£2.5k new bike advice please

spl

Really struggling to find a replacement for my orange five, I ride the quantocks, cwm carn, afan and like to take in smaller jumps or a bit of the downhill course during the ride and weigh 90kg at 6ft tall.
"Narrowed" it down to a t129, g150, foxy r, or process 134 or even consider 111, yeah the budget is blurry!
I like the speed of a 29er but I am fit enough to ride a bigger bike with more playful 650b wheels uphill if it will give me greater choice of what trails to ride.
Would rather go RS than fox.
Would I break a t129 or regret not getting a 29 er, is the g150 too much bike for where I ride......advice needed,
Cheers
Spl

rockmonkeysc

Do you ride the Triscombe trails when you ride on the Quantocks? If you do forget 29ers, those trails break 29er wheels.
I would go for the Process.

Cqc

Specialized stumpjumper fsr evo? Bang on your budget and choice of all 3 wheel sizes.

lostboysaint

Transition Bandit, available in all three wheel sizes.

The Rookie

One different one to consider is the Pivot Mach5.7
http://www.pivotcycles.co.uk/bikes/mach57c.html
The Pivot rear suspension is really well controlled, on the Mach4 I rode really did feel just like a hardtail to ride but with the rear gliding over anything smaller than about 2" as if it simply wasn't even there.

Cqc

Good luck finding a half decent build kit for 2.5k with the cost of that frame...

spl

Thanks for replies but if I add any more bikes my head will explode !
Just seen the foxy and have concerns over the uk weather destroying the rear shock bushes/bearings due to it's exposed location and lack of internal routing for seat post looks untidy!
Edging towards process 134 as it's RS suspension and being 27.5 gives me flexibility to ride everything to some degree.

I have ridden the SJ evo 29er which felt like a bit of a monster truck, would consider the 27.5 anyone thoughts over the kona?

ej2320

The Kona is supposed to be a good bike, never ridden it though

My choice would be the Transition Bandit.. or even Covert if you wanted something a bit bigger.. both 26 or 27.5 or 29

rockmonkeysc

I know someone who has just got the Process 134 and he absolutely loves it. He had an Intense Tracer before and says the Kona is better.
27.5 is just the latest marketing hype and no better or worse than 26"

Cqc

The kona is very heavy and pretty low spec for the money though...

spl

Covert seem top end and thats with no dropper so in order to save a divorce i will move on, although they look v.nice.
I have booked a demo on an SJ29er to ride my local cwm carn trails to get my head around 29ers and rule them in or out. (i know not all 29ers are the same but it will hopefully give me an idea)
I was hoping to make a decision in time to capitalise on the trade-in deal at Evans which ends Mon 2nd but have decided that i am going to take my time and demo as i am looking for at this bike lasting 5-10yrs, there always seems to be someone offering a deal anyway.

Please post any more ideas/opinions.....

sandy771

£2700 ishwill get you a Capra comp2

http://www.yt-industries.com/shop/en/Bi ... -CF-Comp-2

poah

rose granite chief makes for a good buy or an uncle jimbo.

Angus Young

sandy771 wrote:

£2700 ishwill get you a Capra comp2

http://www.yt-industries.com/shop/en/Bi ... -CF-Comp-2

But you'll be 57 by the time it arrives.

poah

Angus Young wrote:

sandy771 wrote:

£2700 ishwill get you a Capra comp2

http://www.yt-industries.com/shop/en/Bi ... -CF-Comp-2

But you'll be 57 by the time it arrives.

probably before the cotic rocket though

Ryan Jones

The G150 is a very similar spec to the Kona, but £500 cheaper, a bit lighter and with more travel to boot. Any talk of a lack of stiffness ? Well it is the same frame that the Whyte enduro guys use so probably more your problem than the bikes

(and it has a 1 degree slacker head-angle which will turn you into an enduro jedi)

rockmonkeysc

POAH wrote:

rose granite chief makes for a good buy or an uncle jimbo.

