Surely worth a shout, very fair price too

http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes/bike.html?b=3250

Kona Process 153

absolutely love mine

logner reach, slacker, shorter chainstays than a Bronson
handles amazingly well, massively stiff at the rear
not cheap but no worse than anyone elses 2014 kit!
trek slash same price, similar spec but no dropper!
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tre … 9#features
spesh enduro 100quid less still same spec again, still no dropper
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe … 3#features

Ive gone tubeless on mine (rims were already taped) swapped out the HRIIs (save them for the Alps) ditched the front mech and got a RF narrow wide and stuck on my M4 Race Evos
down to 30.5lbs and could easy loose some more when the budget cassette and bb wear out Ill swap for something lighter

one of my friends has ordered a process 153 deluxe as he’s just become the new kona dealer in edinburgh.
i’m very interested to see what it’s like.

sorry i meant to link to a slash
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/slash-7-650b-2014-mountain-bike-ec054529#features

and an enduro
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/enduro-comp-29-2014-mountain-bike-ec054003#features

I’m surprised no one has mentioned a Mondraker Foxy XR, our demo bike had been incredibly popular and everyone who rides it remarks on how incredibly it handles (they are always reviewed very well too). £3300 gets you the top “off the shelf” version and 4k gets you something very special. If you’re anywhere near Hertfordshire and want to borrow our demo just get in touch!

I really want the transition 275 covert, x01 with pikes and a reverb.

Covert owner here so clearly by STW rules I have to say Covert or Bandit (possibly the better uk enduro bike ?). I’ve seen the i te se frames as my LBS do them and they are very nice. Also based on frame costs you’ll have more money to spend on finishing kit if you go for a Nukeproof.

I’d be tempted to go for the heckler over the Bronson. I’m looking at a heckler with x fusion sweeps, hope hoops, Slx group and a reverb for about 3k with bits from Merlin, chainreaction etc. I’d build it myself as the build kits from Santa Cruz don’t offer particularly good vfm. If your looking to spend 4k you could go for 1×11 group and possibly pikes if you wanted them. That would make for a very bling build!

just built a 650b Heckler with Pike RC3, Pro2/flows, x9 drivetrain, thomson stem/post/gobi, Formula ONE etc for £3100

£4000 exactly gets you:

I was looking at one of those in a shop the other day, it was surrounded by little piles of vomit and customers struck down with the horrors. A remarkably horrible looking machine. (and trust me, I know horrible, I used to own an Ellsworth)

Studied beat me to it. Was looking at one in Evans and it looks lovely, really lovely.

But then I really love the Commencal Meta SX which is a 26er. 26 aint dead right?

Interesting (but maybe not surprising) that this part of the OP has been ignored 😉

If I were in the market for a £4K bike I’d definitely be taking the time to do some demo rides, narrow down my choices, then ideally demo head to head. Not necessarily easy to arrange this though.

Go with the bike that really floats your boat if you’re spending that much, there aren’t any bad bikes in that price range just bikes that aren’t necessarily right for you. I’d go with the one that makes you smile when you look at it and makes you grin when you ride it 😀

Cheers for all the responses guys… had a look at the Bronson the other day – looks so good but I’m struggling on the spec it comes with. All Deore on something at £4.8k just don’t look right.

As advised I’m gonna do the sensible thing and wait til demo day season starts and test as many as poss. The Kona and that Mondraker look interesting and def seem fit for the more gravity type stuff I like riding.

When you come up with the ‘right answer’ let me know eh… shopping for the same sort of thing 😀

Cheers for all the responses guys… had a look at the Bronson the other day – looks so good but I’m struggling on the spec it comes with. All Deore on something at £4.8k just don’t look right.

You can get the aluminium Bronson with full XT AM spec and Pike forks for £4800. With a bit of discount, or buying the frame and collecting the bits yourself, you are getting close to your £4000 target with a decent spec

I’m assuming your looking at the carbon one? £4.4k gets you XT on the alloy one. The weight difference is only 650g

mega am, very capable machine, £3200 and money left over for a holiday to try it out proper….or sell the drivetrain and get X01 bringing the weight to 30 pounds and still some change

I can’t be bothered to read the thread but have a look on youtube for Bikemag’s ‘bible of bike tests 2014’, there’s a tonne of videos of discussions on the latest bikes and a few of their findings are interesting. After watching it I’d be looking at the Kona Process and Evil Uprising, but they also really really rate the Spesh Camber 29, although this is obviously a 29er!

