What 'do it all' FS bike £1700+ or so budget – insurance replacement

My Boardman FS Comp got stolen, along with a couple of extras.
Due to the vaguries of insurance, I’ve got a total budget of £1700 to spend at wheelies.co.uk:
http://www.wheelies.co.uk/Catalogue.aspx?sPrice=1400&catid=2&cName=Mountain-bikes

When I went from my 06 GT Avalanche Pro/Carrear Banshe X to the Boardman it was a bit of a revelation that it handled downhills as well as the Banshee pretty much (especially as the Banshee was a bit tired), yet handled XC stuff as well as the Avalanche.

I do general trail riding, trail parks, bits of ‘down hill’ stuff (not very well), some XC style races (again, not well, just for fun/exercise) and pretty much anything else.
At some point plan to get a cheap 29er hardtail for road stuff, but have done 40+ mile road trip on the boardman too (was meant to be more off-road, but ran out of time/light).
I’m neither the fittest, not the bravest nor the most skilled rider, but will generally have a go at most things, though with being self employed, tend to wimp out a bit more on big scary stuff :).

I was quite liking the look of their Camber Elite 2011 on offer, but turns out they don’t have the Medium frame in stock and now I’ve found I can spend a bit more, wondering about my options.
I was wondering about their 2011 Stumpumper too, but also out of that.

Thinking about a Reign 2 now.
But how much down on climbing/XC performance will it be compared to the Boardman? I’m presuming that design/suspension geometry is more of a factor than all out weight – as frankly if I want to save weight, my plate is the place I should start!

Of course the other option is to get a bike to sell, buy another boardman and use the spare cash for a trip to Wales/Scotland :).

(Oh and did have an account on here, but seem to have lost both the username and can’t recall which email address I used for it, thus singing up again :)).

Pitch or a lapierre 314. If theyve got them.

Orange 5 buy the Cambers look great

the Reign might be a bit too DH oriented for the sort of riding you describe IMHO. The Trance is their all round (4″) bike, or the Trance X (5″) if you want a bit more travel and grrr but still acceptable XC weights. The Maestro frames have got lighter through the years, but Munqe Chick sold a Reign and bought a Cypher (2009 wimmin-specific version of the Trance X) and dropped about 5lbs in bike weight. The Cypher weighs about the same as her 4″ forked hardtail so is a real do-it-all bike.

have a look at the cube ams series, there are various models ranging from 100mm to 150mm, they are more xc oriented, but, good build quality, reasonably light, no unbranded nasty components etc.
i like mine, a lot. (ams 130 pro, 2011 model)

How about a 29er, a nice 29er…. Salsa Spearfish Complete Bike

Demo bike available for you to try. But I dont think wheelies will be able to supply these.

I’d be pushing the insurance company to let me buy a bike elsewhere but if forced to buy a bike from there then a Trance X3, but £1700 would get you something a lot better elsewhere.

Cheers for all the thoughts so far – am off reading up on them!

No pitch, salsa or cube, but they DO have Orange, Lapierre, Specialized, Cannondale, Felt, GT, Mongoose, Saracen, Diamond Back and Scott. Presume they can get most in from those.

In a lot of things I tend to do a kinda opposite-20/80 rule. For instance my ‘touring motorbike’ was actually chosen on being actually probably 90% good for 10% of the time and 10% good for 90% of the time; but that 10% of the time was the fun off-road stuff, so I didn’t care it was less suitable for the other 90% which was relatively ‘boring’. (A 690 enduro with adventure kit added, by the way.)

Unfortunately I haven’t really got much choice with going elsewhere.
To be fair, £1500* is the value the insurance company decided I need to replace the Boardman FS Comp I paid £510 for (hardly used on ebay with recipt for £850) – they basically looked at the spec and set the budget based on what was needed to replace it from their supplier. So while it’s not great alue, overall for me it’s not bad value either!

I would like to try a 29er at some point (thinking I may get a cheap 29er hardtail for ‘daily’ stuff), but will leave it for the minute.

(+£180 i900 remote seat post they valued at £200 for £1700 total, though actually the cheapest remote one they have on there is £240 I think but I want another i900 anyway.)

