So what's good for £5K in the enduro bike market at the moment? Looking for something for Scottish enduros this Summer and general winch and plummet and the odd uplift at Inners, Ae and Fort Bill. Coming off a Bird AM9 with 170mm fork. Probably not anything in the "super enduros" segment i.e. not a bike like the Giga.
TIA!
Specialized Enduro is likely about to be replaced, I’m sure you’d get a bargain from any dealer who had an old model in stock.
Having v little to go on makes you sound like a Spesh enduro 😜
I'm going to start the recommending what you own.
Outgoing Rocky Mountain Altitude should easily be within budget, its the best bike I've ever had with lots of adjustment.
If you happen to be medium, there's a RM Altitude C70 on Paul's for 60% off. Unfortunately I'm not..
if you like the bird, how about their new carbon offering?
I'd push the boat out a little more and go for a Geometron G1 for the riding you want to do.
It'll end up being a better investment and cheaper in the long run with the lack of maintenance due to it being actually designed for smashing the shit out of in less than optimal conditions.
The advice/free suspension tuning and backup are also worth a lot more than the extra above your five grand target.
How many other bikes offer free spring swaps/ shock re valves until you're happy with your new bike?
Thanks for all the suggestions so far, they're all food for thought. I'm just looking for inspiration really so this all helps.
Raaw Madonna rolling chassis and add brakes and groupset of your choice.
Why not super enduro if it's primarily winch and plummet? What sort of travel would you be looking at?
I posted this thread last year - I ended up with a Stumpjumper Evo. It felt a bit lightweight in the Alps, but it's spot on locally.
Merida one-sixty 👌👌
You'd get a 6000 model with change for £5k
RAAW Madonna v3 would be top of my list, bang up to date geo & sizing, if you’re taller you might benefit from the stack height on the v3 being higher than previous, which is a good thing imo.
Another vote for a V3 Madonna from me.
The Madonna looks great but not sure about the extra budget...
The G1 also looks good, I like what they're about but not sure I could live with no bottle cage (plus extra budget).
Maybe the Megatower? It looks like a great bike for a great price and I had so much fun on my last Santa Cruz (23 years ago).
The Stumpy Evo looks like a really strong contender, it seems to get great reviews everywhere, in the press and from users. I guess I need to decide whether I want the same travel I have now or more with the Meagtower.
Thanks for the suggestions, they've been a real help.
Maybe not as suited to fort bill as a G1, but for most enduro style trails I've got on really well with my Prime.
https://primebicycles.com/product/thunderflash?color=1&build=S&size=L
Not really sure what the 'fully landed' cost is in the u.k, but it's a great bike with a great spec. The suspension is amazing, and the overall balance of the bike is really nice too. I was skeptical of the low stack, but but I went with the 480 reach large at 6ft 2 and I think the slightly shorter reach than previous bikes I've had helps balance out the lower stack. It feels great on flatter trails and has amazing balance on steep tech. I've found Prime to be really responsive with after sales support as well.
Personally I wouldn't go for the Megatower without budgeting for a shock, fork and wheel upgrade. Nice frames and finishing kit, but the main components aren't right for a bike of that price and if you're after the best performance then budget suspension and cheese rims just aren't going to cut it.
@bearGrease I’ve got a Stumpjumper Evo, and it’s an excellent bike, I’d say it’s Enduro-adjacent. I’ve certainly never felt that I’ve needed more travel on it.
That Prime bike looks lush…plus on special offer right now…
A Euro price may mean adding sporting goods tax and VAT and the courier handling charge.....
Build a Raw Madonna.
Given where you are planning on riding it a lot, with rocks, I wouldn’t recommend the SJ Evo. They are reknowned to be ‘very’ fragile whem it comes to rock strikes…
My friend has a forbidden Dreadnought. At only 154mm of travel I was a bit sceptical, but he feels that it’s not out of place on even the harder sort of DH trails. I think that will be my next enduro bike.
Curious how that would compare to a Raaw Madonna, those look great and have also been on my list
Transition Sentinel?
Ive a new 2024 megatower Its been built up from a warranty frame with mainly new parts and its been behind me for the last 8 weeks , Its not set foot out of the house no for lack of riding but ive been riding a 150 -120mm trail bike more . Ive looked at almost every bike mentions from about as a possible change as I have a wee bit of Carbon anxiety . I shouldnt as i didnt kill my last Megatower which I had for 4.5 years all over the Lakes Dales and Peaks ...
