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My full bounce currently is a bergamont trailster 10. Its been fantastic. Its done finale, slovenia the lakes Scotland. All in all 4000miles of fun....
But
Its heavy as in heavier than binners take out on a full fat friday. Those that have riden with me are all suprised at the heft of it. Plus side its as strong and as stiff as a tank.
I now live sw Scotland and my ridings not as gnar as ive kirro and a few options. I still want a bike i can use in the lakes or finale etc but is lighter and more fun. And not made of lead.
So other than a canyon strive 125 or an intense carabine or a hb130 what else is there.
Bonus points for niche brands...
So over to you.
What’s your upper/lower limit when it comes to categorising a “trail” bike?
No idea if it's any good or available in the UK, but I like the look of the new Scor.
https://m.pinkbike.com/news/review-scor-2030-the-trail-bike-you-didnt-know-you-wanted.html
Yeah that scor is ideal but aint cheap
Read that on pinkbike today funny enough.
Travel wise I'm not to hung up. 120 min really max its all depends!
Get a Stumpjumper on offer from Certini. /thread
To go a bit more niche than the two of the biggest bike co’s in the world…
Reeb SST
Carbon Wasp Truffle
Atherton AM130
Kingdom void trail
Rå .20
Deviate Highlander II
Niche is great, until it
A. Costs more
B. Breaks
Big manufacturers aren’t a guarantee they will help you if something breaks (Giant, for example) and a small brand trades solely on it reputation, so inclined to help more.
I’ve built stuff that’s higher specced than nicer models from the big co’s, for less.
Plus, OP asked.
Bird Aether 9.
Bird Aether 9 x 2. Specifically the Summer Special and then upgrade it over time.
Bonus points for niche brands…
Canfield Tilt or Lithium. If you buy a frame kit vs a full bike then the import tax is much lower, e.g. my Tilt frame with CC Kitsuma Air was about £2200 delivered to my house. No need to spend mega £££ on a niche brand.
It's also a very, very nice bike to ride.
That Bergamot of yours sure is hefty. If you’re looking for something easy on the scales carbon is they way to go…
SC Tallboy is lovely, if you’re after a 120mm 29er. Very capable.
pivot 429 Trail perhaps?
Ibis Ripley, I believe they have some good discounts currently.
In a recommend what you've got, Forbidden Druid. Awesome trail bike with capabilities beyond its travel.
120/130 rear, 130/140 front would be ideal.
I'm a huge Transition fan so I'd second the Smuggler if money not an issue, but not cheap in the UK nowadays. Canyon Neuron would be a decent budget option, or a YT Izzo (perhaps the one with the 140mm fork).
EDIT: 29er front and back.
EDIT EDIT: Just seen the new Neuron has gone down the cable tourism route for the headset. Scrap that.
Mondraker Raze RR
Starling if you want to go full ****y beard-scratcher?
I've got a Startling Murmur, so I'll recommend that. Not the lightest but it's a great bike and reasonably niche. Also got a bit of a beard 😁
Banshee Phantom.
Occams are on sale at Sigma. Ignore the travel numbers, they ride like "trail".
I love my HB130, it has been amazing. Can be very competitive on price compared to other full Hope covered bikes too. Three years down now and not planning to change.
The Smuggler and Occam are both really good shouts as well. As is a Banshee Phantom. I have owned most of them at one point or another - not an Occam but did win a race on our demo bike!
EDIT - must read other replies first
I wouldn’t get hung up on travel. My Spur (bought with a similar remit) has 10-20mm less travel than the bike it replaced (SB95c) but the suspension seems much more capable,
Saracen ariel 30? Got a good sale on, base model is 2k and the pro version 2.7. I've had one nearly 3 years and it's been bomb proof so far, does a bit of everything and I've never seen another one.
Airdrop Edit or Filter?
Scor 2030.
Norco Optic or Fluid (carbon or alloy).
