Hey guys looking for an enduro bike between 2 and 3 thousand quid. Can be 2nd hand or new. Just looking to see what you guys rating

Capra comp would be my shout if you’ve got the cash

http://www.yt-industries.com/shop/en/Bikes/Trail/Capra-CF-Comp-2

For £3k you could get a very nice codeine, could get a covert built up comfortably for that too.

Yt capra would be where I would start, seems unbeatable for the money

That is quite a lot of bike for the money.

kona process.

New, I’d be looking at a Rallon, an Enduro 29er or a Capra (which is maybe just slightly out of budget depending on the exchange rate?) Enduro comes up a bit short on spec but there’s some discounted ones out there now for the first time.

Or alternatively there’s probably a bunch of kickass 26 inch bikes out there used now that the fashion victims can’t stand to have them in the garage 😉

Sorry for shameless plug but I’ve got a turner sultan 29er for sale that comes in your price bracket. Great spec and copes with the Enduro tracks at Innerleithen way better than I do. Gives a shout via mail if you want details etc?

Kona didnt compare spec wise to the capra when I took a look, the 153 dl did not seem worth the £4000 price, although a great bike, just not good value in my opinion, although what is compared to the yt bikes?
Depends on what rush you are in, the new commencal meta v4 announced recently and available october is looking decent vfm, waiting on the spec to be confirmed.
I’m also waiting on the price for the gt sanction, although based on their current model prices, its going to be stupidly high.

Its hard to look past the yt vfm wise but is the waiting list still huge ?

Personally I’d say get the lower spec 153 and upgrade a few bits

Its what I did and its a brilliant bike
Mines got race evo m4s slx/ zee superstar narrow wide and light bicycle carbon rims

Under 14 kg, very fast and fun

YT Capra
YT wicked 650b
Commencal Meta AM / SX (some very cheap deals on their direct site)
One One Codeine
Kona Process
Orbea Rallon
Trek Slash 7

I personally went for an Specialized Enduro Comp 29. Got a few hundred quid off, sold some old parts to fund a reverb dropper which, to be honest, is the only upgrade it needs. The spec is workmanlike but the chain guide, type 2 mech and easy to setup tubeless rims are all great.

The Pike is brilliant and the bike climbs perfectly well given its weight. Its playful and quick going downhill, and the short stays mean it really doesn’t feel like a lot of other 29ers.

That was my shortlist and final choice anyway.

Kona didnt compare spec wise to the capra when I took a look, the 153 dl did not seem worth the £4000 price, although a great bike, just not good value in my opinion, although what is compared to the yt bikes?

that depends on whether you evaluate a bike on a spec sheet or how it actually rides?

the process is one of the best bikes I’ve ridden in a long time, if I was in the market for a new bike it’d be front and centre.

Kona didnt compare spec wise to the capra when I took a look

The thing is you can probably have the Process 153 for ~£2200, if you can hang on till the end of summer there may well be a further price drop and then you can spend the remainder of your budget ironing some of the kinks out of the spec…

Of course we’ve all assumed a 6″ travel bike is what you want, but how would sir feel about a Process 134?

OK so 20mm less travel and 1.5* less head angle, but it is still a trail/Enduro bike designed to go up and down hills, with the change from buying the 134 DL you’d be able to swap forks and change some other parts to have a pretty good mid travel “Enduro” bike for ~£3k, in fact the vanilla 134 can be had for under ~£1800 if you treated that as a basic platform to bolt fancier bits on to I reckon you could be onto a winner…

Taking a bike as it comes off the peg, you’ll always be forced to compromise, buying a cheaper bike with a good frame and thinking about how/what you upgrade should allow you to build a bike that suits your needs a shade better, IMO of course…

One pal has the Canyon 650B FS, one the Codine, one with the Cube SuperStereo 650B FS and one with the Process 134.

All seem very good and about the same (give or take a couple of hundred) price-wise – although differing specs.

for just over 3 you could get one of those new fancy carbon Canyons.

Im waiting for the Commencal V4 personally.

I challenge anyone to find better value than http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/radon-swoop-175-8.0-se-128911/wg_id-156

I refuse to buy a bike that sounds like a washing powder.

weeksy – Member

I refuse to buy a bike that sounds like a washing powder.
How very Bold of you.

No one should buy you a Saracen Ariel

that depends on whether you evaluate a bike on a spec sheet or how it actually rides?
the process is one of the best bikes I’ve ridden in a long time, if I was in the market for a new bike it’d be front and centre.

