Pipedream Sirius is a serious looker.

I met someone bikepacking on Islay with one – in the luuuuuuuuush sparkly dark blue colour.

I’m 100% with Chipps on this. Clean tidy lines with almost no visible suspension details or cables, top tube flattened and pretty much inline with the seatstays and as often with Scott – great colour.

I’m really itching for a proper XC bike again and this, with a sub 11kg weight really fits the bill.

Not my choice, but if you’re gonna go with hidden suspension, I think the Caliber is nicer than the Scott

Front end looks wrong though.
Still the Element for me 🙂

Sorry – the Pipedreams don’t do it for me… there are bits sticking together at all sorts of angles. The Nordest is nice tho’.

I like the new Canyon 🙂

Certainly not my Ebike

😆 😆

This.
Like the transition but better

Sorry, that Specialised is truly gopping.

Spur for me.

The Raaw looks lush. Any idea how to actually get a frame and fork here in Brexit Britain though?

I think they sell through Bike Components but stock is very limited. I emailed Raaw before I got my Privateer and they were super helpful about dates of restock, but that was quite a while ago.

I absolutely love the Pink Starling although I’m not cool enough to ride one that colour. Also love the Raaw and the Transition.

That ginger spesh is not a braw bike.

The Scott is nice, but I think I prefer the Bold.
I like steel bikes, but the Starling leaves me cold.
Don’t mind the clunker Charlie suggested, but not really apples for apples comparision.
Spur is probably my favorite from the suggestions.

From releases in the last 12 months I’d nominate the SCOR:

No Treks?

Supercalibre?

No xc race bike up above, shame on you. 😔

@didnthurt Isn’t the Spark is an XC race bike?

I think the last visually pleasing bike I can remember Specialized making was Palmer’s FSR DH.

I think the last visually pleasing bike I can remember Specialized making was Palmer’s FSR DH.

I thought you must be remembering it nicer than it was, as most vintage DH bikes look pretty ropey now (to my eyes).

But you are correct, it’s gorgeous.

Combination of the white frame, frame graphics and the X Verts just did it.

Had a set of those forks on my Tomac and its a good job they looked awesome as they were awful to use 😀

My old school (and frankly old) head says that xc race bikes have 100mm or less suspension. With my new Spark having 120, I’m struggling to compute that. 🤯

I know that £9k is an enormous amount of money for a bike and more than I could ever spend on one.

But…..

The Scott Spark Pro – when compared to similar from other companies – seems good value for money.

https://www.scott-sports.com/gb/en/product/scott-spark-rc-world-cup-evo-axs-bike

That’s if you can find one in stock.

Hardtail you say?

Of those options, it’s the Transition for me, but did nobody make any hardtails this year (aside from Charlie’s suggestion)?

didnthurt

No Treks?
Supercalibre?

Nope, none at all. Well, except the one up the page.

mmm, Nordest, mmmm

No idea if this is a 21 bike or not, but apart from the hoachin tyres, it’s braw.

Yes to the BMC and no to ta11pau1’s offering

I’m with the Starling – I always thought they looked great, but as soon as I rode one and found that the theory worked in practice it seemed to look even better.
I keep wondering about a custom paintjob but it’s a lot of cash…

Would love to give the Stooge a try. I’ll bet the ride feel of the frame and fork is great.

The Dirtbomb is a fantastic bike and I regret selling mine. The most fun place to be and way more capable than it looks. Would love to have kept it but was missing a bit of squish and can only have one bike at a time.

Dirtbomb, Starling and Transition get my vote from the list.

FWIW, I still quite like the Rå 😉