Okay… but they are circa 13kg and I’m after something much lighter (as I really like climbing). Really not keen on the looks either – which matters to me.

I’m 4500 miles into my Turner Czar and the GF similar.

I’ve had it 18 months, and I can’t imagine a better ride for long distance, bumpy xc and moderate trail.

Fast, comfortable and durable.

However, I’ve owned and older Spearfish and that was great value. I can only imagine the Carbon one is terrific too.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/scalpel-29er-black-inc-2015-mountain-bike-ec071418

Dale Scapel – dont know if its any good, spensive though! 😯

Maybe some main use clarification is in order. Long distance or racing or both. Having had a razor sharp XC FS that threatened to throw me off unless given full concentration I would caution against the lightest XC weapon for long distance less technical riding when you may be tired and need some forgiveness.

Use clarification… MTB marathons… fast trail centre blasts… Peak District ‘epics’… possibly a race or two. I currently have a pretty light HT but want something with a little more give. I love the zippy nature of my current bike but want the bumps to be smoothed out by rear suspension.

I’m going to suggest that “fast” comes from 4 main things (in order of importance)

1) The rider
2) The wheel & tyre package
3) The bikes geometry / travel / setup
4) The bikes mass

Assuming we can’t change 1) 😉 and that we stick with wagon wheels, then the primary concern is how “XC race” a bike do you want.

If you are actually racing, then you forgo comfort for speed, and get a superlight weight, skinny tyred short travel, steep angled machine, that will be fast as ****, but frankly bone breaking to ride

If you aren’t racing, then the primary choice is the amount of travel you get. Pretty much everything scales with suspension travel, be that mass, angles/geo. Anything below about 110mm will be pretty racy, the mid field XC stuff falling into 110 to 130mm, and anything over 130mm edging into ALL Mountain.

Considering your high budget, and use of the word “best” we can assume value for money is not that important to you, so building custom bike up from a frame is going to deliver you a “better” bike that suits you the most.

Where are you planning to ride this bike ie, what sort of terrain? In effect, the less travel you opt for, the faster the bike will be, but it’s ultimate capability will be lower.

Maybe some main use clarification is in order. Long distance or racing or both. Having had a razor sharp XC FS that threatened to throw me off unless given full concentration I would caution against the lightest XC weapon for long distance less technical riding when you may be tired and need some forgiveness.

I’d want the lighter, faster bike for just that use. They’re not that hard to ride.

As I mentioned, I have a hardtail (circa 9kg) with short travel and steep head angle – I ride this everywhere and it’s a hoot. I can live with having to concentrate most of the time as that’s just how I ride. But, I’m getting older and I want more rear comfort. I’m a pretty capable and pacy XC rider (for my age) so don’t really need lots of travel. For example, I’m 46 out of 1705 on the Cannock Dog / Monkey https://www.strava.com/segments/8001834. I’m 49 next birthday and am looking for some comfort for the rear end.

Specialized Epic. That’s what I would get. Any of the versions would be ideal, but the more you pay, the lighter they get. Much faster bike than a tallboy I would think (Santa Cruz make bikes tough – more trail than xc).

Edit:

I’d go for this one –

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/specialized-epic-fsr-expert-carbon-world-cup-29-15

The two bottle cages of the Epic are a good feature for me. I’m not really a backpack kind of rider and tend to carry all of my stuff in my pockets.

Try going to the specialised concept store. They may do you a good deal on an S-works if you want the full bling version?

I’d want the lighter, faster bike for just that use. They’re not that hard to ride.

Until you’re wet, cold, knackered and fighting giving up 12hours in. My Merida 96 would have killed me on the Manx 100 – doubt there’s a 29er as sharp but long distance geo doesn’t have to compromise weight.

i am lucky enough to have a tallboy2 c… 120mm fork, xt drivetrain, dropper post flavour at the moment. i don’t see it as a xc bike, personally, more a trail bike. the rocks haven’t got any bigger and the trails haven’t got any steeper than 5 years ago. frame was a warranty replacement due to that trouble they had with the bonded pivot bearings cracking the carbon :o| stif and jungle took very good care of that side of things and no trouble at all since.

no experience of any other 29er full sus, but the tallboy is in my view almost like cheating. fast, fun, angles suit me, fits me well, will climb up ‘anything’, and is a hoot coming down. it doesn’t feel out of it’s depth on much, if anything, incl Lakes and local steeps. came from 26er single pivot, with some FSR in my distant past and the VPP feels fine, but takes some thinking and setting up to feel right. i have run it too stiff and kind of negated the whole point of the suspension to an extent!

i have always liked the look of the anthem, but for me the tallboy ticks every box i wanted, aesthetically and on the trail, is fast enough for xc races (dropper taken off), have done 12hrs of exposure on it and it properly ‘looked after me’ if that makes sense, and can be straight lined as happily as thrown around stuff- all relative of course, thrown around as much as a 6ft3 bloke on a 29er can manage, not kidding myself here.

i’ll sometimes not ride it on my local trails as it seems to have a tendency to make them too easy!

extended test ride with opportunity to fiddle with suspension set up a must in my view.

The Epic is looking favourite due to the bottle cages. The Tallboy is also interesting. Are there any Epic riders out there who can give their thoughts?

