Hi guys, first world problems and all that. I’m treating myself to a new bike, love the Bird so going for it. Ideally want to spend no more than £3,200. Can you guys help me with the spec in terms of upgrading the forks etc? Which groupset would you recommend? Will mainly be riding Cannock, BPW once a month and a couple of tripe to France next year…

Thanks in advance.

You can get a GX Eagle build, upgrade shock to Super Deluxe, upgrade fork to Lyrik, wheels to EX1501 and bars to Sixc – comes to 3299.

That’s what I’d do.

Also upgrading Guide R brakes to Guide RS is 40 quid and worth it, RS have a servo so are more powerful. Maybe more sensible than going for fancy carbon bars like I did above.

(This is fun…)

I’d naively assumed the bike came with a dropper. How firm are we on the budget?

I spec’d mine exactly the same as above (but with GX 11sp) – I did get the Hope/DT wheels and a carbon bar though. Be aware that with the Super Deluxe shock you need an adaptor like the Shimano SM-BA01 to shift the bottle cage down as the bottle hits the reservoir otherwise. You could also go for the Yari and retrofit the Charger damper at a later date as I believe that’s the only/main difference between it and the Lyriks.

Budget is ‘quite’ firm, originally only wanted to spend £2,500 😀

Bird are now offering Guide RE brakes, R lever with Code calliper, fro the same price as RS- might be worth asking them which way to jump.

pies – Member
Budget is ‘quite’ firm, originally only wanted to spend £2,500

That’s what I always do – set a firm budget and try not to go more than a grand over

How long do you intend to own it for?

I’d get a Radon Swoop 170 instead
Swoop 170 8.0
And save yourself a grand.

Sorry classic STW #recommendwhatyouvegot

Personally I would go for the shimano build, upgrade the shock to super deluxe, upgrade the forks to pikes, change the cranks to SLX m7000 to match the groupset and then chuck a reverb on there with the 1x remote, comes to £2918.50. And then with the change get a luftkappe fitted to the pikes, I installed one recently in my rc’s and it made a huge difference to the forks performance.

I’m thinking about getting a 145 to replace my aging alpine 160 and that’s the build I’ll probably go for.

I’d do exactly that /\ too.

I like this game – I played for ages on he builder before buying my 145 buy my budget was £2300 maximum so my bike is lower spec than yours will be.

With your budget I’d pick the following upgrades:

Rockshox deluxe rt3 (not the super deluxe – with what you say you are riding you won’t notice the benefit very much)

Rockshox Lyrik rt3 160

The full bash guard option (£42)

Sram GX Eagle

Sram Guide Rs or Re (depending on the lever feel you like). RS has the nicer swinglink lever with a bearing in the pivot. The RE is the R lever with no swinglink and a bushing in the pivot but with the Code DH brake caliper.

200/180mm centreline discs. May as well do this for a cheap upgrade to get stronger brakes.

Dt Swiss E1700 spline wheel option

Minion dhf 2.5wt exo 3c front tyre and minion dhr2 2.3 exo 3c rear tyre (in the summer I’d swap the back to an aggressor for faster rolling).

I’d leave the stem / bars all as the standard options.

I’d add the raceface aeffect -150mm dropper post.

Total cost £3164.

If you decided to go lower on budget I’d go slightly cheaper on the wheels probably – or drop down to Yaris for the forks.

I’ve got GX 11 speed / deluxe rt3 shock / Yari 160mm rc / Dt Swiss e1900 wheels / same tyres as above / Sram Guide R brakes (rs was out of stock and re wasn’t available at the time) and the 200/180mm discs. The only option was a reverb at the time for a dropper so I bought a brand x Ascend 125mm dropper which I love so far (150 wasn’t available at the time).

The bike is awesome – the only change I might make at some point is to add the Lyrik rt3 charger damper to my Yari’s along with a Luftkappe. That’s not to say they need them, more because I like upgrading / tinkering.

