New bike advice

[2ky]

Hi,

I'm after a new mountain bike and need some advice! I've been riding road bikes for the last 8 years and occasionally been to the Marin trail on my old 26" Cannondale SL4. I've got a good knowledge of road bikes and groupsets etc but I'm a bit lost with MTB kit.

So far I've been looking at the following:

Giant Trance 29 2:
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/trance-29-2

Giant Trance x 29 3:
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/trance-x-29-3

Trek Slash 7:
https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/bikes/mountain-...

Orbea Occam:
https://www.orbea.com/gb-en/bicycles/mountain/occa...

I'm leaning towards the Trek and Giant Trance X 29 3, I've got a Trek road bike and have been impressed with it but the Giant seems like good value.

My budget is £3000 but I could stretch to £3200 for something exceptional. I live in North Wales so my local trails would be around Llanberis, Llandegla, Coed Y Benin, Gwydir forest and local mountains (including Snowdon eek!)

Any advice would be great!

[TCX]

Big fan of giant bikes,got three,older anthem 2x and deore but used it in forests,trails,wind farms,crazy down hills on the wide roads,all the full sus I'd ever need,prices are bit crazy now though

[2ky]

Yes prices are crazy at the moment but Giant seem like good value compared to the equivalent bike from other brands. I can wait but I can't see the prices reducing any time soon!

[Camoradi]

Another vote for Giant. I always look at Specialized, Trek, Scott, Factor, Cervelo etc first but have ended up with a Defy Advanced for the road and am still riding a 2010 Anthem X2 (with quite a few parts renewed) off road. I can certainly say I've had value from the Anthem. Service from their dealers has always been first class too.

[joshleb]

That trek looks to be the next level up in terms of travel, I think the Remedy would be a better match compared to the other options there.

As for which one to go for, maybe try and see if uou can demo any them to get a feel for it. Either way they all look pretty sharp.

Do you know what the lead times are for them?

[2ky]

Yes I think the Giant trance x is at the top of my list but the Trek is very close behind. I think I need to have a ride on one really, a lot has changed since I got my 8 year old £500 Cannondale!

Fork and shock wise what would you recommend, Fox or Rock shox? When I was mountain biking in my teens most people chose Rock shox.

Good shout recommending the Trek remedy but its 27.5 and I was really after a 29er.

Availability isn't great but I'm 6ft 3 so using the size charts I'm generally a Large or Extra large and there are a few of each brand/model available if I'm willing to travel or get one delivered (Pedal on offer podium points to buy accessories which seem like great value as I'll need pedals etc.)

[gp1699]

2ky said:

Yes I think the Giant trance x is at the top of my list but the Trek is very close behind. I think I need to have a ride on one really, a lot has changed since I got my 8 year old £500 Cannondale!

Fork and shock wise what would you recommend, Fox or Rock shox? When I was mountain biking in my teens most people chose Rock shox.

Good shout recommending the Trek remedy but its 27.5 and I was really after a 29er.

Availability isn't great but I'm 6ft 3 so using the size charts I'm generally a Large or Extra large and there are a few of each brand/model available if I'm willing to travel or get one delivered (Pedal on offer podium points to buy accessories which seem like great value as I'll need pedals etc.)

My mates just picked up a Remedy so I had a try, it is really good fun on the off piste stuff round here.

[BRR]

Out of the two Giant's it would be the Trance X as it looks a more versatile bike, would be good for anything from XC to enduro type stuff, the spec of the kit on that one really isn't very good for the money though, very basic fork and Sram SX is junk.

I personally would go for the Trek, much more modern geometry and better spec'd, my only concern is that it's such a capable bike that it may be a bit boring on more mellow trails, it's a full on enduro rig

[lufbramatt]

Trek Fuel ex looks quite close to the giant- 29” wheels, slightly less travel. With the introduction of the new supercaliber soft tail all the trek bikes have got slightly longer travel and kind of moved up a category.

[oddball1313]

Worth a look at as well - got an epic evo last year and can’t fault it despite my decidedly average MTB capabilities

https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/epic-evo/p/18747...

[GravelBen]

I've had a Trance 29 '1' for the last couple of years, great bike - fun playful handling, efficient pedalling and very capable downhill for a short travel bike. Very balanced all-rounder. I had a Specialized Epic for 6 months before it and found the Trance far more fun and better in every way I can think of.

I would say if you are regularly hitting drops of 2-3 feet or more then you may find the short travel a limitation (especially if you're on the heavier side like me), but for less hard hitting terrain than that its great.

The Trance X has updated geometry (though not a massive difference) and an extra 20mm of travel over the Trance 29 - however if you're comparing the X '3' with the 29 '2' there will be a fair difference in component spec, smaller number = higher spec with Giant. The Trance X sizing is a bit funny with a big jump from M to L, so if you're around 5'10 you might find yourself a bit in between sizes.

The Trek equivalent all-rounder would be a Fuel EX, a good mate bought one recently (EX 8) and is really enjoying it. I've only had a quick ride but it seemed to have a similar playful character to the Trance. The Slash is a long-travel enduro bike which I think would be overkill if you are just getting into MTBing, and less fun on mellower trails (being optimised for steep rough stuff).

[2ky]

Thanks, thats all really useful advice. There's just so much choice and I keep thinking "just another £100" and before you know it the budget has creeped up!

When I started road cycling I got a £700 aluminium Cube thinking its all the bike I would ever need and a few years later I'm on a Madone and the Cube is just used for zwift! I want to try and avoid buying something that'll start me off and end up with the new bike itch again in 12 months!

I'm 6ft 3 and 16ish stone so I would probably need a large or xl with most brands.

[nosuchuser]

Check out Vitus, outstanding value.

I have a 2021 Sommet CRS, pedals really well for 170mm at the rear. Escarpe is great, same carbon front triangle if you don't need that much travel.

Should give you space in budget for pedals, grips, decent shoes etc

[lufbramatt]

https://www.bird.bike/aether9/

^another option

[2ky]

Ah yes I looked at Bird but I didn't feel confident picking the parts my self! I had a play with their configurator which was good fun but I'm sure I had a very odd combination of components!

[2ky]

Been looking at the Canyon site and came across the new Spectral which seems like good value to my untrained eye:

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

They also do a slightly more expensive model but I'm not sure about SRAM?:

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

[GravelBen]

2ky said:

They also do a slightly more expensive model but I'm not sure about SRAM?:

The lower-end SRAM SX and NX drivetrains don't have the best reputation for longevity, but that one has GX which is good kit - I have GX and no complaints. Probably roughly equivalent to Shimano SLX I guess.

[gp1699]

2ky said:

Been looking at the Canyon site and came across the new Spectral which seems like good value to my untrained eye:

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

They also do a slightly more expensive model but I'm not sure about SRAM?:

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

Im looking at Canyon as an option to replace my Yeti SB66c, they look really good. I would also be going for Sram, I have Eagle on both my bikes at the moment.

[missing the VR6]

Can't comment on the bikes, but you should also check out Penmachno, great trail.

[2ky]

gp1699 said:

2ky said:

Been looking at the Canyon site and came across the new Spectral which seems like good value to my untrained eye:

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

They also do a slightly more expensive model but I'm not sure about SRAM?:

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

Im looking at Canyon as an option to replace my Yeti SB66c, they look really good. I would also be going for Sram, I have Eagle on both my bikes at the moment.

Yes they seem like good value when the prices of everything else seem to be going through the roof!