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I'm looking for a 29er around 130mm travel but cannot find anything that appeals... I LOVE Pivot but their prices are insane - a Switchblade would be the dream but it's too expensive. YT always come up a bit short for me and I don't like their boost rear end but non-boost front etc., Santa Cruz used to be too short too, don't know about now. Intense scares me because I have heard of warranty claims being troublesome.....AAAAAARGH!
Also, I need a bike withOUT a really low BB (effectively knocking out everything Whyte now too!). I know it's cool, but I don't think lying in the dirt injured is that cool.
Oh, and anything over £4K all-in (unless it's REALLY special), is pretty much out unfortunately.
Any suggestions? Sorry, I've not made it easy!!
Orbea Occam 29 Tr?
[url= https://www.orbea.com/gb-en/bicycles/mountain/occam-tr ]https://www.orbea.com/gb-en/bicycles/mountain/occam-tr[/url]
Buy my large spectral 29er frame and build it yourself. 
I liked Pivot but bought a Devinci. Have a look at Freeborn and see if they have any deals.
What's a t129 running these days?
I love my Hightower. Not quite 130mm. It's 135mm at the rear and 140 up front (though mine came with a 150mm). Best bike I've owned thus far and the first bike that doesn't feel too short. I did go XL which puts me at the bottom end of the size guide.
Ahem, RM Instinct in the classifieds. 😉
What's a t129 running these days?
Its been dropped from the range and replaced by the s150 .
Fuel Ex. Slightly longer travel than you ask for but it does the shorter travel job
Ignoring the fact it's only 115mm of rear travel (120mm on the 2018), it feels almost endless, I would class the Transition Smuggler as mid travel and with 130-140mm forks up front rides as good as anything.
Banshee Prime.
Another vote for the Hightower, santa Cruz have sorted their sizing nowadays. Awesome bit of kit.
Hightower! I just bought the plus version. Rides lovely with the plus tyres, but I'm going to get some 29er wheels after crimbo.
Hightower again here, very versatile bike. Mine is in 29er mode. It's red so it's obviously fast 😉
Thanks guys, hugely appreciated. I'll be looking at all of those. Bit worried about the Trek because I heard they're quite low. How does the Smuggler pedal? I had heard quite well to be fair.
I loved Whyte - great warranty support and used to like the bikes but flexy rear end and not much room for wider tyres didn't work for me. Plus now they seem to drag their BBs!
Hightower sounds awesome and VPP is pretty efficient I believe (love the DW link so anything close would be great!).
Woo. Lots of fellow Hightower owners. Mines in 29er spec too despite the 150mm plus spec fork. There might still be some 2017 models going for a good price. Mine was 20-25% off last month.
Like a good trail bike. It climbs well and I can also pedal it all day no issues.How does the Smuggler pedal? I had heard quite well to be fair.
love the DW link so anything close would be great!
Banshee's KS-link is quite similar to many DW link implementations. I won't get into the minutiae in case anyone falls asleep but it's also like the Mondraker Zero suspension. Most VPP lacks sensitivity at the start of the stroke in comparison due to the regressive leverage rate.
I like Mondraker and really love Propain but neither have 29ers unfortunately. Orbeas look awesome and I'll look again at Banshee.
Another vote for the smuggler. Just built one up and not dissapointed
FWIW I tried a Switchblade 29" this summer on holiday - I was expecting to be blown away but wasn't. Partly down to spec but also I felt that the back end was hanging up on bumps that it should've rolled over. Felt a little bit short too; was a large and I'm 6ft and a bit (reach was marginally longer than my own bike but didn't seem that way.
Makes me think that maybe back ends are too short on some bikes
Check out the Cotic full suspension 29ers.
AWESOME! Thanks for that! I can finally put my irrational love of the Switchblade to bed, much appreciated!
meh, I'm an average rider when I'm on a good day and no great test-pilot - don't be fooled into thinking I can speak for anyone but myself
Banshee Prime is indeed a 'Faux DW', and the main reason I chose one as a replacement for my DW Sultan.
I've got a Prime which I built up with good parts and it rides lovely. Very fast and plush.
Smuggler or Flare Max. I have both 🙂 Both fantastic in different ways. Neither have very low BBs. Both suspension systems work very well - smuggler has bottomless feel as KM says above and flaremax just feels really sorted.
Smuggler would be my suggestion, but unfortunately the BB height falls foul of one of your criteria doesn't it? I may be wrong, but I thought they were along the same long, low lines as the rest of the range?
I'm not telling you your criteria are wrong, but is your objection to do with pedal strikes? Only ask as I came from a very old, high BB bike to a Patrol (with a low BB) and initially it was a bit of a nightmare, I was smashing pedals on everything, had a few nasty spills. However, I adjusted very quickly, and now I don't want a high BB ever again. The flipside of pedal strikes is the amazing planted feel mid corner, and the ability absolutely rail berms. Certainly feels a lot more stable than my Capra did.
Hightower++
My 2018 smuggler is ordered1
Intense Primer?
Cotic FlareMax or RocketMax both good bikes which you may enjoy, I thought they'd feel short after looking at geometry but the medium feels just fine for me at 5"8". I used to own the original smuggler and that was mint still one of my favourite bikes.
OP - LeeW's Instinct is a flippin bargain!
Banshee Prime is on its way! Thanks very much everyone! I haven’t forgotten the other advice but found a bargain so am in the process of a potentially cruel experiment...!
Prepare to be terrified!
Uh oh, that sounds ominous...
Depends what your previous bike was.
You can run the prime with a 160mm fork and it turns it into a great bike for harder terrain, but it's great at 140mm for trail.
I opted for a lyric at 150mm, with the whole bike targeted at the aggro end of 'trail'. It's enough for me right now.
It’s a lot of bike - it pedals well and isn’t too low, even in the low setting. It’s amazing on technical climbs! I need to get the stem even lower though I think, as I’m not in control on flat and downhill twisty, technical trails. So far, so good though, thanks everyone!