Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 55 total)
  • Best enduro bike under 3k
  • swainy90
    Free Member

    After a new bike. I currently have a cannondale trigger which I have been impressed with in all honesty but looking for something a little more real bust and more capable on technical trails. I’m looking for a bike with roughly 160mm travel. Any suggestions?? To add I have set on a few bikes but the giant reign has felt the most balanced bike being 5,9. Would it also be wise to wait until the 2018 bikes come out and common online shops that do discount on previous models bike. Thanks

    groundskeeperwilly
    Free Member

    If it were me and I was looking for a proper enduro bike then the Radon Swoop would probably be my choice….

    swainy90
    Free Member

    Thanks for reply. Sound a little picky but don’t know if 170mm is a little too much. I could be wrong though just felt like 160mm would be capable down and also rideable up

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    mboy
    Free Member

    Whyte G-160 RS is a tiny bit over your budget, but very hard to look past. Or the S for £400 under budget with a lower spec.

    Good as the specs on the direct go customer bikes are, I’ve heard way too many warranty woes with most of those companies to entertain the thought of a bike without a good dealer and distributor backup in the UK.

    jamesmio
    Free Member

    You’d build up a stonking Bird Aeris for that budget. I did just that and have zero regrets.

    swainy90
    Free Member

    Heard great reviews from the bird but don’t know if it is a little bit too similar to my xc bike. Sounds like I’m being picky really but don’t want too much travel but want more than that 140mm I currently have to be a bit more capable. Going to have a look/ride a g160 if one in my local bike shop see how they ride cheers. Nobody rate the giant reign?? Or is it just overpriced?

    swainy90
    Free Member

    Is it worth waiting for 2017 bikes on sale or is it not worth it? Not sure if most brands will be releasing 2018 bike soon or not

    andytheadequate
    Free Member

    They normally release the new bikes around September/October.

    I’d be tempted to look at who were doing demo days nears you, or which demo bikes local bike shops have in stock. I bought a Canyon without demoing it as my previous bike was an old one so any modern bike would be a massive improvement, but if in were to buy one now I’d want to demo first yo make sure it was better.

    Pawsy_Bear
    Free Member

    try Pinkbike for sale, plenty of great pre loved bikes there

    plus 1 for demo, lot of money to spend on a bike you’ve never ridden, They all ride different and size up differently. Much depends on what how you ride. One company’s medium is another’s large.

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    I’d go Barrington Dandelion Pro or Van Der Osteriech Bedweteer plusboostvagina.

    psycorp
    Free Member

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^

    Drunk?

    angeldust
    Free Member

    Drunk, or more likely thinks he is much funnier than he actually is

    stevemuzzy
    Free Member

    Second hand nomad. Or canyon strive.

    andyrm
    Free Member

    Radon Swoop – MBUK Enduro bike of the year. Video as no link to full in depth review here:

    http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/article/enduro-bike-of-the-year-2017-radon-swoop-170-80-49545/

    chakaping
    Free Member

    The swoop pedals better than some 160mm bikes, worse than others

    But I probably already said that in one of the dozen or so similar threads you have started on here.

    hainman
    Free Member

    I have the Aeris mark 2 and its a very capable bike,No way can it be compared to a XC bike,
    I went from a Giant reign to the Aeris,albeit 26″ but the Aeris is miles better
    it climbs amazingly,descends out of this world,The guys at Bird are amazing to deal with,any issue and they resolve it mega quick,For the price of the Aeris its about 1k cheaper than the reign,
    My first ride on my Aeris i smashed about 20 secs of my PB on one of the steepest trails at Glentress

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    Airdrop Edit

    £2899

    swainy90
    Free Member

    Thanks for all the great responses. I have posted several similar but that was when I had my heart set on a capra before I rode one. The large felt great in length but being 5,9 seat tube felt way to high. Might be worth having another look at the aeris and possibly selling my xc bike.

    funkrodent
    Full Member

    What’s your xc bike? You mention 140mm travel, which sounds a bit more than usual for an xc bike. My experience is that geometry is at least as important as travel unless you’re hitting massive drops. I’ve a 140mm bike (norco sight) and a 160mm (Vitus Sommet) and very rarely ride the latter now as the Norco is so capable. I appreciate the question refers to enduro. Having done the ard rock the last two years I’d take the Norco next time..

    stevomcd
    Free Member

    Nukeproof Mega?

    swainy90
    Free Member

    It’s a cannondale trigger 140/85mm travel. I do think it is a great bike but when i am on more technical trails think a 160mm bike will be built geometry wise to withstand and ride much more efficiently. I have also had a ride on a nukeproof mega as I really like the look of that bike. Probably the most out of any but didn’t ride great in all honesty, felt very similar to the capra geometry wise. It’s awkward being 5,9 as most bike I am in between sizing on a medium/ large

    stevomcd
    Free Member

    swainy90 – I’m a bike guide in the Alps and our team of 4 guides all ran Megas for a couple of seasons, now on Orange Alpine 6s. We also hired out Megas for a while. From our experience, at 5’9″, you are absolutely smack in the middle of the range for a medium and shouldn’t be considering a large.

