New Full Suspension Bike

[Dunclane]

Afternoon all,

Following delivery of my son's new Vitus bike I've been mulling over upgrading my 2012 Cube hardtail for a full suspension.

I'm not Sam Pilgrim so don't need mega £££ enduro machine.

I've been looking at the Boardman 8.9 & 9.0 along with Trek & Giant offerings but keep getting drawn to the 9.0 as it seems the best value.

Anyone got one / have any thoughts or other suggestions?

[jackthelad1984]

Chain reaction have got several nukeproof mega, giga, and reactors on sale at the mo, aswell as some vitus models. I'm sorely tempted by a nukeproof reactor but my current bike is perfectly fine so no real need to change.

[Davie]

Can’t comment on the bikes listed but I do have a Boardman FS650 which is nigh on 7yrs old now… which in itself blows my mind. It has however, been pretty faultless despite the fairly hard use and minimal maintenance.

[troc]

I love my whyte s150. The replacement s140 is apparently rather good too.

[PomBstard]

Not sure of your budget or requirements but check out models from both Norco and Merida - they’ll be v competitive against the usual suspects and are often good value.

[Dunclane]

troc said:

I love my whyte s150. The replacement s140 is apparently rather good too.

I do like the look of the T140, but it's a bit lumpy at £3.3k.

[Dunclane]

PomBstard said:

Not sure of your budget or requirements but check out models from both Norco and Merida - they’ll be v competitive against the usual suspects and are often good value.

To be honest for the next few years I'll be out on Blue trails and longer trekking type rides with my lad so a 130-140mm travel trail bike is going to be ample.

Budget is £2k ish (before creep!)

[troc]

Dunclane said:

troc said:

I love my whyte s150. The replacement s140 is apparently rather good too.

I do like the look of the T140, but it's a bit lumpy at £3.3k.

£2k here if you are tall https://www.balfesbikes.co.uk/bikes/mountain-bikes...

[Dunclane]

troc said:

£2k here if you are tall https://www.balfesbikes.co.uk/bikes/mountain-bikes...

I'm afraid not, I'm a Borrower! need a medium

[Scoobyshue]

Hi Dunclane,

Have you considered second hand? I have a medium Transition Scout for sale well within your budget. Excellent condition with some really nice parts. Let me know if you are interested and I will ping you the details.

S

[President Merkin]

What kind of riding do you do? Are you a trail boss, bike park rat, mile muncher? Surely start with aiming for the right machine for the job?

[Dunclane]

troc said:

£2k here if you are tall https://www.balfesbikes.co.uk/bikes/mountain-bikes...

I'm tempted! Thoughts?

https://www.balfesbikes.co.uk/bikes/mountain-bikes...

[bobbo89]

jackthelad1984 said:

Chain reaction have got several nukeproof mega, giga, and reactors on sale at the mo, aswell as some vitus models. I'm sorely tempted by a nukeproof reactor but my current bike is perfectly fine so no real need to change.

Bloody hell, just had a quick look at Wiggle/CRC and you're not wrong, some absolute bargains to be had!

[snotrag]

bobbo89 said:

Bloody hell, just had a quick look at Wiggle/CRC and you're not wrong, some absolute bargains to be had!

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/nukeproof-reactor-290-comp-alloy-bike-deore

This is insane value and a great spec - Deore is so much nicer than the lower end SRAM that is most commonly found on the lower price points, and you get effectively a Fox Rhythm fork (rebadged as the Marzocchi) with the excellent GRIP damper - again which is much nicer than the budget MoCo dampers you get in the more common Rockshox Forks.


Thats not a light bike - but its very upgradable.

[bobbo89]

snotrag said:

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/nukeproof-re...

This is insane value and a great spec - Deore is so much nicer than the lower end SRAM that is most commonly found on the lower price points, and you get effectively a Fox Rhythm fork (rebadged as the Marzocchi) with the excellent GRIP damper - again which is much nicer than the budget MoCo dampers you get in the more common Rockshox Forks.


Thats not a light bike - but its very upgradable.

Silly amount of bike for the money, Deore kit is brilliant too, performs just as well as XT but with just less fancy bits, some bits cast rather than CNC'd etc.

