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Afternoon all
Having been a long time lurker, i am entering the fray with a dreaded "what bike" thread.
Anyhow, here is my story, any help and advice greatly appreciated.
I currently have a cove hustler, this is set up more for down than up (but then so am i at 17.5 stone). it has a 150mm fork, xt/raceface drivetrain with double and bash. I love the bike it excels on the downs and is bareable on the ups with pro pedal. Unfortunately i have cracked the frame so need a replacement.
Initially i was just going to swap my kit onto a new frame but having had clearence for a new bike purchase i am going to go all out with a budget of £4k ish. Trouble is i am a little out of the loop with new bikes and no amount of reading has cleared anything up. I am not fussed on wheel size but not sure 29 is for me. My shortlist has grown and shrunk but the constants seem to be the Whyte G150 works, Alpine 160rs, Yeti SB75 and an Orange 5. So any others i should consider or should any of those be struck off never to be spoken of again?
Cheers James 😀
Had the same sort of dilemma as you not long ago.
Many of the same suspects on the list too.
I wanted either 29 or 650b, so looked at :
SC tallboy LTC
Yeti SB95c
Yeti SB75
Salsa Horsethief
Orange5
Orange 529
Intense Spider
Specialized Stumpy FSR
Etc
I'm about a stone heavier than you , prefer the downs but also wanted something good going up.
Already had a 29er, don't dismiss until you've tried.
Demo'd loads and like quite a few.
Loved the 529 but seemed heavy.
Loved the Yeti and SC but couldn't justify the price, over the others.
Hated the intense!
Ended up scratching the head until the missus suggested the Cube Stereo Super HPC.
Bloody awesome!!
All the bike/spec of the Yeti and SC but a fraction of the price (£2k less)
Can't recommend highly enough.
Bike discount.de still had a few left last time I looked and they were about £2.6k for a full carbon, 140 travel 29er enduro rig, bargain!! If you don't want 29er, they do in 160mm / 650b too.
Oh, the missus liked mine so much, she bought one too!!
Happy shopping 🙂
Great stuff, thanks.
I guess i am a bit old skool and feel 29 is cheating! I have managed to book demos of the Orange Alpine 160rs and the 5Rs for the new year. Also going to book a demo of the Whyte. Did you try the cube before you bought it?
Have exactly the same opinion with the yeti and the SC, they seem massivley under specced for the price even compared to the oranges which people seem to slag off for being overpriced!
Just seem to keep going round in circles, hopefully a test will help me focus. Am worried i want the 160 already and will try and convince myself it is what i need!
Yes tried the Cube. It's simply stunning.
Don't know whether it's a skill compensator or a confidence giver, but boy has my riding improved.
Try one if you can 🙂