So far on the list are a bird aeris 145, airdrop edit, Yt jeffsy, and kona process 153. The brief is fairly simple; around 150 mm travel, 27.5 wheels, up to £3k.

What would you recommend?

I have not ridden any of the above bikes but what I can say is that the service from bird is amazing. I have a bog standard zero tr and couldn’t be more happier with it.

Loads of 2016 Kona 153’s on offer, I love mine!

http://www.jejamescycles.com/kona-process-153-dl-mountain-bike-2016.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwt6fHBRDtm9O8xPPHq4gBEiQAdxotvNuFQc6qn9r50VlfDc0tGIwq4V6tg34O8MvxEP5cpvUaAsrx8P8HAQ

Not bad sambob, found it for a bit less than that though

Even for the DL? You’ve found a bargain!

Yeah, 2550. Not sure if I’d be medium or large though. On paper I’m probably just a large for most makes of bike, but every time I’ve had a page it’s felt too big and mediums have always worked for me

Salsa Redpoint
Radon Slide

Banshee spitfire

Having put 75 miles on my Aeris this week, from a 38 mile fire road/XC grind of doom yesterday to the Reds at Glentreee and Inners on Saturday, I genuinely cannot imagine what a better mountain bike would feel like.

The Bird was absolutely superb at everything. Quicker up than my old Fuel Ex, quicker down than my 180mm freeride bike.

Oh, 75 Strava Cups on Saturday btw, on trails I ride, 2/3 times a year if I’m lucky. 75…

£2700, lifetime warranty

Airdrop Edit

Commencal Meta AM V4

http://www.commencal-store.co.uk/meta-am-v4-race-2016-c2x15806525

Or the 4.2 with 160mm out back and 170mm Lyriks on the front. For moar enduro, bro!

http://www.commencal-store.co.uk/meta-am-v42-essential-black-2017-c2x19922906

Great work singletrack!

Salsa looks like it’s £3k for the frame? That’s my max budget for the whole bike.

Radon looks like you get a lot of bike for the money, thouh I’d need to tweak some bits n bobs (no big deal)

Banshee spitfire is a good call! I had a rune and loved it, some old stock at good prices available

Devinci Troy looks good! Not a bad spec either considering the carbon frame

Commercial v4 looks great (apart from the colour scheme). I think the 4.2 enduro gnarpoon is going to be overkill for the riding I’m likely to do and make me miss the riding it’s designed for!

Thanks all, keep em coming if you think of any others

What Jamesmio says. I’ve got a mk1.5 Aeris and it does everything I’ve ever asked of it, from “oh $hit I don’t think I should be going this quick please get me out of trouble” to “that’s a long climb and is going to hurt… Oh, that was actually ok”. Throw in impeccable service from Ben and the guys and you can see why they’ve built a very loyal following so quickly.

I had a thread recently where this was discussed.

Got it down to probably a Bird Aeris or AirDrop Edit. Going to test ride both of them next week and then pick the one that feels the best out of the two.

I’ve decided against the Transition Patrol as too expensive, the Nukeproof Mega 275 as probably a bit more bike than needed and could be quite heavy, and all the overseas direct brands as I’d prefer either a helpful uk direct brand or something I can buy at an Lbs.

Saw your thread joe, cheers

Rode my Mk1.5 Aeris on the Mendips at on Saturday, got a good few pb’s, up and down. The bikes does everything well, and is just so grin inducing. At one point when I got a bit out of shape the bike pulled me through, or maybe it was my lightning quick reflexes and awesome bike handling skillz 😉

So in the tradition of recommend what you own I recommend an Aeris. The guys are great to deal with too.

To add to your list perhaps the Whyte G160 could go in there too if you’re looking at something like the Capra. Believe the Whyte has a lifetime guarantee on bearings and looked really nice in the metal. Hard to beat the spec on something like the Capra for the money though – Canyon Strive may also go onto your list.

Have you seen Mbuk this month? There’s a 150mm travel and up enduro bike test. Loads of bikes in there.

Bird have a demo day at Eastridge Woods (Shropshire) on 23rd April if you can get there to try one?
I’d definitely recommend a demo as my Mk1 Aeris is brilliant, and the newer ones are (by all accounts) even better.

As for other bikes – Transition Patrol? (or Scout if you’re happy with slightly less travel).

Si

Test rode an AirDrop edit today – looks like a really nice bike.

Not as heavy as I thought it might be, and cycled up firetrack fine (shock had a climb switch which helped). Up some more challenging uphill I left the shock fully active and it found really good traction.

I test ride an edit with 160mm Yaris up front and a coil rear shock. It looked very similar to the bike tested in Mbuk this last month. I’m really interested in getting one – but I’d go air shock rather than coil.

I tested it at Lady Canning Plantation in Sheffield – the trails there weren’t really challenging enough for his sort of bike. But I found some much rockier tracks to try it on and the bike swalllwed everything thrown at it. Went down a few trails much faster than I would have done on my current trail bike.

Ed who owns AirDrop was really helpful and a great bloke. I’m thinking about frame/fork only and using the rest of my kit from my current bike. He offered to check on all the elements of compatibility for me.

Definitely an option worth considering.

Cotic Rocket.
Demo at their place in Sheffield this weekend.

Great bike, great company.

Proper bike, welded by proper men!

Yeah that’s top of my list right now joe. Cotic have never floated my boat and whilst I loved my five, the noise from an orange still puts me off!

Just pushed the button on a 2016 process 153 dl. Can’t wait!