Haha shall I change it to ‘bodge’?

Thanks everyone will look into all of these.

@ tall martin

fair enough, i still think steel or CF would be more suitable for a bike at this price point / usage / aftercare but glad you like it, and they certainly seem to be well loved by their owners!

@tall Martin – I meant if you cracked the frame not the replaceable bolts or threaded inserts.

All sounds good re Canyon overall, I’ll let him know- cheers everyone! Looks a good bike the new Neuron so coupled with this he’ll probably go ahead with it.

Ok thanks, I’ll let him know.

. @jonba- not heard of this re Specialized – I’ve got one, so interested about your comment – I’ve only ever heard great things about Specialized warranty?

Edit to add – just checked and it definitely says the lifetime warranty applies to seat stays and chain stays in the wording.

I don’t get alloy frames at this price point (unless it has a lifetime warranty) and design brief. As I understand it, if alloy cracks, it can’t really be repaired unlike steel, titanium and carbon fibre – plus it fatigues faster than those materials on average too. It’s the sort of price and brief that suggests people will keep it a long time – something I’m supportive of from both an environmental and value for money perspective – but if it cracks after the 5 year warranty, it’s basically scrap. Surely steel or CF would be preferable for this kind of bike? I think it’s a cool bike, but I wouldn’t want to fork out £3600 for it.

Yes can through now, just think it was instant last time. Doesn’t matter, just wanted to check – thanks!

I’m in almost exactly the same situation as you (proper full suss, flat bar gravel bike + bike mad 4 year old) and after a third bike too. I’m thinking a 120-140mm hardcore hardtail will be best to suit this need, in 29er flavour for me as I’m lanky and that’s what all the other bikes in the garage are, but maybe in 27.5 flavour for you if you find 29ers not playful enough?

Edit to add as it sounds like I’m being too much of a fanboy. It is flex stay single pivot which some people won’t like – it’s not as supple as an fsr model. I’m not very rich so mine has to be a ‘one bike rules all’ build – I’m considering adding a burlier 150mm fork to mine and adding slightly burlier tyres to increase its remit a bit further. But if I had more spare money I’d go the other way with it – lighten the wheels and tyres, keep it at 140mm and then have a bigger 160-170mm bike alongside it.

The current carbon Stumpjumper meets your requirements perfectly. It often gets overlooked as it’s not as fancy/cool as the Evo version, but it’s fair bit more capable than the Epic platform. It’s a proper ordinary trail bike with 130mm rear, and although they ship with a 140mm fork they can take a 150mm. The weights are good – the cheapest comp model (which I have) starts at around 30ib for a size s4. Sub 13kg easily achievable for a more blingy build. Good trail geometry – 65 HA and 77HA, decent reach etc.

Thanks for the suggestions. Might give Ossify and MartyMac’s contributions a miss though 😂

Really pleased for you! Enjoy it!

Why aren’t budget/affordable mountain bikes better? Geometry and boost thru axles should add next to no cost to an aluminium frame.
Even Voodoo, who make the excellent Bizango spec the cheaper model with a qr and the high end with thru axle – what’s the cost benefit of having 2 frames?

Have you checked the bcd of your current middle chainring? Get the number for that then just do a search with that number and 30t and that should give you your options.

Why don’t budget mountain bikes have 148mm thru axles? Does it really cost that much more to do than a 135mm qr – or heaven forbid the random 141mm qr that’s sprung up for no reason.

Thanks – my first thought was Microshift but heard it doesn’t last and heard good things about link glide. Will check both out then and see what’s available.

I own the standard current Stumpy, and it’s great, but as others have said – if you’ve got an Epic Evo already get the Stumpy Evo. The standard one is literally like a half way house between the two, so differentiate more with the Evo.

Fair enough fellas. I wouldn’t personally even think about holding another forumite responsible if there were a scam – all they would have done is share an item from a reputable site like eBay or pinkbike. The potential buyer would still have to do their due diligence (or not, it’s up to them!) just like they would had they found the item themselves on those kind of sites? So, to me it’s no different, but if other people think like you guys guess it’s a non starter, and no worries!

Same really, guess you’d use it for a bit of everything, but mainly messing about in the local woods.

thanks @scotroutes

Is this a thing? I could create a couple of months ago, now I can’t? Nothing changed with my membership in between.

Got to agree with Bennyboy – not been interested enough to watch since the 2021 cheating / ridiculous debacle. Used to love it, but just briefly check the results since then – rather than watching / supporting like I used to. My hope for 2024 is that:

A – a team, ideally McLaren or Mercedes, actually challenges Red Bull to make it vaguely interesting. I personally feel Hamilton deserves the chance to legitimately go for the 8th title that was robbed from him. I’d also like Norris to do well. 

