what gs trail bike around £2000

silent.shadow

Hi looking for a new bike, iv found a trek fuel ex 8 2014 for £1900 but it has 26 wheels and would like 650b, but not ruling out the trek, also is the boardman fs pro worth it. I have heard bad things about the frame. I open to suggestions. Please help

HardrockRob

Take a look at the Canyon Spectral. That would be within your budget but might have a bit of a wait.

I am biased on that recommendation though...

97th choice

The Kona process is getting good reviews.

No discounts on 650b yet, so it's RRP for you I expect.

lawman

The 26" Fuel Ex is a good bike, I tried the 9.8 last year and for a bike that normally isn't my cup of tea I thoroughly enjoyed trying it, felt very agile and while chunkier trails might be abit of a stretch for it it's still a good bike. Canyon would also be a good shout.

Kowalski675

silent.shadow wrote:

iv found a trek fuel ex 8 2014 for £1900 but it has 26 wheels

Is there a 2014 Fuel 26"? It's not listed on their website anymore, I assumed it was discontinued, with the Fuel going 29" for this year. Evans had the EX8 for £1600 very recently - good deal.

also is the boardman fs pro worth it. I have heard bad things about the frame.

Really? From who, the usual internet experts or salesmen in other shops, maybe? They've only just hit the shops a few weeks ago.

Kowalski675

lawman wrote:

The 26" Fuel Ex is a good bike, I tried the 9.8 last year and for a bike that normally isn't my cup of tea I thoroughly enjoyed trying it, felt very agile and while chunkier trails might be abit of a stretch for it it's still a good bike. Canyon would also be a good shout.

I tried and EX8 and EX9, and thought they both felt great, I loved them. You can feel the years of development that's gone into refining a good frame design - that rear linkage and DRCV shock feels great and you'd swear it had more than 130mm of travel. It may not have the latest cutting edge geometry, but there's a lot to be said for evolution over revolution - it's a tried and tested package and works bloody well.

lawman

Kowalski675 wrote:

silent.shadow wrote:

also is the boardman fs pro worth it. I have heard bad things about the frame.

Really? From who, the usual internet experts or salesmen in other shops, maybe? They've only just hit the shops a few weeks ago.

Aren't you on like your third warranty frame? Sure the new one hasn't been out long but Boardman have had long standing issues with frames holding up, I wouldn't buy one after some of the stories I've heard.

Kowalski675

lawman wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

silent.shadow wrote:

also is the boardman fs pro worth it. I have heard bad things about the frame.

Really? From who, the usual internet experts or salesmen in other shops, maybe? They've only just hit the shops a few weeks ago.

Aren't you on like your third warranty frame? Sure the new one hasn't been out long but Boardman have had long standing issues with frames holding up, I wouldn't buy one after some of the stories I've heard.

No, my first one, and not because the original was faulty - it had a small, shallow dent on the downtube from storage/transport. The new model's a completely new frame. Yes, you hear some tales of Boardman frames having problems, but how many do they sell? A lot more (and a lot more cheaply) than Lapierre's (for example), and I've heard at least as many tales of those breaking (and Hotlines being less than forthcoming with warranty replacements)...

AAddict

Kowalski675 wrote:

lawman wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

silent.shadow wrote:

also is the boardman fs pro worth it. I have heard bad things about the frame.

Really? From who, the usual internet experts or salesmen in other shops, maybe? They've only just hit the shops a few weeks ago.

Aren't you on like your third warranty frame? Sure the new one hasn't been out long but Boardman have had long standing issues with frames holding up, I wouldn't buy one after some of the stories I've heard.

No, my first one, and not because the original was faulty - it had a small, shallow dent on the downtube from storage/transport. The new model's a completely new frame. Yes, you hear some tales of Boardman frames having problems, but how many do they sell? A lot more (and a lot more cheaply) than Lapierre's (for example), and I've heard at least as many tales of those breaking (and Hotlines being less than forthcoming with warranty replacements)...

Lots of boardmans see nothing more than work and back and a few curbs though.

cooldad

Really?
Really really?

Kowalski675

When it comes to opinions on Boardmans people fall into two camps - those who recognise a good deal, and those who are brand snobs (and have probably never even looked at one, never mind ridden one). If they weren't sold through Halfords then the latter camp wouldn't be so dismissive of them (well, some might, but the world will always have more than it's fair share of idiots...).

rockmonkeysc

The older Boardman FS was a good but slightly uninspiring ride. Nothing really wrong but it just doesn't bring out the hooligan in you.
I had a ride on a mates new 650b FS pro and didn't like that at all and neither does he. Something just isn't right with the geometry. It feels like the head angle is steeper than the claimed geometry would suggest.
Great components for the money though.

