OK, I’ve ridden a hardtail (Soul) for years and also have a Scott Voltage for when I get out on rougher stuff.

Got the Scott out on the trails this morning and remembered how much I love riding it. While I love my Scott it has some drawbacks – mainly its heavy (34lbs). Made me start considering getting a Full Sus for normal trail duties.

So…

I’m wondering what is out there which is lightweight, has 2×10 and is loads of fun to ride (and climbs hills)??

Anyone got a bike they consider the proverbial quiver killer?? (has to be Full Sus though)??

Very subjective question mate, everyone thinks their bike is the best!

Love my full sus, but love my hardtail too. And wouldn’t want to be without either. If I’m ever out on a sweet trail on my hardtail that I wished I’d been on my full sus instead… Well… All the more reason to go back and ride it again ASAP on the other bike!

Your Soul is a sweet bike. I’ve known a few people sell theirs and end up regretting it. Remember the formula is always N+1, so cutting your collection down isn’t going to help solve anything! 😉

Everyone is gonna bang their own drum with this one. Ill do it first though.

Turner 5 spot. Climbs like a mountain goat with absolutely no wallowing or pedal bob. Then descends so well. Amazing bit of kit 🙂

Thought the full suss quiver killer is the Transition covert, their advert said so 😀

Quivers have rights you know.

Banshee Spitfire, Orange 5, Specialized Enduro, Santa Cruz Bronson, are the first 4 bikes that spring to mind, two I have owned and loved, two I have not but like the look of. If its the only bike you have then its worth getting something that fits perfectly and then going to town on the build. I went from 3 bikes to one, and don’t regret it 🙂

Mboy – who said anything about selling the soul??? I have space 🙂

Used to like the idea of the covert until I realised the scott frame is a similar weight.

Heard some nice full sus’ers which are sub 29lbs (current weight of the Soul)

As, always, how much £££ have you got to spend??

stumpy fsr evo.

If the OP wants light weight then I think that rules out the Covert. I don’t think Transition themselves would ever describe their bikes as lightweight and would openly and admit that weight was not high on the list of priorities in its design. It is an all-mountain bike with a more DH leaning so the frame is beefed up accordingly. You could probably get it sub 30lb with a super light (and expensive) build, but it wouldn’t have the robustness to match the frame and sort of defeats the object. However my Covert weighs in at 33lbs but still climbs fine – slow, but fine. I think the best bike for the OP from Transitions stable based upon the OP’s list of requirements above would be the Bandit. Still not super lightweight, but lighter than the Covert with more of a trail/XC bias but still a bike that can take on rougher stuff than it should.

Well I have only one bike, a 2010 Orange five, it does everything I need to. Local XC and can easily be built up for trips to the Alps and Spain.

As mentioned above the stumpy fsr evo is a sweet bike, have my eye on it for when I have the cash but it may be more than you need and it’s £2.5K.

Some good deals on Pauls Cycles too.

Ddmonkey…sorry to go off at a tangent, did you own the Spitfire?

I’m thinking about a v2 and would be interested in getting a bit more owner feedback before taking the plunge.

Ok well if you’re not selling, just adding an all purpose full sus into the range then my recommendation is thus…

The Whyte T129s. Yes I know it was What MTB’s trail bike of the year, which usually means probably best to steer clear of, but honestly it’s the single best all round full sus bike I’ve ridden in years! Goes downhill like a DH bike with a couple of inches less travel and a whole load less weight, climbs like no 29lb full sus has any right to, handles better than a 29er should by a huge margin (I forgot it was a 29er when I rode one) as its so adept on technical stuff, and its ridiculous value for money!

Designed/refined on your local trails too mate…

I went from a Covert and an Evil Sovereign to a Blur TRc and couldn’t be happier. I’m not over biked any more in terms of strength and travel (but definitely in quality!), I think going down to one bike can work but it depends what you ride.

As wobbliscott said Transition Bandit, run mine tubeless with a2x10 carbon bars it is an awesome ride climbs and descends with ease, you won’t regret pulling the trigger on one. All in at 27.5lbs.

Heard good things about the Whtye bikes, but still not sure I’d get on with a 29er.

I did have a chat to a mate riding a proto 146 and he was raving about it. apparently only 25lbs and 150mm travel – surely that’s illegal!!

Orange ST4 and Transition Bandit I’d say, both very similar and great.

A few guys I know locally have Blur TRc’s and they have had a lot of good reports. Bloody expensive though.

Never ride my HT now since I got my flux – no reason to – the flux is better at everything.

Mindmap no I have not tried the Spitfire, my current bike is a an Enduro which is my only MTB and is a really capable bike all around with a fairly burly 32 lb build. I live in the Alps so it has to fairly beefy. I had not really looked at the Spitfire before but looked at the specs and geometry of it recently and it looked very similar, slack, low, short chainstays, a bit less travel and sturdy but not too heavy. Plus good range of sizes including an XL that is very similar to my XL Enduro, and it can take 650b or 26″ wheels. I’d love to try one!

Have a go on a T129. They are amazing down and surprisingly good up.

ASR5 fast up fast down on 1 x 10 at 27lbs or less

Skills kill quivers.

Heard good things about the Whtye bikes, but still not sure I’d get on with a 29er.

Try one, you’ll be amazed!

That’s not to say all 29ers are great, far from it, I’ve ridden some rubbish ones. But the Whyte T129 really is something else! You won’t notice the wheel size, you’ll be having far too much fun and going far too quickly to care! It’s like cheating going downhill, it’s that good really… I’m sure out man in your LBS can sort you a demo ride out some point!

