Down Country MTB recommendations
Discussion
Morning everyone
After years of just riding the road bike, its time for a new mountain bike. I took the old Specialized to Dalby last week and absolutely adored mountain biking again but the brakes cooked, the rear shock shat its seals, and everything was squeaking and rattling by half-way round. To be fair I am only looking for an excuse :-)
Its been several years since I have looked at new bike tech and things have really progressed which is fab but hard to get a proper grasp on. What I think I want is a down-country bike, so 100-120mm ish rear travel, relatively lightweight, dropper post and an emphasis on fun instead of all out XC speed. I typically ride single-track, the red trail at Dalby pretty much covers all my requirements. I don't jump beyond hopping off tree roots.
Budget is £3k and obviously I know that stock is generally non-existent. I have found a Giant Trance 2 in my local shop which to be fair is decent spec, orignally I was thinking along the lines of a Whyte S120 or Specialized Stumpy Comp, but there are a multitude of new brands out there I have never heard of.
Can anyone make some recommendations?
Thanks, TT
After years of just riding the road bike, its time for a new mountain bike. I took the old Specialized to Dalby last week and absolutely adored mountain biking again but the brakes cooked, the rear shock shat its seals, and everything was squeaking and rattling by half-way round. To be fair I am only looking for an excuse :-)
Its been several years since I have looked at new bike tech and things have really progressed which is fab but hard to get a proper grasp on. What I think I want is a down-country bike, so 100-120mm ish rear travel, relatively lightweight, dropper post and an emphasis on fun instead of all out XC speed. I typically ride single-track, the red trail at Dalby pretty much covers all my requirements. I don't jump beyond hopping off tree roots.
Budget is £3k and obviously I know that stock is generally non-existent. I have found a Giant Trance 2 in my local shop which to be fair is decent spec, orignally I was thinking along the lines of a Whyte S120 or Specialized Stumpy Comp, but there are a multitude of new brands out there I have never heard of.
Can anyone make some recommendations?
Thanks, TT
lufbramatt said:
Couple of bikes I like the look of:
Bird Aether 9
Orbea Occam H20
Scott Spark 950 (new one with hidden shock)
all around your budget and fit the "trail" bike brief.
The above bikes are all very good but the Bird Aether (I ride a Bird) and Orbea Occam maybe a touch too trail for you rather than down country. To be fair both bikes are excellent and will more than meet your requirements but are not down country.Bird Aether 9
Orbea Occam H20
Scott Spark 950 (new one with hidden shock)
all around your budget and fit the "trail" bike brief.
If you can up your budget bikes and really want a down country bike then the best in the field at the moment are the Transition Spur and YT Izzo.
Having said that availability will probably be key. There is next to no stock in any decent bike at the moment so if you want one for the summer you may need to buy what's out there atm.
Thanks both.
The Bird Aether has come up on my radar before, are they really that good? I always regarded that technology such as rear suspension would best be purchased from a big name brand as they will have the big R&D budget to properly develop it. I once purchased a hardtail frame from a 'boutique' UK brand and although the welds were pure art it rode terribly because it simply wasn't well thought through, it was essentially very basic.
But absolutely I will likely just have to buy whatever I find as stock is minimal.
The Bird Aether has come up on my radar before, are they really that good? I always regarded that technology such as rear suspension would best be purchased from a big name brand as they will have the big R&D budget to properly develop it. I once purchased a hardtail frame from a 'boutique' UK brand and although the welds were pure art it rode terribly because it simply wasn't well thought through, it was essentially very basic.
But absolutely I will likely just have to buy whatever I find as stock is minimal.
They get very good reviews, people rave about their customer service and you can customise the build to suit your riding.
I don't think MTB rear suspension is that complicated for a decent engineer that understands the parameters he wants to achieve. There's various linkage simulation packages to work it all out and the 4-bar horst link they used is a tried and tested system.
Some brands go crazy with loads of linkages to change the wheel path, leverage rate etc. while adding complication yet people still seem happy to ride single pivot bikes (such as Orange) which are as simple as you can get. I bet most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference in the real world despite what you read on the web!
I don't think MTB rear suspension is that complicated for a decent engineer that understands the parameters he wants to achieve. There's various linkage simulation packages to work it all out and the 4-bar horst link they used is a tried and tested system.
Some brands go crazy with loads of linkages to change the wheel path, leverage rate etc. while adding complication yet people still seem happy to ride single pivot bikes (such as Orange) which are as simple as you can get. I bet most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference in the real world despite what you read on the web!
I'll recommend the Giant Trance 29, because I have one and its great 
.
Agile playful and fun, but still very capable downhill for the short travel (130 front/115 rear) and efficient pedalling/climbing (depending what tyres you put on it of course). Just a great handling bike all round.
The Trance 27.5 has longer travel (150/140) with the smaller wheels, but is a much older design with dated geometry that doesn't climb as well so I'd recommend the 29" version.
To confuse you more there is also the Trance X, which is the 29er with an extra 20mm of travel (bumping it to 150/135) and tweaked geometry to be better on rougher trails. But it sounds like you probably don't need the extra travel.
. Agile playful and fun, but still very capable downhill for the short travel (130 front/115 rear) and efficient pedalling/climbing (depending what tyres you put on it of course). Just a great handling bike all round.
