help me! upto £1500 for a all-round trail full-suss

jainsy

hi all

used to do a lot of dirt jumping and i'm now committed to get back into riding.
i'd like a bike that could preferable handle XC, both ups and downs and a few quick descents hence i'm looking for a full-suss. i'm hoping my budget is going to stretch fair enough.

i live in cornwall and want to hit a few costal paths, they're pretty rocky with loads of climbs and decents. Not overly worried about loss of efficiency on climbs due to a full suss if it means a better descent.

i'm visitng a few local shops tomorrow but looks like they're are possibly a few decent bargins going online. I'm open to all suggestions. But having been eyeing up the following;

Cannondale Rush Hi-Mod 2 2010
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/rush-hi-mod-2-2010-mountain-bike-ec020287

Lapierre Zesty 214 2010
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/lapierre/zesty-214-2010-mountain-bike-ec020990

I'm particuarly attracted to the Cannodale.

I havn't looked into components for a while now and what do people prefer? SRAM or Shimano?

thel33ter

That Cannondale is fantastic for the money, and get very good reviews. Never ridden one though.

The Zesty is a fantastic ride, but a lower spec.

Sram vs Shimano is the ultimate can of worms you can open though, I like both equally, but always end up with Shimano for some reason.

chojin

http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/produc ... 0RX%202010

For the money, you can't beat the spec

and fwiw I love mine!

ollie51

I'd go for the Cannondale, and with Sram and shimano the general consensus is that Sram make a more prominent noise when shifting and are slightly more tolerant to muddy conditions (that can be argued of course) whereas shimano is quite quiet and on occasion unnoticeable when shifting but cheaper; I recommend you try each and make decision yourself after all it's personal preference to be honest.

I prefer sram.

jainsy

chojin wrote:

http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/products.asp?category=Bikes&product=AMS 125 RX 2010

For the money, you can't beat the spec

and fwiw I love mine!

Must agree these specs are better than those of the Cannonadale. Will have a search round for reviews. Think I may be slightly to large for the frame size available. I'm 5'8, the 16" frame is recommended for riders upto 5'7.

Anybody also got any suggestions?

chojin

Well i'm 6ft and ride the 18" - admittedly with a slightly longer stem than standard, but nonetheless it fits like a glove. Perfectly suited to XC stuff as well as trail centres etc

There's a review on BR somewhere? i'll dig it out for you.

chojin

the only review I can find is of the lesser AMS Pro 100, and not the 125 - it is the same frame though, just with better components.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... -pro-10805

jainsy

chojin wrote:

Well i'm 6ft and ride the 18" - admittedly with a slightly longer stem than standard, but nonetheless it fits like a glove. Perfectly suited to XC stuff as well as trail centres etc

There's a review on BR somewhere? i'll dig it out for you.

I'm pretty nervous about possibly buying a bike without being able to try the frame size. You think possibly with my size i could consider the 16" frame? Unfortunately there arn't any Cube dealers locally.

Thinks for digging out the review, i was worried I would like a bit more travel, however, it sounds like it could be just what I'm after.

chojin

That's the beauty of the talas forks it comes with - 100/120/140mm travel

Where abouts are you in this fine country? If you're close by, you'd be welcome to have a go on mine...

chojin

oh wait - my bad, the original post says cornwall!

answered my own question there :]

jainsy

Thanks for the offer, shame i'm so far away!

Any other ideas people?

Gonna check a few shops today..

idiotdogbrain

Specialized Camber Elite - you should be a Med size. 120mm travel but with slacker angles of a 140mm travel bike so it feels like it has more. Spesh is doing their Spring Reward thing as well - spend over £1k on a bike and get 10% of its value in accessories.

http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.u ... spx?id=345

pongomulley

i love sram, i ride across all sorts of mud, granite etc on dartmoor and not once have not been able to change gear, even when the wheel struggles to around due to packed out mud, i ride with 2 mates both have shimano and only monday we had to stop for them clear their front mechs
but i would buy a bike with shimano just what i am used to, X9 is great X0 over priced.

pongomulley

depending where in cornwall you are, i have just noticed on the certini web site they are now cube stockists and are just near saltash plymouth, if you haven't been there before it is worth having a look at, they are very professional and carry a good level of stock. i travel from paignton to buy most of my stuff as they do know what they are on about.

jainsy

idiotdogbrain wrote:

Specialized Camber Elite - you should be a Med size. 120mm travel but with slacker angles of a 140mm travel bike so it feels like it has more. Spesh is doing their Spring Reward thing as well - spend over £1k on a bike and get 10% of its value in accessories.

http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.u ... spx?id=345

Might be worth visiting one of those stores, i have one about 50 minutes away.
In comparison to the Cube (mentioned above) the specs are slightly lower though?

pongomulley

the good thing with certini is you can compare the cube and the specialised as they sell both, ideal, they have demo bikes as well, not sure what ones but you just arrange a day and give a deposit before taking the bike for a real bike ride.

jainsy

Thanks mate, they're not that much further than the specialized concept store, may aswell check them out.

streetvw

Canyon nerve XC 7 is what I'm looking at at the moment been reading good things about them and the spec is awesome

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes ... tml?b=2074

idiotdogbrain

jainsy wrote:

idiotdogbrain wrote:

Specialized Camber Elite - you should be a Med size. 120mm travel but with slacker angles of a 140mm travel bike so it feels like it has more. Spesh is doing their Spring Reward thing as well - spend over £1k on a bike and get 10% of its value in accessories.

http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.u ... spx?id=345

Might be worth visiting one of those stores, i have one about 50 minutes away.
In comparison to the Cube (mentioned above) the specs are slightly lower though?

With the Camber it's not about the spec, it's about the ride... MBR just gave it 10/10 btw. http://www.specialized.com/media/whatsn ... ch2011.pdf

jayson

Bare in mind that the cannondale comes with the stupid 1.5 headtube and steerer so if u ever want to change the forks in future you will either have to find another set of 120mm forks with a 1.5 steerer or fit a reducer headset then buy a new stem and forks.

Either option is a faff if your not prepared for it but if you've already thought about this then completely ignore my ranmblings :P

pongomulley

Certini is the concept store basicaly same people two shops next to each other

rockmonkeysc

I have rode a Rush & really didn't like it, but maybe it just didn't work for me. How about a Giant Trance X2, really great bike and the 2010 model is within budget.
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b4s1p2848
My 2010 Trance X3 is awesome & the X2 has an even better spec.