostly downhill timed stages, but riders have to pedal uphill to get between timed stages (like touring between stages in rallying). So the bikes are optimised for rough technical downhill performance with long suspension travel (usually 160mm+) and slack geometry for high speed stability etc. But not to the extreme of full downhill bikes, because they still have to be light enough to pedal uphill without exhausting the rider.

Trail - all-rounders in between the other two, aimed at recreational riders who are more focussed on having fun on a variety of trails. Medium travel (usually around 130-150mm), geometry closer to enduro than XC but intended to be fun on easier flatter trails as well as steeper harder ones. Tend to have a more relaxed, upright pedalling position for comfort over outright performance.

[louiebaby]

Thank you both, that's very helpful!

(And good that you both gave the same answer within a minute of each other.)

Enduro racing sounds hard, but cool. I'm crap down hill though, so might stick to "Trail" style bikes.

Thanks again.

[lufbramatt]

haha great minds think alike

[GravelBen]

Beat me to it by a minute! At least we didn't contradict each other...

For an example of blurred lines between categories, take the Trance 29 the OP is looking at. It only has 115mm of rear suspension travel which some may think of as XC travel, but 130mm fork and the geometry and handling are much more in the trail category - its very capable downhill and the limited suspension travel really only becomes a limitation on bigger drops or high speed chunky stuff. Its a short travel trail bike.

[Daveyraveygravey]

A mate has a Specialised Chisel, a hardtail. I didn't know much about it, but it is just over 11kg, which I think is really light for a mtb, retail about £1400. See if you can find a shop that will let you try one, or find an experience day nearby when there are several models to try.

[Hamperman]

Thanks for all the information in here, it’s been very informative.

So I think I need hardtail and a trail bike which would suit me most. Now I just need to find one in stock or at least available in the next couple of months. I need a size XL and have a budget of around £2k I think.