As a fan of a certain brand that may be in a bit of bother it seems that plenty of people think their full suspension offerings are ugly. I've always like them but may be blinded by loyalty and familiarity, who knows?
Any way, it got me thinking about current FS bikes and IMO the vast majority range from just about palatable to absolutely horrific! Having a quick sense check, pretty much all the Santa Cruz range have a cheap looking head tube area and look like they're melting, the Yeti's aren't too bad but some have questionable BB/seat tube sections, Trek have some 'interesting' seat tube/top tube junctions and Nukeproof are reasonable but certainly not pretty. Cotic aren't bad but it's be a stretch to call them attractive.
So which bikes do the STW brains trust think are good looking, especially if you have strong opinions against others?
That’s gopping
Orange are still ugly though 😉
Honus
That’s gopping
Well you're welcome to your opinion.
i think the Scott Spark FS bike design is possibly the nicest looking FS design ever.
https://www.scott-sports.com/gb/en/product/scott-spark-rc-comp-blue-bike?article=290108006
That’s gopping
For the sake of balance, I think it looks ace.
I like the older Specialized Epic design, with the shock partially hidden in the top tube. My Occam is similar. The Trek Supercaliber takes it to the extreme.
There's also this..
That DH bike I was musing about in the What bike in 2024, thread?
This. (mine will be a different spec and colour though)
Or this
Or this
I think Bird make good looking bikes (apart from the carbon Aether). Not the most flattering photo of mine.
I'm not such a fan of the look of my Orbea
Cotic, Raaw, Privateer, Deviate always look good.
It's all subjective though isn't it, I think some of the Orange bikes I see look awful.
i think the Scott Spark FS bike design is possibly the nicest looking FS design ever.
It looks like a wax mould which got left in the sun a bit too long.
I think it is hard for full sus bikes to look particularly good. The suspension and, on many designs, the rear triangle being offset are going to make it look worse than a hardtail with a line going all the way from headtube to cassette.
think the Scott Spark FS bike design is possibly the nicest looking FS design ever.
I was going to say the same.
That Spark doesn't do a thing for me 🤷
That spark looks like an ugly hardtail.
If I'm going to have an ugly FS, I at least want it to look like a FS
I'm quite partial to my Mach4SL.
I always had a thing for one of these. I’m sure it would have been awful, but they looked so good. Especially in the flame paint job.
The Void isn't bad either when you look at the continuation of the top tube into the seat stays
The only one above, in my opinion, that is anything better than 'just about palatable' is the Stanton, which is a bonny bike. The Scott is clearly colour dependant.
Sorry Fathomer, it's close but the bend on the swing arm has always spoiled those. Mashr's also isn't terrible but reminds me of any number of bikes around 2010.
Starlings are even worse than Orange. It's basically exactly the same bike but in the wrong material.
I like that Airdrop MX up there. Probably why it's on my shortlist.
Scor make some handsome bikes.
I replied before some of the replies as that Pivot isn't at all bad, neither is the Void. Scor is nearly there but the seat tube angle spoils it.
Just for clarification, my OP was about currently available bikes, not old ones.
Occam
Supercaliber
Occam
Anything with a bent top tube automatically qualifies as ugly, sorry
Supercaliber
Also gopping
General rule:
a seat stay that is parallel to, and ideally appears as a continuation of, the top tube - good
Overly curvy/hydroformed tubes - nah
Edit: that Occam has both. The top tube line is not enough to overcome the bendy, and hence: it's a munter.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - I really like the look of my Canyon.“fothamer
Well you’re welcome to your opinion.”
And you’re welcome to an eye test, along with many others on this thread 😂 🤮
Most look shit tbf, do you want sexy looking or something that works?
Stage Evos did look good and I was partial to a late stage LRS frame tbf.
Also Prong? Looked pretty good, but of their time.
Reeb do a lovely fs bike...
<br />I really wanted a spur a couple of years ago but couldn’t get hold of one. The continuous top tube / seat stay line does it for me.
The only bike in this thread that looks nice is the Spur.
The rest are mostly minging.
Reeb do a lovely fs bike
They are close, just a few squiffy bits. Far better than most other steel rotters though.
That Transition is nice - helped by the black shock/dark background too.
Against the grain I still love the look of a single pivot Orange, always loved the Cotic FS's too. Another shout for Privateer as well just cos I've got one.
Swoopy and lovely. I replaced this with an Orange. I don't have the Orange any more, but I do have the 575.
Always liked epic evo especially in red
+1 for the Deep Sea Green Transition Spur. I will never sell mine. Looks great, rides amazingly. There's just something about that continuous line from the head tube to the rear axle plus the angular design of the frame that goes with that particular colour.
Curtis XR29 is a bit of a looker as well....
