[Closed] What 650b / 29er HT?

On One 45650b for that price. Bird or Nukeproof Scout if you're going above.

Cheers Tom. Hadn't consideres a steel frame but will have a look at the second hand market

Bird zero. 3 is £995. Seems like a better spec than the on one. I've got a zero. 2 coming tomorrow or Monday.

Another vote for bird. My zero 1 arrives Tuesday. Could have had it tomorrow but moving house so having to wait like an impatient child

Let me know how you get on Elton. Can you run 1x10 on the new zero 3?

I think the zero. 3 only has 2x options. There is/was a sale on the zero. 2 and above that took it to nearly the price of the zero. 3. I got that in 1x.

I think the sale ends or ended today though.

Let me know how you get on Elton. Can you run 1x10 on the new zero 3?

Yeah, just remove the granny and fit a narrow wide ring for 25 off quid.

Job jobbed.

On one parkwood looks good.

You're in the NW iirc - 29in is the way to go up here IMO.

[url= http://www.ukbikesdepot.com/m15b185s864p15204/GENESIS_Latitude_20_2015 ]I just ordered one of these[/url]
[url= http://www.ukbikesdepot.com/m15b185s776p15211/GENESIS_High_Latitude_20_2015 ]I nearly ordered one of these[/url]
Wanted steel.

NW indeed chakaping.

I still think 29ers look a [i]little[/i] silly, but just try buying a 26 anything at the mo. I think the 650b is a nice in between.

I quite like the look of the Zero 3. I'll have to wait and see what the bank account says once Xmas has completely washed through.

On one parkwood looks good.

This. Mate has one and it's very impressive for the price.

I got a 2014 Trek Stache 8 for £770 and it is mint...

Went to Gisburn on Monday and kept up with the 650B Nomads (£5200), Trek Slash 7 (£2500) and a Giant Reign (£2200...

Bargain and awesome bike

Went to Gisburn on Monday and kept up with the 650B Nomads (£5200), Trek Slash 7 (£2500) and a Giant Reign (£2200...

Good job your mates didn't have 29er's too, or you wouldn't have kept up.

I bought an infiniti AKA frame/headset combo from Winstanley cycles for £300. Added some Superstar Tesla/Pacenti TL28 combo wheels for £270. Full SLX groupset (incl brakes) from Merlin for £280 leaves £150 to sort out bars, stem, post, saddle and tyres. It can run with both 26" and 650b. Running a 140mm fork, but it;s optimised for 130mm to 150mm.

All adds up to an extremely light weight package. Low slung and with a reasonably slack head angle, this is a lovely bike. Climbs well and descends superbly. I've had it built up for a few weeks and have ridden it in Calderdale and on various trail centre reds and blacks and it's great. Only complaint might be that the paint job is chipping up on the chainstays but it's a minor gripe. Certainly worth consideration I'd have thought.

EDIT - forgot to cost the fork into that build! (I used an existing one). That takes it over your budget I'm afraid, but it;s still a great bike 😉

I'm in the same boat 88.

I've been eyeing up a Bird Zero for a while however I want a SRAM group set rather than Shimano. Currently toying with just getting a frame and building up with the bits I have.

^ ring them and ask if you can have SRAM. They were/are offering it on their other bike, so they've got some at their workshop, or will have soon.

Another vote for the bird. Got a zero.3 a couple of weeks ago, absolutely love it.

Worth having a go on a 29er if you can.

They have a lot of plus points when you're talking about hardtails.

Worth having a go on a 29er if you can.

They have a lot of plus points when you're talking about hardtails.

+1, especially if any part of your riding is about covering any distance. If you're seriously only about the downs there is less of a case of the big wheels.

At your budget it's hard to beat the Parkwood for a good value, versatile, fun bike, personally I'd stretch to steel if I possible could. Tho the chap up there with the Stache for < £800 also found a screaming deal.

What about this....

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/genesis-high-lattitude-2014-medium-unused-upgraded

Anyone got any experiences of Rose bikes?

This certainly looks the part
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1672354/

Good job your mates didn't have 29er's too, or you wouldn't have kept up.

Should have mentioned that this was on the Down Hill parts... The wagon wheels are unbelievable for momentum... Was miles in front of them on the flat/climbs...

I was totally ANTI 29er, but the Stache has changed my mind... Great Bike...

Tho the chap up there with the Stache for < £800 also found a screaming deal.

And for the price (MASSOOOVVVVE BARGAIN) I bought it as a winter Bike and a bike that my wife can use when we take our bike mad 6 and 3 year old's out...

Try a 29er they are great!

I was in a similar position. Went for a 45650b. Love it.
Trek Stache is really good and bird look decent decent. Lots of nice bikes around the grand mark. I was tempted by a whyte 901 too but that is a bit over budget.

My first impressions of the Bird Zero.

It'a lovely bike 😀
The photos don't do the colour justice. Much brighter and sparklier in real life.
The bike arrived yesterday and I spent lunchtime and a little while after lunch getting it set-up.
I went for the zero.2 with 1x10 drive train, -0.5° angleset and Sweep forks.

I took it out last night, but took things easy* as it was cold, dark and my first time on the bike. I'm just about over the cold that kept me off the bike over Christmas too.

I found the 1x10 was enough to get me up the hills I went up, but I didn't go up the steepest one I would do semi-regularly. I think it would've been fine, but I wasn't planning on riding the trails up there last night. When I got to the forest, I turned into the first trail and it absolutely bombed through sections that I used to shake me up and slow me down. The wide bars really helped with cornering and it felt like the bike would go wherever I wanted it to go, without struggling to get it there.

It was all going so well until I went off a drop (fine) and rode into a rock that I didn't really see (I'm sure it wasn't there last time I rode that trail 🙁 ). It stopped the bike pretty quickly, I put my foot down and let go of the inside handlebar. The bar rotated towards me and the frame came at me from the other side and scissored my knee backwards. I think my knee pads took the worst of it, but still...

[img] [/img]

I'm hobbling about today 🙁

Anyway, sore knee or not I was going to keep riding. It wasn't sore sitting pedaling, and after a while was ok to stand too. It did hurt when manualling, which is a shame because this bike loves to manual. It makes it really easy 😀 Wheelies are easy too, and I'm fairly sure I was able to scoop up the back wheel for the first time too. (I will master bunny hops by the end of the year).

The riding position is great. I felt really balanced when sitting pedalling, with all of the weight off my hands. Standing was similar and it really sets you up well for the attack position. Even after hurting my knee, I was pumping, popping and swooping off everything I could. It really flowed well.

My old bike is an entry level [url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/for-sale-17-saracen-mantra-2012-mountain-bike-175 ]Saracen Mantra[/url] with Suntour XCM forks. Everything about this bike is better, but I didn't realise how much the old forks were holding me back. I can now tackle things with the confidence that the fork will behave in a predictable way. I always thought that my pumping technique was a bit crap, as I didn't really get much out of it. On the Bird, pumping things made a big differnce, and pump manuals are a lot easier to do too.

I can't wait for next week for a better ride 🙂

I suppose there are two very minor niggles with it:
1: The plate for the front mech is pretty useless for 1x10. It would be great if there is a 1x10 specific version without that plate. Still, I knew it would have it and I don't notice it when I'm riding.
2: My head keeps turning the Z in the logo into a N, and teh O (which is squared off) into a D. I keep reading it as the Bird Nerd. Although as a 30 something software developer (no Audi though), there is something appealing about a Bird Nerd.