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Budget, reviews, and what I'll be using it for. What the pros ride has absolutely zero bearing on my choice.
MTB 1 - Bird Aether 9, absolutely love it and was able to build up a great spec within budget thanks to their flexibility.
MTB 2 - Surly Krampus 29+, bought frame then built up using combo of spares box, 2nd hand parts and a couple of new bits. This was before I got the Bird and I wanted a low maintenance MTB. Haven't ridden this in an age as just use the Bird, esp as most of my riding is Tweed Valley and am enjoying a bit more squish rather than the rigid.
Road/Gravel - Fairlight Secan - bought frame then transferred old groupset and components onto it and have treated myself to 3 sets of wheels for it - Mason X Hunt 4 season, Hunt Gravel x wide, Parcours Strade. Again, absolutely love this bike, fits like a glove and super comfortable to ride.
Stooge Scrambler: moved back up to Scotland from the Lake District. Got bored with local stuff feeling flat on a full suspension and don’t feel the need to do Munroe descents, jumps or big drops anymore. Sold it and built up a trail/fireroad bomber/bikepacky/ bastard of a Scrambler. It’s poppy when unladen and a tank bagged out. I have camo bits on it and it is well cool.
Vitus Escarpe
The price, local and 2nd hand, the MBR trail bike of the year review. In that order based on spotting it on facebook marketplace and then doing a bit of research.
On-One Scandal
Generally trusting Brant's design decisions and getting it on pre-order for a good price.
Cannondale CAAD4 and CAAD-X
The CAAD4 back then had a good reputation for being by a country mile the best frame on any <£1000 bike, the equivalent Trek's, Specialized etc were just 'cheap', the CAAD4 was a pro-tour frame just a few years previously. The CAAD-X because I'm a bit of a Cannondale fanboi now.
Charge Plug
There's not many SSCX framesets out there. I'm always looking to upgrade it to a nicer frame material and discs but it's never a priority.
Next purchase will be a proper winter/audax road bike. I'm fed up of compromises around guards, tyre clearance, etc.
Levo - one quick test ride and loved it and the geometry was like a 29” version of my Spitfire but with longer chainstays and more stack height, which had always worked well for me.
Moxie - wanted a hardtail motorless version of the Levo, or to look at it another way, a 29” steel version of my Zero AM which fixed all the issues I had with it (which boiled down to it only working well on natural trails when I was absolutely “on it”). Didn’t plan it being a singlespeed but I got curious whilst I was waiting.
Brompton - it was 2002/3 and I was going to be moving to Brighton but still working in London. What else was/is there?!
A Titus Loco Moto, because it was cheap and I like slack long bikes and I like hardtails. It's working out pretty well
A Cotic Rocketmax, because it's really, really competent and for the last couple of years that's been what I've needed since I've not been riding enough to stay good. I don't love it and I wish I did but it does mostly keep me intact
A Calibre Dune fatbike, because it was cheap and I was curious and I love the stupid thing
A mk1 Cotic Soul with slicks on, for bombing to the shops via the maximum number of steps, I don't exactly remember why I decided I needed something to do thta on
Cotic Rocket 27.5 Gen 3:
Decided to treat myself after a few bad years and as a slightly early 40th birthday present plus my Orange 5 was in need of replacement. Figured out a budget and test ride a few bikes but nothing really clicked so had settled on just getting another Orange but then Cotic launched the new Rocket. Saw it at the London Bike Show (was there as I'd won a free ticket via a Facebook comp run by Cranked magazine) and it just looked 'right'. Did a demo ride if one a few weeks later at Cotic's Calver base, a few days after The Beast From The East hit and even though the ground was covered in snow it just felt so stable and planted I knew I had to get one. Was originally looking at a base spec one but luck played a part and I ended up with lots of bling on it plus a few upgrades from the retiring 5. Loved it ever since it arrived despite constant problems with the Cane Creek shock (very maintenance-hungry ie needs a service twice as much as it should do) although a lot of the time the bike is so much more capable than I am I feel I do it a disservice taking it out!
Canyon Neuron:
Needed to replace my old Trek Fuel EX after the proprietary shock died, just as I'd been made redundant. Originally had a Radon Skeen on order but that got delayed due to parts shortages by a few weeks and then cancelled altogether as that pushed it back to after Brexit and Bike-Discount would not longer ship to the UK. Looked around at alternatives and the Neuron seemed good so ordered an AL7, which was then delayed and had the price increase by £500 due to Brexit (stated in the email), eventually arriving 4 months after ordering it. Was always meant to be the workhorse no-nonsense bike but has proven to be much better than that, being so capable it actually overlaps with the Cotic in terms of capability for some local riding!
Voodoo Hoodoo:
Just a cheap hardtail as I fancied one, has inherited a few upgrades from the Trek when the Canyon arrived. Been thinking of selling it recently but the market has bombed so it'll stay around for a while longer despite the Canyon covering the riding I originally bought it for.
Merida Crossway:
Bought as a turbo trainer bike. Amazingly got it for £80 from Facebook marketplace during the lockdown madness despite it being a £600 bike new and having never been used! Just put it back on the turbo trainer after it had a summer being used outdoors, will become my commuter bike if I find a job close enough otherwise it might get sold on next spring to make way for a cheap road bike.
Having thought a bit more about influences and my choices, I think reviews and forums are probably the biggest input. Whilst I think racing, in particular EWS has probably improved some of the tech, (thinking tyre technology) I don’t find it being a deciding factor in my buying. I read a post on pinkbike (I think) about the ews set ups. They were mainly running 35mm bars, something I feel was created for a problem that didn’t exist. I guess most of them could be due to sponsorship deals rather than preference
Orange Stage 5 aluminium 29" full suss- I like Orange bikes, had a couple of 5's, a 5 29 and a Segment before this. Segment frame cracked so got this under warranty and like it so much I've felt no real need to change it.
Pace RC627 steal 27.5" hard tail- Had a similar bike a while back (P7) so when these frames were discounted last year I though it would be fun to build one up. not used it much yet but winter's coming so that will change.
Ragley Trig steel gravel bike- Mate got a GB during lockdown so got one myself. Road it loads for a year or so but still can't get on with drops so it's in the process of being sold and has been replaced by......
Cube C-26 carbon 29" XC hard tail- Wanted an XC MTB to replace the Ragley and this came up second hand at a great price. Been ace so far, really enjoying it.
Orange Stage Evo because like Chakaping:
Orange Stage Evo – Big fan of how Oranges ride
I’ve had loads of other bikes (and I do mean LOADS) but I always return to Orange.
My other bike is a Deviate Highlander. I’ve been high pivot curious for quite a long time, since reading the Luis Arriaz features in Dirt magazine, and I love single pivot bikes, so when they had a sale of the mk1 Highlander, coupled with me having a 210x55 Ohlins coil shock spare & then I saw they took Cycle Scheme vouchers I couldn’t resist (and for the judgemental - yes I do cycle to work on it).
It has absolutely blown me away. I used it at the mega this year and if it wasn’t for a big crash brought on by some red mist I would’ve easily been top 20 in my qualifier - I actually crashed twice trying to pass slower riders in daft places (patience isn’t a virtue I possess) & lost over 8 minutes straightening bars etc. yet still finished 75th (out of 150), which I was very pleased with.
What I’m trying to say is the bike really flatters your skill, and carries so much speed it’s unreal. I think if Orange brought out a HP frame with modern geometry, it’d be like it was made for me.