[Closed] New Bike Advice

Hi everyone, new to the forum, although I have been on and read up about suff every now and again over the years.

I'm looking at getting a replacement bike for one that was stolen last year, money isn't plentiful so looking at ways to get a decent bike without bankrupting myself.

I'm 37, 6'6" and in reasonable shape, 90kg, I mostly go to glentress and use the red and blue runs, can't see myself getting up to black but I could become more confident on the red obstacles. Also occasionally head up the Pentland hills which involves a fair bit of climbing.

Previously I had a Commencal SL 2 which I got with a huge discount as it had 26 inch wheels. It was 120mm travel which seemed ok, it was my first full susser so I don't have anything to compare it to. This got stolen.... After looking at new bike prices I managed to find an XL (not much choice of used XL bikes) Radon Slide 150, when I got it I realised it had been put together by a child so it took a bt of work to sort it out, then the night before its first trip to Glentress... it got stolen.... But the short time I had it, it gave me a good impression of mid travel bikes, seemed to fit my size. So.. Insurance paid for a new garage door and paid out for 4 stolen bikes in total... Most of the money has been spent on cctv and building a new solid storage shed.

Now I'm looking for another one. After doing a lot of research I was drawn to mid travel 29ers... however these generally seem to be out of my budget (under £2k) or older enduro or xc oriented models. I'm not too keen on the idea of the long and low geometry, I put riser bars on the last too bikes to bring my hands above the saddle height otherwise it was too uncomfy. I'm thinking 140 or 150 travel might be the right amount, I'm sure less would be fine but the mid travel could give me more margin for error and more confidence.

At the moment I'm looking at 3 possible options and would appreciate peoples thought on them or any alternatives. Although I've been using mountain bikes since childhood... I'm not that experienced with full sussers.

1 - Buy a new Canton Spectral Al 5 for £1899 - I spent a long time considering the Neuron but, although the Spectral is more travel than I'd been looking for, and the Neuron is a 29er, all the reviews and comments lead me to think the Spectral would be a more enjoyable bike to own.

2 - Buy parts and build a bike. There are some Cube frames for sale at Bike Discount. I've put together the following lists of parts, mostly new with some used.

Build 1 - approx £1500
2015 Cube Stereo 140 HPA Pro 27.5 frameset
Fox 34 Rthym forks
Rockshox Monarch RT3 shock
DT Swiss E1900 wheelset
Botranger dropper
SLX Crankset 1x 11
SLX Brakes

Build 2 - approx £1600
2018 Cube Stereo 160 HPA SL
Rockshox Yari forks
Rockshox Monarch RT3 shock
DT Swiss M1900 wheelset
SLX Crankset 1x 11
SLX Brakes

I know the two Cube frames call themselves enduro but the geometry seems more like current trail bikes? The 140 HPA got some good reviews when it came out, couldn't find so much about the 160 HPA although it has slightly more up to date measurements.

Bit of a long post, sorry. Any thoughts welcomed.

Cheers,

Nick