Hi Everyone. So im looking to get back into biking and ive set myself a budget of up to £1500. I've looked at all the reviews and there doesn't really seem to be a general consensus about which bikes are the best for that money and with the amount out there im just getting totally confused.
what im looking for is a bit of an all rounder, something that will be handle up and downhill terrain up to a fairly decent level. I wont be going on anything too technical or expert level at the moment but obviously if the bike can handle that then great. the bikes i like the look of are below, any advice/opinions/recommendations all welcome
Bird zero tr
https://www.bird.bike/zero-tr/
Canyon - grand canyon al sl 9.0
https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/mountain-bikes/trail-bikes/grand-canyon/grand-canyon-al-sl-9.0/2036.html?dwvar_2036_pv_rahmengroesse=S&dwvar_2036_pv_rahmenfarbe=BK%2FGY
Vitus sentier VRS
http://vitusbikes.com/products/vitus-sentier-27-vrs-hardtail-mountain-bike/
Boardman MHT 8.9
https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2182-mht-8.9.html
I have the Zero TR and would recommend it. Great bike and a very good price.
I think you're going to find it difficult to find "the best" bike for that or any other amount of money tbh -- it's too subjective to make a definitive call on.
FWIW, my mate lent me a Vitus Sentier VRS for a few weeks recently and it was smashing for what I ride, which is mostly local loops in the foothills of the Pennines. So generally a mixture of faster rocky bits, more technical/steep woodsy bits, and some moorland singletrack, linked with bridleways and roads where unavoidable. It's reasonably light, the big volume tyres suck up small bumps well, and the geometry is confidence-inspiring for going downhill. I'd buy one if I had any money 🙂 although I'd probably get the VR rather than the VRS and spend the savings customising the VR to my tastes.
Why not the Bird Zero 29?
The TR is a bargain but I really love my Zero 29. You'd have to cut a corner or two to get one for £1500 but it might be worth trying them both of you can. Bird are excellent to deal with.
Another vote for the TR, had mine a few years and still enjoy riding it. Great after sales service too which will be hard to come by from any other manufacturer or shop.
P7 all day, they are cheap at Start fitness too. I’d neve have another ally ht.
Bird Zero TR is meant to be great - not too long or too slack but modern. I have one of their full suss bikes and the customer service is great too.
The Vitus Sentier falls into a similar category for me and I picked up a frame only for £150 which I’ve built up somits robust with 140mm likes etc. So much fun - it rips corners and isn’t heavy despite having a robust build.
Don’t rule out 29ers either if you want a hardtail for everything - they’ll roll over technical terrain better than a 27.5.
When I was looking at hardtails I liked the look also of the Orange Clockwork Evo, Nukeproof Scout, Airdrop Bitmap and Sonder Transmitter.
the Canyon is easily the best value with GX Eagle, a Fox fork and a dropper, and would suit the riding you mentioned. And in that blue, has the best colour.
the Canyon is easily the best value with GX Eagle, a Fox fork and a dropper, and would suit the riding you mentioned. And in that blue, has the best colour.
It may have a decent spec but it has a 68.5 degree head angle, a 72 degree seat angle and the medium only has 430mm reach. So it’s pretty cross country orientated also with a 120mm travel fork. Not the most modern geometry that.
Most of the other bikes mentioned above have a better spec and geometry for more fun trail riding - when I was looking I wanted something around a 66 degree headangle, a little bit more reach than that and a steeper seat tube angle for more efficient pedalling. I think around 140mm is a real sweet spot for fork travel on a trail hardtail.
I recently hired 2 bikes at Leeds Urban Bike Park (both cheaper / lower spec) - a diamondback heist and a Marin San Quentin - one with old style geometry and the other much more progressive (if anything the Marin has a lower spec of components despite the more modern geo). It was night and day the difference between them - the Marin with the worse spec had much better geometry and was so much more fun to ride.
There are some deals around on the Santa Cruz chameleon and the Whyte 905.
I’d have a good look at those also.
Really starting to sway toward the zero 29 if I can afford it. Don’t quite get the pricing on the bird site though. The zero 29 says from £1470 but that looks to be without wheels or seat post by time you add them on it’s creeping towards 2k unless I’m doing something wrong
I think the default fork is a Revelation. You can pick cheaper forks which gets the price down.
