I need to get an idea of what bikes best for £2300, I ride xc mostly, with the occasional steep technical singletrack, I need a bike like climbs like a gazelle, I’m talking super light, and decends relatively well!

Thinking full sus,

Should I got liteville 301 and custom build route?
Poor get something like a cube 29er

Or even a canyons nerve

So many decisions, some spoon fed advice would be helpful!

T

Have you considered a Giant Anthem? The 29er in particular is a disgustingly good all-round bike.

Oh, those poor kittens…

29er hardtail for lightweight and climbing prowess. Radon/Canyon best value.

Or anything up to 140mm

Never really been sold on the 29er, NAND had any wheel problems? I.e. Buckling? And hard tail? I’ve never had one other than a 4x rig, is it worth it? I get itchy feet a lot and I’m worried about the resale of a hard tail!

Camber Evo.

For xc I honestly find 100 mm on a 29er perfect (sometimes use 120mm forks). I’m riding in the Lakes too, so not flat or smooth. I’ve got a carbon 100mm bike and a Solaris. The Solaris is very capable and would be lighter than the bikes you and others have mentioned. For £2000 you could have top notch kit. I’m riding it more than my full sus. That said, the xc 29ers from Canyon look great value.
Resale value won’t be great on the Canyon.
If you didn’t rate the Solaris, you could sell the frame on and Hope wheels hold good value, transferring the kit onto a full sus frame. There are some bargain SC Blurs around.

For £2000 you could have top notch kit.

Very nice kit, yes. But certainly not ‘top notch’ without some compromises.

£2100 cotic soul ful build 650b nice

My local trails are roots and steep, but I maily ride xc so a hard tail would work, but I’m scared that I just knacker my already damaged knees

Isn’t a Liteville almost £2k for just the frame? Nice bikes though! I’d get a Soul 275 for predominantly XC stuff – I have the older 26 version and although it was out of its depth at Antur Stiniog (fairly gnarly uplift) it enjoys everything up to that level of DHness.

Sounds like a Whyte T129 (…or possibly M109 if you’re predominantly riding xc) would suit

If you specced a liteville you’d get it for about £2300

Frame – 1349 from bromleys
Slx groupset – 350 (?) from Merlin
Hope wheels – 300 (?) from Merlin
Revs – 330 (?) from Merlin

I haven’t looked at Merlin but with some careful shopping I reckon you’d be close to £2300. Lazy I know.

Or get a Solaris 🙂

The Solaris as in the cotic?

Last years Cannondale Scalpel 29er. If you can stretch the budget a bit you’ll have a 25lb bike. Love my Carbon 1. Stupidly fast and light, to the point where it feels like cheating! Amazing frame.

Anthem

Lightweight, good climber and descends well, the Giant Anthem 27.5 is your friend.

I built mine from a frame and parts from online retailers for a total of £2300.00.

For xc and trail riding it’s hard to beat.

I’m a fan of Whyte and Scott HTs for my xc duties but I would be tempted by this Giant XTC Advanced 29er reduced from £3500 to £2250. Rockshox SID and XO/X9 kit.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s155p5298/GIANT-XTC-ADVANCED-SL-29ER-1-2013

Lovely!

Go and do some demo’s!