Hardtail advice

Chuckit#1

O.k., I'm looking for a new hardtail (My old one was stolen)

Choices are

Orange P7S Sunset MTB P7S

Orange Pure 7 Sunset MTB Pure 7

Or alternatively to build up a Cotic Bfe or NS Surge from scratch

What would you do and why?

Cheers
Chuckit#1

fearnsy

budget? try them out, see what feels best, buy a better lock

rockmonkeysc

I rode a P7 at a demo day recently & it was really very nice. I was very impressed with it. Really nice on the fast, twisty single track & climbs very well. Feels lighter than it is, didn't feel any heavier than my Trance when I was riding it. Felt like a really well sorted trail hardtail. I would pay the extra to get a P7 pro, some very worthwhile upgrades and still cheaper than building a Cotic BFe.
It's a lot cheaper to buy a complete bike than build your own as I am finding out at the moment!

Chuckit#1

Thanks for the feedback

Budget (preferrably) is sub £1k but you're right. A Bfe build from 18 bikes was looking near on £1700, but I can get that down to around £1200

Good to get some insight on the P7

Cheers

supersonic

Why just steel, and what do you want from the bike? Personally I think the p7 is heavy and overpriced for what it is - wmb gave it 3 stars.

rockmonkeysc

If you want a long travel trail bike, On-One are probably better value than the Orange.
Personally I really liked the P7 pro, it is a really nice bike but I have decided to build a On-One 456 rather than a P7 because of the cost of the frame, an On-One 456 frame is £170, the Orange P7 frame is £450.

On One carbon 456 - £1200 http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOCAR456T ... -456-trail
On-One 456 Trail - £999 http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOO456TR/on-one-456-trail

Chuckit#1

From everything I've read, steel gives a bit more spring than ally (I had ally b4) and is likely to take the rough stuff better

Looked at full suss (ally) but to get decent spec is way more money so loolking for a decent hardtail

Mostly woodland thrashes and trail centre stuff but needs to be versatile

Any other options advice also considered

(one other option is this Kona Blink

Cheers[/url]

supersonic

That's not always the case - depends on the frame and tubing dimensions. Steel like for like is three times stiffer than alu, it is the oversizing of the latter that makes it stiff. Some alu frames can have a bit of give nowadays.

CraigXXL

For £1400 using the Merlin 10% off offer you could get the BFe and build it up with SLX groupset, Hope Pro2/719, RS Revelation Race Maxle Lite, Raceface Ride finishing kit. That is a much better build than what you've linked to and could be reduced by £100 by getting the wheels from On One Red Metal 5 and a further £200 if you wanted to downgrade the forks to Tora SL. Go for the self build and get exactly what you want without having to upgrade later.