Strangers of STW help me decide how to spend my money on a v.lightweight FS 29er for long rides:

Yeti ASRc (£5200) vs Canyon Lux (£3600-4400)

Similar weights, which is key to this purchase. Yeti is a bit more trail, Canyon is a bit more pure xc to my brain. I’m no racer though, just want a light FS for long rides. Canyon is, predictably, much better value.

i’d also be looking at the new trek top fuel, due out very soon, top of range one 21.5lbs

just want a light FS for long rides.

Stop being brand pretentious and get a much cheaper Giant Anthem? If I was racing I’d buy the Lux, but you aren’t so I’d opt for something with a more “all day” position.

I believe the 9.8sl at £3750 is 23lbs and boost front and back as well, read the reviews!!
http://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/bikes/mountain/cross-country/top-fuel/c/B311

And the lovely Emily Batty rides one!!!!!!!

Stop being brand pretentious and get a much cheaper Giant Anthem? If I was racing I’d buy the Lux, but you aren’t so I’d opt for something with a more “all day” position.

*Sigh*, usual STW sanctimonious twattery :D. Seriously though, as you can see I’m considering a Canyon, so I’m certainly not adverse to non-boutique brands (which admittedly the Yeti is). Bang on about the Lux ‘race position/geometry’, which is a consideration.

This purchase is to replace a 26er Giant Anthem X1, which I wasn’t get on with once I’d moved to 29ers a few years ago. For that reason alone I’m not considering another Anthem. Also the 29er Anthem is a good 5+ lbs heavier than the bikes I’m considering. Aware it is also much cheaper, but don’t really want the hassle of swapping out the whole build for lighter kit. The carbon, light weight Anthems are now all 650b, which I’ve also discounted.

Top Fuel looks worthy of consideration, thanks. Never had a Trek…..

usual STW sanctimonious twattery

Someone had to keep the standards up 😆

Also the 29er Anthem is a good 5+ lbs heavier than the bikes I’m considering

Well, you can buy a 2015 for £1500 today. I did the same last year and another £500 got me wheels/bar/post/pedals/tyres/grips taking it down to 24.5lb. Thats way under budget, and hardly much work in the man cave. And for me personally the Anthem can be and is a trail bike as well as a race bike. I swap my expensive wheels for some 2nd hand Kinesis I bought recently for Welsh trips.

Like I said though. I’d have a Lux in a heartbeat, but then I race.

Spesh Epic would be on my demo list.

This looks like good value

it might be good value, but it is also 29 lbs 🙄

I went through this.

Ideal was an S works Epic, not available frame only, couldn’t spend £7k. Really, really wanted 2x bottle cages but just too much money. It seemed to me the weight on the cheaper models ramped up quickly and they were still pretty dear.

Cannondale Scalpel – don’t want lefty or weird steerer dimensions

Giant – only one heavy model

Trek – now only boost hubs – I have my own wheels already

Turner czar – could live with the one bottle cage for such great rear suspension but too short in reach and ETT for me.

Scott – really interested for racing – all looks good apart from twin loc – I can’t work lockouts etc at max HR.

Yeti ASRC – could have splashed, liked geo, weight, fit etc could even fit a bottle under the downtube BUT a couple of reviews have mentioned pedal bob unless propedal is used which isn’t what I wanted

Merida 96 – looked nice – some mediocre press about suspension dynamics and now withdrawn/delayed.

Salsa Spearfish Split pivot – frame only, DW suspension, long TT, long reach, long distance geo, only one bottle cage but cheap (not so now with carbon frames)

24.5lb with carbon wheels and xtr 1×10, very comfortable, great suspension and about £4k cheaper. I’ve done over 14hrs in the saddle in one hit (Ridgeway Double) and raced it too – great bike. The carbon version will get you to 23.9lb for an extra £1k (and I think it’s carbon only now).

You are missing the point. The Devinci is a pretty rare, fairly light XC race frame and a bargain at that price. You’ll have several thousand pounds to spent making an overall light bike- lighter than any of your off the peg completes for the same overall cost.

You are missing the point. The Devinci is a pretty rare, fairly light XC race frame and a bargain at that price. You’ll have several thousand pounds to spent making an overall light bike- lighter than any of your off the peg completes for the same overall cost.

Okay, whats the frame weight? Spec on that bike (which I’ve not gone back to check) and overall weight of 29lbs suggests it’s higher than what I’m looking for, but please enlighten me …..

I also mentioned above that I’d rather not have the hassle of swapping the whole build out if I can help it.

Interesting list adsh, thanks for sharing.

