New all mountain frame / poss complete bike

sofaboy73

Sadly had my bike nicked last week in a burglary but had some good news today that it looks like the insurance will cough up the full amount under contents as it was in the house.

So looks like I will have c 3.5k to buy an new all mountain rig. After a additional points of view. Replacing a heckler with 160 forks, but would something with slightly slacker angles for the stability on the down but not a lump of lead on the up. Happy to custom build or loss look at a complete bike and happy to put the money in to good frame, forks and brakes and go lower end spec elsewhere with a view to longer term up grade to stretch the budget.

So far thinking sc nomad, yeti sb66 or loss trek remedy with bigger forks.

Will obviously try and test ride as much as possible, but any input, ideas, owner feedback would be greatly appreaciated

rockmonkeysc

Remedy isn't a all mountain bike, it rides like a trail bike. SB66 also looks like it's more at the light weight end of all mountain.
I would go for either a SC Nomad or a Giant Reign X. Both are quite similar to ride, they go up hill pretty well & ride downhill like freeride bikes, Reign X is a little better downhill. If it was me I would go for a Reign X with Lyrik RC2DH forks, CCDB coil shock, Saint 1x10 transmission, dropper post & nice strong wheels.

jairaj

I'm sorry but the Trek Remedy is absolutely an all mountain bike. The Fuel EX is their trail bike.

The Remedy has 150mm travel both ends allows you to go up and down the hill. Has a strong, stiff frame and slack angles that give you the confidence to go bonkers down a hill. Isn't that the meaning of "all mountain"?

The Remedy has adjustable geo - from 66.5 to 67 degrees which even in its steepest setting is 2 degrees slacker than the Heckler (69).

Also the SB66 being at the light weight end? 7lbs for a frame that costs £2000 when most frames at that price point are closer to 6lbs.

To the OP - There are SO many bikes in this category and a lot of them get good reviews in the press. Try and get some test rides to see what you like.

Trek Remedy
Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Evo
Giant Reign
Whyte 146
Lapierre Spicy
+ many many more have all got good reviews and should be available within your budget

rockmonkeysc

All those you have listed except the Reign & Spicey are just slightly longer travel trail bikes for people who think that you need 150mm travel at trail centres.
Take them in to the mountains and they just aren't up to the same sort of abuse that a proper AM bike like a Reign X, Spicey, Nomad or Trek Slash will take.

jairaj

Ok understand what you are saying. "All mountain" encapsulates a broad rage of bikes. I guess the OP needs to add a bit more detail on what end of the spectrum they are looking at.

I'm not too clued up on Santa Cruz's range but I think the bikes I stated are similar to the Heckler but with slacker geom which is what the OP was after. I would be more than happy to ride any of those bikes on something like a Mega Avalanche course.

lawman

RockmonkeySC wrote:

All those you have listed except the Reign & Spicey are just slightly longer travel trail bikes for people who think that you need 150mm travel at trail centres.
Take them in to the mountains and they just aren't up to the same sort of abuse that a proper AM bike like a Reign X, Spicey, Nomad or Trek Slash will take.

utter, utter bullshit. reigns have paperthin tubes, and alot have been dented beyond repair, just check mtbr for examples! the sb66 can be made in a full on AM rig, even a FR rig if you really want, just because the stock builds come with a fox 32, doesn't mean its not an AM rig.

Just for reference, there are very, very few mountains where a 140mm rig will feel out its depth, thats purely down to the rider getting shit-scared and thinking they need more to feel confident. I can tell you right now my HD, along with the whyte 146, have felt much, much more controlled and stable than any 160mm bike I've tested, including most of the ones you mention.

jehosophat

If my experiences in the last few weeks are anything to go by, get a complete bike, even if that means then Ebaying some of the parts to get it as you want it. No-one seems remotely interested in selling frames by themselves, the places that claim to stock them often don't, and this build route costs a fortune if you do it with new parts, not risking some Ebay bargains...

sofaboy73

Thanks for all the input guys and yes I'm guessing a was being a little vague with the all mountain tag. To put a bit more detail on it, I do the majority of my riding in the peak district (dark peak), so a varied mixture of some fairly brutal up hills, sandy single track, lots of mud and fairly steep rocky and in places pretty technical down hills. On top of that there's reasonable regular trips to other areas (lakes / Wales) for natural riding and the usual trail centres. Not doing any massive jumps or drops, but do like to attack things when riding. So needs to climb well but have a nice stable feel for a down hill blast.

I ran my heckler with 160 forks more to slacken the head angle and gain the benefit of the extra stiffness the 20mm axle and 36mm stanchions brought, rather than the extra travel (although it did save my teeth on more than one occasion).

Will def be running 160s on the new bike as noticed the difference when I demo'd a remedy with 32mm 150's at the weekend, found you couldn't keep as much speed and got knocked off line more. Having said that, I think the remedy with bigger forks, shorter stem and slightly wider bars would be a serious contender (alot to upgrade right out of the box though). Also demo'd the slash which was a blast down hill but a bit of a pig when climbing.

The giant and lapierre are choices I handntthought of, will do a bit of research. Have tried my mates nomad briefly and that seemed an awful lot of fun and the sb66 looks like it would build up nicely with having the right angles but have never risen one.

Only other thing worth knowing is that I'll be running air shock and forks to keep weight down.

