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Hi so as the title says really I used to ride mtb's a lot about a decade ago. And I completely forgot I was a member of this forum. I was talking to a friend about getting back into riding mountain bikes. And he said why not ask on a forum they will be able to help. I recently bought myself a road bike (Canyon Ultimate CF SL) which I've been loving and I really want to get back into mountain biking aswell.
So I used to ride a Yeti 4x doing woods and moors stuff as well as light DH and a bit of dirt jumping (so basically an all round gravity fun bike). And I loved than bike, it was perfect an I should never have got rid. And i'd like something along those lines again. But I'm unsure of what would be the current equivalent. Aswell as the change to 27.5/29in wheels and other current trends. I'd be looking at buying second hand with a budget of £2k. I'm 6ft tall to the cm.
Any help would be greatly appreciated and if you need any extra info just ask👍
If you are after a hard tail the marin San quentin 3 looks good.you can buy new for that price and still have change.its tough and slack inspired by dirt jumping and freeride frame and should still be fine at trail centres and singletrack.
hey trumpton. I'd ideally be wanting a fs if I can get one. Just to take the sting out of the bigger hits.
I like the look of the dmr sled although its seat post angle is dated and there isn't many around.commencal will do something suitable for the freeride type FS bike and there will be a few around although used prices are expensive at the moment. Nowadays you basically get trail bikes and enduro bikes.kona and Norco are worth a look at too.trail bikes can be at the tougher end too like commencal.enduro bikes may be a bit too much bike and are like old dh bikes that can climb but might be a bit boring on tamer stuff.
It sounds like you want a shirt / mid travel fs bike that’s built burly and has decently slack angles.
Wheelsize is personal opinion but my interpretation would be that perhaps 650b (27.5”) might give more of the feel you are after.
Difficult to know what to suggest tbh as it’s not the sort of riding I do really (I wish I was better at jumping but it’s slow progress).
Maybe a shorter travel enduro type bike would be strong enough - or something with that sort of intention.
Perhaps the outgoing Transition Scout would be worth a look - this is the frame I mean:
Maybe if you bought this frame you could then pickup parts from eBay / in sales and come in somewhere near budget.
Stick on something like a Rockshox Yari / Fox 36 Rhythm as they have solid chassis but will be cheaper as they don’t have the top of the range dampers.
Something like DT Swiss E1900 wheels or something from Halo built solid but not too expensive.
Just get a cheaper 11 speed groupset on there like Shimano SLX or Sram NX and e-bike related brakes. Sram Guide RE or Shimano MT-520’s can be found cheap on eBay quite often.
Then just pick up other finishing
cheap - Nukeproof so a very solid stem for £25 / Planet X do the El Guapo riser bar which is often £15 and pretty solid.
Will take some patience for 2nd hand stuff / bargains, but would make a great bike.
Not sure if my current bike is built hefty enough or not but it was the bike I picked over the patrol as it’s meant to pedal better - Bird Aether 7. It’s long / quite slack / 130 rear travel / either 140 or 150mm front travel. £2k might just squeak one.
The dmr sled looks about ideal, but I can't seem to find one in my budget.
Commencal seem to be going for silly money.
Hey Joe thats pretty much exactly what I want, short travel, slack angles, racy feel but capable enough to take on nearly anything. I took my 4x everywhere (and apart from the big drops I could take on anything). There is a 4x for sale at £1300 and I'm really really tempted to just say **** it and buy another lol. Do transition do a 27.5 version of the ripcord? I could see a 27.5 ripcord, yari/pikes & Halo Tornados be bang on.
There is an Intense spider on ebay. Do you know much about them? Ever ridden one? I rode an intense m3 and that thing was mental to ride. I do remember something about intense framed weren't warranted though as they were classed as F.R.O?
That bird looks a very nice piece of kit.
I’d go with a slack mid travel bike, 29 for more speed, 27.5 for throwing more shapes in the air. You’ll probably find more choice in 27.5 secondhand though.
The Aether 7 looks great if it comes in budget - but if you can find the previous model secondhand, the Aeris 120 and put a -2 deg Works headset in you’ll have a very similar bike.
If you look on Paul's cycles theres a 2 grand rocky mountain that's heavily reduced.on winstanleys site theres a 2 grand kona process heavily reduced it's a 2019 model reduced from 3700 but only in medium
Sonder Evol well within budget
I've put that RM Pipeline on save. If I don't find anything over the rest of the weekend I will probably pull the trigger on it. Cheers for that recommendation 👍
Those sonder bikes look smart, never seen or heard anything about them though. Have you got one? How does it ride? Any things to look out for/should be aware of?
Edit: spelling
You could also get a short travel kona process 134 for 2200 pounds new. They have slack geometry and get good reviews
The pipeline does not look that slack which is probably why its reduced and it might not be tough enough for dirt jumping depending how big the jumps are.same with the downhill depends how rowdy it is and how rough you are on bikes and how steep the stuff you ride is. It would be great for more general riding though.
Depending on what size you need you can get a yt Capra for just shy of £2k
https://www.yt-industries.com/uk/detail/index/sArticle/2340/sCategory/92
With a 65.6deg head angle isn't that like dh territory? If I remember correctly wasn't the Orange 224 about 65deg?
What bike
Isn't the Capra a full on freeride rig?
