Full suspension XC 29er.

You could do this cheapskate style like me. I paid £450 for my bright orange single pivot spearfish frame. I’ve subsequently upgraded the shock to an immaculate RP23 for 80 squid. I got the shock serviced & fitted for £30. The shame of it is that I like my rigid Ti El-Mar so much (and it’s so easy to clean) that I haven’t actually tried out the SF since the upgrade. FYI, the SF was a damn good bike BEFORE the upgrade and I expect it to be better with the RP23.

I used to have an Element… I’d buy another one. But I’d buy another (carbon) Spearfish first.

^ Blimey – how much is one of those??

Thanks for all the responses, a few more to look over though the Anthem and Spearfish are favorites at the moment. One is affordable and one needs a bit more saving, I’ll need to further check out the geo and weights and stuff.

If the Element was frame only I’d give it some further attention. And the Whyte isn’t doing anything for me, certainly nothing more than the Anthem is doing.

Greg, the HF probably suits being more burly, its so long that it seems to suit going quick down rather than up, though its not too shoddy that way either. Ideally this next bike will be light and a bit more nimble. The new Spearfish’s shorter chainstays would go some way to achieving that.

Have you seen any Anthem 29er framesets for sale YoKaiser? New or used

Yes, can’t remember where but it was with a Google search/shopping. 475 frame only, vs 900 for the Spearfish.

Oh yeah, that’s with flatoutcycles, although it is a used frame, with a few chips and small dents apparently.

Ah, didn’t know that. Certainly helps making a decision unless I can find another.

900 for the Spearfish is very appealing, I just don’t have that sort of spare cash unfortunately at the moment. If the Anthem had been new, and a size large, I may well have pulled the proverbial trigger!

I bought my Element from Evans on a clearout

Spec was pretty much as I would have built myself if frame only buy

The carbon Spearfish is about a billion pounds. But so nice. FWIW, I also used to own an Anthem – many moons ago. Loved it in it’s 26 inch guise, hated the 29er initially, then rode last years one…came very close to buying it over the Spearfish. Thankfully I didn’t.

900 for the Spearfish is very appealing, I just don’t have that sort of spare cash unfortunately at the moment. If the Anthem had been new, and a size large, I may well have pulled the proverbial trigger!

Exactly where I’m at too, I’ve loads (and I mean loads) of stuff I can shift, just need to get my finger out.

900 for the Spearfish is very appealing

Not when you paid £1450. However these are the last of the ally frame onlys so don’t dally too long. The Carbon is about £2,400 and weighs 0.5lb less.

Pivot 429c. Here’s mine shortly before today’s snowy ride. strong stiff frame fitted with a 120 so more than capable on rougher trails as well as the odd xc race

The ‘fish is quite an ‘xc’ bike though isn’t it?

You know – racy and shaved legs

Yes bone. It’s fairly much that. Although a little heave arguably. I took mine to a few Welsh mountains and it rode well both up and down.

I should have kept it really.

Its billed as an endurance/epic type moreso I’d say. For instance Salsa do a range of bike ‘luggage’ for it.

It sure is an interesting bike, and I would love to see how it rides

The fact the shock has to take care of bumps only seems a big plus

I do wonder if there is a real place for short travel 29 FS bikes though with the advances in suspension design and weight savings

There’s a lot of 100mm bikes around for the same weight etc

The Salsa Spearfish is at the top of the list of bikes I’d really like to own but can’t justify list.

Now if I sold the road bike and just rode off road….

(stem needs slamming)

I’m considering going back to one actually.

I don’t think my riding justifies owning the Meta AM29, it’s more Spearfish than Meta for 99% of my rides.

If I sell the Meta i’ll likely be buying a Spearfish or very very similar

The rocky is available frame only, just in the 999 flavour…
http://www.bikes.com/en/bikes/element/2015#/models/element-999-rsl-frame

Good news is shipping would be free
http://www.ubyk.co.uk/rocky-mountain-element-999-rsl-frame-2015/21575?gclid=CMy31Jjfx8MCFQhwvAodxZIATg

I’m considering going back to one actually.

I don’t think my riding justifies owning the Meta AM29, it’s more Spearfish than Meta for 99% of my rides.

If I sell the Meta i’ll likely be buying a Spearfish or very very similar

Lol! Hate to say I told you so 😀

Lol! Hate to say I told you so

LOL no you don’t 😛

Another vote for Anthem…

The Anthem just looks wrong to me

Yeah, i’m a bit ‘nah’, about the Anthem X 29er – not so much the looks, but the ride and handling didn’t do it for me. Having owned and enjoyed a 26 Anthem X, I really wanted to like it, and tried lots of set-up tweaks on a long term demo bike – but for some reason, it occasionally felt a little bit more twitchy than the flex stay Spearfish that I demo’d. I felt the Spearfish had a bit more ‘pop’ when putting down the power, and it just felt a bit more fun. In the end I bought a SF.

Rather rare/unique bike that I know of going cheap at the moment in a 19″…

Carbon Frame, Fox suspendy bits, SLX/XT mix and DT Swiss wheels. Was £2600 but is currently going for about £1900 I think…

Bought in good used condition for £675 last year. Converted it to tubeless and its been pretty good so far. Need to change the pads as its fitted with squeelers at the moment , and the PF30 Crankset is 3 x 10 , so new 2 x 10 slx / XT is on the cards .

Offset fork is an issue but it rolls along quite nicely

Another one for the anthem, could not find one and settled for something else.
A frame came up, quick as I could it was mine.

Anthems are great

Singletrackmind, what issues are you finding with the fork offset?

Replacemant availability ,as its the G2 geo from Gary Fishers input.
Its a good fork though. seems to work well enough , maybe me but there isnt a whole load of front end grip . Needs to be ridden properly ( Jedi’d) to get the best from it , otherwise it pushes on…

Replacemant availability ,as its the G2 geo from Gary Fishers input.

That’s just a 51mm offset, as opposed to the older standard of 44-46mm.

Almost every 29er fork is now available as a 51mm offset, most are shipping like this as standard!

As usual, Gary Fisher’s design influences are always a few years ahead of everyone else…

Almost every 29er fork is now available as a 51mm offset, most are shipping like this as standard!

IME, I think Fox 29’s are more commonly 51mm offset, but Rockshox seem to be more common in 46mm offset – I bought a set of Rev 29’s assuming they’d be 51, but they’re 46 offset. TBH, with the bike they’re currently on, it’s not an issue – but this shows that it pays to be careful if you’re ordering online (if it’s of use, a couple of the German on-line retailers (Bike Discount, Bike 24(?)) do offer forks with range of offsets).

To complete my love of Giants (had a 2010 Trance X, now have a 2013 Reign) I’ve just pulled the trigger on a large 2014 Anthem X 29er 2 from Winstanleys.

I’m pretty sure it’ll fit as the measurements are almost exactly the same as my large Trance X.

My first venture into short-travel and 29ers, will hopefully be a bit easier on my chicken legs on the club 30 mile XC rides than the Reign…

A bargain too, a penny under £1k 😀

I found trying to get an XC style 51mm offset fork an absolute nightmare. Very few advertised and most weird eg QR axle etc. Ended up buying fox in the US and paying the import duty.