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Cheapest Geometron is what? £6.5K? Even the frame with shock/fork is £3.5K.
Raaw Madonna v2.2
You might get one of these in under £5k too - Deviate Highlander 150. v1You’d need to do some very shrewd bargain hunting but it’s definitely doable (don’t bother with the 36’s though - couldn’t keep up with the rest of the bike 😂)
£1650 for a new v1 Highlander frame is a good starting point: https://store.deviatecycles.com/collections/sale-23/products/deviate-highlander-frame
(I know because I’ve bought a 140mm version 😀)
Also might know of a shop doing sensible builds on v2 Highlanders for <£5k.
Geometron G1. Bloody marvellous bike, save by using your old parts on a new frame / fork. There’s a few around inners I think.
go 275 rear, more lively
Proper sturdy and genuinely proper geometry. Can’t beat a bike the right size that steers properly. the EXT is bloody amazing.
There were some awesome deals on the old Trek Slash, which is still a very modern bike but with 160mm travel rather than 170mm and high pivot of the new one. It would make an excellent all-rounder. Just check your req'd seatpost insertion depth.
Cheapest Geometron is what? £6.5K? Even the frame with shock/fork is £3.5K.
Comes with a grands worth of shock and a pair of forks that won't creak and IMO are a far better fork than the zeb/38
Deviate highlander or Claymore. If you're in Scotland you should be able to book a free demo at their hq.
@a11y where might one find those "sensible" Deviate builds? I'm interested...
Cycle Highlands in Ballater are selling Forbidden Dreadnoughts in XT spec for £4k. Most sizes, I believe.
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
I have had both a v2.2 Madonna & a Dreadnought & they are a very different ownership prospect…
For riding, the Dreadnought is still the fastest bike I’ve ridden/raced - it carries speed like no other bike I’ve ridden (including other high pivot bikes). But, it is absolutely not a great bike for UK conditions. It needs a lot of love to keep the linkage running well & if you neglect it, it starts to feel crap, pretty quickly. You will get pretty adept at bearing changes with it.
The Raaw is the total opposite. It feels ‘safe’ to ride & is still a great bike, just not quite as fast. However, I neglected the hell out of it & it just kept coming back for more. We did an intense couple of weeks riding in Italy last year which ended up being nearly 70,000m of descending in total, which I never touched the bike & it’s still on the same bearings now. It genuinely is a bike you can just ride & forget about.
Kind of like a Geometron, but it takes more than a kids sized water bottle & doesn’t look pig ugly. (And the whack geometry which is an acquired taste).
Just so happens there is a decent Pinkbike review of the Madonna this week too.
@bearGrease, give Iain @ The Bike Works in Stirling a call. Iain was Ben @ Deviate's old physics teacher (genuinely) and rides both a Highlander 2 and Claymore himself. Spec for £4750: Highlander 2, any colour any size, Float X shock, Fox 36 Grip 160mm fork, Pro5 wheels, Hope headset/BB, 1x12 SLX inc brakes, OneUp bar/stem/dropper. We joke that it's the 'sensible' spec most of our group would choose: stuff that just works without overly blingy.
I was only doing a frame swap hence went for a Highlander 1 frame instead, otherwise I was tempted with one of those.
My 140 Highlander v1 after first proper ride:
The new Madonna looks mint and the PB review is very positive. I'd be very happy with one of those.
I'd love to ride one back to back with a G1. I loved my G16 and I absolutely hammered it for 4 years and never heard a single complaint.
My current Privateer in comparison is a nice bike to ride but it's impossible to keep it quiet. It's always squeaking or creaking from somewhere.
An alloy Transition Spire is probably in the same ballpark as some of the bikes mentioned here. If you’re an xl frame size the NX one is £2999 at Tweeks. Whilst the group set isn’t that high end it has Code R brakes, a bomber Z1 air fork (think can be converted to coil cheaply) and a Float X shock. Plus leaves loads of budget for tweaking.
My current Privateer in comparison is a nice bike to ride but it’s impossible to keep it quiet. It’s always squeaking or creaking from somewhere.
I sent one back, the QC on it was terrible. Took the shock off and the rear end was pretty much locked out, no wonder they had a low compression tune shock! It then proceeded to eat frame bearings.
How do you know when someone's riding a Geometron?
Because they'll bloody well tell you... 😉
My privateer last all but 2 rides .. shocking and for me it was the noise and build quality they made me get ride quick like !
Kramer
How do you know when someone’s riding a Geometron?Because they’ll bloody well tell you
yep we’re evangelists. Hoping to share how wonderful it is to ride a bike that fits and that lasts. Designed to excel not to a budget.
Orbea Rallon, absolutley love mine. Had a megatower before it, and I massively prefer the Orbea