[Closed] What Full-Suss 29er for trail / singletrack riding? Convince me!

I haven't even seen one in real life, let alone ridden one so this isn't a recommendation.......but the KHS 29ers look alright!

Our shop has a large Specialized Camber Carbon as a demo available (Kinetic Cycles, Welwyn, Hertfordshire)

carbons start at £3000 complete with Fox Float up front and 2x10 X7/X9 with BB30 chainset.

email in profile if you'd like to book a ride on it.

Salsa Horsethief?

Available frame only and will take a 120mm fork. I've been very happy with my Salsa Big Mama running 120 up front as well.

Niner are also pretty nice and come frame only, but they tend to be pricier (but still no doubt way cheaper than a Santa Cruz).

Yeah the Salsa is an option and looks good value.

Anthem, Scott Spark, Spesh Epic/Camber and Rocky Mountain Element 29ers are all on my short-list, I'm in no rush to buy though so tempted to wait on next years models and hope Canyon end up doing a decent FS 29er. Tallboy would be nice but the price is just ridiculous for what you get.

Try a turner Sultan its a superb frame, I bought mine as a replacement to a 5 spot and it almost as capable. Its slacker than the Tallboy and offers 120mm at the rear and 140mm fork capability in the future if you want it.

[url= http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop/Frame++Forks/Frames+-+MTB/Turner+Frames/2011+Turner+Sultan+120+DW+29er+Frame_TB-DW11-120.htm ]Merlin are selling them significantly cheaper than a Tallboy too.[/url]

Friend has a camber and is well chuffed with it....

Turner Sultan looks good.

and hope Canyon end up doing a decent FS 29er.

+1......a 29er version of the Carbon Lux race bike would be right up my strasse. 100mm, maybe 120mm forks.

Transition Bandit.

The Transition Bandit looks good value too compared with the Tallboy.

A jewel encrusted, hand made ti full suss, made in a cave on mars by a Tibetan monk looks good value compared to a tallboy.....

If I was buying from scratch now I would go for a Camber. Everyone I know who has ridden them raves about them. I went with a Niner, and can strongly recommend that too, but doesn't help much on price.

I went for a trek rumblefish as tried the camber comp carbon, loved it but £3000 and no 15mm fork seems a bit cheap and the rumblefish felt more solid on the downs and really I couldn't stretch to the carbon framed Camber.

You seem to have more budget so look at

Transition Bandit
Orange Gyro
Intense Tracer
Yeti SB95

Don't get a Camber 29er!
I rode test rode one Good Friday and hammered it.
I am about to order it but don't want everyone to have the same bike as me.
Specialized warranty service is still one of the best.
But I'm sure you'd hate it!

+1 (or 3) for either Camber or Rumblefish.

I've ridden the Tallboy and it's ace, pricey but you do get what you pay for.

I've demo'd a Camber, waiting to demo a Rumblefish.

Paceman..I'll be interested to see what you choose..I'm starting to think about changing my Pace 405 and a 29er of some sort may be on the list. I'm going to give a SC Tallboy a test - would like to try the LT version too. but they are expensive!!

Test ride and decide.

Go for whatever is available as there appear to be at least a couple of brands experiencing demand outstripping supply.

For me, Turner offer great after care service while ISON who distribute Salsa were terrific to deal with when I had a small issue with my Salsa Fargo. They couldn't have been more helpful so credit where credit is very much due.

I'm looking at a Salsa Spearfish, a longer travel Santa Cruz or a Transition Bandit as a purchase. I really liked the Anthem X 29er I tried but my LBS is struggling to get hold of one in large.

My mate Paul just went 120mm on his carbon Tallboy and reckons it's transformed the ride. It looks lush too in orange. 😀

Cheers

Sanny

Nah, forget a full sus and go for a Whyte 829 or 29C (Hard tails).....cracking bikes. The 829 has the best spec for the money...XT running gear, SLX brakes and shifters, with fox floats up front. Good value @ 1899.

I get up my usual hills still in front middle cog rather than granny ring on my 26ers and alot quicker too. Very stable downhill and on the twisty trails. Have been very impressed as its almost made my C456 redundant, if it wasnt for needing a stealth night bike that Im not worried about crashing.

I know the Camber is probably pretty good but I've found Spesh bikes to be uninspiring in the past, i.e. nothing wrong with them but also not fantastic either. Great warranty though granted.

The Turner Sultan or Transition Bandit sound more up my street, and a little cheaper than the alloy Tallboy they're comparable to. Possibly a bit heavier though. Yeti SB95 looks great but not sure they're available yet.

I'm going to try a medium Tallboy before making a decision. The large felt slightly stretched (albeit with a longer stem then I'd use) and harder to manual etc. A medium may be better for me at 5'10". I'm right in between sizes on their chart.

What Full-Suss 29er for trail / singletrack riding?

i've been asking the same thing...

speccy camber.

Rose Dr Z.

Scott Spark.

Giant Anthem X

Titus Rockstar

Salsa Spearfish - 'only' 80mm of rear travel, but they get very good reviews. Charlie the Bikemonger has 1 or 2 availalble to test...

The Spark and Anthem are a bit XC for me, but the Titus Rockstar could be interesting, looks good value. Not seen many reports / reviews for it yet though.

spearfish good, check out http://twentynineinches.com/ for a recent build and long term test.

Bandit is very much an AM biased 29 with 68deg head angle we're talking enduro alps or gnarr here. 120 fork on it would make the BB very low.

Rockstar reports on http://twentynineinches.com/ too.

Anthem is well rated by many and has sensible mud/tyre clearance which can't be said for all of them trying too hard to make short stays.

Orange gyro!

Anthem X 29er. Had a demo on one round Aston Hill a week ago, ridiculously fast and fun and cracking value IMO (compare to a tallboy alloy!)
Tested b2b with a Whyte 829 and 29er Epic comp. The Whyte was too heavy and too stiff and the Epic I rode was a huge disappointment.

Horsethief would be better for this type of riding than a spearfish.

We will have one, possibly two, at Mayhem of you want to come and have a look. I imagine Charlie will be one of the only shops who might keep a demo one? I met someone over the N Downs the other day who has just bought one - XTR, Fox Kashima, Easton etc etc... It looked fantastic and he seemed really pleased with it.

GB

I absolutely Love my nicolai helius ac 29er......

I love my Kona Hei Hei 2-9 and it's a bit different from the norm! 😀

THink Helius AC is up there with the SC in cost though TLR!

4 or 5 weekends a year in Wales doesn't need a Horsethief! The spearfish will be plenty of bike for most anything! I ride my 100/120mm 26" on almost anything and am replacing my 160mm Helius AM with a 140mm Helius AC29 which the Horsethief is an equivalent of really, I'm racing Italian SuperEnduro and riding in the Alps with it!!! To be honest I'd have no issue with doing it on any similar 120mm rear travel 29er. 100mm is more than enough for the UK.

Spoke to the Yeti rep at wheelbase's demo day and he said they were due any minute which was a couple of weeks ago, so worth looking around for an SB95 if you can stretch that far.

Just back from trying an anthem x29. Very good xc but also rips on all terrain... Giant now do great demos... Wheel sets bit crap but other than this a good buy.

I bought a carbon Tallboy and it's been great. I'm 5'11 and I've got a large with 100mm forks, 80mm stem and a 685mm flat bar.
It's been ridden at Swinley, Sherwood pines, Llandegla, Coed Y Brenin and some natural stuff around north Wales as well as around St. Albans in herts. It has been great everywhere so far, I've had no handling issues on steeper technical stuff and it rips around the single track at Swinley and Herts.

Sanny,I've just got back from Innerleithen with the spearfish and it climbed up the black really well. I took it up to the top of matador and went off piste a bit and found some stuff I never knew of. Finished up down bits of black and red but punctured near the bottom after caddonbank. It is something you need to try out. I think you would love the short travel rear end on it and its climbing prowness ;O)

I really like the look of the new Tallboy LT and the alloy version would be reasonably priced. The current version appears a bit steep for my taste for general trail riding but I haven't ridden one.

I'd buy my Niner RIP9 again. Current model is slacker than previous.

I've owned a couple of Salsa 29er hardtails and they make very good quality bikes. I'm sure the full sussers are fantastic machines.

TBH there are so many quality 29 trail bikes around ATM that I think you won't be disapointed no matter what you choose. I think it comes down to taste and budget - you wont buy a bad bike.

Have you ever read a new bike thread where somebody hated their new purchase? 🙂

Heart says get a Tallboy.

Head says get an Anthem X 29er or similar.

Turner Sultan and Yeti SB95 also tempting, Salsa Spearfish and Titus Rockstar also contenders for their value for money.

I have a Sultan and it is far more capable than me. Mine is the XXL and not built for a weight weenie (I'm 250lbs and oafish on the riding stakes) and it weighs 30lbs all up - so a lot of bike there to be that weight. Turner service is legendary and the bike is tough as old boots.

I'm actually looking at something for doing marathons etc. on (keeping my 140mm 26" for most other stuff) hence my bias towards the XC side of things in the list I posted. That said the Anthem 29er I demo'd didn't seem much different to my Zesty so think would be fine as do-it-all bike. Ideally I want a 120mm fork and 100mm back-end and around 25lb with Shimano stuff on (not SRAM as virtually everything seems to come with this year). There's not much choice out there from what I can see though, at least not sub £3.5k

The SRAM kit on the Anthem X 29er is a downside IMO too.

I've got a Titus Rockstar, I was converted to the way of the big wheel by a shot on a Tallboy which was fantastic, but I couldn't afford one and have to say I have no regrets as it rides just as well, and in some ways prefer the suspension on the rockstar, however you can see the extra money in the Tallboy in the quality of the pivots and stiffness in the full carbon frame...

My new Rumblefish, first ride last night.

[IMG] [/IMG]

Really rides well, feels like something with 150/160mm travel on the descents and climbs very competently, unreal how well it rolls over stuff.

Granted mine has had a bit of a pimping up, but the Elite model is a belter of a bike.

For reference, I am 5ft 8in and ride a 17.5in model

The SRAM kit on the Anthem X 29er is a downside IMO too.

it's all better than the crap they've hung on the 'cheapest' Camber.

(yes, it's still £2k)

don't you start racking up the cost if your at SB95 money...I thought that was a consideration if the desired SC was off the list..

It's always tough to keep a 29er at 25lbs or unde. The frame is inherently heavier due to the different stresses to keep an equivalent stiffness, the wheels are heavier unless you go race style crest, then your the profile is compromised depending on what you want to use...compromise/compromise.

Second demo on a Tallboy today, mixed conditions after rain overnight. Still love it, and realised that a large suits my riding style better than a medium.

No surprise on the sizing. Santa Cruz are notoriously small for their size. If you've had 2 rides and still love it then I wouldn't settle for anything less if it were me.
You will never be completely happy.
Post purchase guilt over an expensive item is brief, post purchase regret by settling for cheaper lasts ages.

Post purchase guilt over an expensive item is brief, post purchase regret by settling for cheaper lasts ages.

Very True 😆

I suspect it will be the Tallboy.