Help can’t decide here’s the short list;
Canyon nerve 9.9
Whyte 129 works
Orange Gyro
Scott Spark
Must be mid travel prefer shimano drive and a good wheelset. Also have my doubts on Avid brakes. Cheers fellow riders!

I’ve had my gyro about a month and I’m loving it. Get a frame from bikescene in a color of your choice and build to your spec for a lot less than £3k
http://www.bikescene.co.uk/ORANGECLEARANCEFRAMES-107.html

Cannondale trigger

I would be looking at the codeine which has an amazing spec. We don’t know how it rides yet but I think it has been through a lot of testing and brant has a pretty good track record when it comes to design.

Cannondale make the best bikes so that’s the default answer.

Cube Stereo hybrid as a leftfield choice?

Or Radon Slide for VFM http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/slide-130-29-9.0-sl-17937/wg_id-7261

Camber Evo.

Ghost AMR 29

Cube Stereo – i have one and its just great. Id also seriously look at Canyon Spectral, i have nothing but good things to say about their road bikes, and cant imagine id find much wrong to say about their mtbs either.

One of the Spesh evos and use the cash left over on upgrades. It’s what I did 😀

Obvious question but have you ridden them? I did a demo day last week and found that otherwise excellent t129 didn’t suit me. On paper, it looked great and for others, just not me!

Not had a go on any! I do have a 29er Trek superfly and love it. In fact my 26″ bikes just don’t see the light of day , thanks for your reply. Codeine does look good I bet its a tad laboured on the climbs.

Bmc trailfox is awesome, but you’re between models at that price.

Sounds (like me) you (secretly) love XC bikes! How about the awesome epic?

Spark seems a little at odds with the others – more of a race bike. Is your Superfly FS or hardtail? I’d say there’s a lot of crossover with a Spark (or Epic).

Canyon, for the value, but goes against the ‘you need to test ride’ mentality. Depends how fussy you’re likely to be, a lot of people clearly get on with them!

teamhurtmore – Member
Obvious question but have you ridden them? I did a demo day last week and found that otherwise excellent t129 didn’t suit me

I rode the T-129 and Gyro back to back at the cannock demo day (admittedly not a long time on the bikes), and though I only rode the Gyro to see how bad it was compared to the T-129 (& M109 and enduro I also tried), I’ve come away thinking I might now actually want the Gyro…. FFS why did I demo the orange?
All of my other FS bikes I’ve owned (except one) have been single pivot’s, so this might be colouring my judgement. I’m not saying I didn’t like the T-129, it was extreme capable & fun, but the Gyro just seemed ‘right’. I am so so annoyed 😳

For 3k you can build pretty much whatever you want and it’ll be as light/ bling/ strong/ whatever as you like depending what you value in a bike. It’s a more than generous budget which could get you XX1, Light Bicycle wheels, frame and forks of choice, etc. The Canyon in starting to approach good value and doesn’t have any duff parts but for the budget a self build would be even better value. I know I harp on about it and it isn’t the type of bike you’re after but for comparison I built up my 8.2kg Scalpel for £2500 from all new parts and nothing second hand or without warranty.

My superfly is Ht I also have a Cotic Bfe 1×9 with 150 Revs up front. Just near on selling my Marin Mount vision 120 travel want something with similar travel but 29er.

For 3k you can build pretty much whatever you want and it’ll be as light/ bling/ strong/ whatever as you like depending what you value in a bike. It’s a more than generous budget which could get you XX1, Light Bicycle wheels, frame and forks of choice, etc.

You can’t really though can you. If you’re careful with choices, as you’ve clearly been, you probably can achieve most of that, but it’s not really an unlimited budget. You’ve obviously had some exceptional luck frankly to get that light, that’s real exotica type weight!

Just near on selling my Marin Mount vision 120 travel want something with similar travel but 29er.

What about the Fuel Ex 9.7 29? If you get on with the Superfly.

Zippy, I am the same. Demoed T129, M109, and camber evo last weekend. To fill a gap between them I also rode an epic. Sod’s law that is was the one I preferred. There is something about going uphill!!!!! But the camber was a much, much better fit for me than the whytes which is a shame because spec wise I think the whytes are better VFM.

Without riding the epic, I would have gone for the camber evo without hesitation. But the epic is truly epic IMO!!!

Cube Stereo made it high in my list before I decided to rebuild my old bike. The list prices are good but I found some crazy discounts on the full carbon ones.

Read great things about Specialized Camber Evo and the Kona Process 111 DL. The Scott Spark is definietly more efficiency oriented than fun. Canyon for best VFM. Whyte and Orange for patriotism. Cube is also a popular choice, however I’d only buy it new, full warranty, as many frame failures seem to surface.

If you’re looking at a Gyro I’d try a 5 29 as well. Love mine.

Nah… I want a short(ish) travel FS, not a long travel bike.. the gyro suits the bill.
The 5-29er is no doubt a great bike, but more bike than I need, been there done that.