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I'm after a full suss frame , been looking at an Orange Alpine Five for quite some time but there's not many available, what other alternatives could I pick up for sub £500,, ideally after 150/140mm rear travel and front to take a 150/140mm fork?
Budget would rule out an AM9. Maybe a Mega 290 if you're lucky.
Slightly shorter travel at 130 but I paid less than that for a Meta AM frame late last year.
I could do a Trek remedy 29 for you. Drop me a message if you're interested.
Not much around for that sort of money that's going to work.
A quick scout through the PB classifieds shows a handful of bikes around that price. One One Codeine (no thanks), a Banshee Prime, a 2015 Intense Carbine, Spec Enduro 29 & that was about it.
You'll easy get an alu Enduro 29 for that kind of cash. It will want a 160mm fork though.
Mega 290 frame is a good shout, nice geo and solid frame - not the best pedaling suspension so it's a full enduro bike rather than a long-legged trail bike. Is OK with a 150mm fork.
You might also keep an eye out for the Vitus FS 29er frames coming up secondhand.
As above, you could get a decent Spesh Enduro 29 frame for your budget - I guess it depend on whether your existing fork can be stretched out to 160mm.
Stealth ad warning! I upgraded my Alu frame to carbon S-Works last year, so have a large Alu frame going spare;)
It'll be an obvious choice at that price point - Spesh Enduro 29er or Stumpy 29er.
As others have said, the Enduro will need a 160mm fork (if you've a Pike then you're laughing as £30 will buy you the correct air shaft to lengthen to 160mm). This might be a controversial opinion, but as someone who has owned both a Stumpy and an Enduro in 29er flavours, the Enduro isn't as approachable and user friendly as the Stumpy straight out of the box. To get the best out of an Enduro, you need to factor in a 27.5" Enduro shock yoke (dependent upon the frame size) an offset shock mount to drop the BB and slacken the front. The Stumpy is a great frame, it's extremely well balanced and more of an all day ride proposition, but angles are conservative on all but the very latest iteration.
To get the best out of an Enduro, you need to factor in a 27.5″ Enduro shock yoke (dependent upon the frame size) an offset shock mount to drop the BB and slacken the front.
Spot on.
BikeYoke 650b linkage is even better, lets you use a standard 200x57 shock.
Remedy 29 is really bloody good tbh. You might want to go up a size and you'll probably want to fit an angleset but the suspension is just superb- especially with the better shock on the higher end model. It's made me stick with it for years even though the geometry is a little outdated.
Mega is a better shape but not as nice suspension. The Orange is really good too, I enjoyed it a lot. Enduro as it comes out of the box I just didn't like at all, I couldn't wait to get off it tbh. But as above it can be made good- is that all in budget?