    I’m 5’11” and I would consider myself to be on the shorter end of things for a large.

    Just our opinion of course, and by all means try different sizes, but your comment above about the seat tube being too long confirms this opinion for me!

    swainy90
    Free Member

    Stevo thanks for reply and it was a large I rode on. In all fairness felt great top tube length just too much seat tube which will tie up with what your saying really. Will have to have a go on a medium to see how that feels, hopefully my local bike shop will have one in soon. Just done abit of fettling on the bird website and with shimano 11 speed with upgraded forks shock and wheels came to 2700. I’ve also dropped them an email regarding a few questions. It’s a shame none of my friends/people that ride around Cannock chase seem to have one unless I have just been unfortunate and not seen one.

    poah
    Free Member

    If I was after a bike the now I’d be looking at the airdrop edit

    hainman
    Free Member

    @swainy90
    If your on FB look up Bird owners page as I know they do a lot of group rides and Cannock is mentioned plus Bird do demo days
    I’m sure someone Down your way would give you a wee shot on there’s to let you get a feel for it
    I was lucky my mate had one so I had a ride on it and it felt magic

    joebristol
    Full Member

    Per comments above – there’s not much difference between a 160 and 170mm bike – you won’t notice a centimetre difference. Of far more importance is the geometry and way it uses the suspension / pedals.

    The radon swoop won a recent enduro group test with about 20 bikes in it. The Capra was considered short for its size – the other bikes didn’t quite compete with the spec of the radon for the money.

    The Edit was in that test and cam lower down the score sheet but I think that was due to the coil shock. Not everyone’s cup of tea – it’d be better with an air shock if you like something poppy and move lively. With a coil it’ll swallow everything downhill – so it depends what you want.

    The Aeris 145 is in no way an xc bike – both men’s and women’s enduro races in the U.K. have been won on various spec of Aeris.

    For £3k you could get one with eagle I think and decent suspension / wheels etc. If you went with Sram GX you could get lyrics a reverb and a piggyback shock etc and still come in under budget.

    The Aeris has a pretty short seat tube so often you could fit a couple of sizes depending on the reach you want and pick a length of dropper post to suit. I’m 5’9 with longer legs but short arms. I’ve got an ML Aeris with GX, Yari 160mm, the basic wheelset and a rt3 deluxe rear shock. So far it’s mega everywhere. Pedals uphill ok, really good on the flat and epic downhill. I’ve got a 120mm dropper (transaction ascend) and length wise that’s perfect so far.

    swainy90
    Free Member

    Thanks again for all the great replies. I don’t know what it is but something puts me off the radon. I don’t know if it’s just due to the fact that I’ve never even seen one and it is never spoke about in any of the local bike shops. I have however speaking to several people including LBS heard great reviews regarding the bird. did the bird not even get tested by mbr then or was it just scored very low compared with others?????

    mark90
    Free Member

    I think the Bird missed out on the testing as the travel fell outside the arbitrary test boundaries, ie too much travel for the trail bike category and not enough travel (on paper) for the enduro category.

    Or maybe they just don’t spend enough on advertising with the mag 😉

    benpinnick
    Full Member

    ^ True story about the arbitrary travel boundaries.

    joebristol
    Full Member

    Yes the mbr test was up to 140mm travel and the Mbuk test was 150mm travel upwards. Aeris is 145mm travel.

    swainy90
    Free Member

    When it says 145 does that regard the shock?? As you can put a 160mm pike fork on bird website

    riklegge
    Full Member

    Yes, you can fit a 160 fork on it, 145 is the rear travel

    gaz552
    Free Member

    Sounds like Bird would need to make a downduro spec Aeris for it to fit into magazine shootouts.

    chilled76
    Free Member

    My used 5x Yeti SB6c?

    ifindoubtflatout
    Free Member

    I’m with Rocketdog on this one…. I’m currently running the Stereo and it’s a beast…..climbs really well and go does down like a cheap hooker. I’ve just stuck a offset bushing in the shock and it’s transformed the bike. Have a look at Propain.com. I had a Tyee but they also do the Twoface, can spec it to what you want….don’t be put off of the shock position.

    mark90
    Free Member

    goes down like a cheap hooker

    Ok for the money, but you know you could have better?

    ifindoubtflatout
    Free Member

    Everyone has a opinion on what’s good and bad. It’s the easiest bike to ride that I’ve ever had over 20 years of riding. I did get the Cube at trade price Tbh……so was a no brainer really.

    dragon
    Free Member

    Specalized Enduro, Trek Remedy or Giant Reign 2. Plenty of others like the Whyte also available, no need to go for some weird brand you can’t get a demo on.

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