Kowalski675

Well, if the mate of a stranger on the internet said it, then it must be true...

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The older Boardman FS was a good but slightly uninspiring ride. Nothing really wrong but it just doesn't bring out the hooligan in you.

And how many better full sussers could you buy brand new for £850? It ain't gonna be a very long list. Personally, as a newbie rider, it's far more capable of hooliganism than I am.

97th choice

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The older Boardman FS was a good but slightly uninspiring ride. Nothing really wrong but it just doesn't bring out the hooligan in you.
I had a ride on a mates new 650b FS pro and didn't like that at all and neither does he. Something just isn't right with the geometry. It feels like the head angle is steeper than the claimed geometry would suggest.
Great components for the money though.

The older boardman had the very same problem, the head angle was definitely steeper than claimed. I never got on with mine despite the high spec. And the newer one didn't really do much for me in terms of ride, and it tried the team and comp versions.

Haven't tried the 650b

Kowalski675

I thought by the "older one" he was meaning the outgoing 26" model (like my 2013 bike)?

lawman

Kowalski675 wrote:

lawman wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

silent.shadow wrote:

also is the boardman fs pro worth it. I have heard bad things about the frame.

Really? From who, the usual internet experts or salesmen in other shops, maybe? They've only just hit the shops a few weeks ago.

Aren't you on like your third warranty frame? Sure the new one hasn't been out long but Boardman have had long standing issues with frames holding up, I wouldn't buy one after some of the stories I've heard.

No, my first one, and not because the original was faulty - it had a small, shallow dent on the downtube from storage/transport. The new model's a completely new frame. Yes, you hear some tales of Boardman frames having problems, but how many do they sell? A lot more (and a lot more cheaply) than Lapierre's (for example), and I've heard at least as many tales of those breaking (and Hotlines being less than forthcoming with warranty replacements)...

I thought someone had a few frames because they cracked, obviously wasn't you though. I've seen a fair few have issues, and it isn't just the FS bikes either, a mate's hardtail cracked on the downtube and it wasn't the welds either the tube itself cracked. I think that combined with their insistence on running BB30 or whatever BB standard it is and all the associated problems with that would put me off. Having said that, I'd never find myself in the position to even think about or want to buy one!

Kowalski675

lawman wrote:

I thought someone had a few frames because they cracked, obviously wasn't you though. I've seen a fair few have issues, and it isn't just the FS bikes either, a mate's hardtail cracked on the downtube and it wasn't the welds either the tube itself cracked. I think that combined with their insistence on running BB30 or whatever BB standard it is and all the associated problems with that would put me off. Having said that, I'd never find myself in the position to even think about or want to buy one!

Nope, wasn't me. I've heard tales of frames cracking on the older model (completely different frame and linkage design - the one with the shock parallel to the seat tube), but not personally heard an owner of my model with a broken frame. No silly BB formats on the full susser either - conventional threaded BB, thankfully. Mine's not been without it's teething problems, but those were down to poor assembly/PDI, not inherent design faults. At the end of the day, if you want a bike with £2000 feel, buy a bike with a £2000 price tag. I've yet to see any new bike that betters mine for the £850 I paid for it, and as a new rider, who didn't even know if I was going to take to the whole MTB lark, it made perfect sense (particularly at a time when nobody even seemed to know what wheel format may or may not be obsolete in 12 months time). I can run it for a year, then if I still want to (and know more about what kind of bike I want and what kind of rider I am) I can sell it for a small loss and upgrade, but for now (and for some time to come) the weakest link on my Boardman is the rider.

lawman

Kowalski675 wrote:

lawman wrote:

I thought someone had a few frames because they cracked, obviously wasn't you though. I've seen a fair few have issues, and it isn't just the FS bikes either, a mate's hardtail cracked on the downtube and it wasn't the welds either the tube itself cracked. I think that combined with their insistence on running BB30 or whatever BB standard it is and all the associated problems with that would put me off. Having said that, I'd never find myself in the position to even think about or want to buy one!

