New bike advice
dogboy73
Posts: 440
Time for a new bike (no, really this time!!). Still chugging around on my ancient, rebuilt Ellsworth Isis, which is slowly dying! Bought in 2001 I've also owned a Giant Trance and a Specialized Hardrock. Family man now so I'm on a tight budget of $2000-$3500 (AUS). I've got a few choices in mind but wanted some advice. Main riding is XC / trail. I want to be able to climb comfortably and blast down. General do it all kind of riding with as simple & solid (low maintenance) a rig as possible.
I love the idea of a 1x11 drive train but I am slightly concerned about gear range. I've read about gear range being not far off conventional set-ups but without the duplication. As long as I can still get up hills and blast down all is well. I'm also thinking full suspension and I'm most interested in the 120mm sort of range of bikes. But I've also been considering a hardtail for simplification + improved Kit for the same budget.
Top choices so far are the Norco Optic A7.2 or the Focus Spine Evo (a little over budget). But I've also been taken by the Norco Torrent 7.1 27.5+ which is well within budget and has some nice kit for the price, including a dropper post. Not something I expected to have in mind but it's looking like a very interesting possibility.
Any advices on choices or further possibilities in my budget? Cheers
I love the idea of a 1x11 drive train but I am slightly concerned about gear range. I've read about gear range being not far off conventional set-ups but without the duplication. As long as I can still get up hills and blast down all is well. I'm also thinking full suspension and I'm most interested in the 120mm sort of range of bikes. But I've also been considering a hardtail for simplification + improved Kit for the same budget.
Top choices so far are the Norco Optic A7.2 or the Focus Spine Evo (a little over budget). But I've also been taken by the Norco Torrent 7.1 27.5+ which is well within budget and has some nice kit for the price, including a dropper post. Not something I expected to have in mind but it's looking like a very interesting possibility.
Any advices on choices or further possibilities in my budget? Cheers
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Comments
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....... The Ancient One!!
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Links to specs please as the same bike in Aus can have a different spec to the UK version.
Have a look at the Giant Anthem and Stance, both very good bikes for the money, the Maestro suspension on the Anthem punches above its weight travel wise while the simpler Stance suspension means they are better specced at the same price point.Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
Big fan of the Giant bikes & even the current Trance. Slightly put off as I've owned a Trance previously & ending up selling it when I rebuilt the Isis, which I thought was much better even though it was a much older bike. But have to admit the latest Trance bikes look really solid. At the right price it's certainly another option.The Rookie wrote:Links to specs please as the same bike in Aus can have a different spec to the UK version.
Have a look at the Giant Anthem and Stance, both very good bikes for the money, the Maestro suspension on the Anthem punches above its weight travel wise while the simpler Stance suspension means they are better specced at the same price point.
Links to bikes I'm currently interested in;
Norco Torrent 7.1 ($3199)
http://www.norco.com/bikes/mountain/tra ... orrent-71/
Norco Optic 7.2 ($3499)
http://www.norco.com/bikes/mountain/tra ... optic-a72/
Focus Spine Evo ($3799)
http://www.focus-bikes.com/au/en/bikes/ ... e-evo.html0 -
Ended up going for the Norco torrent 7.1. A bike shop nearby managed to get hold of an early 2017 model with the DVO Diamond fork. Very nice. Had the tubeless conversion done in shop. Super pleased with this bike so far. A huge difference from the old faithful, but ailing 16 year old Ellsworth. Actually after a short time on the Torrent I got back on the Ellsworth. It felt extremely odd.
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