I have a mate who is keen to buy a Fuel EX8 approx. £1600.00 but what else for the same money would tempt him away, as I'm not a fan of Trek myself and would like to suggest a 'better' option.
Orange/Cannondale maybe.....
40 year old male novice, 6ft, general trail/trail centre abuse.
Orange 5 definitely worth a look(Hope headset upgrade is a good idea too), but you can't really argue with the level of kit on the EX8 for the price.
I have just bought a brand new Giant Trance X0 full of bling bits, 26lbs for £1600. (it arrived tonight so just putting it together)
Not sure what you mean by "better"? What do you not like about the Trek EX?
Never have liked the Trek [i]bandwagon[/i] but they do seem to have 'improved' their range somewhat. So much so, that I'm struggling to 'better' it!!
Kit looks sound + frame seems trail friendly and they look the part.
Seriously, look for 08 bargains - Trance X0, XTR, Fox Float, RP23, Deus Race Face finishing kit, £500 Mavic Crossmax wheels, RRP £2400. Brand new from Paul's Cycles £1600......... arrived in 2 days.
It was between this or a new EX8 for me and this is lighter, stronger with 100 x better kit.
Have a shop around. Bet you could get an 08 EX9 now for £1600.
I think the EX8 is a great bike - I loved the feel of the suspension based on the test ride I had of the 9.9 at the weekend (geom and suspension is basically the same, OK it's not full carbon XTR but equally it's not £4200!!)
If set on the EX8, check out Pedalon - they had 08 EX8's for about £1200 a couple of days ago. Only trouble is Trek won't allow mail order now so you'd have to collect (Newbury / Basingstoke area)
EDIT: £1295