Advice on getting a 29er for around £1500, please

Sumi

Hello,

As you can tell im new here and was hoping someone experienced from this forum could help me with some advice on purchasing a 29er.
I havent decided yet on HT or FS but im leaning more towards the latter because of some back problems i had(herniated discs) so im guessing the more shock absorbtion the better?
Now the Cons i kmow of for a FS bike would be the added weight, more maintenance with the rear shock and more expensive.

The main reasons for getting this bike is i love trail and cross country riding. Also im 189cm tall and it feels like a proper bike for my height.

The only thing i would love to have on my bike is a Fox fork. Too many people cant recommend it enough and for some extra peace of mind and comfort i'd like to go that way too. I understand this might be a but tricky with my budget as most bikes come equipped with Rebas but i stil keep my hopes up.

Not being from the UK im not familiar with the shops and websites with the best prices so any help in that regard would be appreciated.
What i liked so far are these:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=72850

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/giant-anthem-x-29er-2.html

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/giant-anthem-x-29er-1.html (though its £200 more)

Any other suggestions guys?
Many thanks for any help!

cooldad

Re the forks, and I'm not sure who all the people are, but RS are easily as good as Fox, and cheaper.

rockmonkeysc

I would take the Reba over the low end Fox fork you will get at this price. Reba's are excellent, very reliable and nicely damped.
The Anthem X 29er 2 looks the best value. The more expensive Anthem still comes with pretty poor transmission components. My last bike had a similar mix of SRAM X7 & X9 and it's not particularly good. Get the cheaper bike and spend the difference on Shimano XT mech's & shifters. The Reba fork on the cheaper bike should be at least as good as the Fox fork on the other two bikes.

Sumi

cooldad wrote:

Re the forks, and I'm not sure who all the people are, but RS are easily as good as Fox, and cheaper.

there are a lot of fox vs reba threads om google that kind of say this. I've never had either one of them so im just going on other owners opinions.

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I would take the Reba over the low end Fox fork you will get at this price. Reba's are excellent, very reliable and nicely damped.
The Anthem X 29er 2 looks the best value. The more expensive Anthem still comes with pretty poor transmission components. My last bike had a similar mix of SRAM X7 & X9 and it's not particularly good. Get the cheaper bike and spend the difference on Shimano XT mech's & shifters. The Reba fork on the cheaper bike should be at least as good as the Fox fork on the other two bikes.

I dont have a problem with the sram x7 & x9 but the anthem 2 has elixir 1 which is pretty low end for that price, is it not?

Chunkers1980

29ers are at a premium from 26ers, so you will get lower specs.

rockmonkeysc

Elixir 1 is actually not bad. The wife's bike has Elixir 1 brakes and when riding I can't tell the difference between them and the Elixir 5's I had on my Trance.
I found the SRAM X7 & X9 stuff to be pretty poor on my Reign X. My scalp has X0 transmission & to be honest even that isn't as good as the SLX on my hardtail.

felix.london

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I would take the Reba over the low end Fox fork you will get at this price. Reba's are excellent, very reliable and nicely damped.
The Anthem X 29er 2 looks the best value. The more expensive Anthem still comes with pretty poor transmission components. My last bike had a similar mix of SRAM X7 & X9 and it's not particularly good. Get the cheaper bike and spend the difference on Shimano XT mech's & shifters. The Reba fork on the cheaper bike should be at least as good as the Fox fork on the other two bikes.

This. My brother has the Anthem X 29er 1 with that Fox fork. I prefer the ride my (26") Reba gives

I have SRAM X9 on the Session and I way prefer the build quality, ergonomics and shifting performance of the XT on the Rockhopper

Sumi

Deep down that cube really looks good to me, maybe because i had one years back.
So far its between the cube and anthem x2.
And most likely elixir 1 will be more than enough for now, it's always easier to upgrade the brakes later.
What about other worthy specced bikes for that money from trek?