For some strange reason I can’t test the bikes on my 120mm wishlist:

Trek – don’t supply test bikes anymore
Spesh – Pay £60 for the bike to be delivered to LBS for testing.
Ghost – none where I live.
Whyte – T120 (Test tomorrow)

Brief is “approx 120mm bike for general weekend rides on South East singletrack, 5 x Trail centres per year and 5 x races/events per year”, budget max £2.3k

So, I’ve spent weeks on the internet looking at the detail, but what can you tell me that I don’t know about buying one of these WITHOUT testing (ducks from flak)

Trek EX8
Spesh Epic Evo Elite
Ghost AMR7500
Giant Trance / Anthem

Gone on, convince me whats best unsighted….. <gulp>…

You are missing whaever 120mm Canyon there is – Nerve AM perhaps?

I’ve heard about a spate of broken rear traingles with Canyons. A Nerve 9.0 was on my list previously…

Trek – don’t supply test bikes anymore

really?

that’s so odd as they insist on supply only via a shop and not post.

I’m eyeing up a Ghost AMR 7500 myself. Felt really nice, but possibly a bit short but only when standing up. But then again it would be a trail bike and not a XC bike.

waswas – yup – confirmed by 3 LBS’s

Swedishmatt – Trail is fine. Bit heavy though – 28/29lbs? Or don’t you feel it?

transition bandit

If Trek aren’t willing to do test/demo bikes anymore I’d be striking them off the list. Which is a shame as the new EX’s look awesome but if I couldn’t test something before laying out over £2k for it…….

Trek – don’t supply test bikes anymore

Really?

The claim on the demo locator on here: http://www.demodaze.co.uk/ is that they’re updating with 2012 bikes.

Really?

The claim on the demo locator on here: http://www.demodaze.co.uk/ is that they’re updating with 2012 bikes.

My LBS’s are telling me I can go to a demo day, but the bike won’t come to me.

I would seriously look at a Canyon, if I was buying a new bike I don’t think you can look past them for value, It would be close to the top of my list

My LBS’s are telling me I can go to a demo day, but the bike won’t come to me.

I see.

I’ve never test ridden any of the bikes I’ve had; my guess is you’ll love any of them as there aren’t many complete turkeys out there 🙂

Just pick a colour you like and buy it, it is a bike FFS.

All the crap you hear about angles, tube lengths etc is basically that, crap.

You will learn to ride the bike you have, and you will learn to justify why it is better than everything else. Think of it like this, pros get given a bike they race it. they don’t get to say oh sorry sponsor i don’t like the bikes you make.

There are very few bad bikes on the market.

Oh, and i would look at buying a bike from a decent shop because when it goes wrong you’ll get some support. And look at the warranty, lots of expensive niche bikes are out there with little or no warranty, so when the back end cracks you’ll be shafted.

Just pick a colour you like and buy it, it is a bike FFS.

Would you really do that if you were spending over £2k? Bit risky.

Where are you in the SE? Have you looked at Cube or Lapierres? The shop at Bedgebury stocks Ghost I think.

Would you really do that if you were spending over £2k? Bit risky.

Bit Risky, no not really, most bikes are decent and after a bit of riding you’ll be fine. I would say it is risky to buy a bike with a crap warranty and no local shop to deal with if/when the back end snaps. Which seems to be the common mode of failure for FS bikes.

rewski – Member

Just pick a colour you like and buy it, it is a bike FFS.
Would you really do that if you were spending over £2k? Bit risky.

Where are you in the SE? Have you looked at Cube or Lapierres? The shop at Bedgebury stocks Ghost I think.

Not any more – Mondraker only.

Would you really do that if you were spending over £2k? Bit risky.

Trust your shop & take it back if there are issues. After all, they’re selling you the bike, not just order fulfillment. My latest bike that I’d never even sat on was a lovely Cervelo. Also see: my Swift, 2 Hecklers, 1 Orange UFO (although perhaps I should have with that one).

I wouldn’t purchase a bike without a test ride. It’s a lot of money to fork out on something that you just don’t get on with. Sizing can be difficult, and things aren’t always what you are expecting.

But considering the price, I’d get myself to a demo day.

I wouldn’t purchase a bike without a test ride. It’s a lot of money to fork out on something that you just don’t get on with. Sizing can be difficult, and things aren’t always what you are expecting.

Yes i see where you are coming from, but tyres, suspension settings, saddles etc can all change a bike. A demo may tell you what is a turkey, but not much else.

I bought a Trance X frame unsighted off this forum. It rocks.

