Had a ride on a Santa Cruz TRa kitted out with XX1 last weekend at Glentress. Although it was a tad too big for me, I pretty much fell in love with it. Light weight, peddled well and the XX1 was great to use, and the geometry felt great.

Unfortunate there’s not a hope in hell of being able to afford one for quite a long time, so what bikes would you guys recommend as having a similar low and slack geometry with shortish rear travel and a bit more on the front?

Yeti ASR 5 springs to mind, but its also too much cash. Nukeproof Mega TR maybe? Any other ideas?

Blur TRa frame & transfer your kit over?

Blur TRa frame & transfer your kit over?

It’s certainly an option, though would be a bit of a stop gap. The coil lyriks could be would down but it’s heavy fork. Would rather spend a bit less on the frame and invest in a set of Revs maybe?

I personally think your better off spending more on a frame and then bringing the bike along slowly. You will eventually get the exact bike you wanted and will have had time on the frame to decide what will make it a better bike.

Hmm, reckon you could be right there. £1700 is a lot to spend on an alloy frame though.

No one ridden anything similar that I should consider as well? If I test ride others and the blur is still the best then I’m happy to go for the long slow build option…

Worth a try on the Nukeproof at least.

Trek Fuel EX (2012 onward) also has very good geometry and can handle some surprsingly rough stuff.

And aren’t Cotic supposed to be bringing out a shorter travel FS?

Banshee Spitfire.

You could, if you want an affordable stop-gap, pick up an old Blur 4x frame on eBay for a few hundred quid and build that up. It’s 115mm at the rear and works well with 140-150mm or so up front. Or the Transition Bandit gets mentioned a lot. Or the Genesis Grapil (sp.) . Or maybe a Mega TR. Or just ride what you have, save up and see what’s around when you have lots of dosh to throw at it…

The Genesis Grapil is a lot like what you want (and I want). Just not sure if the snapping chain stays issue has been fixed yet.

Might be a slightly revised model along in the 2014 Genesis range (total speculation on my behalf)?

If you loved the frame as much as you say you did either stump up for the ali frame or look 2nd hand and swap the gear across. I’m sure someone would happily swap lyrics for revs so that’d cost nothing.

Other options, I love my Stumpy. Long, low, Slack-ish and a short back end but no frame option for cheap.

Had a sit on a Mega TR in a shop the other week and really liked the bike. It felt light low and slacker than the Stumpy. Infact I liked it so much i’m seriously considering the AM.

The Genesis Grapil is a lot like what you want (and I want). Just not sure if the snapping chain stays issue has been fixed yet.

Hadn’t thought of one of those, shame they’re not the great looking. They did get good reviews though, right?

The mini rocket (pocket rocket?) sounds good too, but that could well be a long way off.

Some good deals on Saracen Ariels due to unrealistic rrp set by Madison. They’re very capable and fun bikes.

Hadn’t thought of one of those, shame they’re not the great looking. They did get good reviews though, right?

I had a demo at Glentress and on a GMBC evening ride round Mugdock. Long, low and pretty slack. Didn’t look as bad as I was expecting, but if you want the fancy looks I think you’ll be paying SC prices. I’m still very tempted.

I have 2012 Trek ex8 and run a 140 talas up front. Raises the bb a little but also slackens the HA…on the downs its proper good fun as the rear feels more like 140 too.

Isnt the TRa really heavy…sure i read a review in a mag which has it at 31lb.

Other options, I love my Stumpy. Long, low, Slack-ish and a short back end but no frame option for cheap.

I got a brand new Stumpy carbon frame off eBay for £600. no warranty obviously but at that price…

I have a asr 5 it’s a really nice bike to ride. I am running mine with 150mm forks and loving it:-)