If you had 3 grand to spunk on a new bike (forgive me but I'm interested in what is described nowadays as a Trail/AM bike with 650b/29er wheels 130/140ish rear travel), what would you get?
Mainstream, boutique, mail order from Germany, I'm not fussed as long its a decent platform, capable of all day rides, handy on steep downs(Inners is my usual haunt nowadays) and a solid spec wouldn't go amiss...
Any bargains spotted? Any second hand deals around I may have missed on the Classifieds...
Please don't let this descend in to a wheel size slanging match as its been done to absolute death. My 26er Enduro was awesome but some kind soul decided they'd take it off me before I was quite ready to part with it, since then I've been on mates bikes borrowed, and decided bigger wheels are right for me...
Any help gratefully received!
I'd be looking at either a Canyon Strive, Cube Stereo (my model of choice would be £4k though), or Spesh Stumpy Evo (maybe out of price range too).
Strive it is then!
Second the Cube. I love mine more than is healthy...
I would go for a stumpy too, an evo if I could afford it but I'm sure the normal ones are plenty good enough.
3rd the cube, love mine (650b, 160 version)
Strive is out, 650b Stereo looks a great bike...where'd you buy yours lads? No dealer local to me...
Any reason you've ruled this out for £3k?
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Forget off the shelf. Could build something nice for 3K.
I'd definitely build one up, get a nice boutiquish frame.
Leaving the wheel size discussion aside you could get a nice Norco Soght Killer-B for that money or an insanely specced YT wicked 650b. No idea how they compare ride wise plus it'll depend on what kind of ride you like. (ie. gluesd to the ground or more 'lively/aggressive')
You want a bike for 3k but have no idea what you want. This must be a troll.
I have a battered 456 with knackered forks that would be fine for you . I could let it go for 3000 pounds.
I would be looking at a COMMENCAL Meta 29 AM1, in fact I am, cannot decide on whether I want a 26 or 29 though.
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£3k. I'd be looking at last year's models, ex demos, anything to get you the best bang for buck... which is basically top quality components. Once you've settled on frame design that is, but that's half the price of an average £3k bike.
Though if you're going for 650b then you're going to have to pay for it as they'll mostly be new only. However they do seem to be a little discounted to encourage people to buy into 650b at present. In which case an alloy Santa Cruz Solo or Bronson, depending what type of bike you want. £3299 RRP but I'm sure you could find one for less.
Bigger wheels are right for you because you tried your mates bike? How much of that is the wheels and how much is just it's a nice bike? 😉
29er... demo loads and go round the trails you know. Tighter, twistier and steeper the better. Then decide. 650b however will be right for you just as much as a 26, just that you'll be able to find a lot more 650b in the shops over the next year or so than 26.
You might want to consider waiting until more bikes are released with the RS Pike fork specced as standard.
New Spicy looks good though.
Or the YT Industries Wicked 650b - abd get some Crossmax with the change.
iolo - MemberYou want a bike for 3k but have no idea what you want. This must be a troll.
Earlier this year i was in the market for a new bike. I originally had a budget of around 2k-2.5k for my dream ride. Unfortunately i know very little about bikes but discovered there are a lot of really nice ones on sale. It was a bit of an ordeal just making a shortlist.
In the end i took the advice of a few guys with more knowledge than me, went 2nd hand and spent less than half of my original budget. I don't know if i got the 'best' bike but i got a really good one (StumpyEvo btw).
So if you read the mags/websites and are pretty clued up it might seem an easy choice. It wasn't for me - I just like riding bikes 😀
Cube stereo I got the 4 k one for 3.2k
I love the bike
www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/stumpjumper-fsr-comp-evo-29-2014-mountain-bike-ec053580
That one and a £500 wheelset would be my choice 🙂 Some Roval Trail 142+ would fit nicely into it.
How the hell did you manage that larrythelathe?
iolo - Member
You want a bike for 3k but have no idea what you want. This must be a troll.
Not really friend, had a bike nicked in June. Need a new one, kind of described what I was after in my OP. Have been torturing myself over all the new arrivals, new wheel sized bikes, newly arriving models, to such an extent my head is burst. I had deliberately tried to leave out magazine type labels as I know it can annoy folk, but as I seem to have been vague, it turns out labels can serve a purpose..Thought I'd come on an ask for some fresh input. Had a 456 a while back, not after another, thanks.
Dead kenny- I also hired a billy basic 29er HT one day and decided, added to the shot of the Full Bounce 29er/130mm thought I'd make the swap. I appreciate some folk want to stick with 26" wheels and I'm glad for them. This new bike, at this time, I'll swap to a bigger wheeled bike.
Commencal is out as I had bad run with Metas back when they cracked a lot. Understand things may have changed, and do like the look of that bike but couldn't buy another.
Strive is a cracking spec for the money, but I don't fancy it?
Seen the Pike appearing on some bikes and if I was a patient sort I would be holding out as new models appear but as usual I'm getting an itchy 'BUY' finger...
As for Boutique frame and building it up, I genuinely love the process this involves(frames are usually 2nd hand mind)To the point where I become obsessed, staying up light into the wee small hours poring over forums such as this for info, and then trying to source the parts in question. I did consider a Banshee Prime but availability was an issue and £1500 frame I thought might struggle to get the rest of the build in for £3k...
So thanks for all the input so far...
[list]Errr... This one? (Currently in classifieds)
[img] http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilmour4/9582693037/ ][img] http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5447/9582693037_bf40b4469d.jp g" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilmour4/9582693037/ ][img] http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5447/9582693037_bf40b4469d.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilmour4/9582693037/ ]image[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/gilmour4/ ]libertyracing[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[url= http://http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-2013-yeti-sb66c-medium ]Shameful plug[/url]
The strive is a lovely bike but the spec now isn't as good as the one in that pic, I nearly went for it before I saw the cube
AFAIK timbo, that's the current model AL9.0 SL
My apologies, you're are absolutely right, didn't look close enough! The one I was thinking of was the 2012 with 36's and SRAM X0
650b five pro? i'll get my coat....
bbb - Member
Plug donney work. Really nice bike but the dream didn't last very long?
I have an ASR5a that you can have for £1800 🙂
(Spend the change on blackjack and hookers)
I'd be looking at something like a Santa Cruz Solo.
New Five.
Right this second and without riding any of the available bikes, I'd buy a [b]Turner Burner[/b] in Raw. The tricky bit would be the forks to keep it under 3k.
@Euro - i have too many other bikes and will be luckily acquiring another SB66c for guiding next year, so this one can make someone else happy!