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Why not look at 29ers? They work well for general xc usage!
ti 29er definitely thinking about it.
Orange P7, great trail bike.
I love my whyte 905 - rode quite a few bikes before deciding and it seemed the best combination of fun, light, able to handle where I ride (Surrey/downs/etc)
I am 80% roady though 😉
+1 for a Whyte 19, love mine...
If you can get along with the looks I'd definately check out the 456 carbon. Otherwise I can't help but recommend a Soul, my riding changed a bit and I wanted something a bit more grr but the Soul's excelled itself beyond anything I'd hoped for and I'd hoped for a lot. Superb frames and seems to fit your bill absolutely perfectly. And no not too steep.
Hi 7HZ. Send me an e-mail to milesg_01 (at) yahoo (dot) com
Give me a shout, I may have something for you!
Pipedreams look nice but the P7 I have is great. It rides like a lighter bike. There's always the P7 pure which I think is a little lighter.
I love my Soul (so much so I bought a Soda, but that's another story).
It looks good (especially in that orange), is well made, 4.4lbs for the medium and is good for 100 - 140mm forks. Way better than the (06) handjob I had. Its reassuringly expensive (for steel) but still less than half your budget, whats not to like?
I ran my Soul at 100 (on talas forks) for about a year and its not too steep even at that. Remember that the stated 70 deg is at 25% fork sag.
Although I have a shiney newcomer I could only 'get rid' of my old Soul for another new (orange) one.
No-one has yet mentioned Van Nic Ti frames, fairly sure they are under £1k, Zion comes with rack mounts too. I rode LEJOG on an Airborne Lanacaster using slicks with saddlebag only and was just fine for such long touring; also used it for general XC; Van Nic zion (if still avaialble) is rebrand of teh Airborne Lancs but with shorter top tube
take a look at http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/detail.asp/sku=FFHFMHT005/Van_Nicholas_Zion_Titanium_MTB_Mountain_Bike_Frame
Owned quite a few and have settled on a P7. Truly versatile, as someone has said it rides like a lighter bike, hard as ****.
Whyte, lots of models. All good. Can't see past them. We don't just sell them - we have demo bikes and ride them so have compared them to a LOT of bikes.
Another Whyte 19 fan here. I much prefer it over my mmmBop for longer rides. Doesnt take such big rear tyres - otherwise great.
what about this (costly) mistake of mine............