Transition sentinal would be a good call
Ibis ripmo gets solid reviews
Raw Madonna .. not the lightest
Airdrop mx only good for warny in a pair of jeans and jib top (I know buyers who have regretted buying for this reason )
Privateer frame up build ?
I wouldnt look at Nukeproof .. goes without saying
This might be worth a look .. solid build https://uk.yt-industries.com/products/bikes/capra/core-4/671/capra-29-core-4/
Merlin had some pretty good deals on ripmos recently.
Banshee could be another name on the list.
Ebike?
Failing that a trek slash is superb
Cotic RocketMAX?
(to continue the recommend what you ride thing, but it does fulfil the brief)
Cotic RocketMax
I just built a Madonna v2.2. They are on sale still and quite frankly a bargain in my eyes! It’s not light, but only 2lb more than my carbon sentinel was. And it’s a monster truck! So so good!
you could easily build one in budget with some nice parts.
if I had to look else where that new bird is probably where my money would go
The G1 also looks good, I like what they’re about but not sure I could live with no bottle cage
You can fit a bottle on a G1.
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@bearGrease - What is the AM9 not doing that you want the new bike to do? Otherwise you’re just going to get a load of random suggestions.
Take, seriously, the Canyon Strive, YT Capra, or Nukeproof Mega if you're looking for an affordable Enduro bike.
Wouldn’t buy a Mega with Nukeproof currently in limbo and the recent carbon ones having proved to be a bit ‘cracky’.
@marksnook… if you don’t mind me asking what was the cost of the import tax? Very interested in getting a madaonna myself!
If you're planning on smashing out runs of Fort Bill etc then a GeoMetron would hold up well. BITD I used to ride there regularly - 14-20 runs over a weekend - and it was killing my enduro bike (Lapierre Spicy). Swapped to an old Glory DH to save the wear n tear. I'd have no such worries about my current GeoMetron though.
And it doesn't have to be a new G1, or even a G1 at all. I'm happy smashing around on my 2018 G16 which, after a few tweaks, isn't a million miles away from a G1. Frame cost me <£1k inc a new coil shock 18 months ago. And it fits a bottle: 600ml Camelbak Podium with this cage but is a bit difficult to remove on my 'longest' frame, so I'm swapping to a Fidlock 450.
Atherton S170.3, £4.8k. I'd be having a hard look at those if I was in the market.
Maybe stretch a bit to the GX, Fox 38 S170.2 for £5.5k
a11y
And it fits a bottle: 600ml Camelbak Podium with this cage but is a bit difficult to remove on my ‘longest’ frame, so I’m swapping to a Fidlock 450.
That works on an XL/Longest, the L frame is just slightly too small to make it work.
Source - tried for AGES to make it work
singlespeedstu
You can fit a bottle on a G1.
That's the YT Thirstmaster, @singlespeedstu ? Thinkk I asked you about this before
Is it secured with just the single bolt, or anything additional? What cage do you use?
Edit - is it this one?
Yep thats the one , comes with the cage.
Hit up Geometron for the adaptor bracket.
So frame only no shock with import came to around £1700. I bought some extra bits like mech hanger, brake mount and axle mounts to adjust chainstay length. So ultimately I had £1800 in it.
I had an ohlins coil that was the size for the frame so that made it easy. Raaw supplied all the shock mounting hardware I needed. Really well machined top hat bushings rather than the usual centre bush with plastic/rubber washers.
I wanted external routing, simple to work on. I absolutely love it, it’s just mint! Like I said not that much heavier than my sentinel. Some of the extra weight is from burlier tyres and inserts. I don’t stress on weight though. It climbs well!
if you are south west based you are welcome to have a go
Banshee Titan? I have it's little brother the Prime and it's ace. £2099 for frame, shock and headset. Leaves 3k for the rest of the build.
G1, will be reliable unlike every other option. You can play with the setup as much as you want, swap in and out of mullet in a few mins.
Have mine setup with a set of Nero's, fancied something that the CSU wouldn't start creaking on. Will probably end up with a set of ERA LT's on their at some point.
Cheapest Geometron is what? £6.5K? Even the frame with shock/fork is £3.5K.
Raaw Madonna v2.2
You might get one of these in under £5k too - Deviate Highlander 150. v1You’d need to do some very shrewd bargain hunting but it’s definitely doable (don’t bother with the 36’s though - couldn’t keep up with the rest of the bike 😂)
£1650 for a new v1 Highlander frame is a good starting point: https://store.deviatecycles.com/collections/sale-23/products/deviate-highlander-frame
(I know because I’ve bought a 140mm version 😀)
Also might know of a shop doing sensible builds on v2 Highlanders for <£5k.
