"Poppy, Playful" short travel bike

140mm travel frame is short travel?

From your description, how about a pivot switchblade?

Bird Aether 7? 130mm so may not be short travel...

Banshee Spitfire or Prime?

I've been looking for something similar, riding the same kind of places so watching with interest! Trouble with a lot of "trail" short travel bikes is they have longer wheelbase/reach/chainstay which doesn't work for poppy and playful in my experience.

Bird Aether 7 or 9 is top of my list at the minute, ideally need to test ride both so I can decide on a wheel size. Marin Rift Zone looks pretty good too. I'm even considering looking for a used Scott Voltage FR710 as I loved my old Voltage FR30, it was perfect for all these trails and great at DH like FOD too.

If you weren’t definitely against carbon, I’d say a Santa Cruz 5010 fits that description perfectly. Ok, it has internal cables but they are tubed and pretty easy to replace. Some absolute bargains around at moment as well.

Came in to suggest the Banshee's above... were on sale recently.. not sure if still are

Based on my Aether 9c, I'm another suggestion for the Aether 7.

The short back end heavily influences how it rides - mine's a large with long 512mm reach, but even with the stretched out front and big wheels, it's surprisingly playful and easy to pop the front wheel/get the whole bike off the ground. I'm sure 27.5 wheels on the 7 would enhance this further. Downsizing the whole frame could also be, if playfulness is paramount.

There's a couple of good recent Ali Clarkson videos on Youtube featuring the Aether 7. Worth a look.

Funnily enough Bird was on my list before I bought my FlareMax but they didn't have any in stock when I bought it. Keep them coming!

There are some cracking deals on the Trek Remedy right now. The travel is longer but it really doesn't feel like a long travel bike.

Might be worth trying a different shock on the frame you have if you want full sus with a poppy feel.

Transition Scout

Orange Five

I own a flare max and did a little experimenting with the cane creek shox . I loaded it up with volume spacers and it made the bike more playful . Maybe look into that first which ever shock your running ?

Been really happy with my Saracen ariel 30. Ride the same places you've stated you wanted it for. Jumps well, pedals well, burly enough for a mild uplift day.  It's been completely bomb proof too. You can have a bash at twisted if you like.

Another one that might work depending on your height is the new Calibre Bossnut, the XS comes with 27.5 wheels and has short chainstays. I want to have a ride on one, might work for me as a fun play bike but may be a little short on reach. I think it's what Lando Steezy is riding and seems to work for him!

Transition Scout

Orange Five

Orange have plenty of frames on sale atm, including the 5 for cheap, cheap. They have had an extra 20% off the sale prices a couple of times recently so they might do that again soon?

https://www.orangebikes.com/shop/factory

I’m disappointed that the Cotic isn’t poppy and playful I thought that was exactly what it was meant/designed to be.

Change of shock on the Cotic?

I was going to suggest something from Airdrop as they seem to focus more on the play side of things rather than the all-day stuff (although they're still great for that).

The Filter would have been ideal but it looks like it's no longer in the range. If you're willing to go longer on the travel, the Edit 27.5 might tick all your other boxes

I've done a lot of fettling with back end of the Cotic. It's fantastic at the down-country stuff that it's designed for. But the back end is too long to be agile. It's fast one it's moving, but getting it rolling takes a lot of effort.

I'm not a fan of Orange. But the Banshee and Transition look good. And the Saracen looks a good shout. I was hoping to be at Twisted this weekend trying out the new lines, but the wind canned that plan.

That new Zink Vacat sounds like it has the same intention as you’re looking for in terms of playing in bike parks - albeit it’s 150mm rear travel.

My Aether 7 was fairly playful when I had that - with an air shock and 140mm fork. When I coiled shock’d it and upped to 150mm it was less playful.

That said my mate’s v3 Sanata Cruz 5010 (carbon) felt sharper and more playful still. Vs my Transition Sentinel it feels almost like a hardtail in comparison.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with the Aether 7 but factor in a Megneg or a nice coil. Genuinley the frame that improved my jumping most of any, in fact all my riding.

I could never quite get over the fact that it had less travel so thought it felt rougher than I'd like. Turns out that when I stripped it to sell it needed main pivot bearings... By this point I'd bought an V4 Edit. I've never managed to ride as well since!

Maybe I should go back but this time in pink 🙂

Bird have hinted in response to a comment on their Instagram, that there might be mullet options coming. No mention of for which bikes though.

I could be persuaded to split my ML Aether 7 down. It's got a MegNeg too 🙂

Depending on what size maybe the new transition scout? Or a Raaw Jibb?

Banshee bikes defo worth a look, not ridden one my self but they get a lot of good reviews saying they are fun to ride especially in jumps.

Simlar with Evil bikes, I have a Following v3 120mm travel at the rear and 130mm travel at the front. Had as long reach but a steeper head angel so the wheelbase is shorter than similar bikes. It makes it a really agile bike that’s a bit like a rally car rather than a monster truck.  I really enjoy it in twisty trails and it loves to pop off things and generally has very playful character.

Son has an Airdrop Filter and he loves it. Sounds like it would fit the bill. They have none in stock ATM but are working on a V2, but no idea of timescales, sorry.

I like my Aether 9. Not sure I've got enough skill to tell playful from a monster truck but I'm more comfortable jumping on it that my Ragley Marley. Seems to be really capable in the rough stuff at the front, but fairly firm and controlled at the rear which I like for pumping etc. I had a bit of a play and considered a meg-neg but ended taking a negative band out of the shock

The Airdrop Filter seems like the front runner. I'll keep an eye on the classifieds for a medium.

There's an Airdrop owners group on Facebook where they come up occasionally.

Having said that, if you're close to Sheffield, take an Edit out for a test ride, it might surprise you.

I recently spent a lot of time whittling about how much travel I wanted/needed. I drew some lines on a piece of paper the length of the various travel options. Seeing that gave me a someone different outlook on the subject

Shame you've ruled out Orange, they are among the most poppy & playful bikes out there IMO.

Might be worth trying a secondhand recent era Five while prices are so low. You might be surprised how much fun it is.

In a "recommend what you own" way, as above, a Five. My '22 prototype is flippin ace - quite slack even with a 140mm fork but with the seat down, the only bike I can compare it to is my old Blur 4X (which is praise as that thing was ace too).

Brilliant at BPW and it flies down the bike-park'ey type stuff there with berms and jumps, taken it to the Alps and it doesn't feel out of place on the "back country" type tech trails etc. Feel like I've got stuck in a bit of a rut with buying bikes as my last 3 or 4 main bikes have been Oranges but don't feel any need to change. Yes, filing cabinets blah blah blah but they're brilliant.

Feel like I’ve got stuck in a bit of a rut with buying bikes as my last 3 or 4 main bikes have been Oranges but don’t feel any need to change.

Haha, I know the feeling.

Stage 6, Stage 4, Stage Evo, Switch 6 and now Stage 6 Evo. I feel any other brand would lose that fun factor to some extent.

Anyone wanna buy a nice medium Stage Evo? 😀

"Poppy Playful".  My first thought was "was she a Roger Moore Bond girl?"

How about a Specialized Status140? Tredz has an S4 for £1,900...