£1605 - SX Eagle 12 speed with a Rockshox 35 fork and Sram guide RE brakes and updated 200/180 rotors. Do Swiss m1900 wheels and a 150mm dropper. Reckon that would be a pretty good bike.
https://www.bird.bike/product/zero-29-nx-eagle-12-speed/#configuration
Ah, if you put a 125mm dropper and downgrade the above spec to level t brakes then you get to £1460. You could save a tenner further with 180/160 discs and another £20 downgrading from DT Swiss wheels to Sun Duroc. I’d keep the bigger brakes and rotors on a bike like that though as it will just want to go fast with the big wheels / long reach / slack headangle and large bottom bracket drop.
Would love to have a go on one to try it out.
I'm guessing you're nowhere near Edinburgh?
I’ve found same problem with the bird website. Smaller budget but got excited on the AM advertised starting at £1190.00 yet no configuration possible to even get near that price point. Lowest I could get was just over £1300. Emailed asking and was told must be my iPhone browser and then they were changing between server clouds but quite clearly states from £1190 which was disappointing as I couldn’t justify spending that as i would also need finance at 10% (and if the mrs found out i’d have been in for some trouble!) haha. Looks nice bike though
Just tried on my android phone and also got just over £1300. Could you get an interest free credit card?
I don’t know how you’d get that £1190 starting price as I tried making everything the cheapest option and got £1370 or something like that. Unless there are certain size and colour frames that are discounted over others.....
Sonder Transmitter is an awesome bike for the money. You could pick up the NX Eagle Revelation model for £1400 and have an excellent all-round, hard-riding trail bike. IT's got modern, but not extreme geometry and the plus tyres add a bunch of grip and extra cushioning. Been riding an original Transmitter for the past couple of years and it's been a sort of brilliant halfway point between hardtail and full sus.
https://www.alpkit.com/sonder/bikes/sonder-transmitter-nx-eagle-revelation
Another vote for Bird, I have owned Bird bikes for a few years and the service and support have been great, just tried a Zero29 and was really impressed. I'd recommend contacting Bird re the spec/price and a demo?
I don’t think it’s possible to get it down to the £1190 starting point. They asked me for a screen shot which i sent and they basically said start point was the circa £1300 and intimated it was to do with their IT or something. Now I’m no IT guro but I can’t think it would be too hard to change this and nothing’s changed yet since. As it stands it’s false advertisement to me. Ah well I can still dream....
That red Sonder above does look very nice tbf and looks a pretty decent spec.
It’s a bit mellower and less aggressive than the zero 29. I did consider one before going Vitus Sentier - I only went Vitus as the frame was in a sale at £150 though and the transmitter was £300.
Have you looked at Whyte hardtails? They seem to offer some well sorted bikes that get good reviews.
The nukeproof ones might be worth a look too.
Sales not far off now, might be worth biding your time.
That sonder also looks decent but am I right in thinking it's plus or 650b, with no room for 29in wheels?
I think the transmitter is 27.5” plus. Pretty sure I’ve read somewhere it won’t take a 29” wheel.
Sonder transmitter definitely won't take a 29. However having ridden one its a brilliant bike, hard to beat for the money.
I have a Whyte 905 which I'd recommend, but 2020 models are just out and not much stock of 2019 around if you are looking for a bargain.
Always a balance to be struck between spending the money on the frame with no so great bits on it that you can upgrade as you go, and getting a collection of lovely bits on a not-so-lovely frame.
At the extreme end of the former, there's this for £1599
https://www.alpkit.com/sonder/bikes/sonder-signal-ti-sx-eagle-recon
Just throwing another one in the mix
Marin Nail Trail 7 (29er or 27.5) are currently dipping below that figure if you can find one in the right size.
Slackish, not too slack (68deg? Dont quote me), SLX, remote dropper and Rev forks. Decent reviews. Looks like a ‘do it all’ hardtail that isn’t scared of a fight or two? I’d do one.
Another Marin that could be worth a look is the San Quentin 3. It’s 650b and I rode a lower spec version last week and it has really nice progressive geometry. Quite slack at 65 degree headangle but it felt quite poppy and chuckable despite some pretty low end kit (1x9 Altus / suntour xcms/ no dropper).
I’d think the 3 with revelations etc would be good
Another vote for Bird - I'd go for the AM and maybe spec at 140mm fork though - the TR is an old frame and I don't think they'll make it anymore very soon; it's still not Boost in the back so if you build a bike around a TR and want to upgrade your frame in the future, you might need to change back wheel/hub/cranks too. Worth thinking about.
I have an AM and its great; the Zero 29 is also great.
Sonder is a great move too; its quite difficult to go wrong really.
If you can donate components, £1,500 will get you a sorted rolling HT chassis. Think Pace, Orange, Shan frame with Pike, Ohlins RX 34 and custom built wheels.
