Go on, tempt me into a fashionable bike. What’s out there that would match well with a 35mm 120mm SID
29er, in a similar vein to Spur/Izzo, preferably 65ish HA. Not too heavy. Ali or carbon, but must be fun.
470ish reach, shortish stays.
And the fun part, max of 2kish.
Basically, I want a half price Hightower *shrug*
Needs to replace an Aeris 120, and complement a Ripmo AF

Second hand Optic?

Also, moon on a stick please

Stick a slack set in the Aeris 120?

Optic is very nice but they normally come with a 140mm Fox 36 or Lyrik don’t they? 120mm SID might not be ideal.

What travel is a Sonder Cortex – that might do the job and the frame would be well in budget?

Maybe a Cotic Flaremax – although it will come up heavier than a Spur or Izzy I should imagine.

Hightower is 140mm travel – I’d think the Tallboy was more what you mean with the fork suggested. You could see if you could find a previous gen alloy one to get within budget.

A bit rowdier than most of the above you have the Nukeproof Reactor (actually again 140mm fork / 130mm rear) and the Saracen Ariel x 30 (also 130mm rear and I assume 130 or 140mm rear. The latter is massive – the medium has a 480mm reach!

2nd hand tallboy 4? Or do what I did and get a new flaremax 4 and see if you don’t mind the extra heft.

Nukeproof reactor carbon on CRC for that money?

Tallboy! That’s what I meant. Natively out of touch with SC as they’re so far out of my budget.
Afraid I can’t do a Cortex on looks alone. I’m that shallow.
Flattened is a good shout though, never really liked at Cotic, I’ll investigate that one. Ta.

Aeris is 27.5, that’s why I’m looking at changing, I love a modern 29er. It’s already got a -2 set in it!
SH Yallboy 4 would be good!

Can you just stick a 29 fork and wheel on the Aeres and ride it as a Mullet

Second hand Spur frame (good luck finding one).

How about an Aether 9 built light with a 130mm pike / exo tyres and light wheels etc?

Or keeping in brand an Ibis Ripley AF

Wasn’t the Canyon in the last Singletrack magazine what you’re describing?

Edit.

Didn’t realise how expensive it was, still looks like fun.

Canyon Spectral 125 CF 8 review

The Canyon Spectral 125 is basically the same weight as the full spectral….

Going back to the original post you could just get an Izzo – that’ll be very different to your Ripmo

*Bookmarks*

I’ve a 2018 Scalpel SE that is good fun. More xc though. It has got me a few Strava KOMs. It’s 115mm rear and 120mm front.

How about a Whyte s-120?

I bought the Scalpel instead as I wanted a bike for long days in the saddle. Would have bought the Whyte if it was more for a couple of hours in the woods and on the trails.

That’s the fork I put on my (not full suss) Zero29.

That’s a fun bike.  Fast in a just riding sort of way and remarkably capable for a hardtail.

But you want full suss.

I’ve been looking at a Rocky Mountain Element lately,that seems to fit what your after- although 130mm front end stock though.You could get a complete Element for a bit more than 2k and sell the parts/customise it….

Rocky Mountain Element

Banshee Phantom

🙂
there are probably some good deals on the v3 frame kicking aorund ( i just bought a spitfire with a good 40% off)

Cube Stereo 120?

Intense Sniper Trail? 120mm F&R & about 66 degrees.

I’ve the XC version (100mm F&R) & it’s a riot. Love it.

Nukeproof Reactor 290????

Though is going to want a bigger fork than a 120mm (which is restricting you a bit, could you change the travel?).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185540234698?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=l7HKs2llRmq&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=A83Fj8XCSga&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Nothing to do with me but might be what you’re after op depending on size? Can’t say I’ve looked beyond the size and model though so could be in poor order

If that was an L I’d be all over it to be honest!

Thanks for the ideas people, definitely some food for thought. Have to admit I’m being seduced by the FlareMax. That purple ..

I haven’t actually bought the forks yet but I’m keen to differentiate the bike from my Ripmo, so I think keeping it in the 120ish range would work well. Plus that means I could use a nice light fork.

If that was an L

Worth mentioning incase you haven’t twigged but XL for a Santa Cruz is a large in most… (equally you might normally be a medium and can completely ignore me)

(same reason if it were an XXL I’d probably be logging into PayPal by now.)

