Hardtail - 29er v 27.5 v 27.5+

JesseD

The wife has given me the nod to buy a MTB at last, can’t quite stretch to a full suss so am thinking Hardtail to start then upgrade in a year or so (when the renovations on the house are finished).

I ride trails with a little climbing but not much, with some rock gardens and rocky climbs, but also quite rooty areas as well.

I live in the Channel Islands so a demo day is out I’m afraid and my only MTB experience is on a borrowed Whyte T129s full suss, so am hoping for some advice from the experienced out there.

JGTR

Budget would be a good place to start.

Look at Calibre Bossnut 27.5 full sus, Calibre Line10 27.5 Hardtail and VooDoo Bizango 29 Hardtail.

JesseD

Reckon around £1000 give or take a couple of hundred, depending on how much I grovel!

JGTR

JesseD wrote:

Reckon around £1000 give or take a couple of hundred, depending on how much I grovel!

All the above then.

Only issue you may have is that they can only be purchased from Halfords and Go Outdoors. You get 10% discount at Halfords with British Cycling membership

badgermilk

I just bought a Trek Roscoe for £1000, only been out on it a few times but is good fun and climbs well.
Would meet all your needs tubeless ready and 27.5+ so rolls well over the rough stuff.

cycleclinic

29er's make good XC racing bikes. 27.5" + makes sense for everything else. 27.5" makes no sense to me at all.

jackallmand

I'm in the exact same boat with a similar budget. Interested in the second hand market. Could get a 2nd hand carbon frame for that budget.
I've been looking predominantly at 29ers because they're a little older on the market than 27.5+ so are more priced in and can fit 27.5+ tyres anyway. Seems like a bit of a no brainer IMO.
Interested to hear other thoughts.

JGTR

29er won’t fit plus tyres, only plus bikes will fit plus tyres.

JesseD

thecycleclinic wrote:

29er's make good XC racing bikes. 27.5" + makes sense for everything else. 27.5" makes no sense to me at all.

I'm edging towards 27.5+ to have a little extra cushioning, a lot of the riding we do is not fast but more for fun so outright speed is not as important for me at the moment. I suppose i really do need to try a hard tail so I can see what I will be getting, the full-suss i borrowed just rode over everything where as the HT will be a little closer to my cross bike in ride maybe?

jackallmand

JGTR wrote:

29er won’t fit plus tyres, only plus bikes will fit plus tyres.

http://www.mbr.co.uk/how-to-2/convert-2 ... ike-340239

JGTR

jackallmand wrote:

JGTR wrote:

29er won’t fit plus tyres, only plus bikes will fit plus tyres.

http://www.mbr.co.uk/how-to-2/convert-2 ... ike-340239

Ok it can be done on some bikes but to say that you can buy any 29er and run plus tyres isn’t true as quite a few won’t, and even in the case you linked to they are running 2.75 with pretty much no clearance.

JesseD

Looked at the Bossnut and can get one for £900 delivered which seems ridiculously cheap for a full suss bike, reviews are good from websites and magazines however owner reviews from people who have them for a length of time seem to be mixed leaning towards bad build quality with some sending them back due to this, anyone have one and if so what is your opinions?

Also found the 2018 Marin Hawk Hill which again gets good reviews and is just a little above budget, it would need a dropper added but apart from that seems good value, any thoughts on this as well.

I really like the look of the Voodoo Bizango 29er however the build kits from Halfords look average and I think I would want a higher spec, plus a thru axle on the rear? I know I would have ££ left to upgrade but think it would need lighter wheels, a dropper post at the very least to start which will all add more cost potentially?

Is a QR rear wheel v a thru axle a deal breaker for those in the know, how much stiffer is a thru?

trek_dan

Have a look at Radon on bikediscount.de - great spec for the money. I was in a similar boat last year and that's what I ended up with.

JesseD

trek_dan wrote:

Have a look at Radon on bikediscount.de - great spec for the money. I was in a similar boat last year and that's what I ended up with.

Thanks for the tip, just checked the website and everything i click on is unavailable to be sent to my selected country (Jersey Channel Islands) due to legal reasons (whatever they may be), some great deals on there though!!

robertpb

JesseD wrote:

Thanks for the tip, just checked the website and everything i click on is unavailable to be sent to my selected country (Jersey Channel Islands) due to legal reasons (whatever they may be)

Probably because Jersey is not in the EU.

JesseD

robertpb wrote:

Probably because Jersey is not in the EU.

Yep, but funnily enough when i selected UK as delivery address they still wouldn't ship certain models?

Just found a 2018 Vitus Sentier VRS+ with SLX 11spd, Rockshox Reba SL forks and WTB rims for £953 which seems like a great spec for the money, 2017 model gets good reviews too.

I am borrowing a Whyte HT on Saturday to do some local trails which I did on a Whyte full suss a couple of weeks ago so I can see if a HT is ridable and enjoyable over here, if so then I think the Vitus will make the short list.

chrissymk7

I've just bought this bike and the spec is fantastic!

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-ir ... e-EV275645

JesseD

chrissymk7 wrote:

I've just bought this bike and the spec is fantastic!

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-ir ... e-EV275645

That is a pretty good spec and a good price, all it really needs is a dropper post and you're away.

Would be on the shortlist apart from they don't have my size!

chrissymk7

JesseD wrote:

chrissymk7 wrote:

I've just bought this bike and the spec is fantastic!

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-ir ... e-EV275645

That is a pretty good spec and a good price, all it really needs is a dropper post and you're away.

Would be on the shortlist apart from they don't have my size!

How tall are you? I found the large a bit too small and I’m 6ft, ended up waiting for the xl to be ordered in.

JesseD

5ft 11” so was thinking a large

slc123

Great spec for the money. Seems like a really well rounded setup as well. Like you said.. dropper post and you’ve got a good trail bike.

JesseD

Tried a Whyte 629 yesterday for a good 3 hour ride and had an absolute blast, did pretty much everything I wanted to which has made my mind up on wanting a 29er HT, problem I am having is finding one in the spec that I want.

Budget is around £1200, I want tubeless and through axles, I prefer Shimano but would like a 1x11 setup (SLX or above), although would be happy with Sram too (GX or above), I really think I need a dropper as I almost came unstuck on one steep descent, oh and a decent fork.

Any suggestions?

JGTR

Giant Fathom 1 29er?

JesseD

JGTR wrote:

Giant Fathom 1 29er?

We have a Giant dealer over here so will def go have a look, seems to tick all the boxes although I cannot find anyting about the fork online by the way of recent reviews?