Not many Turkey’s amongst my list though:

Whyte T120 – Rave reviews (esp. 2012 bikes) no issues
Trek EX – slightly odd sizing, rave reviews
Spech Epic Evo – issues with Roval wheels spokes breaking
Ghost – er, rave review no issues
Canyon – reave revies, some rear triangles snapping
Trance/Anthem – rave reviews, but which one?

Not many Turkey’s amongst my list though:

Exactly. look at the warranty, look at the backup local to you and look at which you would like to own. You could spend months organising demos, or months riding your new bike.

End of the day it is your money and you have to be happy you have spent it in the best way. I just don’t feel that demoing lots of bikes is the best way of spending my riding time.

Fair point.

So here’s where I am – T120 day long ride demo tomorrow, I can have the same on on either Giant in a couple of weeks time.

My view would be if either of those make me do a little wee in excitement, forget the Trek, Ghost and and Spesh – ie would I be happy on the bikes I can ride.

I have to admit to falling for the looks of the Trance X1, and the all round weight/strength race-fullness of the T120 in advance of testing.

If not, I’ll try harder for testing.

Trance or anthem, you’ll be looking at the trance in 120’s however I have an Anthem for doing exactly what you do.
Having said that I have put 100-130 forks on it which I wouldnt do on a new bike… Have I helped? 😉

Not thought about a Superlight?

I can’t say I’ve compared it with any of your list, but I LOVE mine…

transapp – I think really I want the Trance for that added “rock/fun factor”. I see / hear lots about tha anthems capability though, so I need to rideone to decide. Could I bang clumsily yet fast down CyB and still be in one piece with a grin on my face on an Anthem?

All the crap you hear about angles, tube lengths etc is basically that, crap.

yeah cos geometery and fit don’t have any effect on the way a bike rides. 🙄

Ah Fadda

I have thought about a Superlight – feel free to tell me more. Best I can see though is the Stif cycles offer with the Fox ALPS (oem, cheap) fork.

Is the Superlight outdated now though? And is it fools gold to spend 2.3k on one these days?

Where did you hear about all the Canyons with broken rear triangles?

Old, yes. But I wouldn’t say outdated.

I like:
Simple single-pivot,
120 forks with 100mm back end,
The fact that,at 14 stone i’ve only rarely bottomed mine out and I ride Cwmcarn often (ok, that’s down to settings).

If you’re anywhere near south Wales, you can have a borrow, if you want…

yeah cos geometery and fit don’t have any effect on the way a bike rides.

Not as much as some seem to think. As for fit, that is why bikes come in a range of sizes. Change the stem, bars, saddle, tyres etc and the bike is completely different anyway. So the demo has become a waste of time.

I’ve test ridden all the bikes I bought and didn’t buy, I even spent £50 to test ride a bike for the day, I didn’t buy it and lost the £50, it was worth it because I nearly spent £3k on a bike that I didn’t love. The demo days Bikeradar where involved in were great, you could block book hourly slots with various brands.

Appreciate that Fadda, but I’m in London. Which fork have you got – did you get the D spec or the R spec? Just wondering if those Foxes are worth while or a turd rolled in glitter…

Any others thoughts on a superlight?

I do see where you’re coming from mrmo, but I’d still want to see and feel a product before handing over cash.

I got the bike that my lbs specced themselves, which is close to the R spec. Though I sold the 100mm SIDs and put 120 Rebas on it, as they’re stiffer and 100 was just too short for me…

Thought about an cannondale RZ120 with the fox forks, very capable TC bike and in budget.

RV I have – harsh uncomposed ride, bit of a mess according to MBR?

Canyon Nerves been reported to crack on the drive side seat stay just above the brace to the dropout. Apparently it’s corrected on current and future production. Superb bikes and good service by the way. People with cracks typically had a new rear triangle within 2 weeks.

I ride a 140 carbon RZ and had the Rize 130 before that…. the composure only ever got questioned going nuts out in the Alps. MBR must know there stuff though. the thing with reviews is that you can always find a negative one especially if the manufacturer don’t advertise in the mag.
My advice is that if you buy from one of the bigger COY’s then you’ll not buy a bad bike, so it’s down to choosing the traits you can live with.
good luck.

Actaully RV I read the review again. They say its an issue with high BB height – not sure what last years was, but this years 120 1 is the same as the EX8 & Ghost AMR7500 – 13″.

Also, Singeltrack raved about it, and I’ve just looked at this years bike its looks stunning and I’m tempted to buy it even without a test (doh…)