Thinking about changing to a relatively lightweight more XC based bike as I am getting bored of carrying round unused weight (on the bike!) and potentially unused travel and looking for something for longish comfortable days in the saddle, so was wondering about a Kula, but also weighing up a Charge Duster.

So what other 100mm travel bikes are there that aren’t full on race bikes? Had a go on a Giant XCT and felt way too stretched out, less so on a Spec Stumpy but still a bit

Rockhopper?

Boardman Pro?

The Boardman HT Pro is surprisingly capable at trail riding as opposed to XC racing, despite the low weight. I doubt it’s as comfy on long long rides as a light steel framed HT but it isn’t as rigid and unyielding as heftier alu HTs. A shorter stem is a nice improvement and bigger tyres run tubeless make it comfier with little (any?) loss of speed.

Had a go on a Giant XCT and felt way too stretched out, less so on a Spec Stumpy but still a bit

you do know you can try a smaller size in either? they should even be lighterer too 😉

What bike do you have just now?

Currently have a Kona Scrap (an older one before it became totally jump orientated and with lighter wheels, forks etc), previously had a 456 and Ransom. Tried the Giant and Specialised in Med and I know it comes in small too but at 5′ 10″ I would have thought I would be too tall?

coming from a jump frame I’m not surprised you found a medium XC frame long, I ride a small (14″ frame, 22″ toptube) jump bike (with a 400mm post) as an allround XC/DJ/4X/DH bike. If I were to buy an actual XC frame I’d still never go for anything larger than a 17″ frame and would be erring on the short side toptube length wise too. (i’m 5’11” BTW)

Genesis are well worth a look. We have Core 20s for hire bikes and I ride one quite often. 100mm fork with regular all-round xc geometry and set-up. The frame might be alu but doesn’t feel too stiff at all, in fact they are rather comfortable.

Whyte 805?