AM bike conundrum... (HELP?!)

paulscutt

HI guys,
After having my GT I-drive for coming up to 10yrs, its time to upgrade to a new bike - i want something that will eat up the trails of Afan,Glyncorrwg and sometimes Cwmcarn - i've recently moved very close to all 3

I've been looking at the Lapierre Spicy 516, Zesty 514 and also the Trek Remedy 8 which i can get for £1900 (seems a good deal?)
I want a bike that can really shred the downhills but can pedal back up without too many problems!

Any advice would be very much appreciated as i really dont wanna pay £2k (plus) to have a bike that isnt as good as the next one....
I know a lot of you will say test a few and i'm hoping to do so but also wanted your valued opinions too.

Thanks in advance,

guilliano

You really can't go wrong with any of those bikes to be honest. The Trek at £1900 is a hell of a buy

paulscutt

thought it was a good deal, but you're really not helping! haha thanks though!

would the spicy be too much bike or is the zesty not going to be as confidence inspiring on the downhills??

Anonymous

maybe an orange 5?

paulscutt

although a yorkshire firm (from yorkshire myself) the design hasnt honestly changed in many years and is looking a bit behind the times so Orange bikes really dont float my boat...

guilliano

Now there's a shout! I'm still waiting for my shop to get their range of Orange bikes so I can take the 5 Pro demo out for a blast

guilliano

Or there's this.....

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/produc ... ?&id=10194

paulscutt

thanks guys, to address a few things...

I'm put off by the commencal meta's due to the frame issues and prefer the looks (i know its silly!) of the other aforementioned bikes.
Been reading up about the forks on the Remedy (lyrik 2 step) they seem to have had some issues with travel being lost? are the Fox forx on the lappy's better?

Anonymous

Trek Remedy would get my vote from what you've listed. Great bike.
But I'd still take my Wolf Ridge aver it any day. Climbs remarkably well, pedals without bobbing, and takes big hits with ease.
And lifetime guaranteed frame and swingarm bearings.

Andy B

paulscutt wrote:

although a yorkshire firm (from yorkshire myself) the design hasnt honestly changed in many years and is looking a bit behind the times so Orange bikes really dont float my boat...

If it ain't broke, don't fix it (the design is tweaked yearly though)

The Meta's are good bikes, ok a couple may have cracked, but this can happen to any bike, IIRC the Trek Fuel's with the ABP had issues with swingarm failures at the ABP when first released

ashfanman

If you can find a Zesty 514 (practically all of the 09 models have gone now) in your size then I'd go for that. It'll fly up and down the hills. The Spicy is a great bike, but probably a bit too much for the majority of riding you'll do in the UK.

paulscutt

think i want more travel than a zesty and something a tad more burly for the downs.... (i think!)

jeffers696

Dont over look the Spesh Enduro. I ride and 08 version with the spesh fork and it is an amazing bike. Im like you love the down hill, but want a bike that i can ride to the top and thrash. Im off to Afan and cwm carn next week on it and cant wait!

nferrar

I ended up with a Zesty (and am more than happy with it) but apparently the Spicy still climbs OK so if you want something a bit burlier then it sounds like a logical choice. The Remedy is a great bike to though.

paulscutt

yeh think i'm ruling out the zesty now, between the spicy 516 and remedy 8 - just a bit concerned by the lyrik 2 step problems on the trek however it is about £900 chheaper than the spicy, however the spicy looks better! lol

Anonymous

ive got a 2 step lyrik and its fine

Splasher

You've got two differnt bikes in those you've shortlisted - 160mm big forks (Remedy and Spicy) and 140mm small forks (Zesty).

If you're a big bloke (14st plus) and looking for an all rounder I'd recommend the 160 option but if you're a lighter bloke, the extra weight doesn't bring much advantage in most UK riding and you're probably better with the 140 option.

Other bikes worth checking out are the Cannondale Rize, Giant Reign, Pace RC 405, Spec Stumpy.

supersonic

If you like the IDrive platform, why not look at a GT Force? or if you want more stability on the downs, a Sanction?

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1441&rs=gb

You wont find a better speccd bike than that for the money!

paulscutt

i'm nearly 13st so not sure if thats classified as light or not?
Supersonic> Great spec on the GT, i admit, but the bike just doesnt float my boat...

Splasher

At 13st and looking for a general purpose trail centre machine, I'd opt for a lighter 140mm machine but it's your money when all said and done.

harveyg77

I had a similar decision to make last year and went for an Orange Five Pro, but upgraded to a Fox TALAS 32, UST rims and Hope M4 breaks. What swung it for me is the fact that its about as British as you can get, it is well rated, I loved riding the demo Five and it looks really function 1s,t aesthetics 2nd - but I also like LR Defenders so maybe my taste is warped ;-)

Anyway after 3-4 months with the Orange I love it, my only minor gripe is with the Conti MK UST tyres ;-)

Whatever you get will be a great bike as things have moved on so much and none are real duffers.

Enjoy Harvey

SDK2007

I would get the Remedy or Spicy.

Or if you can wait a few months the 2010 Spesh Enduro SL, might costs a bit more though.

el loco pollo

All good bikes, you can't go wrong. The local lads I've met when in south wales nearly all seem to ride orange 5s.

edit: and orange patriots. To quote one lad I spoke to at Cwmcarn; "They're ****ing brilliant butt"

paulscutt

thanks Harvey! yeh really looking forward to getting my new bike as the tech has come along so far since my 10yr old bike!

haha as much as i hear orange's are brill i simply dont like the way they look - i'm a more pagani zonda guy than a land rover defender...

thanks tho

harveyg77

No worries, fancy an Elise myself - if we were all the same they'd only have to make one bike and life would be boring ;-)

I personally think the Zesty and Meta 5.5 are really nice bikes. But am a big Trek fan and would have bought the Fuel EX if I had not gone for the Orange.

Others with more knowledge may disagree and explain why I am wrong, but for trail-centres and day rides would something like the 160 mm bikes (i.e. Spicy, etc.) not start adding more weight and loose out more on the climbs? I know the 120 to 140 mm machines are not always whippet light, but they are lighter and better climbers, yet still more than capable of scaring you on the ride down ;-)

Is your GT called something like XCR1000? I once owned a GT i-drive XCR1000 around 2002, it was black and had a Fox coil spring on the rear.

Harvey

supersonic

I test rode an XCR4000 in 1998 - for it's time it just blew other full susers away.

paulscutt

ita a 1999 GT xcr4000 (base model) with EVERYTHING bar the frame upgraded.

Here is is: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=8 ... =670615631