I’d get a Radon Swoop 170 instead
Swoop 170 8.0
And save yourself a grand.

Yes, because they’re so similar, both being 170mm travel bikes?!!

I’d get a Radon Swoop 170 instead
Swoop 170 8.0
And save yourself a grand.

Sorry classic STW #recommendwhatyouvegot

I would love a Swoop but I think that’ll be too much for mostly riding Cannock?

I went from an S-works carbon enduro to a Swoop, thought it might be too much and too heavy for trail riding

Best bike Ive ever owned, great angles confidence enspiring etc.

A few riders have commented on how my riding has improoved too

Might also be worth checking out the close out deals on other brands too, unless you are set on the Bird? YT have £400 off their bikes right now – good deals on the 27 and 29 Jeffsy Carbon in your price range. I just bought a Hightower C S new within your budget which I totally love. Otherwise Joe and George have spec’d nice Birds.

edit: I’d add the Hope E4 brakes. I totally love mine and moved them over to my new bike day one.

Spec: Orange (everything else is just details 😉 )

Best bike Ive ever owned, great angles confidence enspiring etc.

A few riders have commented on how my riding has improoved too

I could say exactly the same about my Bird.

Lets say I were to buy a swoop, is the 9.0 worth the extra over the 8.0?…

The Bird configurator is great – you can spend hours on it, it’s like buying a new car. The great thing for me is that unlike the other complete bikes I looked at you can use it to spend money on the things you want without having to pay for things you don’t want but just “come with the build”.

I went for a Shimano XT 11-46 build with Pike RCT3/Deluxe RT3, M1700 wheels and an Aeffect dropper; my final build was put together at Bird HQ after a test ride so I could look at all the bits before I ordered, try some of them and talk to the knowlegeable guys there. The only bit I’m not entirely happy with is the Shimano M7000 brakes which are randomly grabby and I expect will lead to an OTB at some point; some Hopes from a previous bike will go on instead when I get round to it.

Lets say I were to buy a swoop, is the 9.0 worth the extra over the 8.0?…

If you get a Swoop, get the 8, the 9 has wheels that fall appart (myself and two mate all bought one, 8 fine, 9 see above)

ime the best return on investment for enjoyment and quality/capability of the bike is to throw as much money at the frame, fork and wheels as you can and go budget for the rest. This also makes it cheaper and easier to upgrade.

I’d go for:

– GX spec as I’ve seen loads of Shimano 11sp mechs lunch themselves recently and SRAM stuff seems to last forever.

– Deluxe RT3 (bearing mount probably gives slightly better small bump compliance). Super Deluxe is overkill for most UK riding but does have a really cool lsc dial to play with…

– DT 1501 wheels – XM481 is the best trail/AM rim around and the DT 240 hubs will outlast your children. Plus the price is a steal

– Pike RT3 2018 version doesn’t need the Luftkappe as SRAM have revised the air chamber (bigger negative) but for some reason they’re not listed. I’d choose damping quality over stiffness unless you’re a biffer but atm I’d go for the Lyrik RT3

– RS instead of R guides

– Aeffect dropper and think about upgrading the remote later if you hate the standard one

Oh and just to really wind you up I’d consider the 120 instead; it’s almost as capable downhill but much more fun on the flats and ups (having ridden both at Hamsterley, including the DH trails).

Edit – £3283 so a bit over but worth it imo

Aeris 145 with all the Hope stuff – brakes wheels rotors BB headset, reverb, Lyriks, super deluxe shox, SlX drivetrain, atlas stem, SiXc bars and one up bash guide £3,229.
This way you can go full trail centre car park bling with matching anodised everything in your own colour scheme.

Ah. Just spotted BPW once a month and the fact the OPs username is Pies.

Maybe the 145 is the best choice after all 😀

Ignore, wrong thread.

I would prioritise wheels, suspension and dropper post first off, then brakes as these are the main areas that will affect the riding and feel of the bike. Then spec the remaining parts to whatever is left in the budget.