I'm currently riding a long travel 26" wheeled hardtail ( Chumba HX1).
Time for new bike I think.
Thinking full-sus to help my nearly 50 year old body.
Dont mind good frame and forks with poor brakes and gears and I can transfer from my hardtail.
Looking at 2800 quid ish.
At moment looking at..
Canyon Spectral CF 7.0
Sonder Evol
YT Jeffsy 27 CF comp.
Trek Remedy 8.
The Jeffsy and Canyon are favourites at moment. (admittedly because carbon)
Am I missing any other obvious choices or should I just click buy on something and get on with it.
Ta.
Airdrop Edit?
Have you tried recent 29ers?
Worth having a go before dismissing them. Thinking of the Bird AM9 in particular.
The Jeffsy CF Pro is £3k at the moment, 15% off.
The 29er model is very good, very agile.
The Spectral is also very good, compared to the Jeffsy it's a bit shorter in reach but comparing 27.5 models they should be very similar in agility.
The CF8.0 Spectral is also at £2830 at the moment with some money off...
Both extremely good bikes, you'd be able to up size more easily on the Jeffsy if you wanted something much longer.
I'd get a 29er Jeffsy rather than a 27.5. Consider a 29er Capra too.
I bought a jeffsy CF comp 29er recently. Taking some getting used to having a 29er FS after my 27.5 soul but the thing is unreal, seriously consider one.
If you're Manchester way have a pop on mine if you want?
Steered clear if 29" as I'm a short arse. Only tried once about 5 years ago, hated it. But things change....
Are you Jonny of rammy mtbers?
No sir
I would say get a demo but you might struggle to demo a Jeffsy now, thier demo days were a few weeks ago.
As another choice, if you can find a Cube stereo 140 TM on sale (they're normally £3500) then you'll have the best spec bike for the money. It's almost identical Geo to the Spectral.
If your thinking about a Remedy Trek are about to bring out there new ones this month and they will have more travel and are 29ers because they are dropping 27".5.
I think there's going to be a surge of 29ers for the 2020 models, they're getting to be as agile as 27.5 bikes but with the advantages a 29 wheel gives. Also, Enduro racing = a large amount of 29ers. DH racing = 29ers everywhere. XC = ALL 29ers.
Orbea don't make a 27.5 MTB now, do they? I wouldn't be surprised to see a 29er Spectral in the next year or 2.
Is dropping 27.5 a trend?. I thought the de facto standard had become 27.5 with bikes of a certain type (mainly full on xc ) being 29". I have been surprised at the replies here recommending 29" full suspension. Sounds unwieldy.
Edit....
Blimey I'm a dinosaur.
Demo if poss. Mate demo'd a Sonder and was glad he did, as it didn't suit him at all.
If I was getting a new bike, I'd be checking out 29ers for sure (I'm 5ft 8) - but would also check out 27.5 to compare.
Bird AM9 would be on the list, as would White, Airdrop and YT (VFM).
There are demos avail at the MTB meetup I think (end of July at Llandegla).
Si
https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/radon-slide-trail-8.0-799472
Eldest_oab has shiny new 29er Radon Swoop. I'm impressed by the spec and build quality.
I'm less impressed by Radon/Bike Discount warranty support though - they ok'd a local warranty repair but took a fortnight to do so.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 29er Spectral in the next year or 2.
I have a Spectral 29er from 2014. They were discontinued! 🤔
Giant Trance 29er. Some good deals about and a really fun bike with great geo.
Fwiw, I've tried several 29ers and while I'd agree that they can be agile and fun, as a fellow short arse I find it's very easy to catch your arse on the rear wheel on steeper trails. Personally I'd recommend 27.5, or at least trying out a 29 and checking how you get on.