Looking for a slack, e.g. not race geometry 29er with a 1 by drive chain for around £1500. Any ideas?

Do a search, there’s been one of these threads every 10 days for the last few months

Transition Trans AM? I own one and it’s great, heavy, but great. It tells me to do things I’m not really capable of and gets me in trouble. Kingdom Vendetta looks amazing, but 1.5 would only get the frame. Get one and post pictures of it on here so that I can stare at them longingly.

Do you have a preferred build material?

here

How slack do you want it to be?

Whyte bikes are not exactly steep…

I’ve got a Canondale FSI for sale at your budget? Not as slack as they come at 69 degrees or so but still fun (and seriously fast)

Kona Honzo.

Bigwig?

I can only recommend what I own 😆
Nukeproof scout 290.

recommend what I own
Nukeproof scout 290.

Can’t seem to get hold of them anywhere any more! Have they dropped it already?

New Whyte 629 is awesome. Just over £1k with 1×11, slack and long geometry, tubeless wheels and tyres, there’s room in the budget for a stealth dropper, wider bars, decent pedals etc too.

Last Fast Forward and spec your own build?

Mk2 Solaris complete build (in their silver spec) is £1650.

My Mk1 is a great bike.

@mboy.Chain reaction have some left.
Nice review here

Nukeproof Scout 290 Pro 2016 Review

Fast Forward is nice and slack

You’ll have to define what you man by slack, there is at least 4 degree difference between some of the suggestions here.

I presume when you say “not race geo” you just mean you want a modern trail bike, in which case absolutely anything from any of the main brands will do.

Might just about build up a Stanton frame for that if you don’t go nuts with the spec.

https://www.stantonbikes.com/product/sherpa-853-next-gen/

@mboy.Chain reaction have some left.

(regard NP 290 HT)

Well if the are, they’re doing a great job of hiding them (they have 275’s left) & have been for the last month.. hmm unless you mean full bikes, there a couple left but no frames (only) which most of us prefer

Mmmm the Whyte 629 looks very very good.

Frame only option gone I believe.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/nukeproof-scout-290-comp-bike-2016/rp-prod135672

Fastforward is awesome but needs an offset laced wheel, which is a shame.

TBH LT 29er hardtails really feel behind the curve compared to full sussers just now, most of them seem to fall down somewhere

Ragley Bigwig is worth a look, it’s short in reach and it’s pretty expensive for what it is, but it does ride very well. Never got a chance to ride a Sherpa but it looks the business. Scout I liked once I went up a size but the stiffness spoils it for me (this is a matter of taste obviously).

The Vitus Sentier might be worth a look but I ****ing hated it tbh, not helped by the terrible spec on the one I rode… But I can’t reconcile the ride to the claimed geometry, it felt short and steep, like an XC bike with too much fork.

Big wig has got a bit longer in reach fro 2017 but its still not that long

Yeah. TBH I’m giving the Bigwig a “doesn’t ride like the numbers suggest” easy ride, on paper I’d like an extra inch at least but I think compared to the competition it still comes out pretty well. I thought about going up a size but it all got a bit tall for my little legs and it’s still only 435mm in the large, which is frankly stupid considering the rest of the package.

@z1ppy. Op was asking about complete bikes not frame only, they seem to have some comp’s left.

I’ve reviewed a couple in this month’s mag. Granted they’re spendy Ti frames, but both have a cheaper version.

Have a look at Sonder from alpkit. I tried the Broken Road on a demo day and it was really good, decent fork and kit and ti frame for 1600 or there is an ali version for less

How about a shop display Genesis High Latitude for £900?

Slack, 1×11, dropper post, decent fork, Maxxis Exo tyres…stonking price.

They’ve also got new ones for just over a grand.

I’m seriously VERY tempted to get the shop display one, but I really can’t afford it at the moment, so please buy it and make the decision for me before I get in trouble at home!

Thanks for all the replies, this should keep me busy for a bit!

I can highly recommend the Bigwig. Been racing Enduro on one all season and beating the majority of fully suspended riders. It feels very similar to my Mojo HD3 when I sit on it, the angles are bang on. I’m 6ft and am riding a Medium which is a touch short with a 40mm stem (I don’t want to go longer). Could have gone for a Large with a 35mm stem but like smaller frames. Price wise the full build matches your budget but I’d recommend hand picking components (although the 2017 looks more sensibly specced than the 2016). I must admit I ended up putting some Ibis 941 carbon wheels on it which doubled the cost but has made it into a total trail weapon. Just rode a week on the steeps in the Tweed Valley and it lapped up everything! Good choice on the 29er by the way, I’ve had a Nomad CC and the Mojo HD3 but never felt that 650b was any improvement over 26″. Having spent a season on a 29er I’ll never go back. Slacked out 29’s are definitely the future, especially on a hardtail.

Northwind – Member
Fastforward is awesome but needs an offset laced wheel, which is a shame

Pain if swapping wheels but it’s only a minor redish otherwise… wouldn’t let it put you off