Until you’re wet, cold, knackered and fighting giving up 12hours in. My Merida 96 would have killed me on the Manx 100 – doubt there’s a 29er as sharp but long distance geo doesn’t have to compromise weight.

Yep, it’s why all endurance races are won on 140mm slack FS bikes. Oh… Wait! you make out like an XC race bike is some untamed stallion that’s trying to throw you off! No matter how many hours in or whatever they’re still not that hard to ride, and that exact moment is when I’d take the lighter, quicker bike that required less effort to pedal!

my mate went from a carbon epic to carbon tallboy on lightbike rims. Strava times for the tallboy all slightly up on the epic (whatever that means).

I’ve ridden them both, the tallboy seems a bit like cheating to me, it’s that fast. Light enough for xc and strong enough for bike park wales. It’s also beautifully made and free bearings for life.

I’d like a go on a Ripley but in real life a tallboy is a lovely lovely bike, wish I could afford one and that it fitted a bottle cage better.

Doesn’t have a bottle mount, but what about the SB5c?

BOING!!!!

I’m about to do the South Downs Way Double Double on a 100mm travel Tallboy with plastic wheels – I just rode it from Portsmouth to the Lakes and then around the Grizedale and surrounding trails for three days. It is light, comfortable and reliable. I’m not sponsored by SC. Its simply a mighty fine, capable and versatile machine.

Any loving for the Whyte M109C?

I was all set to buy a 29C then they dropped the price of this to the same (lower spec bits I guess though – 3K list) and it seems a bit good to pass up?

What’s the spec on the Tallboy?

for 6k its should be ASR..

Liking my Whyte M109s 2014. It is the alloy version, but has the carbon wheels. It rides great and the carbon one must be light too.

if having 2 water bottles is a big issue you can get a double water bottle cage http://www.wiggle.co.uk/profile-aqua-rear-mount-bottle-cage-system/?lang=en&curr=GBP&dest=1&kpid=5360302614&sku=5360302614&ci_src=18615224&ci_sku=5360302614uk&utm_source=google&utm_term&utm_campaign=Accessories&utm_medium=base&utm_content=s7DIiRlrW_dc%7cpcrid%7c%7cpkw%7c%7cpmt%7c%7cprd%7c5360302614uk

I love my 29’er Anthem, toying with getting a Whtye T-129 though.

You could buy the brand new Merida Big99 Team edition I’m about to put on the classifieds (although it’s 21″ so may be too big)?

Oops saw you’re after a complete bike. If only there were a similar thread where somebody was after a frame only.

Whyte M109C – might have a little bit of an issue with their large frames….

I got a Whyte M109C Team 2014 at a good discount last October.

I came from a 10 year old 2005 Turner Flux running a PUSHed shock, which was a singletrack speedster with Roval carbon wheels and Reba World Cup forks. I had it set up super stiff so it would climb fast. Sadly, it cracked and died. RIP.

Looked at great reviews of M109C Team online, then demo’d one for a long weekend and fell for it.

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/mountain-bikes/full-suspension/product/review-whyte-m109c-team-14-48106/

The front end is carbon, the rear end is aluminium. Fox Float 32 Factory CTD FIT 15mm, Fox Factory shock with boost valve, carbon wheels, XTR trail brakes and shifters, FSA SL-K bars and seatpost, XT crankset 40-30-22 with 11-36 cassette (all gears needed round it’s home in South Shropshire for me). Weight is 25.5lb with all standard kit on there, no upgrades. The cassette and chain are much lower spec so that would save some. The standard tires are Ikons running tubeless and they have been fine in super dry and slightly damp.

It’s been revolutionary for me so far. Hadn’t been on a 29er and I was really happy when I got it set up right with pressures. Very stable, very flickable (nearly as much as the 04 Flux), with that great rollover ability of a 29er. Fast smooth downhill with little steering change is excellent – Long Mynd wide double track 30-40mph descents. Tight, tech downhill is really good, too, and I’m just learning the difference of body position for cornering. 15mm axle and tapered headset made so much difference up front for stability and bigger hits, I felt I’d been in the dark ages on the Flux.

It’s not fully locked on the shock C setting, but it’s firm enough (with the right pressure) to attack out of the saddle and get some speed up very fast with light wheels. The T setting is fine most of the time, especially accelerating hard over stutter bumps, and the D setting is good for anything rougher or steeper tech.

For me the front end is a little high, but compared to an 05 Flux that’s not surprising because it was very low. That means that I’m still getting the cockpit setup right for steep uphill climbing (lots of that round here) and I’ve gone from a 60mm stem (way too short) to a 90mm stem (way too long) and currently on an 80mm stem with 6deg inverted. The stem is still above horizontal so it doesn’t look too crazy yet, either.

The BB height compared to the Flux is higher, and I’m getting less pedal bashes which is helping me keep riding.

I bought the bike for super long distances – I don’t ride super hard or fast but I like to really keep going and this is a great bike for that, no doubt.

Water bottle cage position is an issue that means I struggle to get a large bottle in there, but a 600ml Podium goes fine in a side entry Specialized cage. It’s cramped compared to the Flux, but then the frame design is completely different. There were some interesting reviews of Cape Epic full sus bikes on BikeRadar recently that looked at Marathon full suss bikes and showed bottle cages clamped to seatpost so that might be needed for longer rides.