Geometron G1. Bloody marvellous bike, save by using your old parts on a new frame / fork. There’s a few around inners I think.
go 275 rear, more lively
Proper sturdy and genuinely proper geometry. Can’t beat a bike the right size that steers properly. the EXT is bloody amazing.
There were some awesome deals on the old Trek Slash, which is still a very modern bike but with 160mm travel rather than 170mm and high pivot of the new one. It would make an excellent all-rounder. Just check your req'd seatpost insertion depth.
Cheapest Geometron is what? £6.5K? Even the frame with shock/fork is £3.5K.
Comes with a grands worth of shock and a pair of forks that won't creak and IMO are a far better fork than the zeb/38
Deviate highlander or Claymore. If you're in Scotland you should be able to book a free demo at their hq.
@a11y where might one find those "sensible" Deviate builds? I'm interested...
Cycle Highlands in Ballater are selling Forbidden Dreadnoughts in XT spec for £4k. Most sizes, I believe.
My friend has a forbidden Dreadnought. At only 154mm of travel I was a bit sceptical, but he feels that it’s not out of place on even the harder sort of DH trails. I think that will be my next enduro bike.Curious how that would compare to a Raaw Madonna, those look great and have also been on my list
I have had both a v2.2 Madonna & a Dreadnought & they are a very different ownership prospect…
For riding, the Dreadnought is still the fastest bike I’ve ridden/raced - it carries speed like no other bike I’ve ridden (including other high pivot bikes). But, it is absolutely not a great bike for UK conditions. It needs a lot of love to keep the linkage running well & if you neglect it, it starts to feel crap, pretty quickly. You will get pretty adept at bearing changes with it.
The Raaw is the total opposite. It feels ‘safe’ to ride & is still a great bike, just not quite as fast. However, I neglected the hell out of it & it just kept coming back for more. We did an intense couple of weeks riding in Italy last year which ended up being nearly 70,000m of descending in total, which I never touched the bike & it’s still on the same bearings now. It genuinely is a bike you can just ride & forget about.
Kind of like a Geometron, but it takes more than a kids sized water bottle & doesn’t look pig ugly. (And the whack geometry which is an acquired taste).
Just so happens there is a decent Pinkbike review of the Madonna this week too.
@bearGrease, give Iain @ The Bike Works in Stirling a call. Iain was Ben @ Deviate's old physics teacher (genuinely) and rides both a Highlander 2 and Claymore himself. Spec for £4750: Highlander 2, any colour any size, Float X shock, Fox 36 Grip 160mm fork, Pro5 wheels, Hope headset/BB, 1x12 SLX inc brakes, OneUp bar/stem/dropper. We joke that it's the 'sensible' spec most of our group would choose: stuff that just works without overly blingy.
I was only doing a frame swap hence went for a Highlander 1 frame instead, otherwise I was tempted with one of those.
My 140 Highlander v1 after first proper ride:
The new Madonna looks mint and the PB review is very positive. I'd be very happy with one of those.
I'd love to ride one back to back with a G1. I loved my G16 and I absolutely hammered it for 4 years and never heard a single complaint.
My current Privateer in comparison is a nice bike to ride but it's impossible to keep it quiet. It's always squeaking or creaking from somewhere.
An alloy Transition Spire is probably in the same ballpark as some of the bikes mentioned here. If you’re an xl frame size the NX one is £2999 at Tweeks. Whilst the group set isn’t that high end it has Code R brakes, a bomber Z1 air fork (think can be converted to coil cheaply) and a Float X shock. Plus leaves loads of budget for tweaking.
My current Privateer in comparison is a nice bike to ride but it’s impossible to keep it quiet. It’s always squeaking or creaking from somewhere.
I sent one back, the QC on it was terrible. Took the shock off and the rear end was pretty much locked out, no wonder they had a low compression tune shock! It then proceeded to eat frame bearings.
How do you know when someone's riding a Geometron?
Because they'll bloody well tell you... 😉
My privateer last all but 2 rides .. shocking and for me it was the noise and build quality they made me get ride quick like !
Kramer
How do you know when someone’s riding a Geometron?Because they’ll bloody well tell you
yep we’re evangelists. Hoping to share how wonderful it is to ride a bike that fits and that lasts. Designed to excel not to a budget.
Orbea Rallon, absolutley love mine. Had a megatower before it, and I massively prefer the Orbea