Any other input / ideas appreaciated

Cheers

supersonic

Also the SB66 being at the light weight end? 7lbs for a frame that costs £2000 when most frames at that price point are closer to 6lbs.

It's even more than that - 7.5lbs. Ridiculously heavy for the money.

jairaj

Take a look at the Transition Covert. I think its designed with 150/160mm of travel both ends and is readily available as a frame only option.

Biffz0id

I would personally go for the stumpjumper evo carbon. Looks incredible and comes in at 11.5KG or there abouts. More than light enough.

As for the right amount of travel I think something 140 - 150 is a great all round bike. You can do it all from long fireroad loops to a bit of downhill. Bikes are getting lighter and pedalling better so there's not so much of an emphasis anymore. I've lived in New Zealand for the past 6 months. If you want to see the true definition of all mountain here's the place to come. There's steep, rooty and fast. If I did it again would I bring my 160mm bike? Not a chance. The whole point of all mountain is a a versatile bike that can do everything. And for me having a near downhill spec in terms of wheels, travel and brakes is just too much weight. You've got to get up those hills aswell! That's why, when I get home and get some money I'll hopefully be getting a stumpy.

Don't get me wrong there is a point of 160mm bikes. They're great fun and help bridge between downhill and normal trail riding. Funnily enough it was probably more useful at home as I used to do alot more DH. Truth is the normal trails out here haven't left me wanting to grab my full face helmet. Rendering a big bike less useful than a lighter, climbing friendly build


PS. having said all that I rode a Scott Genius the other day and it was pretty unreal.

sofaboy73

Been having a look about, and as well as the bikes originally mentioned, I'm liking the look of the lapierre spicy 516 (very little I would want to change out of the box). Having a couple of issue though. Primarily, I can't find one anywhere. Have rung dozens of shops with no luck. Rang the importers Hot lines and they say no more stock until the 2013 model in September and no demo days planned - any ideas??

Secondly I've been told they rip through the press fit BB, Anyone got any experience on this?

felix.london

Get yourself a REAL All-Mountain bike...

http://www.cyclesurgery.com/pws/UniqueProductKey.ice?ProductID=CSBC0616KG

...and you'd get over a grand in change

MDobs

sofaboy73 wrote:

Been having a look about, and as well as the bikes originally mentioned, I'm liking the look of the lapierre spicy 516 (very little I would want to change out of the box). Having a couple of issue though. Primarily, I can't find one anywhere. Have rung dozens of shops with no luck. Rang the importers Hot lines and they say no more stock until the 2013 model in September and no demo days planned - any ideas??

there's a few on ebay at the moment if you're open to that route... don't know why i'm alerting you to that as i'm looking at them myself!

leaflite

Titus El Guapo from On One.
Apparently won best am bike in wmb recently, £800 frame only allowing plenty left for a top spec, or £2200 for a complete build.
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FRTITELGUV2/titus_el_guapo_frame_and_monarch_shock

155mm travel, 6.6lbs including shock. Got a great review back before on one bought them too:
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-titus-el-guapo-frame-10-36835

bjj.andy.w

Went to a demo day a couple of weeks back and tried out three bikes for the day. All ridden on the same 1hour trail in the south lakes so I could concentrate on the bikes, not the terrain.
Whyte 146s
Light, climbed ok and downhill was good. Although it had the least travel it just goes to show that it's the angles not the travel what's the most important factor.
Trek slash 9
Climbed better than the whyte mainly because of the talas fork so could be dropped for the climb. Downhill was even better than the whyte, so planted and secure. Best bike I tried on the day.
Lappiarre spicy 916
BIG disappointment. Considering it was the top of the range model I was exspecting a lot. But,for me, it just didn't feel right up or down.
Would I change my nomad mk 2 for any of the above? Not a chance. Any other bikes that may turn my head? Wouldn't mind swinging a leg over a transition covert and a nukeproof mega.

felix.london

bjj.andy.w wrote:

Wouldn't mind swinging a leg over a transition covert and a nukeproof mega.

Here's some eye candy for you then

http://thehairyrider.com/2012/04/17/tranny-candy/

bluechair84

There is also the Canondale Jekyl / Claymore depending on what you define as all mountain and the Scott Genius (mentioned somewhere above). Adjustable travel super bikes. Should be lovely but this months MBR only rated them the claymore and Genius as 7/10. I'd be interested in the Claymore though to replace the Torque - but I wouldn't have it as my only bike.
you could pick up a completly kitted out second hand Scott Ransom (discontinued) which is probably better than any of the above for you; adjustable travel without being silly long at the top range, carbon frame, light, tough, great reviews...

ryan_w-2

SB66c
Nomad carbon

One of the above are what I shall add to my fleet later this year... Just not sure which one?!

lostboysaint

Transition Covert

Woody80

How about a Canyon Strive? Superb bike and can't be beaten for value, for less than 3 you can get an ESX9.0SL with X0 groupset, Fox 36 FIT Talas, RP23.....

I've got an ES9.0 (had a Spicy 516 before) and it's brilliant.

NorthernD

to add my two peneth

I've just sold my 2009 remedy and ordered a intense tracer 2, i had my heart set on a slash but the 18.5 was smaller than the remedy 17.5!! Aware its not the best climber but going down is way more fun

For what its work

D

felix.london

If you're up for being a bit different why not get one of these;

66/71.5° Head Angle and 80/160mm fork!

http://bikemagic.com/gear/bionicon-alva-first-ride.html