as above your cash your choice but I would have a look at as many bikes as possible ride as many as possible what suits you might not for me, there is a big difference in the suspension systems mentioned but for me have a look at second hand frames or those reduced. Ridden or owned a few of the bikes mentioned
blur lt2, did not get on with it at all, felt dead and wooden
turner dw great bike but still favour the horst link (sorry irrational)
Orange 5 never really got on with it….not a single pivot fan
Yeti overrated imho again never really liked the suspension

Chumba good offer there, not ridden one.
Personal choices would
Giant trance fab bikes miss my old blue one, really involving ride
Maverick ml7.5 but even better ml8 a real marmite bike the 8 is the best climbing bike traction is incredible, on the downs on steeps it can feel as if it is pushing you forward a bit but once you are aware brilliant.
Titus had a supermoto great bike not as good as the maverick climbing better on the downs….have a look at the el gaupo a true all mountain bike.
HT DIalled bikes PA, great all day bike,

Spend less on the bike, go on a skills day and then holiday

Also, let me be the first to say a Chumba! Just about to offer a rolling chassis deal on the VF2 frames, £1950 gets you frame, Fox Float QR15 fork, Hope Hoops, Thomson stem and post, Chumba grips and saddle. Add a SLX group set and away you go!

I have to say Si, that is a fantastic deal. Chumba deserve to do well with that!

hmmm.

it's hard to fault an orange 5se with a maxle upgrade at the rear. for that money – beautiful bikes, though not the cheapest for what you get IMO.

for that money, I'd be getting my bike shop to be rolling out the red carpet and getting some serious discounts on upgrades.

how about an ST4? those are bloody good fun too….

INTENSE ALL THE WAY!!

5.5, SPIDER OR TRACER FOR THAT KIND OF MONEY 😀

You just got to take a long hard look at mr Progressive's Chumbas, he is here all the time, they look ace and will have a backup to match.. 2.5k gets you a flipping great bike and leaves you with 1k to splurge on taking the thing into the mountains… (wich is far more important than what you take there in my opinion ((obviousy within reason))

On the Santa Cruz theme, i'm amazed no-one has mentioned the Nomad. Awesome bike, I had one of these and now have a Heckler. The main gripe with the initial Nomad was the bottom pivot wearing fairly quickly. This it seems has now been sorted. You can't go wrong with Santa Cruz

mmmmm, does 3.5k get you into a Foes? if you really have to spend it all. 🙂

If you want to spend £3.5k, I'd go for a custom build and spec everything you want. For a do it all bike, maybe start with an Intense Tracer frame and U-turn Lyriks and take it from there. (hope hoops with flows, xt drive train, saint or hope brakes etc..)

gardino71 – Member

On the Santa Cruz theme, i'm amazed no-one has mentioned the Nomad. Awesome bike, I had one of these and now have a Heckler. The main gripe with the initial Nomad was the bottom pivot wearing fairly quickly. This it seems has now been sorted. You can't go wrong with Santa Cruz

I'm amazed I forgot about it…
Defo. I have a mate with one of these and she is very rapid.

Cannondale Rize 140 carbon. Best do it all bike ever. And that's not my option, that's fact that is… 😆

buy a £2k bike and go for a proper good holiday!!!

By the time you spec out a full build from brand new parts it is surprisingly easy to get to £3k.

Santa Cruz are about to release a Carbon Nomad, if you really want to push that budget.

I would buy this;
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/trek-remedy-8-item130186.html
And spend the rest on a fizik gobi, some skills training and a nice 2 week trip to spain for some well deserved sun. 😀

Zesty 714. Just back from Cwmcarn mmmm so fast. If you have to take one weapon to a fight?

Anyone who tells you that a hard tail is best for trail centers are bonkers. Yes they are perfectly capable but 140mm FS is just so much faster and loads more fun. Fun is after all what we want?

<digs trench awaiting incoming flames from the STW Al-Qaeda hard tails users no fun sect>

😆

Thanks again for all the replies.

To reiterate, I shan't be buying a hardtail or multiple bikes.

And I'll have plenty left over for fun trips.

And I live in Scotland, where the trails are amazing.

Bit biased this
But checkout http://www.mscbikes.co.uk and look at the Aluminium Zion RR, comes in under budget at £3,379
It's a 5 or 6 inch travel trail bike, Elixer CR's, RS Revelations, Fox RP23 rear shock, KS seat post,XO and Noir throughout and weight wise it comes in at a helthy 27lbs (without pedals). What MTB have just done a test on this bike, so if you need an independant view speak to Justin Loretz.
We have a demo bike available for test at Inners on weekend of 17th 18th April or at The Ae Avalanche event 8th 9th May
Cheers
Steve

has anyone mentioned Nikolai yet?

