Hi all,

I’m new to the forum so hope you don’t mind yet another what bike thread!

To cut a long story short I’m getting back on the bike after about ten years away. I used to ride street trials in the early 00’s – things have changed a lot in the MTB world since then, and now that riding singletrack and trail centres is appealing I want to invest in a new bike. In the past ten years whole new bike segments and standards have appeared, 26in is no more, rim brakes have disappeared (what will I do with the Maguras in the shed?!) etc etc, so it’s been a challenge to work out what would be suitable.

I’m set on full sus and have a budget around £1500. I have a simple Halfords hardtail for local XC rides so I’m thinking of something more trail-focussed for Sherwood Pines and Peak trips. I had shortlisted the 2016 Giant Trance 2, on sale for £1400, but LBS staff suggested it might be a bit much for a noob and to go for an Anthem instead. Can anyone give an insight into either of those two?

Also open to other suggestions. I’ve looked at Canyon but am wary of ordering a bike that I can’t try for size first (bear in mind I’m used to narrow bars and long stems so modern geometry is confusing!), and at the Jeffsy (sold out), but what else should I be considering?

Get the Trance, you’ll love it. Anthems are good too (I have one, 2015 model) but the Trance is more fun.

If you like the Trance then go for it. Better to have too much bike than not enough.

I’d say you have a fair amount of choice with what you want from the bike (i.e. broadly a trail bike) and the budget you have, once 2016 sale bikes are factored in 🙂

You seem to have a really broad range of options under consideration, the Anthem and Jeffsy are very different. Neither would be wrong I guess, but it depends on what you want to do.

As you are keen to get a bike that you’ve tried for size (by no means a bad idea but it might limit the best value options) it might be worth doing a couple of proper demos – if the lbs can’t help much with that, various trail centres do pretty nice hire bikes which at least might let you get to grips with modern geometry and help with choices like a wheel size preference – might be worth considering?

Thanks all.

Getting in a load of test rides is probably the best plan but I know I’d kick myself if I “over indulged” in testing then missed a good deal!

Which bike shops have a good, broad test fleets? Rutland Cycles are relatively close and Sheffield is only an hour away…

You could get a Reign from Giants Rutland Store ex-demo for less than that…they’ll come up around June to July….if you’re willing to wait that long. Although it might be a little too much for Sherwood Pines, Cannock is kind of the minimum for a bike like that – although I’ve had fun on mine around Sherwood.

If you were a decentish trials rider, you’re not exactly a noob – you’ll be throwing yourself down black runs within a few weeks of getting back into it.

**** the Anthem, get the Trance at the very least.

Bump for update:

I took a 2017 Anthem round an XC test trail earlier today as I figured I’d work my way up the range – not sure which model but it had a Fox 34 Rhythm up front. The trail is essentially flat with the exception of a few bombholes, roots and a series of berms, but it at least gave some insight.

– First time riding a 1x and the drivetrain was great. Felt so much more precise than anything else I’ve ridden.
– It was a medium (I’m 5’11”) and it felt a bit upright and somewhat twitchy. Happy enough peddling along though and powering through boggy sections was easy.
– Sounds daft but I didn’t really notice the rear shock doing much! It was open and I know it had 155psi, but it didn’t soak up roots like I thought it would. Also lifting the front out of a berm wasn’t easy. There’s a very good chance I wasn’t going fast enough to really get the shock moving!

With the above in mind I’ll book some further tests on slacker bikes to compare. Any suggestions on other 120mm – 140mm bikes with playful and fast geometry?

Not exactly slack or racey and 2×11 but my stock answer just now is cube stereo race 140 hpa 2016 on crc with 33% off, join British Cycling for a few quid and get another 10% off making it £1520 down from £2521. But I am biased as I just bought one.

That’s unusual for a Giant to feel harsh,the maestro suspension on my old ones was very active and plush feeling.Perhaps tyre pressures were too hard and spiking/deflecting a bit?
As to what others bikes to try I like the look of Transition Scout 125 rear 140mm front but would be out of price range.
this could be a cheaper alternative though:

Bird 120

or
Whyte 130

or maybe you could build yourself a very nice playfull well specced modern hardtail -I’ve got one of these and love riding it just about everywhere :

Stanon Slackline