I hate to say this, but.. "What bike should I get?"

KernowCB

I sold my Specialized stumpy fsr elite when I left the UK to go travelling and in a few weeks I will be home with just my road bike and lycra for company. This is not an acceptable situation.

I've had both hardtails and the above full susser and can't decide what to go for next. I would more than likely be looking second hand to get the best bargain I can, with a budget of between £800-£1100.

I'm 5'9 and just under 11stone; my riding involves moorland rides that can include rock gardens, singletrack and xc all day rides (so comfort is pretty important). I also want to get into some endurance events like a 12/24hr race. I'm ok on the downhill tricky stuff but not great and the extra confidence I had with my full susser is pushing me slightly towards something similar again in the form of one of the Giant Anthem X's or a Boardman FS Pro. However, the huge downside and the main thing that puts me off another full sus bike is the fact one service on my stumpy cost £400 - I'm never paying that much to service a bike again. I just don't know if Specialized are particularly expensive or if that's the going rate?!

As for hardtails; I'm thinking about;
Whyte 905 (really like the look of this!)
Cotic Soul
On One 456
Boardman HT Pro

Or, the other option is get a carbon frame off ebay and build it up.

Any help or suggestions from people more knowledgeable than me or from anyone that's been in a similar situation are more than welcome.

Thanks

Briggo

£400 for a service? What did they do, attach a whole new bike to the Stumpy?!? Its hard to say was it worth it as you haven't stated what they did in the 'service'

You could learn to do maintenance yourself, its not difficult and requires a handful of tools for most jobs, the only thing I personally don't do is headset fittings as its not worth it for the number of times I do it for the sake of £15 down the LBS.

Anthem and Boardmans are great bikes, I'm very tempted to get an Anthem myself. However if you liked the Stumpy as it gave you confidence on descents etc then the Anthem's geometry is very different and very much like a racy hardtail, so just bear that in mind.

KernowCB

Briggo wrote:

£400 for a service? What did they do, attach a whole new bike to the Stumpy?!? Its hard to say was it worth it as you haven't stated what they did in the 'service'

Tell me about it. I needed to sit down after them telling me! I know the serviced the fork, shock, replaced bushes etc.

I would like to service my own bikes but just think I would make a complete bodge of it!

Regarding the stumpy, it was deifnitely confident inspiring on the downs but I think I might go for something slightly more racy for the flats and ups. Any other suggestions welcome. Thanks for the reply.

Briggo

Ah well, if they serviced your forks and shock thats a whole different thing.

When you look at the official fox dealer - Mojo, they charge around about £100 each for the fork & shock, then presumably the other £200 consisted of around about £100 for the service charge and the other £100 was replacing parts?... hopefully.

If you don't do maintenance yourself expect hefty servicing costs with forks and shocks on any bike. (although some places do service forks cheaper but they're not 'authorised' dealers).

rockmonkeysc

Giant Trance X might be a bit more fun on the moors and the less racey riding position might be a bit more comfortable. It will be closer to the Stumpy fsr than the Anthem is.
Cotic Soul is the nicest hardtail I have rode.

peter_booker2003

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Giant Trance X might be a bit more fun on the moors and the less racey riding position might be a bit more comfortable. It will be closer to the Stumpy fsr than the Anthem is.
Cotic Soul is the nicest hardtail I have rode.

^^ this