Spech Pitch or Kona Dawg?

Duffer

as the title suggets, i'm looking for a full suss trail bike. i've been looking at the Pitch Comp for a while now, but whilst in my LBS earlier on this afternoon, i came across a 2008 Kona Dawg for the same price. i've had a look at some reviews for the Kona, and it seems they're well liked by the trade.

what's the concensus? it'll be used mainly for south wales trail center use - i have a hardtail for XC riding. i'm also a quite aggressive rider (read 'clumsy'), and at 15 stone i'll need something quite sturdy.

i realise they're slightly different machines in that the Spech is a long travel AM bike, whereas the Kona is a shorter travel, more XC biased bike. but i'm sure they'll both be perfectly appropriate for what i'll be doing.

failing that, does anyone have any other suggestions for around £1000?

any opinions will be greatly recieved!

GHill

Pretty similar bikes in my opinion. The Kona has a lot of upgrade potential as the frame is super nice, Pitch comp is maybe a better package straight off.

I wouldn't say the Dawg has much XC bias, it's pretty burley.

Have you ridden them both to see which suits you the best?

Duffer

no, i've not had chance to ride them yet. i'm still trying to get ideas. my LBS doesn't have the pitch in stock, but they're suppliers have. i might try the Spech concept store in Bristol.

Big Shoes

I tried them both when i was looking and the Pitch was much nicer to ride.

therealboyjones

The pitch seems to consistently get plaudits in the MTB press as being one of the best value aggressive full-sussers on the market and regularly beats more expensive rigs. I'd see if you can ride both to see which is your favorite but my choice would be the pitch.

junglist_matty

They're both pretty good bikes, pretty much identical in terms of spec so I'd get out and ride them both before making a decision! If your spending that much on a bike you want it to be the right one... Asking on a forum is always a bad idea in my opinion because you'll always get people who own either one or the other biased toward either or, and people who are biased towards different manufacturers of bike.

I have a Dawg supreme which shares the same frame but thats where the similarity stops. I love the feel of the bike on the trail and there's loads of room on the bike, sticks to the trail very well and is very light for a 5" frame.... Other than the geometry I can't really comment but I'd prefer to run Pikes (on the pitch) than the Marzocchi's (on the Dawg).

passout

I'd go for the Kona myself due to the frame.

Chaz.Harding

Personally, go for the Pitch. Specialized are a fecking awesome company. I've owned 3 Specialized bikes, every one, bloody BRILLIANT. Gotta love that horst pivot 8) 8) 8)

fishcake

I sold my 1 year old Dawg Deluxe to get a Pitch Comp. It was the best thing i ever did.
Dont get me wrong the Dawg was a good bike but for me the Pitch is just so much nicer.
Like others have said try them both if you can, you may find either one suits you better.

My vote is for the Pitch

Fishcake

Duffer

so that's 4-2 in favour of the pitch so far, then. i'm hopeully going to get a chance to test them both back-to-back on friday. but at this point in time it's looking like the spesh!

many thanks for your replies!