Just a quick one, I’m after some advice/thoughts.

I’m in the process of selling my old commuter and my Hard tail to buy a full suss bike. I was planning on spending the proceeds on a a budget end full suss bike, front runner bus the norco fluid 4 (deore, suntour xcr forks and X fusion shock)

However, in traditional Facebook style, I’ve been offered a number of swaps, one that has piqued my interest is a 2010 Trek Remedy R8. I’ve not been to look at it yet, but assuming it’s in decent nick, is a 9 year old good spec bike (X0, Xt brakes, Lyrics and the fancy fox shock they came with) going to still be better than a new bottom end bike? Or have things moved on in that time.

Geometry wise they’re both very similar so no issues there. Trek is 26″ where the Norco is 29″ with 2.6″ tyres.

An additional bonus of the swap is that I can sell the commuter for cash and pocket it, downsides are that I’ll have no warranty at all, but that’s where I am with the current hardtail.

older bike will be increasingly limited for upgrade potential vs new. i still ride a 26″ bike and have found that so over recent years. I recon there would be significant ride characteristic differences too which you may find a limiting factor depending on your experience. Personally if it was me, i would choose new and then you have many years of happy upgrading as and when you feel its needed- part of the fun!

I would sell both bikes and then use that cash to buy a used full sus from somewhere like the classifieds on here or on ebay and in both cases make sure you look at the bike before buying.

My lad was riding my old spesh xc that was 8 years old, it had become a pain to get the odd parts for. He now just uses it for school. What’s the budget on the new bike? Surely the full susser is a bit overpriced for something so old?

Depending just how limited your budget is I’d steer clear of 2nd hand personally, especially a 9 year old one (trek particularly becuase of all the proprietary crap). You can get some bargains 2nd hand but you can get some real lemons and find you need to replace/repair more than you’ve money for very quickly indeed. Given things like old fork standards, strange shocks, odd axle standards and so on, it only takes one of those to fail on day 2 for you to have an expensive paper weight.

A quick google suggest the fluid 4 FS is £1200. For that money you can do miles better than a 9 year old trek (or any brand tbh)

Also, the same geo with different wheel sizes will feel very different

If I was buying a full suss on a budget I would be looking at something like this
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s183p9722/MARIN-Hawk-Hill-1-2019

At this point I’d not be looking at 26,if you can get boost even better it will give you a good base to go forward with it.
Go 26 and 2010 and if the frame goes your left with a heap of old parts worth not much.
2 years back picked up the base model meta am v4.2 only real think it was missing was a dropper. However swapped out bars stem and brakes for good ones I had. Great value bike, boost 650 and metric shocks.

In a situation not a million miles from you, from far too much research I think I’d def stay away from a 2nd hand with 26 inch wheels.

By all means go 2nd hand but something three or four years old or newer and the bigger wheels. If you get a couple of years out of it will have some second hand value. I think in two or three years time 26ers are going to be worth even less second hand than now.

I’m still on a 26er and finding parts harder to find now as well. If I were in your shoes I would go for something newer and future proof myself for a few years (hopefully).

You will get a good one/two year old FSer for £1.2k.

Or for £1k with a bit left over to service the suspension.

As others have said, I’d go second hand but modern. Something a year old will give you way more value than new and won’t be immediately obsolete. You do need to know what you want and be wary of the pitfalls but there are bargains to be had if you’re careful.

Cool thanks chaps. Actual budget is about £900 with some jiggery pokery, theres not much doing on the used market at the mo. Ill keep an eye out, i do like the Norco, it could be a good long term investment. But I’d love a Trasition Scout if i could find one in budget.

With some patience on eBay and PSAs on here as well as a few bits from the parts bin I just built a last gen Meta AM 29er with Revs and mainly XT running gear with DT Swiss wheels & Guide brakes. Cost me a shade under a grand.
Not the newest frame and forks but other than not being boost it’s relatively modern and certainly a great bike to ride. The alternative was going to be something like the Calibre fs bike or maybe a lower end Canyon but I definitely got more for my money buying slightly older frame and forks.

Not sure if this muddies the water even more but a good biking buddy of mine is selling a 2012 Orange 5 with 26” wheels, XT, Hope, Fox. 20” frame – could be secured for roughly half the cost of the Norco…

Wouldn’t mind a 5 at all. 20″ would be too big for me though I’ve got stumpy legs

Boardman or Calibre FS bikes – hardly used ?

Got my Boardman FS Pro 2014, brand new two years ago for £960 because it had a scratch. It’s a £1,600 bike new, more if it has a ‘posh’ make on it. Look for good, hardly used bikes

The Norco has arrived at Evans, I had a quick sit on it yesterday, going to test ride it as properly as possible on Monday.

It’s looooong though, the guy in the shop was telling me I needed a medium, even though the size guide puts me firmly on a large. So I’m not sure, I’m also still not convinced by the suntour forks and tektro brakes.

Is there anything else out there up to £1500 new, maybe a smidge for if it’s from wheelies because I get a massive discount through work. Quite like the look of the Hawk Hill 2 or maybe a Travce 3. I was slightly tempted to spunk a huge wedge on a Reign 2 and never need a new bike again, but I’m worried it would be too much bike for about 80% of my riding which would be at Cannock.

Any thoughts?

I’d be checking Paul’s Bikes etc for a bargain in a sale I think. The Vitus Escarpe used to be good value for £1600 but I just looked and it has a Sektor as a fork – in my mind it used to have a Revelation.