B – RB employ a driver actually capable of challenging Verstappen – the guy couldn’t take it and it would make it interesting to see him froth, moan, make mistakes and struggle rather than just drive round miles ahead of everyone else. C – ideally there would be at least 3-4 competitive teams – not just 1 or maybe 2

If all the above happened it could be a great season. Sadly, I suspect until the rule changes in 2026 it may remain the same for a couple more seasons. At least Max will probably not get to 7 titles because of the 2026 future changes – sincerely hope that does shake up the current status quo.

Definitely worth looking at the Stumpjumper carbons (2021 on) for that type of riding. Really light frame that can be built up lighter or burlier – some are running 150mm 36s on them, some are going more xc with them but they obviously come in the middle, which is how I’ve kept mine. High/low geometry flip chip gives you more room to adjust it to your preference too. I would imagine the Trek Ex weeksy mentioned will be similar in breadth of abilities, but it weighs a bit more which may matter to you if you’re racing. 

I’ve always been a fan too, although for various reasons I’ve never actually bought one. I was seriously after a Jeht a couple of years ago when I got an insurance payout for my old bike being stolen, but I ended up with nearly a grand more if I spent it at Tredz, so my money went on a brand available there instead. I then decided I’d get one of their hardtails, and nearly got a BFE when they were selling them cheap a while ago – but I actually wanted a Solaris so decided to save up. Now it’s got way too much for me, especially as there are great deals around at the moment on other brands.

@thisisnotaspoon – this is the kind of thing I was thinking of, and lots of good ideas above. Although, I still think certain parts could be even cheaper and still function well – e.g I might consider Microshift stuff instead of Deore or maybe the new CUES stuff. Also, the more I look, I think I’d break my own rules for wheels and get them second hand – but if sticking strictly to new I will look at Superstar.

Yeah, did mean best value for money / performance ratio – not supermarket or even lower Halfords level. Seen some of those sort of YouTube videos, but they are usually doing huge jumps on supermarket bikes.

@weeksy you’re probably right. Suppose I was thinking of building our own rather than off the shelf –  could a better bike be built using new but on sale prices than something like a Voodoo from Halfords or a Vitus from CRC?

I’d say the latest Canyon Neuron (2023 model) or best spec Stumpy (2021 model onwards) you can get. Merida just bought out a new 120 model which confusingly has 130mm travel which might be worth a look too. 

@kelvin – can you elaborate why Cotic rejected all the carbon swing arm prototypes? I’ve always wanted a Cotic, but I’d be much more interested if they had a repairable (steel or carbon) rear end. My main issue with alloy on expensive full sussers is that when it cracks it’s doomed to the bin – at least carbon and steel can be relatively easily and cheaply fixed. Obviously not an issue if the alloy frame has a lifetime warranty, but smaller brands usually only have a few years, plus then it has ramifications for the second hand market (which in a world where we need to recycle things for longer isn’t great).

Brilliant, thank you. One bike is 135mm hub and the other is 148mm boost so that’s really helpful – cheers!

Not helpful, but I did Cutgate yesterday and forgot to take my phone (camera). It was a glorious day too, so I would have got some good ones! On the plus side I didn’t crash and find myself unable to call for help…

It could just be an age thing. Mine came on a new bike and in 20 months I’ve had zero issues with it (175mm length).

Nice! I’ve been eying one of those since Benji reviewed one a while back. Just need to convince the boss I need a third bike bike first…

Looks good! To be fair I thought the Trek Exs now did have 150mm forks, so maybe it’s right?

<p style=”text-align: center;”>I have to agree with Johnhe. I’m on here a lot but don’t post often, and I’m often shocked at the disconnect but certain members posting helpful, friendly things on the bike forum to being really quite unpleasant on political threads on the chat forum. Anyone saying something that doesn’t match with their hard left views is rounded shouted down. This particular debate is a little different perhaps, but I noticed that Mark hasn’t really weighed in to defend himself – perhaps because he knows whatever he says or does will just be shouted down rather than listened to?</p>

Thanks all. I just decided to log with the police as non emergency, leaving the original crime reference number and the Facebook sellers name. I know they’ll do nothing but it’s galling seeing it there, so if there’s even a tiny chance of some justice I thought it worth it. I won’t be going round there as agree it’s not worth it.

I should also add the bike was a wedding gift so it means slightly more to me than your average bike.

Another vote for the Stumpy, I’ve got that exact model and it’s great. But I’m sure the Trek would be too. Test ride them both if its from a main dealer like Evans?

Is that the Barnsley branch @tracey ? I’m shocked that store is still open, whenever I’ve popped in it’s been dead!

No pics for me due to heavy rain in the thunderstorms at Leeds Urban Bike Park, but had a blast. Great fun sliding around and the first time I’ve done a wet ride in months!