140mm full suspension trail bike - which one?

miceden

Hi all, happy new year and all that.. right... found a crack in my cf cube sting the other day so I'm in the market for a new full suspension bike in a 140mm trail / all mountain flavour.

Ideally I want a 26er, I might consider a 27.5in but i'm not at all interested in a 29er.

Brand wise, and for various reasons, I'm not interested in Specialized, Kona, Whyte, GT, Cube or Orange... so all this in mind what would you pick or suggest? My budget is up to £1000 for a frameset, not interested in a fully built bike unless its heavily discounted. Frame material... anything bar steel. On the weight side I'd like to keep things to 5.5lbs or less

I know that Canyon are going to come up but unless there is a UK supplier where I can demo a bike I'm not too keen.

Anyone on here riding a rocky mountain altitude?

rockmonkeysc

Is your Cube not under warranty?
Is it to suit a 140mm fork that you already have?

poah

and what do we get for doing all the work?

what have you looked at already

ej2320

Get a second hand frame

lawman

You'll be very lucky to get a 5.5lb 140mm frame for a grand unless you look second hand it certainly won't be aluminium so carbon is your only option really. A second hand Ibis Mojo would be a good shout, Santa Cruz Blur LTc or for something a with a smidge less travel, the TRc is a superb bike. shame you need it now as I'll probably be selling my Mojo HD later in the year!

Cqc

miceden wrote:

.

Brand wise, and for various reasons, I'm not interested in Specialized, Kona, Whyte, GT, Cube or Orange...

Why not? Apart from orange, they are the best brands out there... By excluding them, you're excluding the best bikes on the market... And canyon don't sell frames...

lawman

Cqc wrote:

miceden wrote:

.

Brand wise, and for various reasons, I'm not interested in Specialized, Kona, Whyte, GT, Cube or Orange...

Why not? Apart from orange, they are the best brands out there... By excluding them, you're excluding the best bikes on the market... And canyon don't sell frames...

Well Stumpjumpers are massively over-rated, before the 2014 Process most Kona's were average at best, GT's are steep, high and not very pretty, and Cube's tend to have poor suspension setups. Whyte are a good shout though, the 146 is a good bike!

benpinnick

Lawman's right - 5.5lbs is nigh on impossible for your money.

Cqc

Stumjumpers I agree are only good in their 26" form, but then their sick, their 29er version is crap, 2014 Konas are great even if their old ones aren't,cube and gt fair enough, whyte are good too. OP, consider specialized, kona, and white at least

Cqc

Norco sight is what you want, afterthought

rockmonkeysc

Cqc wrote:

Norco sight is what you want, afterthought

Weak frame though. I know two people who bought them. One is on his second frame, the other is waiting for his third.

lawman

Cqc wrote:

Stumjumpers I agree are only good in their 26" form, but then their sick, their 29er version is crap, 2014 Konas are great even if their old ones aren't,cube and gt fair enough, whyte are good too. OP, consider specialized, kona, and white at least

OP won't get a 2014 for his budget though, so the Kona options are limited and not great. The Stumpjumper's I've ridden have been over-priced, grey bags of mediocrity. They bob loads, the brain shocks are stupid and it didn't feel special at all. Add in the fact when I bought my Mojo HD the equivilant Stumpy frame was near enough £1000 more. The only bikes that fit all the OP's needs will be second hand Mojo's or Blur's, maybe a 146 but tbh there isn't a great deal else he'd be able to afford that fits his criteria

The Rookie

El Guapo for 150mm, but again 5.5lbs is a pipe dream new (or probably even used!)

rockmonkeysc

With your weight requirement you wont get better than this.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobi ... prod111561

Otherwise up your budget or accept that you're going to have to get something heavier.
Most aluminium full sus 140mm frames are closer to 6+lb

Cqc

lawman wrote:

Cqc wrote:

Stumjumpers I agree are only good in their 26" form, but then their sick, their 29er version is crap, 2014 Konas are great even if their old ones aren't,cube and gt fair enough, whyte are good too. OP, consider specialized, kona, and white at least

OP won't get a 2014 for his budget though, so the Kona options are limited and not great. The Stumpjumper's I've ridden have been over-priced, grey bags of mediocrity. They bob loads, the brain shocks are stupid and it didn't feel special at all. Add in the fact when I bought my Mojo HD the equivilant Stumpy frame was near enough £1000 more. The only bikes that fit all the OP's needs will be second hand Mojo's or Blur's, maybe a 146 but tbh there isn't a great deal else he'd be able to afford that fits his criteria

No brain and no way £1000 above mojo HD ifyou get the aluminium comp version though

lawman

Cqc wrote:

lawman wrote:

Cqc wrote:

Stumjumpers I agree are only good in their 26" form, but then their sick, their 29er version is crap, 2014 Konas are great even if their old ones aren't,cube and gt fair enough, whyte are good too. OP, consider specialized, kona, and white at least