Yeah I’ve checked Paul’s, the only thing that caught my eye there is the Marin Rift Zone I could get a top one for £1500. But I’m not 100% on it. Maybe too good for what I do normally, but won’t let me push the boundaries as much as I’d like

Boardman or Calibre? Both really great value.

Yeah, I had a MK1 Bossnut (3 actually, before I gave up and got my money back) bloody loved it though when it worked, so the only thing that really puts me off is the lack of a bottle cage mount. Otherwise, it’s almost perfect.

I’m struggling to get past the looks of the new Boardmans, plus they’re not the amazing value they once were.

Are you looking at the 29er Rift Zone? Looks like a quick short travel trail bike and the spec for the money looks pretty good at the sale price. Are you looking for something a bit more aggressive then?

If so, there are often mk1 /
1.5 Bird Aeris’ for sale secondhand on the Bird Cycleworks owners Facebook page within your budget.

I’m torn really, I do like birds (ooh-er) and something like that or the Reign tempt me, but I’m concerned I’ll not get the most out of it where I live and ride most of the time.

I think ideally, something fast and razzable, but I could also hang on to it down some local DH tracks if the mood took me, which it probably will in the summer.

So a 140/150mm Bird is too much, but a 120mm 29er isn’t enough? So what is it you are after exactly?

140/130mm Maybe. Ive never ridden a bird, so I don’t know how that would do. I’d like something like a trance really, but they’re out of busher and the only real competition in my price range is the calibre or the Boardman. Time for a think I think

Wouldn’t mind a 5 at all. 20″ would be too big for me though I’ve got stumpy legs

there’s a 2013 18″ Five for £800 on the Orange Riders facebook group right now

(it’s not mine, and I have no connection with the seller)

The Calibre or he older Boardman pro fs would probably be the best options new unless a ludicrous sale offer comes up in the meantime.

I think I’d be looking for a 1 or 2 year old bike personally – although it depends how much patience you’ve got with waiting for something to come up. I’d personally want to buy fairly locally so I could inspect the bike / not have any courier / eBay nonsense involved.

Yeah, the more I read and up my budget the calibre still ends up looking great.

I think I’m down to a toss up between a new Bossnut and a brand X dropper for £1150, or a can get a trance 3 for just under £1500.

Or something nearly new.

I’ll have my calculator out this weekend.

£950 bought us a second hand 2016 27.5 Radon Slide 150, full XT and carbon XO cranks, Pike with Charger and Fox shock, Reverb, spare set of Mavic Crossmax wheels, receipt from LBS for full service and TFTuned for both shocks a month before sale. Owned by local rider on bike club Facebook page.

£600 bought us 2016 27.5 Norco Fluid with new RS Monarch, Secktor Air, full deore, Reverb (new), Mavic Crossmax and new Nobby Mics. It did need a reverb bleed, has a few scrapes. Receipt from LBS for new bearings throughout.

£650 bought us Giant Liv Lust, 1x on a mainly original kit, immaculate apart from mismatched brakes, two saddles, two new Nobby NICs, two handlebars. Chain and cassette look new.

Get hunting carefully second hand – there’s some cared for bikes out there.

9 years and 26″ means there is no way the geometry is the same (newer will be better) and finding 26″ parts such as straight steerer forks is becoming a pain.

If your budget is a little higher you could look at the Calibre BBB for a bit better spec than the Bossnut – but without blowing it out the water!

Giant anthem?, There are some good deals to be had on older model 2s and 3s. They are a good bike for the chase.

Right, I think I’m going to get another Bossnut, I’ve not got the patience for buying used I don’t think. So if I do go down this route I need to decide what size to get.

Medium has the right length seat tube but reach is a bit short (429mm). Large has better reach (446mm) but the seat tube length would limit me to a 100mm dropper.

I’m thinking I’m better off going large and having a shorter dropper, is that the right way to do it?

That’s a shame I could have done you a good deal on my Kona Hei Hei DL Trail for less than £1500

https://singletrackworld.com/classifieds/advert/2016-kona-hei-hei-dl-trail-large-with-bikeyoke-revive/

I’m thinking I’m better off going large and having a shorter dropper, is that the right way to do it?

I would.
I’d rather have the right geometry above all else.
I’ve ridden xc saddle up for two decades before these new fangled droppers, and made it down alive…

I always thought a 100mm dropper was fine – until I got a 120mm one. Then that was fine until I got a 150mm one. My legs aren’t long enough to get a 170mm one luckily!

Sounds like it’s not the right bike for you if you’re limited to a 100mm dropper.

Unless you don’t really ride steep trails?

I might go for the medium, I’ve been eyeing up a trance as well and that has similar reach numbers, Giant recommend a medium for me too.

I quite like the Trance too, I think it’s a toss up between the two now. Trance is a bit more expensive, but has more travel, the Bossnut has good stuff hanging off it. But can’t fit a water bottle.

Spotted a veritable bargain on the way home from work tonight, 2018 Hawk Hill 3 reduced to £1250 from £2300.

Couldn’t pass that up, with Quidco cashback it was only just over £1200 for a brand new Marin with SLX gears Deore brakes Revs and a dropper. Happy days.

I’m right on the cusp of a medium and large but I reckon I can just about get a 120mm dropper on the large one. Would have struggled with the 2019 one which comes with a 150mm dropper.

Should be here Wednesday, can’t wait til the weekend.

Good call. I’m a Marin owner, they seem to be a bit under the radar, but mines been excellent.