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Looking to buy myself one of these bad boys. Reckon 120mm is enough for the trail centre riding I mostly do as I'm currently running a hardtail with no real problems. Main problem tho is the pants spec, specifically the forks (recon silvers) and the brakes (alivio discs). Is the frame good enough to make up for the spec, or is the bike just a rip off when compared to a trek, specialized etc? Any ideas on what else to consider?
how much?
go to merlin cycles website and spec up the same bike (without a frame) and see how it compares
Giant Anthem
Trek EX8 / Top Fuel
Felt Edict
Cube AMS
Yeti ASR5
Or similar....
Spark is a good bike, but I found the BB too low for me, with 170mm cranks it'd probably be fine - it's a very fast bike going downhill though, and storms up smooth ascent.
It's 1600, if you compare it to similarly priced specialized, trek, giant etc they are all running at least elixir 3s and recon golds, as well as a generally better groupset. More than happy to sacrifice groupset for frame if it is better than the equivalent camber, trance, ex6 etc
Had a go on the cube ams 130 pro at a demo day, nice set up with 130 at the back and 150/130 at the front. Good finishing kit as well, just not sure whether I need that much bike, or on the chavvy looks
Anyone had any experience with a canyon or similar. read horror stories on various forums but I'm sure they're just isolated cases
I was in the same position last month.
I demo'd the Trek EX9 and thought it was great but too expensive for my budget.
I've just ordered a Canyon Nerve XC8.0, came in at £1679 posted with a spare mech hanger. Unbelievable spec for the money.
http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes/bike.html?b=2558
Check it out even just to compare to what else is out there in the same price range.