Meant to add though – that mtb is one area where I am now convinced of the benefits of it being reasonably accessibe for all tasks and definitely don’t want to go back to doing XC on a bike that worked like the Banshee uphill!

Based on your requirements – Wheelies then I would sugggest a Giant Trance X3 first, Followed by the specialized Camber.

Are you allowed to add to it? For an extra 100 notes, I’d probably go for the Cannondale RZ one20 2

Yes, can add to it. Get 18% off the extra paid ontop too.

I’m still tempted by pumping up a chunk extra for the camber Elite 2012, but at the moment am just getting lost in all the options!

saracen ariel.

Have a word with your insurance company again, ask them what the cash settlement would be – i did this with my claim and was up about £500 from what Wheelies valued everything at.

Then take that cash and barter your ass off, or go see Charlie and get that Spearfish… that looks lovely.

Dropping in to say hello…

I never thought I wanted a 29er..tidy Salsa.

Tidy Salsa.

Reasonably though, a settlement would be at least £500 less from the insurance company (which would get me a higher spec boardman); but might give them a shout and see what they say.

I’ve decided I do want to go for at least 140mm.
The lapierre 214 is looking quite tempting. But also wondering what the Stumpjumper FSR Comp 2011 is like in comparison, as it’s normally compared to the higher spec 314; but is the same price as the 214 because it’s last year’s model.

Does it have to be FS? The type of riding you describe suits a hardtail and £1700 gets you a real good one – as opposed to an average FS.

I do want FS.
I was never really convinced until I got the Boardman and found it quite a revelation, even coming from a ’06 GT Avalanche Pro’ – which was a well specced and light hardtail.

Also, I’ve got a bit of a dodgy lower back – which I’ve found is directly linked to impact up the spine – the full suspension makes a decent difference to this meaning that I can sit down more while ridng and be sure my back won’t be too bad the day after.

Just thought I’d update that it seems I’ve got no real chance of a cash settlement (bevalued insists it’s up to wheelies.co.uk. wheelies quite understandably will only give me a bike not money), which is irksome because I’d kinda decided on a Reign 2 (subject to a carpark ride at least)), which would need to be in Medium, which they won’t have in until January.

While rutland has a 2011 Reign 1 in medium for £1800, which I could try out back to back with some other bikes.

I’d continued my train of thought here: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/zesty-214-vs-reign-2-will-i-notice-a-difference-climbing-anything-else

The type of riding you describe suits a hardtail

I though the same about my riding, FS is just for racers etc.

Untill I demo’d a few and bought one.

There’s very little in it between my hardtail and the Pitch uphill, the hardtail beats it, but only if you’re pushing so hard you think you’re going to pass out, the Pitch just lets you sit and spin up at 95% of the pace.

And downhill it’s night and day, the Pitch blows the hardtail out of the water! The only place the Pitch suffers is if I’m having a bad day at a trail center, you either need to be completely ontop of it both physicaly and mentaly or it just feels wallowly and hopeless though the corners.

Hardtails are now just a wet weather/winter/trailcenter option for me!

I had a bike stolen that was insured by M&S. They had wheelies value it and I then got a cash settlement of 100 less than the valued price. My claim was slightly lower than yours. They also said I could go to another shop. I would ask your insurer again, they are just trying to get you to do what is easiest for them!

>voting for own bike content<

This is a deal.

2011 Ghost AMR 7500

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/ghost/amr-7500-2011-mountain-bike-ec026446?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=froogle

£2400 to £2k.

And its ace.

MRL – who did you talk to to hassle do you know?
Do I need to go right back to M&S?

M&S passed it on to bevalued.
Bevalued then passed it on to wheelies.

Bevalued are happy to offer a cash settlement for some other things being claimed for, but said it had to go through wheelies for the bike.

Cheers for the link moonboy, however I’ve decided I want at least 140mm travel, to try something a bit different from my last 120mm travel bike. I appreciate that a bike like that may well be a decent step up already from my boardman, but still want to see what a reasonably lighter weight bigger-bouncer can do these days.

