New 29er - Trek Superfly or something else?

bletherskite

After years riding my ancient Giant, an unexpected bonus from work means I've got the funds for a new bike around the £1k mark - I've settled on getting a hardtail 29er with a decent fork on the basis that I can upgrade the rest more chaeply but any thoughts/advice welcome!

Lots out there around the 1k mark but thought I might be able to stretch to a Superfly 6 which is on offer at Evans Even if the paint job is a bit loud). Seems well specified and comes with internal cabling.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/superfly-6-2016-mountain-bike-ec120433

I'd discounted the Specialized Carve Expert at the same price purely as it's a mix of Shimano/SRAM at various levels whilst the Trek is at least mostly SRAM GX throughout - is this wise?
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/crave-expert-2015-29er-mountain-bike-ec070593

Or... should I go with my original idea and get the Boardman Pro 29er? Well specced with Deore throughout, Reba fork and on 10%off at the moment? The only thing that makes me wonder about the boardman is the cables all routed under the bottom bracket - is this likely to cause maintenance problems or be exposed to damage over lumpy terrain? (And it's from Halfords so not too sure about the quality of the initial build...)

Lots of questions - but then it's a long time since I last bought a new bike!

BloggingFit

I'm a fan of the superfly but the 2016 bikes have external cable routing. The rear brake routes under the BB while both gear cables route via the top tube. Only the SL models have internal routing but it looks like these aren't being released for 2016. Still a decent bike although the wheels could be lighter.

buddy_club

Alternatively if you wanted something with a bit more trail swagger this would be my choice: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/ramin-five-2015-mountain-bike-ec071316
Great value at 990 squid

cooldad

Depends what you ride, the links are speedy XC stuff, but if it has to be 29er for a bit of fun I'd look at

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPWX9/on-one-parkwood-sram-x9-mountain-bike

codfather

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19701609#p19701609]cooldad[/url] wrote:

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPWX9/on-one-parkwood-sram-x9-mountain-bike

+1
The On One has good spec at a very reasonable price, especially with the addition of four piston brakes.
Probably my favourite aspect though is the ability to tailor the spec before you buy.

kajjal

See if you can test ride the bikes. I have an older crave and it works well for my xc riding with a few trail centres now and then. Not ridden the other bikes.

Buying purely on spec is not everything as you need a bike that fits / rides well for you and you like the look of.

bletherskite

Thanks for all the comments. The choice is bewildering and of course, the bikes all look good in the shop so it's good to get a different point of view.

Still liking the idea of the Superfly as I like fast singletrack/cross-country stuff but some good suggestions - buddy_club, thanks for pointing out the Pinnacle as I'd completely missed it. Must see if my local Evans has one in stock. The on-one looks good too.

Any thoughts, comments or experiences (positive or negative) on the Boardman Pro 29er? It gets good write-ups, looks good and seems nicely specced. It's the only one I've managed to test ride so far and it seemed fairly positive and agile if a bit odd at first changing from 26 to 29 wheels.

Once again, thanks for your sage advice...!

snowster

Worth a look http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/superfly-6-2015-mountain-bike-ec072377#answers

njee20

I've got a Superfly as my only MTB, and really like it FWIW.