I fancy a new bike, I’m looking for suggestions which are purely one sided an unfounded, except by you.

So I’m after a fast short to medium travel full sus. I am leaning more xc than down hill, but I don’t want a bike which will moan after a few feet drop off or a jump.

What you got and what’s you thoughts.

Thanks, Lee

Despite the fact I own one and its often, recommend your own,’ the Spearfish deffo ticks the boxes.

Trek x-caliber 29er …… Not that I’m selling one or anything 😉 forget me didn’t read the original post properly ❗

Spearfish +1 awesome bike very quick and pretty robust.

only had mine for 3 months sadly had to sell it , but it was great climbs well, and goes DH with great speed, 25.9lb my build , would have another.

How about a Giant Anthem?, Dales Cycles have 20% off for the next few days so X3 is £1360 and X1 £1600, unbelievably good value!!

http://www.dalescycles.com/2013-giant-anthem-x-29er-1-p450

Anthem is where I got to but only really like te spec of the advanced x1 – £3500!

I have a Kona Hei Hei, Don’t see many in the UK, but a great bike. Something different! 😉

Anthem is where I got to but only really like te spec of the advanced x1 – £3500!

£600 off that at Dales 😉

I’ve got a 2012 Rumblefish and it’s mega, so assured, really makes you feel like a riding God.

Just a shame the Elite for 2013 is such a hideous colour 🙁

Rumblefish is the only FS 29er I have tried, but if I had the cash I’d have one. I just couldn’t believe how even an old plodderer like me could cover ground so quickly, & under so much control. Simply brilliant peice of kit.

Here’s mine looking particularly shiny back in April before it had a hard summer getting treated exactly as Gary Fisher intended.

Glad you agree with me takisawa2

Spearfish!

Any more thoughts chaps and ladies

Anthem is a safe bet,good quality and will always sell well when u finnished wiv it.

Transition Bandit.

Whyte T-129 looks good.

cant really fault my Tallboy LTc, fast up and down! Hugely capable bike. Didnt take too long to adapt to from my previous Mojo SL, – im guessing the standard Tallboy (with its less travel) may be what your looking for..

Commencal Meta AM1 29er. Good reviews, good spec and amazing reductions to be had on the summer 2012 bike direct from Commencal.

Also warming to the idea of a 29er hardtail

2souls quarterhorse can cope 140 mm fork, mines an absolute blast

You could try a Cannondale Scalpel, order it now and you might get it next year…..

From what you say the Orbea Occam would suit. I tested the top of the range one and loved it but one of the mid range ones is what I’d buy. Or the X version with 120mm forks. Orbea Occam 29 review

Someone mentioned the Commencal AM29 which I also tested this year. I loved it too although it was let down by the wheels. It’s more of an all mountain machine and is incredibly capable downhill. Commencal Meta AM 29 review

Both are ace bikes and I would have either one in a heartbeat.

Defo giv an Anthem X 29 a blast,a real capable machine.Happy on local muddy blasts and Wales epics,a real confidence booster! Built mine up from a frame (alloy), XT stuff,Stans rims and it works out at 26lb.It’s a large too.Highly reccomended!
Thanx,
Max

Did my head lookin for exactly the same type of thing ur describing.
Came up with this:
http://cyclecentreuk.co.uk/m8b47s168p12456/GIANT-Trance-X-29er-1-2013/RS_GB/33675

Those orbea bikes look just the ticket and the spec too!

I have obviously heard of them on the road but know nothing MTB wise.

Who stocks these and has anyone else tried or owned one?

Thanks doug for the heads up and the great review

I’m in the same boat , been looking over the last few evenings and I’ve singled out 2 top contenders .

Giant Trance x1 29er

Canyon Nerve AL 8.9 29er

The Giant has been getting some cracking reviews but can’t find any of the Canyon , think its a little too new. Good spec and given Canyons history I can see it will be a top bike .
Only problem with these 2 is you may have to be patient , neither look available much before April .
I’m using it as an incentive to get fitter before I bend the plastic 😉

Steve

The Trance looks great but not loving some of the specs and frame only has a shock I’m not too keen on.

Lovin the salsa and orbea, would buy a canyon but need finance

Oops double post

SPEARFISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH

Weeksy would you mind giving me a quick review and an idea of cost for a good build.

Cheers

<sticks hand up>

I’ve been seriously impressed by the Trance X 29er 1. It’s a long term tester so I’m reserving final judgement until I’ve gotten a lot more miles in but so far, so good.

It fair licks along at a rate of knots on your traditional XC style trails but has already served me well on my first few trips into the bigger hills which is what I wanted it for. At £2k, it’s light, rips along in singletrack and comes with a dropper post. Like I said, I’m reserving judgement until it’s seen many months of riding on a variety of trails but if it was my money and on the basis of how it has ridden so far, I’d definitely have it at or near the top of my list. To me it rides like an Anthem X 29er but has a bit of extra oomph in reserve for when you decide to go out for a play in the bigger stuff.

As for the shock, I wouldn’t get hung up on it. It works – I run it in Descend mode all the time and it feels pretty much ideal for my purposes even on extended road sections. I would encourage you to take one out on a test ride as just reading specs never gives you a proper picture of how a bike will ride.

I would love to have gotten the Full XT equipped model but having ridden the 1 version, I have to say I wouldn’t now pay the extra grand given how good the £2k model is. I expect it will be their top seller given the price and spec.

Hope this helps?

Cheers

Sanny

I wasn’t that impressed when I demo’d the Trance 29er, it felt good initially but that’s because I’d mostly been riding rigid SS the rides before it. When I switched back to my Zesty during the demo it felt so much more solid and capable than the Trance. There seemed a load of back wheel flex to (whether that’s the wheel itself or the pivots I’m not sure). I thought the Anthem felt a bit more planted (the opposite of what I was expecting).
Whyte T-129 looks decent value and I’m waiting for reviews of the Canyon

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/new-bike-thread-time-for-a-small-change-about-29er-spearfish

ljs1977 – Member
Weeksy would you mind giving me a quick review and an idea of cost for a good build.

Cheers

Easiest thing is this thread mate, the more i ride the Spearfish the more for me it’s the Do it all. At Llandegla it was excellent. Keeping with much more DH rigs that mine on the downs and flying on the hills. On the XC stuff it’s plush, compliant and pedals great. Watching the shock you can see a certain amount of ‘bob’ but you don’t notice it as such. I guess if you were being picky you’d want some lockout instead of the Monarch on there.

The weight is good, the build quality seems excellent. Paint is superb.

I struggle to fault it and up to now am totally unable to.

Rockstar!

You’ve got to try the Cube AMS 120 29er. It feels fast, nimble and is good on the ups and downs. Nirvana Cycles in Westcott have a demo one which is where I tried it and bought one. Virtually everyone that’s demoed it has bought one…

ElRey_Frame 2012 by Alanatriversidecyclecentre, on Flickr

Try cyclecentreuk there up in Newcastle but did the x trance 29er 1 for less than £1700 and they had them in stock 🙂

How much are you looking to spend?

I have a max of £3k which adds upto what I think my bike is worth plus a couple of years finance.

I need to try a trance, anthem, ams and spearfish / horse thief near notts.

I have a cube stereo currently.

Lapierre XR529 looks good , getting good reviews as well .