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Hi guys what 27.5 full sus frame would you buy for trail riding, emphasis on the ups and downs, if you were in the market right now? Thanks
That’s a vague question!
Budget?
Travel?
Kind of geometry?
Weight of frame?
Do you want to buy frame only or whole bike?
Urgency of buying said frame - noting lots of stuff is out of stock for the foreseeable future?
Riding style - do you like something poppy and playful or more plush for riding tech stuff?
It would be frame only and for trail riding so for me max 150mm travel but probably 120 to 140 would be best. Not fussed about any other parameter eg weight or wait for frame. Thanks
Paul's Cycles have some nice Rocky Mountain frames half price...... or at least they did the last time I looked.
If urgency is an issue, I'd be looking at a used frame tbh, pinkbike etc.
Given the huge number of options, I suspect you are going to end up with a list of bikes people own. In that vein, I can recommend a Transition Scout. It has a fun, playful feel, seems to do up and down pretty well. The frame isn't the lightest, although this can largely be offset by a lighter weight build.
I would happily buy another, other bikes I would consider would include a Commencal Meta Tr (if I could find a nice second hand one as they don't seem to do 27.5 any more), Bird Aether, Cotic Flare, Orange Four or Five, Vitus Escarpe, Santa Cruz 5010 or Bronson.
Those Rocky Mountains mentioned above look good.
Transition Patrol is at the top of your travel spec and quite burly.
Bird Aether 7 is what I’ve got - if you built it ‘light’ with a Pike and decent wheels/ spec it’s a great trail bike. Mine’s built a bit burlier with a Lyrik although that’s only because I had the fork anyway.
Cotic Flare
Evil The Calling - I love the look of these.
Santa Cruz 5010 - I built one of these for a mate with a pike/ slx 4 pots / slx 12 speed / mid range wheels and it’s really nice as an all rounder. His is the version that’s just been replaced and for me I’d probably drop a slackset in it. Compared to my aether the 5010 pedals a little better and the frame is lighter but on more off piste steep tech stuff it’s less good.
I didn’t mean transition patrol in the above post I meant transition scout....also forgot the escarpe mentioned above but doubt you can get that frame only.
The literal answer to your question is probably a Giant Trance. If I was going to buy a trailbike, that's the first bike I'd check out, then use that as a benchmark for anything else. Problem is, you don't specify a price or anything else, so impossible question.
Try looking on the Bird website they were selling off the Aeris frames. They may have some left.
Price wise around 2 to 2.5 grand would be good for me. Thanks for all the advice so far guys, I looked at Paul's Cycles but the rocky mountain frames are not in my size unfortunately as that would of been perfect.
Transition Scout is a good shout. Rowdy enough to be fun, but good at all day trail riding too.
I like the new Airdrop Edit. I'm not sure if it would feel like a nimble trail bike or a bit of a bomber, especially with the coil shock. Probably good on fun trails but I want something that feels spritely on the boring bits.
The Scout is nice but bloody expensive and out of stock everywhere.
It might be time for my first big wheeler, I've just never ridden one that I like.
Ignoring lack of stock...
A jeffsy. 🙂
I am a little concerned that 27.5 will die away for larger sizes and I would like to get myself a decent one now that's up to date geo wise so I can keep hold of it