Transition get it right IMO, especially their carbon frames. Here’s mine.
Oh no. Boggin'
That Frameworks? up top is lovely and I like the Privateer and Airdrop as well (maybe some nostalgia for the older Kona bikes and Turners). That transition is proper nice as well.
But of a soft spot for Nicolai as well though it's a fine line between purposeful and a looking like explosion in a bridge factory.
Really dislike Giant, Spesh, the Orbeas and the Scotts, all snoopy and yuck and the less said about Ibis the better.
Just in case people cba to look at page 1
After not being able to get that Spur, I built up this. Definitely not as pretty as the Transition but for a SC maybe not too bad. Lack of parallelism of the seatstay and top tube is a disappointment obviously.
A big part of a bike build is understatement. No orange grips / pedals / spring.
And no swoopy / bent top tube. This applies to both full sus and hardtails.
<br />
Yeah, that Transition is It isn't it 👌
If I get another FS, I think it will actually be a Transition. Just been eyeing up this Smuggler
I want a Spur. I'll never be able to afford one, but I want one just the same. 😁
Last Tarvo Acto5 and Ra, probably the best looking I've seen in person.
Raaw look great too.
Unno looked terrible.
New smuggler looks great. Shame about the price of a frame!
I like the look of my flaremax. Not neat and tidy with external cables but I like the skinny tubes look. If only I'd been more patient and got the gloss purple one.
Depends on your aesthetic I guess. I REALLY like skinny tubes and a form follows function look, so to my eye my bike looks great.
That Enve and Ohlins equipped Stanton caught my eye for the wrong reasons, wtf is going on with the routing.
Commencals from a few years back had a nice purposeful look to them. Saw one in raw in the flesh and it looked even better.
Have not quite cracked image linking but a link from this fair website:
https://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/commencal-meta-am-29-team-review/
so to my eye my bike looks great.
That its mostly hidden in that shot with light doesnt inspire confidence. Its interesting how many photos in the thread are from somewhat odd angles.
My aeris looks fine when I am on it so who cares about how good looking it is for anyone watching. Frankly I am far more offputting that the poor bike for some trying a decent photo.
so to my eye my bike looks great.
I like the look of my Spesh ebike, but to the majority of other people it's without doubt, absolutely gopping 🤣
Think we have a winner with Transition, there's been some lovely example posted, bravo! Egerie also floats my boat, as I think the Curtis might if I can decide to get along with the swing arm.
For someone with strong opinions I assume Scotroutes is trolling with that eye bleach Occam? The other Orbea is better but "Anything with a bent top tube automatically qualifies as ugly, sorry".
The Santa Cruz still has that B&M head tube area, looks like no thought went in to it at all. Shame as they used to make nice looking bikes. Thumbs down for the Privateer unfortunately.
Trek, Canyon and Specialised aren't offensive.
matt - that "transition" between seat tube and shock angle hurts my eyes.
Where does gopping come from? Seems to be a forum favourite word but I don't think I've ever heard it in the real world.
@STR
REEB sst 120mm...... It's on my ' I'll never be able to afford/justify one' list
https://reebcycles.com/collections/full-suspension/products/sst-coil-gx-build
Yup, another vote for spur.
Straight line from HT to rear dropout, vertical shock, done. Lovely. Transition nail it.
Make that shock horizontal, no matter how you drive it, and it all goes to pot.
See also the poor man's Spur (Izzo). Lovely looking things.
Nothing above comes close to the Spur.
I think my Geometron G1 freshly polished looks fantastic in the flesh with it's shiny weldy chunkiness. They don't look as good in a picture though.
Make that shock horizontal, no matter how you drive it, and it all goes to pot.
Was going to say similar earlier when I posted the Stanton. Even though I love it and may one day own one, would look so much better with a vertical shock
There's far worse-looking FS bikes than Orange IMO.
Transition are mixed for me - those Spurs are lovely, but the others with the swooped tubes do nothing for me. Am I straight tube kinda guy?
This is, in my heavily biased view, pretty damn good looking:
"Oh look, there's a good looking Nicolai"
Said no one, ever 😉
“Oh look, there’s a good looking Nicolai”
Said no one, ever 😉
😉
I'm another one who's a sucker for a straight line from head tube to drop out.
Modern Transition frames obviously, not the previous gen swoopy ones.
Last carbon frames, very similar to transition.
Airdrop new Edit MX. Almost had that line.
All three have vertical shocks in front of the seat tube as well.
That Reeb SST wins the thread. Pure class.
Starling bikes look nice, not to overly complicated, although I rather like the Carbon Wasp frame.
That Transition wins so far. I have a 5010 but would love a Jibb..
Seems most people like double diamond style full Sus frames or those hiding the shock completely.
