Hi all,

I’m completely new to mountain bikes having come from the skinny tyred lycra wearing side. I’ve been researching what i’m going to buy as a first bike and I think I’ve narrowed it down to two bikes.

Sonder/Alpkit Transmitter (£1400, SRAM GX, 120mm Yari fork, Reverb dropper, 650b+ Boost wheels)
or
Bird Zero TR (£1550, SRAM GX, 130mm Pike Fork, No dropper, 650b wheels)

It isn’t possible to try either of these before I buy unfortunately.

I’m in south wales so i’m going to be riding at the local trail centres and around Brecon.

I’m struggling here so any thoughts from you guys could possibly help or possibly make it worse!

Any other suggestions are also welcome.

Thanks

Ben

Whyte 905

I’d pesonally be more tempted by the Bird as the forks should give you a bit more around the local descents. IMHO the lack of dropper should not be too much of an issue as Wales is more up up up then down down down (ie longer climbs descents).

In terms of other bikes I am a very happy Cotic customer amd for £1650 you can get a Soul or BFe – they have some demo days coming up very shortly if you don’t mind a drive. Bike Brechfa used to run/rent some you could check.

Ben welcome to the light from the dark side and you live in a great place for mountain biking 🙂

I did see the 905RS which looks good but for £1600 only has a Yari fork and DB5 brakes.
Both the Alpkit/Sonder and the Bird have Guide R brakes and the Bird has a pike fork.

Actually Alpkit will do the Sonder with a pike fork for £1600 aswell.

Why is it that the budget always manages to creep up a little at a time!

Cheers Jambalaya!

I was in two minds over the dropper post but I think you’ve just convinced me that I don’t “need” one!

I’ll have a look at the cotics.

Anyone have any opinions on the benefits/negatives of plus size tyres and boost hubs on a hardtail?

I will stick my neck out here…. Why spend anywhere near that for your first hardtail!. I have a 2015 Cube Attention 29er which cost me £500 brand new. When I rock up at Surrey Hills bike park you always get a few sly looks and smirks but it kicks ass on all the trails and I pan the guys on 4K bikes. I would be looking at Cube, they have some excellent bikes. I now have a lovely full carbon fibre KTM but still take my low end cube out as its so well geared and comfy. What if you spend £1,400 and find it gives you bad back ache or is the wrong size etc.. 🙂

It isn’t possible to try either of these before I buy unfortunately.

Can you get to Wrexham?

Your right, the sensible thing would be to buy a cheaper bike to start but that isn’t as fun is it?

I’ve bought plenty of bikes over the years, selling them and upgrading to a better bike etc and given that I have the money I’d like to get something that im going to be happy with for while without feeling the urge to upgrade to something else.

Anyone have any opinions on the benefits/negatives of plus size tyres and boost hubs on a hardtail?

I’ve actually ridden a Transmitter for a few days and I thought it was a hoot. My usual bike’s a Ragley Ti running a 2015 Pike – it has an oversized headtube – and the overall feel of the Sonder was quite familiar, slack and predictable, but the plus-sized tyres give you appreciably more grip and some added cushioning without feeling draggy or weird. The one I rode had an X Fusion Sweep up front, which was fine with a 2.8 Trailblazer, but a Pike would be nice.

I haven’t ridden the Bird, but I thought the 650b+ set-up on the Transmitter was brilliant. In fact I liked it enough that I bought a Transmitter frame and am just about to build it up. For perspective, I thought and still think that 650b is just hype, but the plus version is something else again. Oh, and the flattened top tube looks pretty cool, though I have no idea if it really adds compliance given the size of the tyres.

Not sure that helps much and I’m sure they’re both good bikes, but the plus-size thing worked for me anyway.

Yeah to an extent but look around for an ex-display. My £500 cube has XT rear mech and a decent Aluminium frame with DT Swiss 29er wheels. Sure there are some real junk bikes in this price range but go ex-demo or ex-display and you get a lot of bike for your money. Check Cube LTD SL, TREK Superfly 5 would be a great starting bike or Whyte are making nice bikes.

Also – 26 / 27.5 or 29er ? I would say if your over 6ft always look towards a 29er.

Cut out the first bike and just get the Bird//Cotic/etc etc as you say you are not a first time bike buyer. You’ve a very decent hardtail budget so you’ll have many good bikes to chose from.

My first mtb was a £350 Specialized hardrock. I thought disc brakes where for posers until an autumn ride when all the rim brakes did was scrape off the mud and leaves. I then bought a £3k Giant Reign which was a geaat bike but not really right either.

Whatever you buy you can upgrade or even put the bits on another frame.

If you’re looking at cheaper stuff, maybe consider a voodoo bizango – gets rave reviews for the price (about £600). Might be easier to get to have a test ride on one too. If you like it, then you have £800 to spend on upgrades (dropper post… 1×11 groupset… powdercoat paint job…)

EDIT – just read your reply to the “buy a cheaper bike” post so ignore what I said… Apparently Bird Zeros (zeroes?) are the bollocks though.

I was in the same position as you 6 weeks ago. My last bike was a trek fuel 8 which was great when I hit the trail centres but poor around where I live as it flat. So I opted for a HT, it was going to the 905 or the bird zero TR. I ended up getting the zero tr- xt11. I took it to the Lake District around ullswater single track for its first ride. I loved it. I was at the front on the accents and I kept up with all the full sus riders on the descents.

With the bird up can upgrade your components to suit your budget.

I’m completely new to mountain bikes…narrowed it down to…£1400 or £1550

I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, you’ve come to the right place 😀

Of those two, it has to be the dearer one as it’s more expensive and will impress more people – until you ride it.

If it were me i’d being going full sus + carbon for a first bike. Maybe an S Works or something a bit less mainstream like a [insert boutique name brand here].

What about a cheap bike from halfords and loads of skillz day lessons?

(psssst..Zero 😉 )

+1 for cotic. Try and get a demo day.

Customer service is great and the frames they make are very good in my experience. My old Soul mk3 was one of the best bikes I ever owned

Bird Zero. Better value in terms of components and quality. You can spec how you want and the geometry is superior.