The Trance 27.5 has longer travel (150/140) with the smaller wheels, but is a much older design with dated geometry that doesn't climb as well so I'd recommend the 29" version.
To confuse you more there is also the Trance X, which is the 29er with an extra 20mm of travel (bumping it to 150/135) and tweaked geometry to be better on rougher trails. But it sounds like you probably don't need the extra travel.
Echo the comments above – for me, the Transition Spur is the cream of the downcountry crop at the moment, and a fantastic looking bike. Comes at a price though…
I got an Occam M30 last year and love it - very much a trail bike though. Orbea do offer the Oiz in a standard flavour which is XC orientated, and a TR version which sits more the downcountry camp. I wouldn’t be too concerned looking at trail bikes with more travel – many of them pedal really well, especially if you add some lighter and faster rolling tyres, etc…
In addition to those bikes already mentioned by others:
Sonder Cortex/Evol (Not sure if there is an Alpkit shop local to you?)
Canyon Neuron (geometry not radical but I believe it pedals well and looks good value)
Ibis Ripley
Norco Optic
Propain Hugene
Assuming your username reflects your height (?!) I’d definitely be looking at getting a 29er wheel size.
I got an Occam M30 last year and love it - very much a trail bike though. Orbea do offer the Oiz in a standard flavour which is XC orientated, and a TR version which sits more the downcountry camp. I wouldn’t be too concerned looking at trail bikes with more travel – many of them pedal really well, especially if you add some lighter and faster rolling tyres, etc…
In addition to those bikes already mentioned by others:
Sonder Cortex/Evol (Not sure if there is an Alpkit shop local to you?)
Canyon Neuron (geometry not radical but I believe it pedals well and looks good value)
Ibis Ripley
Norco Optic
Propain Hugene
Assuming your username reflects your height (?!) I’d definitely be looking at getting a 29er wheel size.
Ha, yes Down-Country is the latest buzzword at the moment it seems, something I myself just learnt in the last 2 weeks.
The Transition Spur looks awesome, that would be my first choose but even the cheapest is £4300 and that’s with Deore.
At lunchtime I went to some local bike shops. No surprise that there is little stock anywhere, especially on full sussers. Whyte, Orbea and Trek are a complete no go till mid-2022 if not later. BMC have shed loads but they are stuck in the Suez Canal, delivery unknown. There was stock at the Scott dealer, I sat in a very nice Spark 910 which but even discounted to £4.5k as it’s the previous design that’s a no go.
Chain Reaction Cycles have some Vitus bikes, are they any good?
I do keep coming back to the Giant Trance 2. I know it’s brilliant just it looks so dismal in all black (with blue flash across the head-tube). Perhaps beggars can’t be choosers.
The Transition Spur looks awesome, that would be my first choose but even the cheapest is £4300 and that’s with Deore.
At lunchtime I went to some local bike shops. No surprise that there is little stock anywhere, especially on full sussers. Whyte, Orbea and Trek are a complete no go till mid-2022 if not later. BMC have shed loads but they are stuck in the Suez Canal, delivery unknown. There was stock at the Scott dealer, I sat in a very nice Spark 910 which but even discounted to £4.5k as it’s the previous design that’s a no go.
Chain Reaction Cycles have some Vitus bikes, are they any good?
I do keep coming back to the Giant Trance 2. I know it’s brilliant just it looks so dismal in all black (with blue flash across the head-tube). Perhaps beggars can’t be choosers.
The Trek dealer showed me his internal system with them, to demonstrate lead-times. It was interesting to see it listed dealer prices (!) which have around 40-45% margin to the shops. I was surprised it’s that high, Obviously understandable and in now way would I hold an issue with it that, their overheads are high, but really shows why these internet direct sale manufacturers do just that.
Know a shop that had a Trek Top Fuel 9.7 in stock for 2850. It was a ML and went back 3 times to ride round the shop trying to convince myself to buy it but deep down too cramped for me.
It's a 2020 but the 2021 are identical even down to the paint and are 4200. Just checked the site and it's still there so send me a pm if it interests you.
It's a 2020 but the 2021 are identical even down to the paint and are 4200. Just checked the site and it's still there so send me a pm if it interests you.
lufbramatt said:
I think it's meant to be between XC and trail... HDXC or Trail-lite 
Or just "mountain biking"
Modern XC bikes are much more capable than they used to be, and trail bikes pedal really well, so with a light build/fast rolling tyres there's a lot of crossover.
Or just "mountain biking"
Modern XC bikes are much more capable than they used to be, and trail bikes pedal really well, so with a light build/fast rolling tyres there's a lot of crossover.
There is a bit of crossover.
I think the first bikes to be labelled 'down-country' were the likes of the Epic Evo, where Specialized more or less just threw a 120mm fork and a dropper post on the Epic XC bike to make it a bit more capable.
Then you have short travel trail bikes like the Trance 29 and Ibis Ripley which have efficient pedalling, but much more fun-focussed trail capable geometry.
From personal experience, a couple of years ago I changed from a 2018 Epic (with a dropper and chunkier tyres, but only the 100mm fork) to a 2019 Trance 29 and was blown away by how much more confident and fun the Trance was (everywhere, not just on steeper trails) without seeming to give anything away on the uphills.
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