first off i must say that i have no money saved at all yet towards a new bike (just musing atm).
i would love to get a short travel fs xc bike of some sort as i am feeling it nowadays when riding my ht (and that is just on the k & a canal towpath not proper offroad) due to having not ridden my bike due to depression and other reasons.
i did have a 2010 giant anthem x2 which i loved (my last fs bike) and would love to go for something like that again (but doesn't have to be an anthem though).
looking at the prices though all way over my budget (the new anthems and the canyon lux trail cf6 which looks ideal but over £3000).
just wondering what you might recommend as a light short travel fs bike to think about?
thanks in advance 🙂
2922 Rocky Mountain Element from Paul's Cycles
Giant Trance 2 29er. Can be had for under 2k. 130 front 120 rear would be more versatile than a pure XC machine I reckon.
Any of the Bird sales bikes suitable? Not sure if the shorter travel ones are XC enough for you though.
https://www.bird.bike/product-category/sale-bikes/
Scott Spark
This was mentioned in a thread recently
https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/16185392/jamis-dakar-full-suspension-mountain-bike-16185392
Top value by all accounts
The new Boardman FS bikes get decent write ups, look a bit weird but I'd have one. Depends on how short travel you want though.
I've got a Marin Hawk Hill, they just have two wheel sizes of the Rift Zone now with better geometry. I'm not looking to get rid of mine, it does everything I want it to do, but the new one looks even better.
2922 Rocky Mountain Element from Paul’s Cycles
Give him plenty of time to save up though!
Pre order deal?
MoreCashThanDash
Give him plenty of time to save up though!
🙂
Imagine how big the wheels will be
Imagine how big the wheels will be
26" with qr I suspect.
saracen ariel 30 fits the bill. good spec for the cash
Calibre Bossnut or Triple B second hand. Or whatever the Polygon equivalent is nowadays at Go Outdoors.
I've got a 2017 Anthem that i'm looking to move on..
Used ? I picked up a BMC Fourstroke 100 MM FS from a mate a while back for just £300 - was for MrsF, shame it doesn't fit me as it's a XS. He even threw in a reverb. Great bike, SLX and XT and really light.
I fail to see how you could beat that Jamis Dakar. Add a brand X dropper for £90 if you want one, and upgrade the forks for £300 or so when CRC/Wiggle have a sale on, that would be a hell of a bike for £1,200!
Support the Chinese economy directly:
http://www.carbonda.com/mountain/full-suspension/98.html
get a Chinese takeaway
http://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,2079.0.html
🇨🇳
Salsa Spearfish
5labFull Member
saracen ariel 30 fits the bill
Not really…that’s more of a short travel enduro bike than a light XC bike that the OP is after. It is pretty sweet though and a great price at the moment!
Vitus Rapide FS
...bought one last December and have barely ridden anything else. They did reduce the CRS which I got but also worth watching tri-sport_resort (outlet for Wiggle) on ebay as they do come up. The fact its actually the Carbonda FM936 (as per Quertys link ^^^) means you could also buy as frame only but the frame is also used by other brands such as NS Bikes with their Synonym.
2922 Rocky Mountain Element from Paul’s Cycles
That's some forward thinking! but you'll probably have to wait until 2923 to get it at a discount.
The good / bad news is that there's oversupply in the market and so a lot of bikes are heavily discounted. If you can get C2W this saves you a load as well. I've recently done that and picked up my first new bike in a long time (I usually buy second hand).
When you say 'short travel xc bike' - what attracts you to that kind of ride? When I was shopping recently I asked on here, as it happens, and mentioned that I love climbing but am rubbish at jumping, leading someone to quite sensibly suggest the Specialized Epic Evo, which is a *fantastic* XC FS bike. But to my mind that would make the things I'm relatively decentish at easier while making the things I find more challenging harder. I actually went the other way and got a bike that isn't known for being an uphill rocket (actually it climbs pretty well, especially on technical stuff) and is a monster truck downhill.
So: have a think about the riding you'd like to do and the riding you actually do. There are some amazing 120mmish FS bikes out there that are incredibly capable, especially if you're coming from an older design - stuff has moved on more in the last 5-8 years than it has in the previous 20, in my opinion.
[EDIT: you want recommendations. Look for the massive discounts on the likes of Specialized (Epic and Stumpy) and Trek (Top Fuel and Fuel EX). ~£1800 - 2.7k will get you an amazing bike at the moment.[/edit]
Oh: and you're definitely doing the right thing getting out on a bike - any bike - to fight off the Doom. Keep at it, and more power to yer elbow.
This looks excellent value and meets the brief https://singletrackworld.com/advert/bird-am9-xl/
The best short-travel xc bike for sensible money that I have demoed in recent years is the current alu 29er anthem. No idea of current cost, but given that they have been around for a few years you might get one secondhand and have some spare change for replacement bits or a wheelset upgrade.
How about a Sonder Cortex SLX or NX / NX Special build (better fork)
https://alpkit.com/collections/sonder-cortex
Bird Aether 9 is generally good value but less xc and more trail.
Vitus Rapide Fs quicker xc than both of the above.
If you really mean xc then these are good value
<p style="text-align: center;">Those new Rockriders from Decathlon look great. Like a cross between a Rockymountain and Canyon.</p>
Sonder Cortex is a decent shout.
Alu RM Element on discount from Paul’s Cycles too, albeit won’t actually be that light with the cheap/heavy specs they come with.
Are you confined to new only? I ask cos there’s some serious 2nd hand bargains right now… Seen a few beauties going cheap on Facebook classifieds recently. Yeti SB115 full build for just over £2k and a frame only for £1200 for instance.
For what it’s worth, I absolutely adore my 2019 Rocky Mountain Element. It’s the older, more conventional XC/Marathon bike than the newer one which is a bit more like a mini Enduro bike. Anyway… I’ve seen a few of those crop up in the classifieds too recently, and would highly recommend one.
Devinci Atlas Carbon, really great bike and there's one in the classifieds 😉