Raaw Jibb (may no be much lighter than what you have)
Cotic Jeht would be my choice at the mo to compliment my Soul. They've also got £500 off their full suss bikes this month - unfortunately I've not got the other £3k to go with it otherwise it would be a nbd.
Another vote for the Forbidden Druid. Absolutely phenomenal machine
Scor 2030
If I was in the market I don't think I could see further than the 40/50% discounted stuff mentioned above tbh, or the other inevitable discounted bikes that will turn up.
How about an Orange? Aren't they classed as pretty light these days? Some good savings available too at places like Sunset MTB.
Transition Spur is also a good shout (best bike I've ever owned) but its closer to XC than trail so maybe not what the OP is after.
130mm / 140mm forked hardtail e.g. Cotic Solaris could be a curveball choice.
SC 5010 + 1 especially now that they’ve got 40% off
Was looking at an orange, was never a fan but the new crop look really nice.
Need to get on a demo day.
I'm not fully hung up on niche but i like to be different. Those discounted santa cruz are hard to ignore mind
OP do you mean Spectral 125? I cant see a Strive 125?
The Strive 125 has caught my eye recently, I picked up a Nukeproof Scout to complement my big travel, long and slack enduro bike but it doesn't really do it for me, thinking of replacing it with the Spectral 125, short travel, nice geometry (slack) should be more lively then my Scout in the places I wanna ride it.
Evil Following or for a bit more travel Evil Offering.
Commencal? They win everything 😉
Tempo looks nice - https://discover.commencal.com/landing-tempo-2022-uk/
Revel Ranger could be what you're looking for. They were getting discounted a while back otherwise pretty expensive frames. I had/have a Rascal (the 130mm, ranger is 115mm) and it's a fantastic trail bike. Also looked at a Tallboy and a few others, nearly bought a ranger but the rascal came in purple 🙂
Those 5010 at Stif are hard to look past.
Was thinking pace295?
Seat tube angle is pretty slack.
Revel Ranger could be what you’re looking for.
18 bearings in the suspension linkage IIRC!
oikeith
Full Member
<p style="text-align: right;">OP do you mean Spectral 125? I cant see a Strive 125?</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The Strive 125 has caught my eye recently, I picked up a Nukeproof Scout to complement my big travel, long and slack enduro bike but it doesn’t really do it for me, thinking of replacing it with the Spectral 125, short travel, nice geometry (slack) should be more lively then my Scout in the places I wanna ride it.</p>
I bought a spectral cf7 125 a few months ago, absolutely love it.
Changed bars and stem and stuck my DT1 1501s on to save a bit of weight, makes an already light bike even lighter.
The rest of the kit on it is faultless so far, I wouldn't need to spend any more money on a better model.
Pedals and climbs fantastic and the slacker geometry it shares with the bigger bikes makes it really confident and helps when you run out of travel.
Keep an eye on the sale, their currently £2419 but I picked mine up for £2219 with 6 months 0%.
For my money I’d go Santa Cruz tallboy or Specialized epic evo - some mega deals to be had at the moment.
Revel Ranger looks gorgeous and is a great xc / trail allrounder but I couldn't get past those 18 fiddly linkage bearings either.
revel Ranger could be what you’re looking for.
18 bearings in the suspension linkage IIRC!
and for @devash above. It is a LOT of bearings, but mine were all still fine after nearly two years of riding. Okay I didn't ride it to much in the wet (rear tyre clearance isn't great for a 2.4 and mud) and I made a mudguard to protect the main/lower bearings.
Also when I did check them, they are easy to change, none of that Yeti angled nonsense they used to do.
I could see why it'd put people off. They do ride superbly tho.
The 5010s look great value, but the mullet thing would really put me off.
Top of the tree is a 290 reactor. I know its not niche but its great spec and colour.
I'm not a fast Climber anyway so the fact its not huge rapid up hill isnt a concern