How did the Capra ride in comparison?

Commy AMs in the end of years. 2 years ago I built similar spec to a 1 for 2250 via that. But I got some killer deals.

3K should be doable though

Avoided this Enduro slang, where does it sit versus XC, and allmountain?

The new 2015 Commencal range look a match for the YTs

http://www.bicycling.com/mountainbikecom/bikes-gear/giant-trance-sx-275
New Riegn out this year so these might come down in price…

nukeproof mega.

was going to order a capra pro…but… seems that the carbon where the mech hanger and maxle seat is breaking apart, seen this on two of the three capras I have seen.

EDIT: I didnt take any photos, but this pretty much sums up what I have seen, dont know what the official YT stance is at the mo.

Some wise words in this thread.

It’s easy to get blinded by a spec sheet….brands like YT, Canyon etc are onto a winner here and if having a Reverb or an 11-speed set-up is important to you then crack on, the bike will probably be good (bikes are rarely bad these days!)….and most of us dont get anywhere near the limit of said bike to find any criticisms anyway.

….but, brands like Kona have a proven history and the new Process range is universally applauded.
Why?….its not the spec sheet (in most cases this is average), it’s the way the bike rides, Kona have hit the jackpot with the Process….glowing reviews are coming in from journalists who have ridden one spec’d with Sektors and the bike still rides well….that is quite a trick to do and well done to Kona for being able to provide a frame that seems to ride well on whatever suspension!…to overlook a bike like that seems daft.

I’d also echo the comments about the shorter travel Process 134 and Mega TR…they are great bikes (i’ve ridden the TR, it’ll probably be my next full suspension bike)….a few years ago the relaunched Saracen Ariel 140mm got glowing reviews and Southern Downhill/Ride-It-Out ended up buying their long termer and using it as a guide bike in the Alps, they said it rode like a mini downhill bike despite a 68 degree head angle and 140mm travel, both of which are easily dismissed these days as people seek 160mm forks and 66 degree head angles….there is more to a bike than a spec sheet.

The arrival of full suspension bikes with short travel rear ends like the Process 134, Mega TR, Commencal HipHop etc is a grudging admission that sometimes 160mm at each end does detract from the ride….whether riders want to admit it or not there is a fair bit of pedal bob on bikes with 160mm rear ends, lock out shocks and fancy linkages help but these bikes simply dont pedal or climb like a shorter travel bike…it can deaden the trail, temp riders into lazy sat down riding, make the bike difficult to get airborne if that’s your thing etc etc….i’d liken the Mega TR i rode to an ultra capable hardtail, enough give at the back to take the sting out of the ride while staying taught and responsive enough to make things interesting, perfect….

….if you race then i admit you may have different requirements and speed over rough terrain will be he ultimate goal, in which case get the 160mm racing beast and beat the trail into submission….but most on here dont race, most on here ride Swinley, spend the odd weekend at Welsh trail centres and take an annual trip to the Alps, if people would take the blinkers off and try something different they’d find bikes like the HipHop, TR and 134 are fun and probably more suited to their riding.

Last time i rode Swinley i took a hardtail and had a great time, at the time i had a Saracen Ariel at home but didnt take it, whats the point in taking a bike that is so capable that the ride becomes boring?….any hobby should be fun, if its not fun you’re doing it wrong.
On the hardtail i had to concentrate and actually ‘ride’….at the end i felt invigorated and had a huge grin on my face….the time before i rode my full susser and was bored, to the extent that i came on here and slagged off the new trails at Swinley….looking back it wasnt the trails that were the problem, it was the bike i took.

We’re now at a curious place where even most 140mm FS bikes are capable enough to handle pretty much anything in the UK and most of what you’ll find abroad too, step up to 150mm and 160mm bikes and you have the kind of angles, travel etc that were being raced at world DH level not too long ago….trail centres are going to have to go to some extreme lengths in order to cater for the ability of these new AM/Enduro bikes or riders will return from such-and-such trail centre and declare it boring!

I ride everything on a hardtail at the moment for this very reason, all my favourite places risk being labelled ‘boring’ if i tackle them on a new Enduro bike!…i shouldnt complain really, development in the last few years has been awesome and we should rejoice at how capable these bikes are, my next new bike will likely be full suspension and it will likely be one of the shorter travel rear end bikes like the Mega TR just to keep things interesting.