Orbea Oiz – not a bad bike if you look at the XC WC races.

Re the Atlas: medium frame weight is 2,65 kg with shock and maxle.
Will go sub 24lbs, but its for a tinkerer really; not someone like you who wants a stock bike.

Thanks djflex. That’s a pound and a half heavier than the Yeti frame. Not heavy by any means, but probably outside of the range I am looking at.

Here you go. A LOT of bike for nearly half price, within budget, light, carbon etc.

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/trek-superfly-fs-9-8-sl.html

I think though another point you’ve missed is that you said yourself that don’t want to race it, yet your obsession with weight rather outweighs its intended use. If you aren’t racing, then why obsess over weight differences that won’t make sod all difference to you ride e.g. a lb or two?

I have no experience of the Yeti, but a mate has had a Lux for the past year or so and really rates it. He uses it locally on the Malvern’s, FOD, for events etc. and used to use it on the road quite a bit until he bought a Pinarello Dogma.
It is remarkably light and pedals very well.

I used to have a Yeti ASR-5, and it was a lovely bike. Just really well-made and well-thought out with nice touches.

I now have a Canyon (Strive CF race) and to be honest it’s probably just as good from a frame construction perspective. It’s also well-thought out and well-finished, and it’s hard to look past the price difference.

I wouldn’t go for either bike you’ve suggested unless I was racing (I’d go for more of a ‘Trail’ bike if I were you), but I suspect you’ll be very happy with either, and certainly not disappointed with the Canyon.

Re the Atlas: medium frame weight is 2,65 kg with shock and maxle.
Will go sub 24lbs, but its for a tinkerer really; not someone like you who wants a stock bike.

That’s a pretty fair comment especially regarding the tinkerer bit.

The Atlas is claimed at 5.5lbs, the Yeti 4.2lbs IIRC. You’d have to double check what that includes however as most exclude the Maxle from the claimed weight and there may be differences once you account for BB type/ headset type etc. Weight loss from the Maxle is cheap and easy too.

The point other have been trying to make is that you could build an overall lighter bike for less money if you are prepared to. Sure the frame may be a touch heavier than a Yeti for example but it is a different sus system which most seem to rate highly (see Spearfish comments) and the money you save could be put towards a several lbs lighter build.

As an example, my HT is 8.1kg with heavy cranks and Powermeter, proper tyres (Ikons). The build (everything except the frame, including pedals and stuff actually required to ride!) was a smidge under £3000 just buying stuff off the shelf and not shopping around. The PM was £440 of that and I put in a custom damper for £300.

Call it £2500 for a 7.05kg build of stuff that suits me perfectly (you would lose a lot of weight with lighter cranks and no PM for that money so this is a “heavy” estimation). Add that to a £1250 2.6kg frame (eg Atlas or Anthem or any other “average weight” XC race frame) and you have a 9.65kg (21.3lbs) full suspension bike for £3750.

Maybe the tinkering isn’t up your street but it is something to consider.

Also worth considering the 10.4kg claimed Lux could easily be a kilo or more heavier when you account for manufacturing variation in all the components and also consider the fact you have to add ~300g worth of pedals. It could easily be 11kg plus once you build it up.

Then there the 5 week wait on the Lux, shipping and currency conversion fees, etc

Point is even if buying a complete bike, don’t base it too much on a claimed total weight, or even frame weight potentially…. consider the bigger picture of total weight, total value, availability, overall performance, etc.

If it were me I’d base my decision mainly on geometry and fit, then sus characteristics, then value. The weight differences in frames wouldn’t bother me that much as I build almost anything more than light enough from the components used.

BMC Fourstroke was at the top of my list for a full susser and is another nice option to consider

Just some extra thoughts 😀

Edit: Since you asked the same question 2 months ago can we assume you are even more indecisive with bikes than Kryton 😆 No offence intended Kyrton 😀

I think though another point you’ve missed is that you said yourself that don’t want to race it, yet your obsession with weight rather outweighs its intended use. If you aren’t racing, then why obsess over weight differences that won’t make sod all difference to you ride e.g. a lb or two?

Not sure how I can ‘miss the point’ regarding the type of bike I want…you obviously know better than I do the type of bike I’m after :roll:.

Let me explain a bit further……Like quite a few on here I’m lucky enough to have an extravagant number of bikes (DH, long travel trail FS, carbon hardtail, carbon rigid etc etc). Not trying to willy wave btw, just trying to explain my intentions….which are being questioned :roll:.