Uncle Jimbo is a big bike, unless your doing a lot of downhill I would go with the Granite Chief.
I followed a lad on an uncle jimbo over a 30+ foot road gap today and through some big rock gardens. Very capable bike.

spl

I did laugh at the YT availability or lack of it.
I think i will stay clear of German internet bikes cant be done with the hassle if problems occur also Rose makes some ugly bikes.
G150 is a good shout especially as it has a pike and a reverb, i think if i decide against 29ers it will be that or a process.
Have seen a covert 3 2013 29er at a good price which would be ripe for upgrading although it does seem to me that bikes fall in two camps. Either short top tubes and moderately short stems which makes the size large like a medium such as the YT, Codeine, Spectral or the complete opposite with kona and mondraker going longer TT's with short stems.
Being 6ft i think the latter will suit as my old orange five was a 20" with a 60mm stem.

poah

spl wrote:

also Rose makes some ugly bikes.
G150 is a good shout especially as it has a pike and a reverb, i think if i decide against 29ers it will be that or a process.
Have seen a covert 3 2013 29er at a good price which would be ripe for upgrading although it does seem to me that bikes fall in two camps. Either short top tubes and moderately short stems which makes the size large like a medium such as the YT, Codeine, Spectral or the complete opposite with kona and mondraker going longer TT's with short stems.
Being 6ft i think the latter will suit as my old orange five was a 20" with a 60mm stem.

this is ugly




but this is not

spl

Fair play, although i don't think whyte bikes are necessarily lookers either i think its the round frame tubes

postie90

spl wrote:

Fair play, although i don't think whyte bikes are necessarily lookers either i think its the round frame tubes

I like the look of the wyhte, how much is it?

Ryan Jones

£2500 for that Whyte, aside from the continental cheapies I doubt you'd get a better spec for your cash. Long toptube, short stem geometry too. They have one in leisurelakes in Wolverhampton (as of last saturday anyway) if you wanted to look at one, in the flesh they're quite slick.
Never really impressed me on the test ride over the FTD, but the firm ride probably translates to coping better on serious stuff.

spl

Looking at either 134dl or 153 process, will the 153 be too much for most rides or do they climb about the same as I have heard? Demo-ing 134 Tuesday but can't demo the 153, anyone ridden both?

ej2320

My 160mm Covert can climb well.. And I did alright on an XC event on it
So it's more about how efficient the Kona is with it's travel

spl

The rear shock has a lock out so i suppose its just a matter of weight, slacker head angle and the 160mm pike fork difference to the 134.
Nice to hear from someone who has ridden both!

spl

Update!
This week I demo'd a process 134 dl and a stumpy evo carbon 29er at cwmcarn both times riding the twrch trail including the freeride section and the first half of the downhill course ending at the underpass and then returning to complete the twrch trail.
I would have preferred to ride the sj comp as that's the one I would buy but spec only have the carbon as a demo.
Both are very good bikes obviously and have ridden the kona first I had as good as bought it, ok going up was a bit workman like although better then my previous bike a 26" orange five but coming down it was great.
Really confidence inspiring especially over the jumps and very playful all the way down, so a good compromise.
Today I took out the sj expecting not to like the huge wheels but as I cranked up the hill I soon forgot the wheel size and was enjoying the ride. Despite telling myself to sit and grind to the top the ease at which the bike carried speed encouraged me to keep upping the tempo.
So at the top I thought the downhill would be the compromise so I entered the free ride section and really noticed the extra traction on the berms and jumped it surprisingly well for my limited ability so much so that I ran it twice to make sure it wasn't a fluke.
Carrying on down the bike flew sticking firmly to the trail and at the downhill course while obviously not at downhiller speed I enjoyed the decent, looking back the kona was better here and with practice would widen the gap on the sj.

So as my rides are 50/50 up and down I have been converted to the idea of 29er, the guys at my lbs told me this a month ago!

However will the sj comp be a let down and massive difference having ridden the carbon which I can't afford and would the kona 111 be a better bet than the sj comp?

Buying a bike is not easy.

ej2320

Carrying speed through berms is one advantage of a 29er, but it's one if those things you only really notice when you compare two sizes back to back