Stumpy evo, yeti sb66 and cannondale jekyll are the bikes I considered for do it all bikes.

As mactheknife correctly points out we tend to bang our own drums so I’ll keep with the theme… I built up an Orange 5 at just under 30lbs and it’s been my only bike for 18 months. Does for me perfectly. Of course there are times the idea of a more XC orientated bike is attractive but these area very rare and I never want for more travel, but then again at 39 and living in Surrey there’s not much call… I spent a fortune but every ride is a joy 😀

Specialized Camber springs to mind as does the Bandit and Yeti ASR5, the latter of which I’ve ridden on several occasions and it’s bloody superb.

The Whyte is good on a budget, somewhat over zealous opinions of their descending abilities on here. The alloy ones are a bit like Transition, in that they ‘look’ cheap. But then it’s £2k, it’s a mid class bike, so it’s never going to compete with the high end stuff.

One bike to rule them all is a big ask. Off the shelf the S-Works Enduro is a tough one to look past.

Custom build – I reckon I could get something into 5 figures trying to achieve the perfect spec (for me).

I may well have to try a 29er but still not sure.

Surprised no one has mentioned the latest incarnation of the Scott Genius – the 650b version does appeal and I’ve always had a soft spot for scott bikes.

+1 for ASR 5. There are a few deals around and a few frames in the Classifieds IIRC.

You can’t and shouldn’t judge a bike or its class by its price tag. It bears no resemblance to the quality of the product. The Enduro is expensive but not necessarily any better than much cheaper bikes. Bike manufacturers will price products on the basis of what the think they will get away with irrespective of the product itself. Specialized and other big bike brands exercise maximum leverage of their popularity to load up the premium on their products. I’m not saying they’re crap bikes, just the opposite, but they’re no better than other sometimes cheaper bikes. It is far more important to buy a bike that is right for you in terms of geometry, build spec, aesthetics and other factors. Never heard anyone say Transitions look cheap before, but I would say the paint job isn’t that robust so maybe after use the paint could start to look a bit tatty. But these things are built to be used and mountain bikes that are used accumulate damage.

Transition Bandit climbs well, descends better. It feels robust for a 130mm travel bike to throw it around but remains light enough and controlled in its travel to work well on the twisty turney stuff and climbs.

I’d like to try the new Scott Genius (or the Canondale Jekyll)

Been really happy with my old one. It’s done everything from road centuries on slicks, to blasts down volcanoes in Iceland.

Test rode the T129, Spec. Camber and Superfly. The T129 was hands down the nicest, but not nice enough for me to swap.

The 2 big complaints of the old Scott (short top tube and it using a pull shock) have been fixed in the new model, though to be fair neither have ever caused me trouble.

It’s not quite a quiver killer though, I’m still at the N+1 phase. (Scott Genius, Carbon Whippet, On One Fatty, Trek Madone and a cheapo Claud Butler Fixie) If I was only allowed one bike the Genius would be the one I’d keep.

if i had the cash, i’d be looking at the Whyte 146 XI.

I’m riding a marin quake at the same time, whilst it’s great on the downs and i like the suspension design, the weight is a problem. I think that the Whyte 146 solves that!

If you’ve got the T129 and Orange Five on the list, then I guess you’d have to consider the orange gyro too. Same style as the T129 and probably has a better claim to be an all-rounder than the Five. I think Hannah Barnes recently chose a Gyro over her Five to ride (to a 4th place finish) in the Transvesubienne, which suggests that it is an XC/trail bike that can take a bit of abuse.

If you like your Soul, try a Rocket.

Not the lightest thing ever, but not exactly heavy either (mines 30lb dead with a sensible spec on), but climbs awesomely well – just grips, and is a hoot to descend on.

Lots of choices… 😯

wobbliscott

You can’t and shouldn’t judge a bike or its class by its price tag. It bears no resemblance to the quality of the product. The Enduro is expensive but not necessarily any better than much cheaper bikes. Bike manufacturers will price products on the basis of what the think they will get away with irrespective of the product itself. Specialized and other big bike brands exercise maximum leverage of their popularity to load up the premium on their products. I’m not saying they’re crap bikes, just the opposite, but they’re no better than other sometimes cheaper bikes.

That’s a strange statement, and nearly backwards I would say. You mention specialized and the enduro, saying they’re not necessarily better than something cheaper. On the contrary, while they aren’t exactly cheap and cheerful, the Enduro Comp at £3k is simply an incredible bike (yes I’ve ridden it) and to me it’s a bargain when compared with something like a yeti sb66, sc nomad, ibis mojo…..it looks positively a bargain since imo it’s a superior machine to all of them.

To the op, I would say that if you’re looking for something to do everything on take a close look at the specialized enduro and stimpjumper evo. Depending on how much and how rough your riding is I think you’ll find your quiver killer in either of those two.

I’ve had my new enduro about 6 weeks and am now thinking of having a clear out of many of the other bikes ,
It’s quick enough xc to go on group rides
And more than enough bike on decents for me
Climbs fine given its a big bike

As for price , to me worth every penny as it makes me
Smile and I can ride it a lot

I’m biased, but my Bionicon Alva 180 Air. 29lbs dead, 180mm adjustable travel/geo, a big bike but fully capable of hitting a 50k XC loop as much as the Enduros it’s been set up for….

How about a Zesty? #bangsownbikedrum

Can be had light enough if you go up a few models from the base and they do most things very well…