A 65 degree head angle is pretty normal these days on trail bikes.
No the Capra is an enduro bike, if you want something with similar geo but less travel have a look at the jeffsy.
I thought there was a rocky mountain enduro bike but its s trail bike.
A modern geometry enduro bike can handle any dh course without getting out of its depth.
As has been said, 65deg is pretty much bang on the money for a trail/enduro bike these days.
As the usual recommend-what-you've-got, I'll go with Bird again and say to have a look at the Aeris 145. Can run it with the stock linkage and 150/160mm forks for trail duties, or stick on the 160mm linkage and run 170mm forks for mini-DH stuff. Should be able to nudge one for just over £2k now that the Aether7 has been released and people are jumping ship to that.
God I'm getting confused lol. The capra looks like what I call a freeride rig. 180mm travel, slack HA etc.
A bit more digging & research is required I think. 😅
It seems as though transition don't do the bottle rocket anymore either 😕 shame. Always liked them.
There isn't really any such thing as "Freeride" any more, not in the sense of how it was. 180mm travel bikes are properly all-day pedalable if you really want to, and proper DH bikes are light enough that they get used for what used to be freeride.
Whereabouts are you? When the lockdown eases, see if you can get a ride on some of the new-school bikes as I think you'll be surprised.
The bird bikes look lovely and the 145mm is version is incredibly nice. How have you found it? Anything you would change? How do they hold up to company's like Intense, Santa C etc?
Worse thing I did was to get rid of my Bottlerocket. There’s a lot out there. As I read somewhere on here last night prices are up at the mo for lower priced bikes but cheaper on more expensive bikes. For £2k I’d imagine there are some used deals about at the mo as people could be selling their rigs to get some cash.
I'm in Yorkshire, it sounds like i really need to get some test rides on the modern stuff.
It sounds like you want a lively, bouncy jump bike. Lots of sprawled out modern enduro bikes are bit of a buzzkill in that sense. My bike is awesome for normalish riding but it's crap for popping wheelies and doing skids.
Where in Yorkshire are you? You should demo an Airdrop Edit.
Struggling to think of a modern equivalent of a Yeti 4x or Bottlerocket. Maybe a Commencal Clash or a used Bronson.
I'm in Bingley. And I'll have a look at that airdrop cheers for the recommendation 👍.
And yeah it seems to have died out as a style? The closest I can find is something like the canyon stitched 720 but that is 26in and single speed.
That Canyon is basically a dedicated DJ bike with a token spring. I wouldn't want to travel anywhere on one.
Basically, modern bikes are awesome. They can all do almost anything. The problem is bikes have grown massively since 4x was a thing and if you want something specifically for arsing around on it's better to avoid some of the longer slacker options. I say that from experience.
I'm always eyeing up the Airdrop as a less full-on option but I just can't justify 2 expensive bikes when I've all but quit riding. I live round the corner from their HQ and I've seen some very nice examples. Theres a Facebook group for owners and people buy and sell on there if you want to go hunting.
I will do.
Whats the new equivalent of a bike just to arse around in the woods?
And im now on the airdrop fb group lol.
I'd say what you're after would probably be a Banshee Spitfire - described as the DHers trail bike. Not too long, not too slack, but long and slack enough. Supposed to be a really fun bike to just razz about on.
Edit: If it's the right size, I'd be all over this - https://m.pinkbike.com/buysell/2657707/
a 2nd hand transition smuggler would be a good shout. try and get a mk1 version as they were great and a fair bit lighter. transition seem to be cheap to buy too. the best all round bikes imo are 130/140mm travel 29ers, can't go wrong
When you say arsing about what do you mean? If it’s dirt jumping then a hardcore hardtail could do that. If it’s a bit of everything then a trail full suss could do it.
I’d personally say the Bird Aeris 145 isn’t really an arsing about in the woods bike unless you’re going to slowly churn up a fireroad then hit some steep / fast / rocky stuff, plus bit drops and jumps. Even at 150 front / 145 rear travel it’s long / low / slack. It’s never going to be a lively handling bike - I had one before my Bird Aether. I swapped as I wanted something that turned into corners quicker / pedalled better on flatter trails / manualled and popped better. The Aether for sure is more an arsing about in the woods kind of bike.
The Banshee spitfire does get some good reviews as that kind of bike, but it’s expensive, doesn’t sound like it has a great warranty and ones before 2017 cracked. So on your budget it’s possibly not a great option.
The Transition Scout is more likely to be achievable in budget I reckon. The Transition Smuggler could possibly work too.
The Norco Optic is another option - but I’m not sure you’d get one in budget as it’s only recently out.
The Airdrop Edit is ok - I test rode one the day before the Aeris 145 and then picked the Aeris. It just felt better balanced and poppy.
Just to give everyone an update I've bought a 27.5 DMR Trailstar and I'm talking with a lad over a Yeti 4x.
I had a sidekick when I was younger and I remembered how fun they were, so gone for the newer one. See how it goes. The sidekick was just a fun bike for pinning through the woods as well as doing skids and jumps on.
I'm also keeping a close eye on the airdrop bikes group on Facebook see if I can get something.
Thanks for looking for me everyone.
Stay safe everyone.
Good choice.if you can keep the hard tail if you get a FS bike.airdrop looks good too