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So what's good for £5K in the enduro bike market at the moment? Looking for something for Scottish enduros this Summer and general winch and plummet and the odd uplift at Inners, Ae and Fort Bill. Coming off a Bird AM9 with 170mm fork. Probably not anything in the "super enduros" segment i.e. not a bike like the Giga.
TIA!
Specialized Enduro is likely about to be replaced, I’m sure you’d get a bargain from any dealer who had an old model in stock.
Having v little to go on makes you sound like a Spesh enduro 😜
I'm going to start the recommending what you own.
Outgoing Rocky Mountain Altitude should easily be within budget, its the best bike I've ever had with lots of adjustment.
If you happen to be medium, there's a RM Altitude C70 on Paul's for 60% off. Unfortunately I'm not..
if you like the bird, how about their new carbon offering?
I'd push the boat out a little more and go for a Geometron G1 for the riding you want to do.
It'll end up being a better investment and cheaper in the long run with the lack of maintenance due to it being actually designed for smashing the shit out of in less than optimal conditions.
The advice/free suspension tuning and backup are also worth a lot more than the extra above your five grand target.
How many other bikes offer free spring swaps/ shock re valves until you're happy with your new bike?
Thanks for all the suggestions so far, they're all food for thought. I'm just looking for inspiration really so this all helps.
Raaw Madonna rolling chassis and add brakes and groupset of your choice.
Why not super enduro if it's primarily winch and plummet? What sort of travel would you be looking at?
I posted this thread last year - I ended up with a Stumpjumper Evo. It felt a bit lightweight in the Alps, but it's spot on locally.
Merida one-sixty 👌👌
You'd get a 6000 model with change for £5k
https://www.merida-bikes.com/en-gb/bike/4054/one-sixty-6000
RAAW Madonna v3 would be top of my list, bang up to date geo & sizing, if you’re taller you might benefit from the stack height on the v3 being higher than previous, which is a good thing imo.
Another vote for a V3 Madonna from me.
The Madonna looks great but not sure about the extra budget...
The G1 also looks good, I like what they're about but not sure I could live with no bottle cage (plus extra budget).
Maybe the Megatower? It looks like a great bike for a great price and I had so much fun on my last Santa Cruz (23 years ago).
The Stumpy Evo looks like a really strong contender, it seems to get great reviews everywhere, in the press and from users. I guess I need to decide whether I want the same travel I have now or more with the Meagtower.
Thanks for the suggestions, they've been a real help.
Maybe not as suited to fort bill as a G1, but for most enduro style trails I've got on really well with my Prime.
https://primebicycles.com/product/thunderflash?color=1&build=S&size=L
Not really sure what the 'fully landed' cost is in the u.k, but it's a great bike with a great spec. The suspension is amazing, and the overall balance of the bike is really nice too. I was skeptical of the low stack, but but I went with the 480 reach large at 6ft 2 and I think the slightly shorter reach than previous bikes I've had helps balance out the lower stack. It feels great on flatter trails and has amazing balance on steep tech. I've found Prime to be really responsive with after sales support as well.
Personally I wouldn't go for the Megatower without budgeting for a shock, fork and wheel upgrade. Nice frames and finishing kit, but the main components aren't right for a bike of that price and if you're after the best performance then budget suspension and cheese rims just aren't going to cut it.
@bearGrease I’ve got a Stumpjumper Evo, and it’s an excellent bike, I’d say it’s Enduro-adjacent. I’ve certainly never felt that I’ve needed more travel on it.
That Prime bike looks lush…plus on special offer right now…
A Euro price may mean adding sporting goods tax and VAT and the courier handling charge.....
Build a Raw Madonna.
Given where you are planning on riding it a lot, with rocks, I wouldn’t recommend the SJ Evo. They are reknowned to be ‘very’ fragile whem it comes to rock strikes…
My friend has a forbidden Dreadnought. At only 154mm of travel I was a bit sceptical, but he feels that it’s not out of place on even the harder sort of DH trails. I think that will be my next enduro bike.
Curious how that would compare to a Raaw Madonna, those look great and have also been on my list
Transition Sentinel?
