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Instead of arguing about why no-one posts about bikes I thought we could talk about bikes.
I think the answer to this is a 140mm trail bike priced between £2k and £3k but I'm prepared to debate the bike but not so much the budget. 🤔
I like a bargain/happy with a last year or before model and I also keep bikes quite a while. Usual riding is South Downs/ Hampshire, Queen Elizabeth park.
Trips away would be trail centres, rocky natural stuff in bigger hills (e.g. around Edale), the odd day at BPW on the easiest end of the grading. I don't do free ride, downhill, any kind of enduro racing.
I'm fairly "solid" and I dislike noodly feeling stuff.
Options so far all in budget and on sale in my size somewhere.
- Merida One Forty 700 or 6000 (2023)
- Saracen Ariel 30 Pro
- Orbea Occam SL or LT
- Whyte T140 RS
- Santa Cruz Tallboy 5R 2023
Should I be tempted to go bigger? I seem to be having a bit of a skills/confidence step up as I get perilously closer to the end of my 40s but I can't imagine I'll get to a point of pushing the boundaries of a 160mm bike but maybe that's not the point? I've never actually ridden anything that big. Maybe I should give it a go before I get too slow to recover from inevitable injuries.
The Camber is staying for the benefit of my bike nabbing offspring so we can still ride together so I'd have access to that for solo riding.