What new mountain bike?

[eggchaser1987]

Evening all, first please let me apologise for not contributing to PH for a while. General life has taken over and all that jazz.

Anyway, this Christmas I have decided to treat myself to a new mountain bike. Currently I have a basil trek hardtail and fancy something with full suspension. Budget is around £2,000 so I know it won't be a top spec thing for that money but it will be better than I have now.

I will be mainly riding trials, blue/red trails around places like haldon forest so no 50 foot gap jumps or anything like that, those days are long gone.

Some of the ones I have been looking at are:

Trek fuel 8
https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/trek/top-fuel-8-...

Trek remedy 7
https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/trek/remedy-7-mo...

Trek fuel 7
https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/trek/top-fuel-7-...

Cube Stereo 1
https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/cube/stereo-one2...

Specilalized Chisel
https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/specialized/chis...

Does anyone have any experience with any of these or are there any better that I am missing?

Thanks all.

[mattvanders]

If you can stretch to £2.5k have a look at a yt jeffsy or £2.3k for transition smuggler. A cheaper option would be a calibre bossnut at £1.3k ish. I’d be looking at anything that’s 29er wheeled, shortish travel at 130/140mm real travel. Even try hardtails for a better spec

[SwissJonese]

Personally I would go for a Mondraker Raze, some seriously good deals around. My daughter has a Raze R and it is an incredible bike, light, strong and excellent for climbing.

Mondraker Raze

[Rapidz]

This is where my £2k would be going, assuming a medium is your size.
https://www.thebikefactory.co.uk/shop/bikes/sub/mo...

[nickfrog]

^ That carbon XC bike looks great but that wouldn't be my choice down a red.

Used YT Izzo worth considering.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226353344819?mkcid=16&a...

Edited by nickfrog on Monday 16th December 14:18

[dave123456]

Are you eligible for cycle to work?

[eggchaser1987]

Thanks all, yes medium or medium/large would be a good fit but unable to get the cycle to work scheme at the moment.

Few more to look at so I'll get hunting

[Hugo Stiglitz v2]

I'd say test ride everything and don't let a smooth hippy looking trail riding shop worker talk you into a bike.

I'd say go on pinkbike and get the best for your money.


Personally if it's none ebike I'd go with late Santa Cruz or best spec Trek etc but what I like is NOT what you'd enjoy riding.

How about...
Bird?

I bought my son a Bird AM9 and it's insane fun. 2k.

We fought each other to use my Trek Fuel EXE to climb on then who got to ride the Bird descending.

Bird have some good deals.

[PomBstard]

Two brands that often get forgotten but usually give great vfm are Giant and Norco. I think Giant also make Trek frames, as well as those for a few other brands. Norco just seem to put together some great packages.

As others have said, 29” wheels, short travel, dual-sus should sort you for most/all you’ve described.

[troc]

Whyte T-140S if you can find one. Or any whyte for that matter. Brilliant bikes.

[GravelBen]

PomBstard said:

Two brands that often get forgotten but usually give great vfm are Giant and Norco. I think Giant also make Trek frames, as well as those for a few other brands. Norco just seem to put together some great packages.

As others have said, 29” wheels, short travel, dual-sus should sort you for most/all you’ve described.

Consider Giant Trance 29 (130mm front / 120mm rear travel) or Trance X 29 (150f/140r), excellent bikes and there have been some sharp deals on those recently.

Merida also have some good value options.

Probably adding to the confusion of too many options! To be fair MTB design/development has got to a stage where practically everything is good now, I don't know if any brand beyond the real budget level makes bad bikes any more.

Of your list the Remedy is probably too burly/downhill focussed for your needs, and the Chisel at the other end of the scale is probably too XC.

The time of year being what it is, waiting for boxing day sales is probably a good plan.

See if you can test fit / ride a few options and see what feels most comfortable to you (both make/model and sizing), everyone has different proportions and preferences - you can customise fit to some degree but the better fit you start with the easier it is.

Edited by GravelBen on Monday 16th December 23:25

[Lotobear]

2k is a healthy budget if you are prepared to consider a low miles used bike.

I bought a used (in essence it was like new) Orange Alpine 29er full susser 2 years ago for £1,000 - a £4k bike when new. I've ridden it to death since and only replaced a chain, headset and cassette.

[Daveyraveygravey]

Have a look at Sonder bikes, supplied by Alpkit stores. I think they let you ride them round the block, or hire them for half a day.

They get great reviews, they're designed in the Peak District (I think) so should be good in UK conditions.

[dave123456]

eggchaser1987 said:

Thanks all, yes medium or medium/large would be a good fit but unable to get the cycle to work scheme at the moment.

Few more to look at so I'll get hunting

I’d probably look second hand if C2W isn’t an option.

[nickfrog]

I would actually stretch the budget to this

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

Carbon, Lyric, XT, DT Swiss, good geo, great brand.

There is a £2,000 alloy version too.

Edited by nickfrog on Wednesday 18th December 12:45

[7 5 7]

Merida have good bikes these days, and dont discount the Calibre Bossnut.

Not about the bike, its the rider remember

[HenryV1415]

Don’t worry too much about the discount. The wrong bike is still a bad buy even if it’s cheap. For riding Forest trails and some mild off piste which is what you allude to, the you will get the most use out of something fairly light weight, short ish travel, around 120mm to 130mm. Too many people go for too much travel thinking they are buying a skill compensation device, when in reality they are not. Long travel comes with a heck of a lot of drawbacks and non of its advantages are nessasary for trail riding.

There have been some awful bike suggestions above. Definitely go and talk to a decent Bike shop and see if you can demo any bikes. This will also help dial your size, as again a great bike in the wrong size is not so great for you.

[nickfrog]

HenryV1415 said:

Don’t worry too much about the discount. The wrong bike is still a bad buy even if it’s cheap. For riding Forest trails and some mild off piste which is what you allude to, the you will get the most use out of something fairly light weight, short ish travel, around 120mm to 130mm. Too many people go for too much travel thinking they are buying a skill compensation device, when in reality they are not. Long travel comes with a heck of a lot of drawbacks and non of its advantages are nessasary for trail riding.

There have been some awful bike suggestions above.

Which ones?

I wouldn't class many of the reds at BPK as mild although I don't know Haldon forest. They're doable on a HT (ask me how I know) but probably more enjoyable with a bit more travel. 140mm/150mm has worked well for me for a versatile trail bike.

Geo and kinematics are probably more important that the amount of travel.

[fathomfive]

Hugo Stiglitz v2 said:

I'd say test ride everything and don't let a smooth hippy looking trail riding shop worker talk you into a bike.

I'd say go on pinkbike and get the best for your money.


Personally if it's none ebike I'd go with late Santa Cruz or best spec Trek etc but what I like is NOT what you'd enjoy riding.

How about...
Bird?

I bought my son a Bird AM9 and it's insane fun. 2k.

We fought each other to use my Trek Fuel EXE to climb on then who got to ride the Bird descending.

Bird have some good deals.

Another vote for Bird. Great bikes.

I've got two, a hard tail 29er and carbon full suss 29er. Both incredibly good value, well sorted bikes.

[sir humphrey appleby]

fathomfive said:

Another vote for Bird. Great bikes.

I've got two, a hard tail 29er and carbon full suss 29er. Both incredibly good value, well sorted bikes.

Third vote for Bird here as well. I have an Aeris 145, planted, confident and just looks after you. Plus they are a British firm that will look after you. It even got a SuperNice on GMBN!

Also, make sure whatever you end up with has a dropper!