That being said, Crell’s post about about the Liteville 301 is hard to ignore, it’s a hugely well rated frame and that spec looks brilliant.

Well if you’re thinking of a kona 153 in medium then get one quick as kona Europe has already sold out for the year

2 guys in the village just gone 650b, one has a ali8 Norco Sight, the other the carbon Bronson.

Of the two the Sight wins for me,
great value & as light as the Bronson for a lot less.

From the OPs list I like the Mega

Of the two the Sight wins for me,
great value & as light as the Bronson for a lot less.

which rides better?

new 650b Yeti 575?

Another vote for the Ibis HDR 650b, i love mine!

Would you get away with a 160mm fork on a Turner Burner??

Sancho – Member
Well if you’re thinking of a kona 153 in medium then get one quick as kona Europe has already sold out for the year

also hear cube have sold out of steros and trek slash9s sold on preorder!?!

are bike companies ordering fewer frames or are we buying more?

I guess you can only order based on the previous year’s sales. A hit bike is going to sell out. There are still lots of other Konas available 🙂

I’m waiting on a Banshee Spitfire which I’d been keen on as a 26″ but was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to run in its slacker settings because of the incredibly low BB. With the 650b dropouts and 150mm 650b Pikes it has the same head angle and BB height within 2-3 mm of the Kona 153 and Whyte G150 with the dropouts in the neutral setting but can still be dropped lower and slacker or raised higher and steeper (1/2 degree and 6mm either way).

My build won’t be bling but won’t be skimping anywhere and is under £4k. Really like that you can get the Spitfire with the new CCDBair-CS, should make it very good downhill with the Pikes up front and in its longest, lowest, slackest setting.

ive got a terrible crush on the Turner Burner now.
just a bit dubious about the 44mm head tube (i dont want to have to replace my 1.5 tapered fork) and the acceptance of a reverb stealth…

44mm headtube will accept every size of steerer.

I do like the look of those YT’s

I do not like the paint job though

That YT would be great if it came with a Pike and Monarch Plus.
Just not confident in UK BOS servicing given all that’s happened over the last couple of years.
(and yes, I reckon I’d be stripping that frame down to raw)

Banshee Spitfire on 650b:

(I’m sure it’s great on the BOS forks – until they break… Pikes seem the obvious choice of the moment).

AlexSimon – Member

That YT would be great if it came with a Pike and Monarch Plus.
Just not confident in UK BOS servicing given all that’s happened over the last couple of years.
(and yes, I reckon I’d be stripping that frame down to raw)

A friends got the Wicked 650b which has Pikes/Monarch RT3/stealth Reverb/ I think he paid £1700 delivered.The frame is raw alloy.

http://www.yt-industries.com/shop/en/Bikes/Trail/Wicked-650B?x04312=j55vrb6kfo5u8qfkvmjditnoe6

What’s the story with Bos suspension ?? The lead tester at WMB magazine Guy Kesteven says they have never had one go wrong. I was looking at a fork grouptest they did in 2013 and the BOS Deville rated a very high 4.5 stars out of 5.

Just finished my Ariel 15x build, will report back after Saturday for a ride review but so far I love it!

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR – Member

I do like the look of those YT’s

I do not like the paint job though

It’s curious more companies don’t offer raw frames, it saves circa 400g.

I’m loving my pikes

And 2014 monarch rt but the sealing is no where near as good as fox mine was full of crap after 200 k of admittedly poor weather but I’ve put fox through 10x that abuse and not they be held up much better Pikes are absolutely fine

Issues with Bos seem to be partly due to poor after sales service in the uk when they do go wrong but seem to be a lot of issues reported for a relatively rare brand

May well have been said before but at 3700 Cube Stereo SL 650 is a mint bike, XT throughout, carbon, haven bars, stealth dropper can’t go wrong and 800 cheaper than a stumpy evo carbon with better kit.

It’s curious more companies don’t offer raw frames, it saves circa 400g.

I think it depends on what ‘raw’ actually means. With the Banshee frames the anodised black finish is the lightest, then the painted finish and the lacquered raw finish is the heaviest. I’m not a fan of big graphics, I’d rather have raw metal, blacker than night or a really strong solid colour (bright orange/yellow/green) and minimal logos.

Well having had a look around the LBS and being told of a lack of stock on most of my shortlist and the fact that my Meta AM has been sold I took the plunge with a Lapierre Zesty 527 – Only a quick run out on it so far locally but nevertheless an improvement on the Meta. Light, quick and a general good feel to it, albeit a small feeling cockpit to it