(Helius AM as a suggestion)

get yourself a 5 spot. Its a do everything bike ( part from xc racing).

Its comfy, handles well and with that cash you could build it up nicely

Hope hoops
xtr drivetrain, carbon bars etc
set of rev's or pikes

prob build up to a 28-29lb all day bike.
If you wanna demo a built up (Horstlink) 5 spot i'm motherwell area, your welcome to try mine for a while. Its a medium , 17.5 ins

Its quite beefy n heavy ( 32.5lbs), but you'll get the general idea of how it feels

this

I read half way down the first page of this thread and couldn't believe the number of anal geeks going on about diminishing returns and buy a hardtail and you wanna test some bikes, you do (despite saying that he'd test bikes), etc. etc.

You don't wanna do it like that, you wanna do it like this…

I say go for it. Spend £3500 on a right tasty bike that will make you feel great. You've probably got a good list by now, so I won't add any more, but the speculation over choosing a bike is great fun so enjoy it!

I'll add a Rocky Mountain Slayer SXC to the pot…..

Zesty 514…..Goes like a rocket up and down. Makes my old Orange 5 seem pretty crap in comparison.

Lapierre all the way….

I doubt you would be able to build a Nicolai AM for 3.5k, the budget for mine is around 5-6k…..

The chumbas look excellent

cove hustler works for me, surprised no one else has mentioned them.
the chumba deal sounds like a real bargain, I have the hardtail and it's great.

5 Spot. Bosh. In Edinburger if you want to throw a leg over it.

That's my chumba Si posted, £2500ish built with SLX, before Si's excellent rolling chassis deal. Very pleased, very efficient pedaller, not heavy (mines 28lb with no thought to lightweight bits), very confidence inspiring. I went from my first hardtail to the VF2 and have no regrets. However, worth knowing what it is you want, I demo'd a few, and some of those mentioned so far are very different to each other. Chumba VF2 has been great for me as an all day lake district bike, I'm sure others would suit other people better.

Had a few top end bikes in the last few years and am presently riding a SC Heckler and really rate it as a do it all type bike.Peddles very nicely,gives a lot of confidence and best of all nearly zero maintenance

Custom built steel from Vanilla cycles .There is about a five year waiting list.The frame alone will do half your budget but it will be gert lush!

Alpine 160
Orange 5 AM
Lappiere with 160 travel

Yeti ASR7 is something else to throw into the pot.

i think i'd get a 4 rather than 5 or 6 inch full susser, i would have said a blur but that is carbon (dream bike) so maybe a turner flux, they are soooo nice. maybe two sets of seriously nice wheels, bolt through forks, ceramic everything, the best goretex cables, then xt/slx gears and spares for trips, xtr brakes and a sensible cockpit: raceface deus? on one? (i don't like thomson layback posts, but need layback)

Run an older SC Heckler, now in its Xth build, excelled in all of them from lightweight XC to Alps DH, one of the finer single pivot bikes I think.

Other things that tempt me (but not enough)
Horst 5 Spot
Rocky Mountain Switch
Foes

Impressed with a friends Zesty too.

Ok, so you've only got £3.5k…

Boutique bikes with bling specs are out, you'll never build something for that little. You need to buy an off the shelf bike and then change bits as and when.

For comparison my Ti HT would cost you £3.5k to build from scratch.

I demo'ed an Orange ST4 on Sunday, for a 120mm FS it felt 'bottomless' – very impressed. I'd look at that and then pay for the extra finishing kit plus Talas upgrade and some decent tyres. plus wider bar.

BMC 4stroke, Titus look lovely in the flesh, test rode an orange 5 pro with all the upgrades which was great.

If you're a bike snob/enthusiast like most, it's the ideal chance to get something unique and special built. If not, then you're spoilt for choice with off the peg completes.

Lucky boy 🙂

if it was my money it'd be a 5 spot or a heckler.

Boutique bikes with bling specs are out, you'll never build something for that little. You need to buy an off the shelf bike and then change bits as and when.

No you don't. Nice frame and solid parts/classifieds, unless you HAVE to waste money on XTR and the like…

Transition covert

+1 for shunning the naysayers who are telling you to do something else with your money. I don't have a wishlist at the moment, but if I had £3.5k to spend on a bike, then I bloody well would.

And jeezus, if I see another frikkin Chumba shoehorned into a thread I might do something I regret………

Oh, maybe I do have a wishlist, well not as such, but more a suggestion from another thread………

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fantasy-spec-for-an-all-day-do-anything-type-fs-bike-what-would-you-have#post-1270860

Oh, and did I really see a Giant further up the page?