Afternoon all, first time poster – looking for a bit of advice.

Converted MTB’er from hill running due to injury, have a 2015 Scott Scale 700 Premium at the moment.
Have done a couple of races (traditional XC and 100k marathon) and feel I would benefit from running a full suspension bike for the races due to the nature of my injury.

Can spend up to £5-6K, looking for a XC race specific machine, I am about 170cm/73kg so medium size bikes. I have looked reasonably extensively but as I am quite new to this some of the terminology and differences can be a bit confusing…seeing the wood for the trees!!
Seen Canyon/Rose/Scott/Merida/Trek/Yeti etc, any opinions on decent bikes or deals gratefully received.
Intending having a go at a few races next year, will probably go to Sellaronda and maybe one other race abroad but mostly UK based racing/riding.
Thanks in advance.

Giant Anthem would be on my list, with a 120 fork just to make it more fun when not racing.

Edit: An Anthem would give you quite a bit of change in your pocket too. Just not look as fast on the start line 😆

Personally, and in the finest STW tradition I would be looking at a KTM Scarp 29’er to suit your budget.

They’re very fast, light and well specced for the money too, they also look rather lovely.

I have one full carbon frame & rear triangle, with XTR/XT drive train & brakes, carbon finishing kit and the RS1 upside down fork with hydraulic lockout on both that and the shock, ideally suited to XC racing, marathons and long solo events too.

Thanks, will add both of them to the mix.
That KTM is surely a bonny machine, where did you acquire that?

Wth that budget & brief I’d go:

Specialized S-Works Camber ?

(or a normal carbon camber for half that money..)

S-Works Camber or Epic would certainly be good options.

With that budget you could go for a custom build like Santa Cruz Tallboy, Pivot 429l, Yeti ASR etc.

Any of these would be lovely.

Tallboys a good shout.. (tallboy CC)

since i ride a santa cruz superlight 3 which they don’t currently do anymore (but isn’t in their archive) the tallboy is the closest thing to it

That KTM does look lush!

But for that money I’d be looking at the new 2017 Scott FS

E.g Review

This? Heavily discounted.
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/73743/Whyte_M_109_C_Team_29er_2015_Bike_Matt_UD_Carbon_Lime_Medium?gclid=CPzGi7_fjM8CFccy0wod_jMEKQ

Thanks for the different options, will go and demo a few. I do like the Scott but being Scottish I like value for money, looked at Canyon as a serious alternative and yeti. Like the idea of Specialized and Santa Cruz but that KTM is very nice. Will keep a weather eye on the 2016 models, I take it the online dealers do some discounts post season?

S Works Epic (or a high-spec Epic). It is the only FS with room for two bottle cages. Expensive but pretty awesome.

All of the brands you mention do bikes that would do the job your looking for. I’d make my choice based on availability when I wanted to buy but most importantly whatever one I liked the look of most 😀 So my vote goes to the Trek top fuel.

I’ve got a SantaCruz TallBoy 2 for XCM and really like it. I had an option to change to a TallBoy 3 but I’m not convinced it is the right bike for XC at all. It is much more a trail bike, coming spec’d with 34mm forks.

If going custom, I’d look at the Pivot 429SL or the Rocky Mountain element

Scott Spark.

Drop me an email on ste_bowman AT Hotmail.com and I’ll give you a few pointers on the KTM if you like triguy

something like this…

Momsen SA

and take a holiday to SA to go get it? 😀

S Works Epic (or a high-spec Epic). It is the only FS with room for two bottle cages.

No its not. Momsen (as above) and the new PYGA Stage and Stage Max, among others. But others not having 2 is a pita.

Just run one? It’s XC racing, you’re back at the same point every 20 minutes… If you’re out riding just fill up somewhere. Never felt the need for 2 cages on the MTB myself.

At the end of the day there are no really shit bikes at that price, it’s what you like. I’d probably have a Top Fuel myself, but I’d implore you to try a few rather than reading ‘reviews’ from randoms on the interweb.

Love my turner czar, dw link rear is fantastic

Another vote for Scott Spark.
Should be some good deals on 2016 models as its being replaced by a new version.

At the end of the day there are no really shit bikes at that price, it’s what you like. I’d probably have a Top Fuel myself, but I’d implore you to try a few rather than reading ‘reviews’ from randoms on the interweb.

The man speaks sense! Had to happen sometime, I suppose!

That aside, if it were my money at that budget, it would be one of these;

Anthem Advanced 0.

Why? Well, the look of it for a start. I like it! Secondly, the ride quality of Maestro really suits me, it always feels like a Maestro bike has more travel than it does. Hard to explain, but just feels like a bigger travel bike, while never wallowing around. Spec is pretty much bang on for my tastes as well, bar the post. The Giant post is good, but I still prefer a Reverb. Oh, and contact points, but again, personal preference. If it’s anything like as good as the 2016 Anthem Advanced range, it’ll be a ripper.

You might consider riding a cheaper bike like an Anthem 29er for the first season until you know what you like and have more experience to make a more informed decision.

Giant Anthems are incredibly good value. A lot of bike with great spec for a lot less than many equivalents.

Another recomend what you have answer. But ive had my epic only the comp for about 3 months and I’ve been amazed but not by how well it climbs that’s a given for all xc bikes.
After a weekend in Wales it’s how well it deals with normal trail centre technical sections that’s amazed me.

Mines a bit heavy at 25lb but your budget is higher than mine so will get you a lighter one

Cheers folks, lots of decent opinions, am doing the research to get a feel for narrowing down the options. There appears to be a plethora of choices, will try a few and hopefully get a decent deal. I didn’t realise there were so many good bikes for what I was looking for. It’s really unlikely a Scotsman will part with a big chunk of cash without serious thought!!

Are you a Scot ? You never mentioned 🙂

The new Cannondale Scalpel Si, problem solved.

I’m waiting for delivery of mine, can’t wait!

Have you looked at the Trek Top Fuel range – I’ve raced one all year and found it brilliant. Mines up for sale but would be too big for you however there are a few others in the team for sale, definitely a 17.5 inch if you were interested – race winning pedigree with a Vets National Marathon Championship win in the last few weeks as well!

They retail at £6,800 but will be selling at a season old with full Trek warranty for much less.
If you are interested then email me and I can pass on details, iainwight@aol.com mine is here if you want to see what it looks like http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/trek-top-fuel-99sl-215-2016-for-sale

You don’t activate the warranty by ‘registering’ it, it’s based on a valid proof of purchase, so unless you’re selling via a shop (with them pretending it’s new) that has no warranty, and Trek are sticklers for that sort of thing.

Great bike though.

Rocky Mountain Element?
New one should be out later this year: