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What would you go for? Spark? Scalpel? Spur? Something else? Which would it be and why?
Giant Anthem.
Spur. I don't think I've ever ridden a bike whose suspension worked so well. And it looks lovely. It was a MINO build though.
Izzo should probably be on your list too?
But only if it comes with a free Giant mechanic for all your maintenance needs, right?
The Spur is top of my wishlist. It just looks so right. And if you're that way inclined, Transition also say it will work with a coil.
Stumpjumper, does everything very well. Its my XC bike, but take it down proper trails with a change of wheels. With its xc wheels on its 26lb. I looked at things like the spur (was between sizes and couldn't get one), top fuel (funky seat tube angle), Scott (won't buy one as the bearing sealing is shit and I'll never buy a scott after they dicked me about)
Bird Aether 9 (or 9C if your feeling flush).
Because their customer support is A+ & they are exceptional VFM (IMO).
Propain Hugene because they look mint, reviews are very good and they're decent value for money.
I'd buy the less pretty Bird Aether because it would be easier to test ride and live with.
Virus rapide or other fm936. Ride really well and are far cheaper than the other options. Why spend more unless you want to pay for a big brand’s marketing budget? (The suspension is quite active, so if you prefer a firm rear then you might want to try something else - although a remote lockout negates that on climbs.)
I love the look of the Spur (and I have a Transition Sentinel and it’s been great so far). Would probably buy a Bird Aether 9 or Norco Optic though as cheaper and probably a little more trail than down country which would suit me more. Reactor always looks decent but reviews say it’s a bit of a sluggish pedaller.
I would say Spur or Element.
Short travel to me is 120mm or less. My Spur is genuinely one of the best bikes I’ve ever ridden. Depending on wheels & tyres it’s either 24lb or more & it’s been my most ridden bike this last year.
My only complaints are sizes, I am between an L & XL, and the turd SIDLux shock which repeatedly blew up. Thankfully SRAM replaced it with a Deluxe Ultimate.
I’ve managed to find an XL Element frame which I’m going to swap everything over on & give the Spur to my other half, as she keeps pinching it. They are from the same cloth, so I expect the Element to be as good as the Spur.
I would consider the new Top Fuel also, but even at trade, the frames are outrageously expensive.
Orange stage Evo
Light and incredibly capable do it all bike.
Was just deciding this myself and bought an Izzo uncaged 7 as a major treat to myself. The Spur was the other option on my list and was very tempted but availability seemed poor. Izzo looks great. Haven’t actually ridden it yet as I’ve been away with work, so this is about as useful to you as a chocolate teapot.
As for the Giant - definitely check out the warranty thread!
+1 for orange stage Evo
Surprisingly light and hugely fun
Or the Carbonda 120mm rear travel trail bike frame. My pal has one and I'd get one as my trail bike too if I didn't love my orange so much
Cotic Flaremax, fun, capable bike.
Specialized Epic Evo, so good at everything.
NON, go big or go home.😁
Being serious for a second the Transition and Orange are both good shouts.
Izzo and Spur seem the obvious choices. As an ex smuggler owner (120 rear) transition were amazing to deal with and the bike was incredibly sorted. Only changed as I wanted more travel. Given the spur is much lighter then that’s where I’d be looking.
Not sure I’d look at giant after recent events…
Got to be a Santa Cruz Tallboy. Light, climbs well and descend like it has much more travel.
Proper warranty too.
Dunno what your budget is but after a few months on a Canfield Tilt I can heartily recommend the CBF suspension. Canfield don't do a short travel FS but the sister company (or should that be brother company?) Revel do:
https://revelbikes.com/product/ranger/
Would be import from the US, dunno what import duty is on a full bike but I ended up paying about £2500 total inc. shipping, duty & VAT for a Tilt frame & CCDB Air Kashima, priced at $2199 on their website at the time.
Really depends where you are riding.....but...
Specialized Epic Evo, so good at everything.
is a +1 from me
Mate has had his Transition Spur on order for over a year - "it'll be amazing.." but he's still not riding it. Epic Evos seem to be in stock
Short travel to me is 120mm or less.
Agree, or 125mm at a push.
130mm Aether 9 or Stumpjumper aren't short travel bikes. 140mm Hugene definitely isn't!
I'm buying the Rapide soon, can't find anything similar to the spec and importantly for me, weight, for the same price
I can’t fault my new spark rc world cup( 120mm)
I really want one of these https://carbonwasp.com/shop/carbon-wasp-truffle-frame-and-shock
Made in Leeds and costs less than the Stage evo frame, unfortunately I don't have the money at the moment
Orbea Oiz - 120mm - I got mine back end of last year (my first full sus) loving it so far.
Mine has dual remote lockout, I think the newer version has a 3 position lockout.
Still playing with rear shock pressure, but not sure if it is just me needing to adjust my pedalling technique when the suspension is open
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It really depends what riding you want to do on it. If you're wanting to do fast trail riding the answer will be different to it you want to do trail riding and xc racing.
I got a Spark which is a great bike for a bit of racing and trail riding. It's not the most efficient xc bike when the suspension is unlocked, which makes it comfortable, but is a rocket ship once you lock it out. It's very capable too. It weighs 24lb with full XTR and Pike forks and I've raced it with some success (2nd fastest lap at the Strathpuffer and 3rd place).
I'd discounted the Epic Evo based on cost, and it is more XC race focussed. My friend runs one and loves it but as most of the riding I do is not racing I wanted something a bit burlier. If I lived in the south east it may be a better choice.
The Orbea Oiz is a very good deal, I almost got one but it's more traditional than the Scott or the Epic.
I also liked the look of the Vitus Rapide. I've seen a few about and my local bike shop sells their own version of it. They're handy riders and they like it a lot for trail riding.
A lot of the others are more trail focused. If I didn't race the Spur would be top of my list.
I'd looked at the Izzo but it's surprisingly heavy - sort of Evil Following weight but not as capable. It's a cool looking bike but I don't think it offers enough of an advantage over a 140mm bike to be worth the very slight weight drop.
I always think these threads should be called 'I want a Transition Spur'.
I couldn't bring myself to drop Transition Spur money unless there was a heavy discount on one.
Carbonda FM936 is the buy direct 🇨🇳 version of the Vitus Rapide FS, it should soon be available with the NS Bikes 120mm rear end as an alternative to the current 100mm, takes a 100-120mm fork easily.
I bought the ICAN version of the Carbonda above, its essentially the same, but with a Horst rear linkage....
I decided, based on nothing at all, that I would prefer that....
Basically, the NS Synonym, Vitus and a few others share the same front triangle (open mould) with a few rear end tweaks here and there.....
Not died in flames yet....
I bought this as I wanted a capable, modern geo short travel, light bike to go alongside a coil sprung Transition sentinel.
As above, I want a spur...... but can't actually buy one.... and I want to spend not lots of money....
Im going to throw the Tallboy in as well.
I bought a frame only in place of my Ragely Big al. What a good move that was. I also own a long travel 29er that has been made all but redundant in the last 6 months . The TB climbs very very well and comes down with a lot more pace than a 120mm bike should Its fun poppy and more than happy to get through any big day in the saddle up or down. The only stumbling block is the budget. I fear UK pricing is crazy at the moment and the justification of paying 3699 for a frame is hard to stand. The alloy option seems to have been taken off the table too, but I will pass comment on that at a later date .
i think as a few have touched on, it depends what sort of riding you want to do.
Enduro riding on short travel or trail riding or XC racing.... or maybe a combo of all?
I have a Norco Optic. I bloomin love it. Ridden Ard Rock, Megavalanche, southern enduro champs on it, plus bike park wales, Barry Sidings, FoD, off piste all sorts. Its built with a more 'enduro' theme (lyrik ultimates, zipp moto3 wheels etc), but i could easily shed a few lbs with some lighter wheels and putting the pikes back on it if i wanted something more 'trail'.
Lots of good things said about the Spur. Amongst others.
But if you end up with any of the recommended bikes, i am sure you will have a hoot!
If my Turner Czar (with 120mm fork) ever dies I'd probably whop the parts onto a Santa Cruz Blur TR. Why - because I just want a frame, I'm getting old & ride many local XC trails.
Love this thing.
Tallboy is the other one I really like and nearly bought (having owned the similar Hightower).
From experience of owning a number of these shorter travel 29ers, I'd say one crucual aspect is the rear shock. The key reason this Stage Evo seems to be more capable than others with the same travel is that it finally has a 'big boy' rear shock from a trail bike, with a can, a proper bottom out bumper etc. Previous bikes with Float DPS or the smaller Rockshox units, that has always been the 'limit' of how fast and how far you can send it with the shorter travel.
One to think about, but also depends on how you are going to use it.
Oh and theres a fella on ebay/Pinkbike thats been trying to sell a rather nice Tallboy for a while, bike or frame only. Its a black one, near me in Yorshire. No connection, just could be a great buy.
Short travel to me is 120mm or less.
Agree, or 125mm at a push.
130mm Aether 9 or Stumpjumper aren’t short travel bikes.
I'd tend to agree with short travel = 120mm max, but I think the SJ and Izzo are two light, fast 130mm bikes which probably ride like 120mm ones, IYKWIM?
And there are some heavier 120/125mm bikes which ride like 140mm bikes (e.g. FlareMax).
And there are some heavier 120/125mm bikes which ride like 140mm bikes (e.g. FlareMax).
Agreed, thats why the shorter travel trail bike stuff like the Tallboy/Optic/Aether wouldn’t be a consideration, as they are short on travel but fat on weight. I’ve said before, as a one bike solution, maybe a 31/32lb 130mm trail bike works, but for me, it’s a pointless compromise when a properly light (shudder with the word) Downcountry bike is just as capable on fun stuff & more versatile.
If I want to ride a heavier bike, I want the travel to back it up, so I ride my big bike 🙂
I'm assuming 29er
If I wanted carbon, probably Bird Aether 9c, I had an Aeris 145 and found it to be great value with superb support
Aluminium id be going for a Banshee Phantom, just because they (IMHO) make the nicest aluminium frames out there, and again are sensible value relatively speaking (I also have a Spitfire so bias)
I also looked at Nukeproof Reactors and SC 5010's in my recent search for the bike I wanted, and settled on the Spitfire, but I wanted to stay relatively short travel 27.5
I would say that the Aether 9c is not light enough to be included in the list. 2.8kg frame only, so more than 3 with a shock.
I waited 18 months for a spur but gave up in the end and bought a trek top fuel.
Very impressed with it so far. Can't really fault it other than it's weight over what a spur would be
I still want a spur though 😂
Agreed, thats why the shorter travel trail bike stuff like the Tallboy/Optic/Aether wouldn’t be a consideration, as they are short on travel but fat on weight. I’ve said before, as a one bike solution, maybe a 31/32lb 130mm trail bike works, but for me, it’s a pointless compromise when a properly light (shudder with the word) Downcountry bike is just as capable on fun stuff & more versatile.
I hadn't read this post, but I agree
I love my optic - it's the fancy one carbon one with XTR and a fox 36 and isn't heavy at all. I actually find it easier to ride than longer travel bikes on slow tech as I can feel where the wheels are, and it jumps better. I'm not riding much at the moment, but I just sold my KSL as there isn't anywhere that I felt much more comfortable on it than the optic. It went (a lot) faster when things got chunky but for a lot of slow steep riding I found it a bit runaway. To be fair it was a great bike and always got me out of trouble, but I'm happy on a shorter bike 90% of the time.
Flare
Because its a Cotic and i'm a fanboi. Aesthetics are everything. If its half as good as my Jeht it will be amazing.
I've had a couple of the more chonky short-travel 29ers (Process 111 & Smuggler) and they are amazing with just the right gradient and level of gnar, but the optimum operating window was quite narrow and a lot of the time I might as well have had more travel.
My current Orange is still hardly XC weight but picks up it's heels so much better and is a pleasure to ride on flatter or undulating trails, while still being pretty much as good descending.
I really need that from my short-travel bike, but I can see how some might want something at the burlier end of the spectrum.
As Snotrag said, a capable shock (and fork) make a big difference. I have a CCDB IL Air and Pike on mine.