I’ve been riding hardtails for the past 15 years and after my most recent ride I’ve come to the conclusion I want a Full suspension bike. This is strange for me to admit as I’ve’ve always been a die hard hardtail fan but sadly my body can’t really take the rougher stuff no more. I’m currently riding a Charge Blender with 100mm forks and was thinking about a trail bike somewhere between 100mm to 130mm max. My budget is a maximum of £1,500

Any suggestions gratefully received as i am a complete noob when it comes to full sus bikes.

Thanks

giant trance.

was about to say the same.

if you’re open minded with regards wheel-size, the trance 29 ‘2’ (?) comes in at £1500, it’s a bargain.

the forks are ‘only’ recons, they’re ace really. the groupset is deore, it’s ace really.

giant trance.

That was my first thought too!

I’d say asking other people who are no doubt different height and weight to you is a bit of a waste of time – wouldn’t you be better visiting a few local bike shops and having a ride on however many bike’s you think fit? Would also depend on what sort of riding you do.

I’d say asking other people who are no doubt different height and weight to you is a bit of a waste of time – wouldn’t you be better visiting a few local bike shops and having a ride on however many bike’s you think fit? Would also depend on what sort of riding you do.

My local bike shops consist of halfords or ones that sell Appollo. Sadly not all of us live near good bike shops trust me I wish I did.

No worries, but if you are looking at spending £1500 would you not be willing to travel a bit?

Do Specialized still do the Camber in 26 inch flavour? That would be a fair bet.

Been persuaded by the Canyon Nerve AL29.
Feel a bit nervous as its my first MTB. arrives January.

+1 for Giant trance, I have the 26 inch model which is fantastic, the newer versions should be even better.

+1 for Giant trance, I have the 26 inch model which is fantastic, the newer versions should be even better.

I had a go on the new 650B version last weekend. Mate got a demo for a couple of days so we went out and swapped every five miles or so. I took my 13 Zesty 314 for comparison. I have been sceptical about 650B so jumped at the chance to try it. There is a lot to like about the bigger wheel, climbing is easier and in general it felt like it took less effort to ride. Going from one bike to another (and doing our best to concentrate only on wheel size) was an eye opener. we decided that a 26 wheel felt more nimble and more fun. The 650 just had a more XC feel…. We both came away very unsure about buying a 650B bike, there was nothing about it that really stood out, in fact it made things a bit easier and took the edge off the fun stuff if anything.

To the OP. There are organised events where you can try a lot of different bikes and now, different wheel sizes. I would make the effort to get out and get an idea of what your options are. If nothing else you might find out what you don’t like.