Ok, I went back to M&S, who contacted wheelies for me.

It seems the information I’d been given earlier is incorrect and I should be able to get a cash settlement – IF they can’t get the bike in stock.
They have now had a look around and claim they CAN get a 2012 Reign in medium from Giant.

I just got new Whyte T120 2012 after trying loads of fs bikes around 2k but just saw the deals Edinburgh cycle coop have on doing 15% off everything so T120 from them is bang on £1700

I just picked up a new 2011 Trek EX9 in a ‘old season’ clear out for £1990. Some bargains to be had if you do some gooogling!!

120mm do it all, lightweight and good solid bits.

Lovin it!

just read you want 140mm………..!

Are you sure you need it / want to be pushing it up a hill. I went from 120mm Stumpy to 150mm Yeti 575 which was light for a 575 but the difference in going uphill is substantial.

Worth trying a load properly before you commmit, if 120 was enough for most of your riding, you should think hard about going up.

I know of a Yeti ASR-5 Enduro build in medium ex-demo complete bike going for £2250 – however its got major cable rub on the fork crown and one bit not so bad on the down tube.

If you dont mind the cosmetic issue there’s some room there for some major negotiation with the LBS selling it IMO, and you’d have an awesome bike for your cash.

NEED it? Probably not! But I do want it :).
The general impression I’ve got is that bikes like the 214 and Reign should at least match my Boardman for climbing ability, but be even better down hill.
I’d like to do more ‘serious’ stuff and have certainly ‘attempted’ at least some fairly serious downhill style stuff on the boardman (ie what a more experienced friend described as a ‘double black’ route – though I did wimp out in a couple of places as hadn’t ridden anything gnarly for some time.)

I also generally decided I’d like a change – so I’ll get one with a bit more travel and see how it goes.

That yeti’ll go down more than you think at 120mm as it has a slackish head angle, plus its designed to go up to a 140mm fork.

If it was me (appreciate that it isnt), I’d try to get it as cheap as possible, use it as is, and save up for a 140 if I thought I needed it.

BTW, I’ve just gone from 150 to 120, my new ASR-5 arrives tomorrow 🙂

if 120 was enough for most of your riding, you should think hard about going up.

Have you considered that his riding might change if he gets a longer-travel, more all-mountainy bike?

It’s quite possible I may end up going back to smaller travel for the bike after – with motorbikes, I had to go up to a 1000cc superbike before I came back down and realised I prefer 125-250cc 2 strokes for fun.

However, having moved to West Yorkshire from Berkshire, I think there’s certainly more justification for a longer travel bike, as there’s a lot of decent riding places around here, rather than getting twenty seconds of random forest downhill followed by a slog along some fields in Berkshire!

Think someone has already mentioned it, but I’d be seriously tempted by a Saracen Ariel – Dirt seem to love them, and they’re nicely specced for the money too.

I have looked into them a bit, but not seen any decent feedback about them in relation to other bikes.

And, I have to admit ‘Saracen’ still makes me think back to their ‘Apollo-spec’ full suspension barges of the early 2000s stocked by JJB which were the in thing for the chavs of the day to be seen on!

http://www.southerndownhill.com/reviews/bikes/saracen-ariel-1-long-term-review.html 😉

Another vote for an Ariel – I’ve had mine 2 months now and it is ace! Great fun.

I should point out I don’t actually have one, but if I was in the market for a new bike it would be top of my list. Some RIGHT bargains on them too.

Cheers flyingmonkeycorps, I actually found the same link after you posted – but it doesn’t really qualify how they climb in relation to other similar models?

Any comments on that oli82?

Though, to some degree if I am buying from wheelies at the RRP I want to get something that DOESN’T have good deals on – that way resale will probably be a bit higher (or at least that’s how it tends to work for motorbikes anyway).

An update – been offered £1311 for the bike + seat post as opposed to the £1700 to spend at wheelies.

Rutland have a Reign 1 2011 model in medium up for £1800. So that’d be spending an extra £500 for the ‘1’ model versus £248 for the ‘2’ with wheelies.

Or could go second hand of course, which I may well end up doing.