Anyway, long and rambling post done….i think my original point was about not buying a bike based on the spec sheet alone, instead read the reviews and try to ride one yourself.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/ojKEe5]Untitled[/url] by ben_eddie, on Flickr]bike[/url]

deviant – Member

i rode my full susser and was bored, to the extent that i came on here and slagged off the new trails at Swinley….looking back it wasnt the trails that were the problem, it was the bike i took.You should ride faster and harder on your FS then!
I went from a 90s rigid rim brake MTB to a 2009 FS and it’s probably more fun now.

GT sanction or force? Nice alloy force at £2250

Sorry but you are all wrong

transition Patrol 2015 will be an awesome bike, totally best enduro bike out there.
though the Spicy is a similar bike and just as brilliant

The patrol looks OK, but it’ll be as heavy as a tank if my bandit frame is anything to go by. ‘Giddy up’ suspension lol

How about a used but mint Nomad great bikes to ride.
Currently for sale as a frame or could build it back up and sell complete.

robidoo1athotmail.co.uk
With any questions.

The Capra has an amazing vfm spec but given the waiting list it’d be quicker and you’d probably end up with a better bike if you hunt around for a lightly used frame and fork, get some Light Bicycle Chinese carbon wheels, and a discount groupset from bike-discount.de or whoever’s cheapest these days.

I just ordered a Radon Slide 160 650b 8.0SE.

They are in stock and for under £2,800 to my door I get a full carbon frame, pikes, 1×11 sram (mostly x01 other than the cranks which are x1), reverb stealth, uber-expensive DT Swiss EX1501 wheels, hans dampfs and a raceface cockpit.

Outguns the Canyon on price and matches the Capra, so hopefully it will be all it promises to be.

Should be with me next week.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/08/mtb/first-ride-giant-reign-advanced-1_339514

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/08/mtb/first-ride-giant-reign-advanced-1_339514

“That extra 4mm of rake cuts down on the Reign’s trail and has a drastic effect on how the bike handles. It is not for the faint of heart. On anything but wide open trails pointed directly downhill, the Reign feels like a overgrown beast, requiring serious muscle to throw into corners.”

“On my local Fort Collins, Colorado trails, full of tight, twisty singletrack with few segments to really let a bike fly downhill, the Reign was a caged lion, only giving me brief glimpses of its power.”

I guess it depends where you live but that doesn’t sound great to me.

I guess it depends where you live but that doesn’t sound great to me.

the man said enduro bike.

a long travel trail bike is a different beastie.

Really happy with my Codeine. Pedals well, descends well and I like the looks. It’s not the lightest bike out there, but it doesn’t ride like it weighs 32 lbs. (i’ve set a number of PRs up hills vs my 25lb ti 29er hardtail)
I have noticed that I regularly don’t feel like I’m going as quickly – but I’m actually going faster and with more control and suddenly have time to look at and choose lines and use “features” more than before
As other people have said there aren’t many truly bad eggs out there at that sort of price and it’ll come down to personal preference as to wheel size, components etc, but if you can try and go for a test ride on the bikes you’re interested first that’ll help massively.
If you want to try the Codeine and you’re somewhere in the vicinity of Edinburgh I’m sure we can arrange a ride at some point

http://www.enduroworldseries.com/downloads/rankings/EWS%20rankings%20Teams-overall.pdf

a trek?

nasher – Member

nukeproof mega.

was going to order a capra pro…but… seems that the carbon where the mech hanger and maxle seat is breaking apart, seen this on two of the three capras I have seen.

EDIT: I didnt take any photos, but this pretty much sums up what I have seen, dont know what the official YT stance is at the mo.

I understand that this is related to the hanger itself.

Offical response re my order for a comp 1

The PRO and COMP 1 Version has a 1×11 Drivetrain from SRAM.

Unfortunately the combination of this rear derailleur and the Mech Hanger causes the problem, that the contact-surface between the rotation-stopper of the rear derailleur is too small.

Because of this the Mech Hanger is exposed to very high torques in this area, wich can cause the Mech Hanger to break.

The CAPRA’s Mech Hanger was specified and constructed strictly according to the requirements by SRAM.
While testing the CAPRA this problem did not occur and therefore the Mech Hanger’s design went into production.

We very much want to make sure to offer products wich work, are purchased and handled responsibly.

Therefore, we decided to redesign the Mech Hanger in this neuralgic area.

I am told that new Capras started shipping with the new hanger about a week ago and I believe that new hangers are being sent to customers who already have their bikes.