sorry that topic again 29er

rgasuk

so im clearing out my stable and clearing out other stuff and trying to make room before kids arrive in the future.

im after a 29er and seem to be going round in circles, changing my mind all the time etc etc .the reason for a 29er is i think it suits me best , ill be 70-80 % tracks and trails, single track exploring and 30-20% trail centers, mainly just red routes , i have no intention of bombing down hill and doing jumps . ive had a 26 fs trance , and 2 cx bikes, this may sound perfect to all but i find more and more i want to explore and the cx leaves me feeling beat up sometimes just on some of the old bumpy railway lines and my vision is a 29er fs can perform all i want. Im thinking HT but worried it may be quite harsh and i do have dodgy discs to look after.

ive norrowed my choices to these, no i know each person likes different bikes, i just was after others opions on what route they would go and why. cheers.

the bikes

maximum budget - http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes ... tml?b=3235

next - http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/scott- ... 13-p207750

non carbon

next - http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes ... ab-reiter2

last but not least - http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/giant ... -2014.html

i was set on a HT for ages but some thing keeps telling me fs ,i was set on canyon nerve or grand canyon ht , but realy like the look of the spark, yet cant find many reviews on the 920 or the lux i know these threads pop up daily so if your able to offer your opinons great and cheers

The Rookie

Well none of those is a bad bike, for me it would be the carbon Canyon as I prefer RS forks to Fox, far fewer reports of premature wear with RS.

Long_Time_Lurker

If it was me, I would take the Anthem.
Mainly because it has been getting some very good reviews (latest in Singletrack magazine) and because I borrowed a friends for a couple of weeks and enjoyed the ride.

The lack of test riding and the long lead-times to has put me off the Canyons in the past. However the spec is great.

I'm not sold on the Spark and Scott bikes in general. I tried a Spark and a Genius. I'm not comfortable with the proprietry shock system - I couldn't seem tio get it dialled right. (That said, the lock-out system is fantastic if you spend a lot of time switching your shocks on and off.)
I have a hardtail XC bike - A Cube Race SL (26") - and I wanted something that felt completely different. The riding position of the Scotts felt very simiar to what I have already, more XC than trail bike.
Hard to explain, but it didn't excite me. I think that it would be great if I was going out on an all-dayer, but not for a 3 hour blast. I didn't feel as secure when I test rode it down a set of steep steps and 200 meters of rough cobbles

But that is just my personal preference. It would help if you could get a short ride on any of these (I ended up with a Zesty 329 after 2 months of test rides :P )

stubs

Giant Anthem all day comfort but a missile when you want it to be.

rgasuk

Cheers for the replays , plenty of food for thought.

@ long time lurcher - cheers for your own insight , I've had a 26 trance for years and know a few people who rate the anthem .if I could have 2 bikes I'd go HT and a FS , but ££ says I can't. I know I could get a good HT for the price, it's the comfort factor that appeals and XC racing if I get into it . Nice zesty you have , to many choices out there lol .

rockmonkeysc

The Anthem would be my choice. I had the 26" Anthem and it was really very good.

atomic fox

any of the canyon 29ers get my vote. i ve a grand canyon on order.