Yeah, cheers dude, did have that at the back of my mind, but the XL is just a bit too long in the TT for me. I’ve come to the conclusion my happy medium is around 630ishb and a 470ish reach.

Ohhh. Also not me then but…

Mine is awesome fun, if a bit teensy weeny for me.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175051056598?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=GMxP_CItSFe&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=A83Fj8XCSga&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Still a bit longer in the TT mind.

Trek Top Fuel in current guise would suit perfectly – 65.9 HA, 470 reach (ML). Ally frame only is £2,400 though…

I was in a similar place a year ago and my shortlist was Tallboy, Stage evo, Evil following. Ended up with an alloy tallboy reduced to 1650. Very happy with it. This is the place I got mine from and appears to have been further reduced since this morning.

Santa Cruz Tallboy, Alloy, Frame, Flatte Earth

If you are going with 35mm Sid’s you’ll need to bear in mind that they aren’t super plush. Ive got 2 pairs of Ultimate 120mm and they are brilliant forks, mid stroke support is really good but they are definitely on the XC side compared to say Fox 34’s. I’m running them on a Pivot 100mm and Orbea Occam 120mm and have had to put a bit of air in the rear to balance the ride feel. Having said that they are great forks.

That Tallboy looks a good deal above.

Secondhand Trek Top Fuel would also be a good option – the one before the current one. Comes with a 120mm travel Reba as standard I think – so a 120mm SID goes on there nicely. If you wanted the head angle a little slacker to match the RS Top Fuel or Transition Spur you can use a SlackR.

I’d never really cared for Cotics until yesterday.
Now I’m desperate for a candy purple FlareMax

Why do you need a heavy, slack 120mm bike when you have a heavy, slack 145mm bike?

They aren’t going to be that different. Why not just get a second set of faster rolling tyres on some nice carbon wheels?

If people are talking sniper and spur, then I’m gonna suggest EpicEvo.
Slightly rowdy, and a lot of fun

In the finest tradition of recommending what you own, I’ve got an Orange Stage evo that I bought direct from Orange fitted with a Fox dpx2. It has 120mm rear & mine has Cane Creek Helms set to 130mm front. I got it for £1900 including a headset.

It’s insanely capable for its relatively low travel. The Fox shock suits it perfectly – it’s tight, lively, predictable, poppy, just fantastic.

Tallboy looks good but be warned – the alloy ones are heavy. I had the alloy Hightower (which is basically identical other than geo and choice of shock) and now have a similarly aluminium stage Evo – its a LOT lighter.

+1 to all the suggestions for

– Evil The Following v3
– Santa Cruz Tallboy v4
– Banshee Phantom v3
– Transition Spur

They were all on my short list last year, I ended up going for the Following and my mate went for a Tallboy. Both are cracking bikes able to cover long distance XC rides and technical terrain. They are really good all rounders.

Evil is designed around a 120-130mm fork so would work fine straight out the box. The Tallboy is designed for 130mm frame so angles will be slightly steeper than intended but shouldn’t be too far off.

Most people here are ignoring that you want to fit a 120mm SID.

I suggest a secondhand Orange Stage 4 (large) with a -2deg headset.

Yes, I do happen to ride one myself.

It’s not just that they’re ignoring 😀 but I’m fine with curveballs that make me think.
I think I could be ok with an orange, but I’m not brave enough to buy one without warranty

In answer to why I want one when I’ve got a 150ish trail bike? Because 120mm bikes with lighter builds ride very differently to 150/160 ones, but I still want to be able to throw it around.

Just playing the CRC random description generator game and trying to work out if the 100mm cheap SIDs are actually the 35mm ones. I don’t think they are.

Another vote for a short Travel Orange with or without an angleset depending on the geo you want. They’re light and are wicked fun to ride.

If things are getting rowdy wouldn’t it be better to have a stiffer fork than a SID?

Im defo chucking my hat in the ring for the v4 Tallboy. I bought my frame in July and its kept my Megatower monthballed ever since (well apart from riding BenLawers last week.. But still the Tallboy wouldnt have sstruddled there neither. With a 140 fork upfront it truely is a local trail weapon. Fantastic bike and the differnce between the Alloy tb and cc Mega is minscule.

I have a spur with Sid 120 forks. Brilliant bike and love riding it. Repeated fast bumps on steeper trails and it gets a little hard work, but it’s only 120mm. Around my local area and it’s pretty perfect.
Oh and I also have a ripmo af 😉