Off the back of the 26" xc thread what 26" long travel bikes to look out for for bike park/ trail riding? Thinking 5"ish travel
Original Orange 5?
I enjoyed my la Pierre zesty a lot, pedalled well enough for trails and exploring, but could handle rougher days well too - Pyrenees, alps, BPW... especially with DH tyres on it. As suggested above, my Wife and quite a few friends had Orange 5s that were used in the same way they all seemed to get on well with too.
Coincidentally the la Pierre is also just about to be for sale, PM me/bpbrown1986’at’gmail.com if you’re interested, happy to let it go for a non-covid-inflated very reasonable price (~£500?) to a STWer! It can be in Cardiff or Bristol... it’s an XL I think, I’m 6’ 3” and the upper end of suitable height for it.
Specialised enduro/sx trail? Might be a little more travel than your after but I was riding a 2006 sx trail (with a few more modern part upgrades) as my only bike until a finally bit the bullet and bought something new a couple of years ago.
If we’re doing not very stealth adds, it’s a large and still hanging in the cellar now. I should probably move it on while the second hand prices are still doing well as I’ve not been on it in a while.
Main thing is, I'd be going as new as possible. 26 inch is no drawback really but old geometry is. But luckily bikes started growing before 26 was killed off so you can still get some really nice stuff. Trying to think back to what I was lusting after... Cotic Rocket, Orange Alpine, I think Commencal and Canyon and Cube had some late great 26ers... Orbea Rallon in bright yellow?
Oh and some coil lyriks.
V3 Banshee Spitfire will take 26 inch wheels with their short dropouts. 27.5 with long ones. 135mm of travel.
So will the 160mm travel Rune (which I've got).
Last of the old Hecklers?
Specialized Pitch, not the longest travel but long enough, I have one with 150mm up front.
The old hecklers 2005ish are good if you get a coil shock.not sure if the last of the heckler model was 26inch
playful and short though.good for jumps and drops and downhill.super tough.no linkage worries.often overpriced sh though.the marin wolf ridge should be good too.no experience of that though but were highly praised at the time.think theres a couple of other models with similar suspension too.attack trail and mount vision I think but not as tough.think your find the prices for all decent tough 26inch FS bikes are too much st the moment and you might get s better deal with something more modern and more undesirable .norco maybe.
Have a look locally on loot snd facebook marketplace as you might get lucky with s lower price.
The wolf ridge should be the one with the cool suspension design and huge gusset
Transition Covert. Its only 150mm frame but takes 160mm fork. Mine was amazing.
What do you mean by bike park? If you mean uplift, I'd look for a six inch bike instead and a burly fork like a 36, lyrik or ideally the marz 55 rc3 ti.
Orange Alpine, spesh enduro, mondraker dune, etc.
Probably worth thinking about going up a size, to get a bit more length in the frame.
Just get a 650 bike and run 26” wheels/fork?
2nd vote for the Specialized Pitch. Bombproof frames, the only issue being the straight headtube.
I still have a 26" Cotic Rocket with Marz 55 RC3 tis and it's pretty mint still. I feel like I can confidently say that it's never the bike that's holding me back.
They still seem to go for fairly strong money though.
Nukeproof Mega
I was just gonna pop back and mention the Mega myself.
Bit left field but the Saracen Ariel from about eight years ago was a really good, fun little bike.
They probably go well cheap.
Make me an offer for my 07 Patriot?
Liteville 301 Mk 10 with Marzocchi 55 RC3 Ti fork. I’m using one in Greece and it’s still pretty damn good.