OP won't get a 2014 for his budget though, so the Kona options are limited and not great. The Stumpjumper's I've ridden have been over-priced, grey bags of mediocrity. They bob loads, the brain shocks are stupid and it didn't feel special at all. Add in the fact when I bought my Mojo HD the equivilant Stumpy frame was near enough £1000 more. The only bikes that fit all the OP's needs will be second hand Mojo's or Blur's, maybe a 146 but tbh there isn't a great deal else he'd be able to afford that fits his criteria

No brain and no way £1000 above mojo HD ifyou get the aluminium comp version though

Used to have the brain and in the OP's budget a carbon one would be of the age that had the brain shocks. Back when I bought the HD I payed £2k and the S-Works stumpy was £3k and IIRC Trek's remedy was and still is about the same too. Not sure if they're still available but weren't on one selling Carbon Titus's with 140mm travel?

chrisrobs

What about Lapierre Zesty or Scott Genius?

oxocube1

You've got the Mega TR as an option as it seems to have good reviews but it's a fair way off your preferred weight

rockmonkeysc

oxocube1 wrote:

You've got the Mega TR as an option as it seems to have good reviews but it's a fair way off your preferred weight

A pound over weight.

oxocube1

Also there's this Mondraker Foxy XR if you could get on with the geometry. Again very good reviews but not sure of the weight though.

Mark909

RockmonkeySC wrote:

oxocube1 wrote:

You've got the Mega TR as an option as it seems to have good reviews but it's a fair way off your preferred weight

A pound over weight.

You could just go on a diet.

rockmonkeysc

Mark909 wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

oxocube1 wrote:

You've got the Mega TR as an option as it seems to have good reviews but it's a fair way off your preferred weight

A pound over weight.

You could just go on a diet.

Im on one! Three stone gone last year one to go.
The small Mega TR is 6.5lb without shock. When I picked up my Anthem frame in one hand and Mega TR in the other it was quite a difference (2lb). But it's not that noticeable when riding.

miceden

Thanks for all the replies.. sadly no my cube is not under warranty as I bought it 2nd hand, no fork yet, that will follow after I get a frame.

Specialized... never really liked the bikes, imho nothing special and, mainly, stupidly stupidly overpriced.
Kona... tbh I don't really know their newer stuff, I'm thinking back to coiler and stinky days, also hei hei, none of them did anything for me.
Whyte... have owned, and broken, a few of them - nice bikes while they last and whyte are great on warranties but I've been through too many of them (2x 19c carbon hardtails and a 146)
GT... some nice hardtails but full suss wise only very average
Cube... their suspension setups are a bit wonky yes, I learnt to work my sting but it could have been better.
Orange... I actually quite like but they are overpriced for what they are.

Ok, fair enough, my weight expectations for the budget are unrealistic - scrap that.

In terms of the bikes I've looked at - Lapierre Zesty & Spicey, Giant Reign, Trek Remedy, Norco Sight, Commencal Meta, Titus FTM & El Guapo, Scott Genius, RM Altitude, Ibis Mojo, Mondraker Foxy, SC Blur, Transition Covert, some Turners, Ellsworths, Ghosts, Marins, BMC, KTM, Cannondale, Merida...

Am considering a Titus FTM, cant argue with that price from on one, but the El Guapo is more than my needs. Am very tempted by the Rocky Mountain Altitude and the Transition Covert although that's way above budget, quite possibly a Scott Genius... there is too much damn choice

lostboysaint

Transition Bandit. If you can find a frameset on offer.

ej2320

lostboysaint wrote:

Transition Bandit. If you can find a frameset on offer.

+1 ! Super tough and stiff but not stupidly heavy

The 2014 frame is £1,400 so I reckon you could get an older one discounted or second hand

Personally I'd get the 2014 one for geometry changes and it can take a 150mm fork .. (and I like the colours )

Covert is also a good choice but, as expected, it will weigh more than the Bandit

ej2320

http://www.freeborn.co.uk/transition-bi ... frame-2013

Bandit frame + Monarch shock

£1,062.50

ej2320

Not sure on your size but this looks well looked after

http://m.pinkbike.com/buysell/1464738/

There's several others on Pink Bike as well

Cqc

Titus ftm is a carbon frame set for £625 guys! How can you argue with that value?!

spongtastic

Cqc wrote:

Titus ftm is a carbon frame set for £625 guys! How can you argue with that value?!

Probably very little support if anything goes wrong.

poah

spongtastic wrote:

Cqc wrote:

Titus ftm is a carbon frame set for £625 guys! How can you argue with that value?!

Probably very little support if anything goes wrong.

why?

pesky_jones

Someone on here had a titus el guapo that was slightly faulty - they sent him a pair of forks as compensation. Or something like that. Basically, on-one know how to treat a gal