Full sus for a 6'4" bloke?

My "wee" brother is looking for a new reasonably priced (no more that £2k) full sus all mountain bike, anyone got any ideas? He was trying to get a Kona Dawg but they are sold out everywhere with no intention of restocking the UK. Some help would be appreciated 🙂

Trek remedy ? Saw one in Wheelbase built up for a very tall, very big guy. Might be a bit over 2k though.

Trek's go up to 21.5". So one of the EX range may be good. My Dad is 6'4" and has a 19" EX8 (used on gnarly towpath only). Twas a bit small for me (6'7") so i guess the XL would be fine. Very well regarded bikes. Failing that, Kona and Giant do 22" frames and some Cannondales can be quite big also. (I had a 22" XL trance before getting my Salsa 29er FS). His main problem with his height will be getting a test ride on an XL bike to see if he likes it – it's damn near impossible although some Evans shops do stock some bigger frames if he's near London.

I ride 29ers now but the full suss market there is still pretty niche and expensive unless you get lucky on ebay.

Aye, forgot that. Heard lots of tall people have gone over to riding 29 ers as they seem to fit better. Might be worth considering, if you can find one to demo.

I'm 6'5" and ride an orange 5 with vanilla r coil rear, fantastic ride and they can be had second hand but mint well within his budget. Also single pivot is minimal maintenance, and the frame is well capable of me + kit

6 6 here and recently got a Spec Pitch in XL, perfect size for me, but may be a bit too much travel for your bro.

XL giant trance here, also 6'4". Good fit.

Well I say Anthem to any what FS questions…

… but really, I tried the original Anthem at MM demo day a few years ago. Unfortuantely I was given the gate sized XL / 22".

I'm 6'3" and it was way too big for me. Now have a perfect L / 20" Anthem X3 – and at £1750 it's a hell of a good bike for the money 😀

XL Heckler for me – 6ft 4. Nicely robust.

XL EX8 fits a treat – 6ft4.

a friend of mine is 6'8" – he rides an XL speccy stumpjumper.

Good stuff thanks for the replies so far, anymore tall guys out there want to add their 2p?

6'4" hear. Found the Trek Fuel Ex range in XL was good for me.

+1 for splashdown. Until it was pinched I had a Fuel Ex8 2009, was perfect size and seemed to handle everything I threw at it – wlesh trails , forest xc etc. Not sure what price they are now though. Was about £1750-1800 when I got mine.

It really depends on the type of riding he enjoys. I'm 6'4ish with a fairly long body/shortish legs. I found my xl Stumpy FSR a bit too big on more technical stuff, and would probably have been better off with a Large. That said, my large Pitch felt a bit small on anything that wasn't fairly gnarly. I now ride a 19ins hardtail, which fits perfectly.

I'm not sure I buy into the whole "tall people should ride 29ers" thing either. 29ers suit some people and their riding whether short or tall. Just becuase you're tall doesn't mean you'll necessarily enjoy riding one more – it might just be that they're more aesthetically pleasing than a 26ins gate.

The moral of the story – make sure he tries them out properly on the sort of terrain he usually rides on before he buys, or buys second hand so that he doesn't lose much money if it doesn't fit.

XL in most bikes should fit, I'm only an inch or 2 shorter and I ride an L in both my full-sussers.

Don't discount second hand, with a bit of patience and scouting around he could get a real deal. There isn't much of a market for XL bikes which means there is always a deal to be done.

6'6" here, always found XL Specialized bikes fit well, my XL Meta fit well too. Various GT bikes (owned a carbon Zaskar and Avalanche) and Giant Trances I didn't get on with bizarrely, they all felt a bit short in the top tube, even though the numbers disagreed.

Riding a 21" Mojo which is borderline at the moment, the seatpost is a bit of a monster. Just about feeling comfy with it now after lots of faffing.

XL Superlight. Very nice.

I'm 6ft 4ins.

I may be looking at an Anthem 29er when they have been out a year or two.

I'm 6'4" too. Had an Xl Stumplumper fsr which fitted well but now much prefer my 29er hardtail.

Inside leg length and arm reach are probably more important than overall height – you need a test ride, even just a sit would go somewhere to finding the 'right' size.

6'4" here and ride a large Trance. Fits me perfectly.

Nothing to do with me………

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/wtd-lightish-full-suss-in-large

6' 7" – ride a 20" Patriot which looks massive till i climb aboard.

I'll also endorce the trek ex. My 21.5 virtual really does it. The actual frame size is 19". So the seat goes way down and its 400mm long so it also goes way up. First bike I'v ever owned that wasn't to small. Longish chain stays means that the front wheel stays down well climbing

Huge top tube (25 inch) I'm really comfy with an 80mm stem

oh and I'm 6 foot 4

I'm 6'4" with a 36" inside leg and chimp arms. I've owned a Yeti ASR, SC Superlight and Giant Anthem in XL sizes. Of the three the Giant was the best fit and fastest to ride XC (after I changed the Manitou sPV for a Fox RP3 with PP) but the Yeti was more fun/inspiring to ride. But then these are short travel XC bikes.

I've not owned a longer travel (All Mountain) bike yet but have test ridden an XL Cannondale RZ120 and I considered buying one and will be trying a Trek EX soon. Both are within your budget.

Best advice is go to some test days and try a few out.

I am 6'4 and currently have a 19'5" EX9. I love it but it is just ever so slightly small so I'm going to sell it in a few months and get another in the 21.5" size. I tried a Niner 29er and didn't get on with it, but found the Trek felt right.