Nope, wasn't me. I've heard tales of frames cracking on the older model (completely different frame and linkage design - the one with the shock parallel to the seat tube), but not personally heard an owner of my model with a broken frame. No silly BB formats on the full susser either - conventional threaded BB, thankfully. Mine's not been without it's teething problems, but those were down to poor assembly/PDI, not inherent design faults. At the end of the day, if you want a bike with £2000 feel, buy a bike with a £2000 price tag. I've yet to see any new bike that betters mine for the £850 I paid for it, and as a new rider, who didn't even know if I was going to take to the whole MTB lark, it made perfect sense (particularly at a time when nobody even seemed to know what wheel format may or may not be obsolete in 12 months time). I can run it for a year, then if I still want to (and know more about what kind of bike I want and what kind of rider I am) I can sell it for a small loss and upgrade, but for now (and for some time to come) the weakest link on my Boardman is the rider.

No doubt they are good value, but for me personally they haven't yet shaken that Halfords shadow, like the poor assembly and things like that and until the newer frames have been out and proven to be reliable even at the price I'd hesitate to recommend one. Plenty of brands do the direct sale thing these days so if you aren't keen there are plenty of options

Kowalski675

lawman wrote:

No doubt they are good value, but for me personally they haven't yet shaken that Halfords shadow, like the poor assembly and things like that and until the newer frames have been out and proven to be reliable even at the price I'd hesitate to recommend one. Plenty of brands do the direct sale thing these days so if you aren't keen there are plenty of options

I'd still recommend one to someone who wants a good deal, I'd just say take it boxed and PDI it yourself. I looked at Canyon, but at that time of year (June) all the cheaper models were sold out for the year.

rockmonkeysc

Kowalski675 wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The older Boardman FS was a good but slightly uninspiring ride. Nothing really wrong but it just doesn't bring out the hooligan in you.

And how many better full sussers could you buy brand new for £850? It ain't gonna be a very long list. Personally, as a newbie rider, it's far more capable of hooliganism than I am.

Shop around and you can get last years Giant Trance or Anthem or a Canondale RZ120. There's probably quite a few others.
£850 Is cheap for full sus, my frame cost that much even with a heavy discount.

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The older Boardman FS was a good but slightly uninspiring ride. Nothing really wrong but it just doesn't bring out the hooligan in you.

And how many better full sussers could you buy brand new for £850? It ain't gonna be a very long list. Personally, as a newbie rider, it's far more capable of hooliganism than I am.

Shop around and you can get last years Giant Trance or Anthem or a Canondale RZ120. There's probably quite a few others.
£850 Is cheap for full sus, my frame cost that much even with a heavy discount.

I could've got a 2012 Anthem for slightly more mail order, but didn't want one. At the time I bought my Boardman the discontinued 2013 Trance X3 that Pauls have for £900 now was only available at full RRP, and the component spec was lower than mine.

BigAl

Kowalski675 wrote:

Nope, wasn't me. I've heard tales of frames cracking on the older model (completely different frame and linkage design - the one with the shock parallel to the seat tube), but not personally heard an owner of my model with a broken frame. No silly BB formats on the full susser either - conventional threaded BB, thankfully. Mine's not been without it's teething problems, but those were down to poor assembly/PDI, not inherent design faults. At the end of the day, if you want a bike with £2000 feel, buy a bike with a £2000 price tag. I've yet to see any new bike that betters mine for the £850 I paid for it, and as a new rider, who didn't even know if I was going to take to the whole MTB lark, it made perfect sense (particularly at a time when nobody even seemed to know what wheel format may or may not be obsolete in 12 months time). I can run it for a year, then if I still want to (and know more about what kind of bike I want and what kind of rider I am) I can sell it for a small loss and upgrade, but for now (and for some time to come) the weakest link on my Boardman is the rider.

Fair is fair, I don't always agree with Kowalski, but, to use a well worn phrase, CAWT

Doesn't help the OP though as he had 2k to spend

BigAl

The new Teance 27.5 has just got a great review in WMB (admittedly the top spec one). Not sure what spec you'll get for £2k.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about wheel size and I'd look to pick up an older model year bike from Paul's, Pedalon etc.

You could get a Trance (for example) for £900. Flog the forks and other bits and use the money and the balance of your budget to get a great custom bike.

Kowalski675

BigAl wrote:

The new Trance 27.5 has just got a great review in WMB (admittedly the top spec one). Not sure what spec you'll get for £2k.

The £1500 model that either the or MBUK (can't remember which off the top of my head) is getting some very favourable column inches too - they've been very positive about it, especially after shoeing it with Mavic's new tyres.