I’m after a decent hardtail for wheels on ground riding to replace my FS bike. I’d still like to ride about on singletrack but nothing more involved than that, I don’t fancy a 29 and I don’t need anything burly anymore.

Any deals around for that kind of money or less, prolly 650b and with half decent kit size 19/large?

Cube ?

KTM Aera Comp 27.5″, I’ve go the 29er version and it’s mega.

The inbetweener got the bestest ever test score in some French MTB magazine thats been going since the dawn of time

Orange Crush 120mm
Kona Explosif 650b

£1300
http://shop.birdmtb.com/zero/zero-1.html

That Bird is lovely, I’ve never heard of them either.

^^^ bird. Its the word, apparently.

But yes, Bird are very very good.

Oh, of course! Bird- great people behind the start up.
I also own a piece of them 8)

Whyte 901, spend the spare cash on a set of Hope Hoops?

That Bird looks good value though.

Hard to beat

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOO45650BDEO/on-one-45650b-shimano-deore-mountain-bike

joolsburger – Member
That Bird is lovely, I’ve never heard of them either.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/see-those-bird-hardtails

I didn’t recommend the Bird Zero earlier, because I assumed it would be a little slack, heavy and ‘solid’ for the riding you described.

No doubting their value though.
They seem to be very ‘switched on’ in terms of spec too. Some very clever/appealing decisions made.

Every time I see a link to Bird I think I should get one, purely as its such a fine surname 8)

scottfitz – Member
£1300
http://shop.birdmtb.com/zero/zero-1.html

I have a blue one of those. It’s rather nice.

Go used. 500.00 for all the bike you will ever need. Why pay New prices?

Just look at eBay.

Bird. Local dudes near Swinley. New bike business. Nice angle on direct to customer and customisable options. Good value on the components. Nice design and colours. Name that means you can say “Bird is the Word” and “I’m flipping my Bird”. Gets my support 😀

Though yes, they may be a bit more towards AM style hard tail in that the Zero is slack, but frame takes 120 to 150 I think.

http://paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s2p5089/SCOTT-SCALE-620-2013
http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/radon-zr-team-26-8.0-se-128347/wg_id-116
http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/zr-race-650b-9.0-17995

Not that i believe all I read but the Bird got a very average review in MBR

Not that i believe all I read but the Bird got a very average review in MBR

thats because it wasn’t a specialized.

8/10 in MBR
4/5 in WMB

You could put a nice Stooge together for that. 😕
Something different.

My bad…all i remember is that they basically said but the whyte 901 instead.
I like the adaptability of the Bird and the options to spec

You’ll be fine

It would be quite hard not to get a good hard tail for that price

My gut feeling is if your quite wheels on the round (like me) perhaps best not to go too burly, too steep or too much travel

I’ll contradict myself by sugesting this

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/mountain/ht-27/high-latitude-lt

If you want a lighter, racier bike, the KTM Aera Comp is staggeringly good for the money! In fact, all it really needs to be a pukka race bike is a slightly lighter set of wheels, not that the Shimano/Mavic wheels on it are bad (far from it) mind… Comes in 29er (faster) and 650b (bit more nimble maybe) flavours and if you are quick, there was a 2014 model left in stock at the distributors in a 19″ that one of the mags tested for 3 weeks that they were chucking out for a mere £900! Even at the full £1449 it’s a ridiculous bargain mind…

If you want a slacker, meaner trail weapon, the either the Whyte 901 or 905 is the way to go. Though neither is heavy, they’re definitely not XC race bikes as the geometry is pretty radical, but they seem to astound anyone that slings a leg over them! Certainly a proper hooligan of a bike for mixing it up with full sussers.

Why a no to 29ers though? There’s plenty of fantastic 29ers at that price point that will really blow the preconceptions about the larger wheel size away, such as the Kinesis FF29 and the Whyte 729.

Bird Zero got straight in at #2 spot in WMB best mid-price trail hardtails – and that was the old pricing. Its only £1200 for the same model as tested now…