Been lurking for a while on the old forum, good to see everyone pull together over the last few days, what a fab community 🙂

Anyway, this year has been rubbish, got my bike nicked early on basically made me feel crap for a long time, so I’m hoping next year will be better.

I want to spend about 1,400 on a new steel hardtail, XC style really, and I’ll be taking it to GT and Afan etc when I can.

I toyed with the idea of building one up, but I did that before and it took me about a month. Really I just want to buy one all built up so I can get ride asap 🙂

Thinking about an Orange P7, maybe the Pro one. Anyone got one? They seem to get good reviews, although not too sure if I should be worried about the sliding dropouts that some people complain about.

The other one that’s caught my eye is the Genesis Altitude.

Anyway, if you have any suggestions, please let me know 🙂

Hello,
…Clearly not been lurking for long enough – fancy, a steel hardtail thread without on-one/dialled/cotic !!

(has nickname been banned already ?)

I can vouch for the Genesis Altitude. Just got one, very nice bike. I’ve not got a full Genesis bike (bought a frame and built it up), but the spec on the full bikes isn’t bad (though I managed to build up a better spec for cheaper by buying bits off here or ebay).

The Altitude 30 gets a full XT drivetrain and Reba Race 120mm forks for just under £1600, or for just under £1100 the Altitude 20 gets a lower spec, but the same frame which you’ll keep and upgrade over time.

The Genesis is more “XC” than a P7, On One 456, Dialled PA etc. But it’s still designed around a 120-130mm fork. Frame weight is quoted at 4 1/2 lbs, which seems about right. Certainly it’s a good deal lighter than a P7/456/PA. Cotic Soul would of course be another similar frame, though you’d have to build it yourself of course.