Looking to spend around £2000 and ideally from my lbs (leisure lakes) I’ve narrowed it down to a
Cube Stereo how sl
Specialized Camber comp
And at a push maybe a Stumpjumper comp.
currently have a 120mm Giant Stance and quite happy with 120mm front and rear. Anymore would probably be a waste on me.
Open to other options, but not direct buy bikes.

maybe?

I used to have a Devinci, nice bikes.

Last years model, but great value for money.

A few different ones on there.

Whyte T130S if you can stretch, or the SX Lime if not. The T130 is head and shoulders above of either of the bikes you’ve mentioned. I love mine, it’s an epic bike that is fun, fast, reliable, looks great and is great value too.

Would love a Whyte. I’ve been set a maximum of 2299 by missus. Can be finance now. Anymore and Im taking the piss!

Whyte T130SX is £2099, so your £200 under budget 😉

That’s the ladies version!

Just because it’s pink doesn’t mean it’s a ladies bike! It was the first T130 they offered in an XS size. They no offer it in a lime colour way as well, identical spec, different colour.

https://www.whyte.bike/t130sxl

A friend has a cube stereo 120 something – I find it not very plush suspension wise and the fox forks on it are a bit flexy. Climbs well though / pedals efficiently. I guess it depends what you are after really. What sort of riding do you do?

Whyte t-130 always gets amazing reviews if you can stretch to one.

Leisure Lakes bikes seemed really helpful the one time I went in there with a great selection of bikes. Can you see if you can get a couple of test rides?

If you’re near the Cheltenham LLB they have some test bikes at Flyup 417.

I know you said not direct bikes but the Bird Aeris 120 might be worth a look. British based near Swinley Gorest and you can go and test ride them / speak with one of the guys who set the company up etc. For your budget you could get one.

Riding is mainly local forest trails, nothing too taxing. Gisburn forest and Llandegla.
Don’t really do anything too rocky.

Another thumbs up for the Whyte T130 if you can strech to it.
I really like mine and half my riding club have them too.
Well deserved praise from riders and reviews.

I do like the Whyte though. Will it not be a bit short if it’s specced for shorter riders. I’m not tall. I’m 5ft 10 but long arms.

Whytes quite progressive with their geometry.
Just check out the geometry chart and compare it to your Giant Stance for the given size, the Whyte is longer, slacker lower:
T130 geo(at the bottom)
Giant Stance (select Geo tab)

Any LBS Whyte stockist can get you a demo bike to try (some even have a demo in stock).

Worth talking to Mboy from this forum, he runs an LBS up in Droitwhich called The Missing Link. He’s great to deal with and has given me a great offer on my last two Whytes.

The Whyte is pretty long for each given size – doubt it’ll be shorter than a Stance (think that’s the one with almost Giants maestro suspension but is missing the Horst link and relies on flex in the rear triangle?).

Check out the Bird Aeris 120 though too – really good company to deal with and gets good reviews. Will come in cheaper than a T-130 if you control yourself with the bike builder (you can spec the components on it).

Just played with be bike builder on the Bird website.

For £2200 you could get the Aeris 120 with boost Pike rct3 130mm travel forks, an upgraded rear shock, 11 speed NX, Sram guide brakes, the standard boost DT Swiss wheels and adding in a small top chain guide.

If you lost the Pikes and went with Revelations or Yaris then you can knock over £100 off that price and you could go for cheaper brakes and save another £50.

Could easily then get a dropper post on the bike within your budget.

I’d be very tempted by the Bird, my predilection for shimano would put my on the SLX one as it comes and get a cable operated dropper for it.

Dont know how that would work with finance though, get creative with a credit card?

0% credit card perhaps? Got a Sainsbury’s one myself that’s 0% for 28 months (although I haven’t used it for the bike as used savings) which is long enough to structure paying monthly amounts off to mostly clear the balance I’d have thought. Could always flip that onto another 0% card at the end of 28 months.

Revelations would prob fit in with the geo / shorter travel nature of the 120 – and thecrear shock / brakes don’t need an upgrade. Could get very close to £2k with Sram Nx build. Didn’t look at Shimano really – although personally I don’t mind either – they’re just gears at the end of the day.

Although if going SLX cost I’d go GX for the 10t highest gear on the cassette probably.

I can’t have another credit card. Got two already (Nationwide and a Barclycard) Nationwide £1100 limit and Barclycard £1500 about £200 on each as I use them for emergencies and motorbike/car servicing. Did apply for a 0% credit card but again only small limits they are offering me.

My current bike was bought with v12 finance over 24 months.

Ask LL what deal they can do for cash. Also try a spesh concept store. In 2014 Certini Plymouth knocked £700 quid off of a £2700 Spesh Enduro if I didnt go the 0% route. It was july though so a little bit later into the model year.
Other than that go Bird with Yari and dropper. Nothing wrong with the Yari forks on my current Spesh.

So just finance that’s the issue? Could try v12 again or just get a smallish bank loan – UAE money supermarket to find the cheapest rate. Zopa can be quite good too and it’s a flexible loan so you can pay ad hoc bits off it for no penalty.

V12 will accept me easy enough. Blackhorse give me £7500 for a new motorbike. Might try my bank first. If not it will have be v12 finance through pleasure lakes, etc

Do you need finance if you keep to your £2k original budget? Could squeak a budget Bird build into that Probably.

May also be worth checking places like Paul’s bikes for end of line reduced bikes – may get lucky with a bargain.

If you run your bank account well it’ll probably be fairly easy to get a small loan like you need through your own bank. As long as you pass a basic affordability test that is / don’t have too much finance already.