Hi – Advice please!

I’m looking to buy my first ever full suss MTB, budget is £3,500. Im looking for a good all rounder that I can use for everything and was thinking of the Whyte S-150C RS?? I ride about 6-8 per year and always hire but now with my own bike this will all hopefully change! I ride mostly in the Alps and Sierra Nevada so very much a enduro bike but it also needs to cater for XC as ill be riding in the Surrey Hills. Ideally I’d want it as light as possible so is the 150mm travel to much and would a 140mm do? Any other bike recommendations beside the Whyte?

Cheers
Ruth

Maybe have a look at:

Orbea, Commencal, Nukeproof, YT, Canyon, Radon and similar…

Yes – around 150/150 or 140/140 will be great.

If you like to pedal uphill a lot maybe think also about bikes which still have a front mech.
2×11 or similar. Like Orbea Occams AM H50 19 with SLX 2×11, bike sells for around 2 k (aluminium version).

For your budget: plenty, plenty great bikes around!

I had the whyte at glentress and it felt to numb the trail , I’m more than content with 130mm full sus to ride Pennines peaks dales and lakes

The SC Hightower s spec can be had for £3.1k that’s 150 front and rear suspension 29ee

whyte at glentress and it felt to numb the trail

Good point.

Low weight XC full suspension bike: Canyon Lux, below 12 kg
But such a bike limits the fun on the downhill run of course.

Around 13 kg, trail bike, think also 150/150 travel: YT Jeffsy. But guess they have long delivery times.

Thanks guys – appreciate the feedback Ill go check them out!

In the time-honoured tradition of recommending what you have: Intense Primer. 140/130 and light.

Airdrop edit v3? I’ve got the v2 and it’s great. Good price too!

What bikes have you hired in the past and what do you think of them?

Sounds like you need a compromise bike that’ll plug round sort of xc riding (But not whippet xc racing) but can also mix it on uplift type terrain.

A number of modern trail bikes 130-150mm will likely fulfill that brief. Much above 150 (and some 150mm bikes) are going to be quite long and slack and harder work to pedal.

Things like the Whyte t-130 / Bird Aeris 120lt / Transition Scout could do a good job – unless you particularly want a 29er.

Maybe if the latter then look at a YT Jeffsey (bordering on the top end of that travel bracket)or something along those lines. I’m not that up on my 29ers though to fully comment.

Hi Ruth, As ever it is best to try as many as possible, I have a Bird Aeris which is as happy in the Alps as Peaslake as Swinley, not the lightest but easy to demo and not too far from Peaslake either. £3500 on a Bird would give you some lovely gear too.

Demo A Bird

Mine’s the most composed bike I have ridden.

Alpkit Sonder Evol with the Helm forks superb bike
Sonder Evol GX Eagle
[url=https://flic.kr/p/24pSQvK]53026264_10157236808576474_1090237638037733376_n[/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr

In the time-honoured tradition of recommending what you have: Intense Primer. 140/130 and light.

What he said, and i dont have one but have ridden one plenty. Awesome bike.

How about a Specialized Stumpjumper? It’s the same frame on the 120mm and 150mm versions. If you bought a 2nd fork, rear shock and yoke you’d have both a short travel for XC and longer travel for the Alps.

What about a 2nd hand transition patrol…

Jokes aside its a top quality bike for what you are after.

150 mm travel
29 er
around 13 kg
3 k
Cube Stereo 150
The Stereo climbs very well. But no “long and slack” wonder bike.

review

In this review: Whyte S 150 “has the edge”.
Most likely: the Cube climbs better, the Whyte is the better downhill machine?

Buying brand new? Bird AM9. Combination of great bike with modern geo, choose your exact spec, great value, lifetime warranty and reportedly great customer service.

I recently ended up with an NS Snabb 29er which is my favourite bike ive ridden but they aren’t the best value brand new. It’s more of a descender too.

The Orbea Rallon is another more ‘exotic model’ that pedals ridiculously well for a big bike.

The Orbea Rallon is another more ‘exotic model’ that pedals ridiculously well for a big bike.

Yes – really a “big bike”.

Guess most important to judge the trails you will bike. I have several mountain bikes and pick the bike for trail I will ride. “Wrong” bike – no fun! A 150/150 bike can be a fun killer on shaped trails.
For “Alps” and “Sierra Nevada” the Rallon might be a good pick.