Ive a new 2024 megatower Its been built up from a warranty frame with mainly new parts and its been behind me for the last 8 weeks , Its not set foot out of the house no for lack of riding but ive been riding a 150 -120mm trail bike more . Ive looked at almost every bike mentions from about as a possible change as I have a wee bit of Carbon anxiety . I shouldnt as i didnt kill my last Megatower which I had for 4.5 years all over the Lakes Dales and Peaks ...
Transition sentinal would be a good call
Ibis ripmo gets solid reviews
Raw Madonna .. not the lightest
Airdrop mx only good for warny in a pair of jeans and jib top (I know buyers who have regretted buying for this reason )
Privateer frame up build ?
I wouldnt look at Nukeproof .. goes without saying
This might be worth a look .. solid build https://uk.yt-industries.com/products/bikes/capra/core-4/671/capra-29-core-4/
Merlin had some pretty good deals on ripmos recently.
Banshee could be another name on the list.
Ebike?
Failing that a trek slash is superb
Cotic RocketMAX?
(to continue the recommend what you ride thing, but it does fulfil the brief)
Cotic RocketMax
I just built a Madonna v2.2. They are on sale still and quite frankly a bargain in my eyes! It’s not light, but only 2lb more than my carbon sentinel was. And it’s a monster truck! So so good!
you could easily build one in budget with some nice parts.
if I had to look else where that new bird is probably where my money would go
The G1 also looks good, I like what they’re about but not sure I could live with no bottle cage
You can fit a bottle on a G1.
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@bearGrease - What is the AM9 not doing that you want the new bike to do? Otherwise you’re just going to get a load of random suggestions.
Take, seriously, the Canyon Strive, YT Capra, or Nukeproof Mega if you're looking for an affordable Enduro bike.
Wouldn’t buy a Mega with Nukeproof currently in limbo and the recent carbon ones having proved to be a bit ‘cracky’.
@marksnook… if you don’t mind me asking what was the cost of the import tax? Very interested in getting a madaonna myself!
If you're planning on smashing out runs of Fort Bill etc then a GeoMetron would hold up well. BITD I used to ride there regularly - 14-20 runs over a weekend - and it was killing my enduro bike (Lapierre Spicy). Swapped to an old Glory DH to save the wear n tear. I'd have no such worries about my current GeoMetron though.
And it doesn't have to be a new G1, or even a G1 at all. I'm happy smashing around on my 2018 G16 which, after a few tweaks, isn't a million miles away from a G1. Frame cost me <£1k inc a new coil shock 18 months ago. And it fits a bottle: 600ml Camelbak Podium with this cage but is a bit difficult to remove on my 'longest' frame, so I'm swapping to a Fidlock 450.
Atherton S170.3, £4.8k. I'd be having a hard look at those if I was in the market.
Maybe stretch a bit to the GX, Fox 38 S170.2 for £5.5k
a11y
And it fits a bottle: 600ml Camelbak Podium with this cage but is a bit difficult to remove on my ‘longest’ frame, so I’m swapping to a Fidlock 450.
That works on an XL/Longest, the L frame is just slightly too small to make it work.
Source - tried for AGES to make it work
singlespeedstu
You can fit a bottle on a G1.
That's the YT Thirstmaster, @singlespeedstu ? Thinkk I asked you about this before
Is it secured with just the single bolt, or anything additional? What cage do you use?
Edit - is it this one?
Yep thats the one , comes with the cage.
Hit up Geometron for the adaptor bracket.
So frame only no shock with import came to around £1700. I bought some extra bits like mech hanger, brake mount and axle mounts to adjust chainstay length. So ultimately I had £1800 in it.
I had an ohlins coil that was the size for the frame so that made it easy. Raaw supplied all the shock mounting hardware I needed. Really well machined top hat bushings rather than the usual centre bush with plastic/rubber washers.
I wanted external routing, simple to work on. I absolutely love it, it’s just mint! Like I said not that much heavier than my sentinel. Some of the extra weight is from burlier tyres and inserts. I don’t stress on weight though. It climbs well!
if you are south west based you are welcome to have a go
Banshee Titan? I have it's little brother the Prime and it's ace. £2099 for frame, shock and headset. Leaves 3k for the rest of the build.
G1, will be reliable unlike every other option. You can play with the setup as much as you want, swap in and out of mullet in a few mins.
Have mine setup with a set of Nero's, fancied something that the CSU wouldn't start creaking on. Will probably end up with a set of ERA LT's on their at some point.
