OK, I have 1000 squid to spend on fun / play bike, would prefer steel, slack HA and something I can chuck around without worrying about it.

Final choice is:

Commencal Meta HT SX
1 x 9
SRAM X5
XFusion 140mm Velvet
Slack HA
Looks kinda cool (OK it is pink!)

Whyte 905
Great reviews
Not Steel, so ride may be harsher
Nice components, Reba Fork

Whyte 901 Steel
Decent 631 steel
Lots of adjustment in the frame
Good SLX spec
Fox F120RL Fork

Genesis Latitude 10
Deore kit
Recon Gold Fork
Reynolds 520
Maybe not as checkable as I want

On-One 456 Evo 2
Deore Spec
Sektor RL
4130 Steel
Slack HA

456 but I am biased already owning one…

Commencal in stealth pink…

I didn’t find the 905 that much fun! And quite harsh compared to the bfe and hand job I have had since. From your list I would probably go with the commencal or the 456 evo

No brainer for me, on-one all day long.

Parkwood

Parkwood

Would love it, I think it looks perfect, but have a window of about 3 weeks or so due to C2W scheme 🙁

Think the 456 Evo is the leader at the mo. Best in terms of spec and price. Love the Commencal, looks a lot of fun, can’t find that many reviews, plus spec will need upgrading sharpish !

45650b?

Fatty?
Where have you found the whyte 901 for under 1k,I’ve only seen it for about 1200.

£999 in Winstanleys, only is a large.

kit on the 456 looks best to me. would always take Shimano over Sram, especially X5, and the forks are from a more proven/reliable firm (GF has Sektor fork, it’s good).

in fact a mate has just stuck a Sektor on his 456 (previoulsly had a Lyrik) and he is happy.

456 is a very capable frame.

I would get the 45650b as it has 44mm headtube that means it can take tapered forks for some reason on the EVO 2 Brant kept the old straight steerer size.

I know the Sektor is a decent fork, really wanted to try out the X-Fusion Velvet, after it beat the equiv Sektor / Fox etc last year in the MBUK test.

The Commencal just looks LOTS of fun !!! But agree the components look shoddy and I’ll prob upgrade the brakes ASAP.

I would get the 45650b as it has 44mm headtube that means it can take tapered forks for some reason on the EVO 2 Brant kept the old straight steerer size.

Bugger, isn’t it? I have shedloads of 26 inch wheels/tyres/tubes/tubeless kit and quite fancied getting a 456 frame but need a frame that takes tapered.

Toyed with the idea of running 26 inch wheels on a 45650b but thought better of it.