The intended use for each bike of course overlaps quite a lot, but each one has a narrow niche application of sorts. The whole point of this new purchase is to keep the weight really low for long XC rides. Of course, I’m not completely ignoring other factors (not interested in a bike that is the lightest out there, but rides like a dog), but one of the chief factors is low weight to differentiate it from my other FS’ers.

Really appreciate the constructive ideas so far, thanks.

Will defiantly consider frame only options and custom builds (done that plenty before), but I don’t really want to strip a full build of parts and have the hassle of trying to sell them on.

I know exactly where your coming from that’s why I suggested the top fuel!!! Also look at there project one? Which is a variety of spec?

Even if you didn’t sell the parts and donated to a friend or LBS you wouldn’t be out of pocket compared to most off the peg completes 😀

Call it £2500 for a 7.05kg build of stuff that suits me perfectly (you would lose a lot of weight with lighter cranks and no PM for that money so this is a “heavy” estimation). Add that to a £1250 2.6kg frame (eg Atlas or Anthem or any other “average weight” XC race frame) and you have a 9.65kg (21.3lbs) full suspension bike for £3750.

Would love to see a cost/weight spreadsheet of that £2500 7kg worth of kit, and how it adds up to everything you need on the bike.

Also note that I tend to think of the frame as a long term purchase, and thus it’s one part of the ‘Bike’ that I am not going to upgrade to make the bike lighter. Hence it makes sense to me to get the lightest possible, rather than go down a heavier frame/lighter spec route.

Would love to see a cost/weight spreadsheet of that £2500 7kg worth of kit, and how it adds up to everything you need on the bike.

XX1, XTR brakes, Sids, AC wheels, Ikons (Renegades are only a handful of g’s lighter), full ti/ alu bolts, KCNC, Mt Zoom and Lyti parts, 135g chinese carbon post, Speedneedle, EC90 bars, ShiftUp bolt thrus, X9 Stages cranks w/ AB spiderless ring, Xpedo Ti pedals, KCNC cables. Frame is a 256-sl. Nothing super glamorous but well thought out use of pennies and everything suits me perfectly. Not for everyone necessarily but shows it can be done.

Cheers DanW

I’d drop the eye rolling, people are spending thier time trying to be helpful here. My point is, you want trail bike at XC race weight. Therefore you want to drop a quite a specific geometry & frame with a light build which is why people are suggesting such.

There are a few bikes – Anthems, the Top Fuel, a Turner and the Yeti that’d suit, but most are built for one use or another and something will be comprised e.g. The Anthem built for a price point hence weight OEM componentry.

Appreciate everyone’s input on this thread except yours really Kryton. Eye rolling reflects the content and tone of your replies 🙄

I retract the eye roll to djflexure 😀

Do both of us a favour, and don’t reply anymore if you are concerned about wasting your time. I’m certainly not getting anything from your ‘efforts’.

😯

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

You too mate

I would be going for an epic, cracking bike, xc race bike weight but have ridden one down some pretty rowdy trails without to much bother…

BUT I haven’t ridden that many super racy bikes only borrowed an epic for a bit.

Money no object – Epic

Niche long distance – carbon Spearfish – sacrifice 0.77lbs on the Yeti for great suspension and specific long distance geo etc.

Trail bike at XC race weight Yeti or slightly heavier Turner Czar both take 120 forks

DanW’s bike is really nice but personally I’d not want quite such a light build for real long distance – the walks get longer. My Spearfish 24.5 is with 2.4 conti protections (1lb difference there I think compared to Ikons?) Gobi Kium and standard maxles and a KCNC post that I’m about to replace with a Thomson masterpiece cos the clamp won’t hold my immense 72kg.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/wsL537]Ridgeway double[/url] by [/url], on Flickr

I’d have the yeti coz its beautiful. But frankly you spund like you dont deserve one so i’d recommend a townsend hill street cruiser

Everyone I know with an Epic loves it but they don’t seem that light unless you get to the WC level frame (2.3kg???) and there isn’t a good value way to buy one. Also, it couldn’t be my only bike as they seem to require a lot of TLC. There’s a sub 9kg one on WW but it takes a ton of AX parts (pics aren’t available any more otherwise I’d post up- it was flippin’ gorgeous!)

DanW’s bike is really nice

Ta 😀 Fine for 6 hours or so and I’m not man enough to put in monster rides like you to challenge it any more than that 😀 I don’t think I’ve heard a bad word about a Spearfish and yours looks great too. But the carbon version…. how much???? 😯

I’d have the yeti coz its beautiful. But frankly you spund like you dont deserve one so i’d recommend a townsend hill street cruiser

+1 😆