I've got both Deore and XT levers on 2 of my bikes running Shigs and the only difference on the Deore is the lever doesn't have an on the fly reach adjuster and the lever blades arent dimpled, other than that they're identical.

[Bryanwww]

Rented a Whyte T140 recently, felt seriously overbiked on that and it was pretty heavy going uphills. It just rolled over everything and didnt really need to think too about line choices.

I've gone from riding a trail bike to XC bike and it's a lot more fun and versatile than heavier longer travel bikes unless you're really going to be hitting 5 foot+ drops, jumping and hitting big gaps. Be honest with yourself on just how progressive your riding is going to be - my friend got a high spec intense enduro and it's just been gathering dust as it's rubbish at anything he is capable of riding, slow and heavy so not much fun.

[hab1966]

Dunclane said:

To be honest for the next few years I'll be out on Blue trails and longer trekking type rides with my lad so a 130-140mm travel trail bike is going to be ample.

Budget is £2k ish (before creep!)

Look at second hand on either singletrackworld or pinkbike

ie https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3623700/ is a Whyte T140 (M) for sub £2k

[Mr Scruff]

Dunclane said:

Afternoon all,

Following delivery of my son's new Vitus bike I've been mulling over upgrading my 2012 Cube hardtail for a full suspension.

I'm not Sam Pilgrim so don't need mega £££ enduro machine.

I've been looking at the Boardman 8.9 & 9.0 along with Trek & Giant offerings but keep getting drawn to the 9.0 as it seems the best value.

Anyone got one / have any thoughts or other suggestions?

I have a Boardman MTR 9.0. Been very pleased with it - it's not the lightest thing in the world, and tbh I don't need 145mm rear travel, but it's been bullet proof and I think the spec makes it great value for money.

I use it primarily as a winter bike and it's brilliant for that purpose.

[GravelBen]

Bryanwww said:

I've gone from riding a trail bike to XC bike and it's a lot more fun and versatile than heavier longer travel bikes unless you're really going to be hitting 5 foot+ drops, jumping and hitting big gaps. Be honest with yourself on just how progressive your riding is going to be - my friend got a high spec intense enduro and it's just been gathering dust as it's rubbish at anything he is capable of riding, slow and heavy so not much fun.

Having gone the other way previously from XC to trail bike, I wouldn't personally agree about XC being more fun or versatile than a trail bike. I found the opposite for my riding, I replaced an Epic with a short travel trail bike (Trance 29) and was no slower uphill but much more confident and having a lot more fun downhill (less about travel and more about geometry). Probably depends on your local terrain and trails though.

I definitely agree that big enduro bikes are overkill for many people (myself included) though, and often less fun and harder to manage than a short or mid travel bike unless you are frequently hitting bigger features or high speed rough stuff.

I have a Reign 29 now (160f/146r travel) and freely admit that its capacity is well beyond my current level, but I wanted headroom for progression and a burly enough build for my 100+kg. Plus I have a trail hardtail as well for when I want a more direct feel.

[moanthebairns]

snotrag said:

bobbo89 said:

Bloody hell, just had a quick look at Wiggle/CRC and you're not wrong, some absolute bargains to be had!

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/nukeproof-reactor-290-comp-alloy-bike-deore

This is insane value and a great spec - Deore is so much nicer than the lower end SRAM that is most commonly found on the lower price points, and you get effectively a Fox Rhythm fork (rebadged as the Marzocchi) with the excellent GRIP damper - again which is much nicer than the budget MoCo dampers you get in the more common Rockshox Forks.


Thats not a light bike - but its very upgradable.

I got the Mega a few weeks ago myself, £1500 I paid, plus £15 postage or something. I was hesitant to get a full sus, I've never really liked them. I grew up on BMX's, hard tails, and after 5 years of riding my Whyte 905 I didn't really see the need for another bike as it seemed to tick all the boxes. But I took the punt at that price.

It's heavy, climbs are hard (although I'm not much of a climber), paint and finish is a bit meh, and it took a bit of getting used to but I'm a convert now. Once you've finished breathing out your arse on the climbs you just point and melt it at anything. Can't fault the spec for what I paid, I'd like a lockable rear so might opt for that though.

It's nice to have at a trail centre, it'd be a dream on an uplift day. Wouldn't want it as my only bike though.

Edited by moanthebairns on Monday 7th August 10:57