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As per title, pondering replacing the old 26 Orange Five with something modern.
Most riding tends to be around Innerleithen, ie. winch up & blast down. But the bike has to be capable for longer days out too.
With a budget of around £2.5k, currently on the list are:
-Trek Slash 8 (Yari, GX)
-Bird AM9 (Lyrik RC, GX dub. Too hefty for big days and climbs?)
-Mondraker Foxy (Fox 36, GX dub. Waiting to hear lbs price)
However I have spotted the Whyte S150 (Revelation, GX gxp) for under £1.9k.
Sell the Revelations, replace with Lyriks, buy some knobbier tyres, go on holiday with the change? Or would that be a compromise too far? 🤷🏻♂️
Interested to hear what you would go with in an attempt to narrow it down. Have I overlooked any potential bikes?
Radon Swoop 170 here. Ours was £2k in sale.
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/radon-swoop-170-or/
S-150 for sure, it’s an awesome chassis! Revelations can be upgraded internally with a better damper so don’t worry too much there either.
How tall are you incidentally? I have just closed my bike shop down, I still have a medium 2018 left in the clearance sale if of any interest...
<quote>Radon Swoop 170 here. Ours was £2k in sale.</quote>
🤔 A lot of bike for not a lot of money. All out in my size unfortunately.
<quote>I still have a medium 2018 left in the clearance sale if of any interest…</quote>
Thanks, at around 5ft9 a size medium could be ideal. I'll send over a message.
I'd probably get the Whyte out of that lot.
Maybe if you can get a good price on that s150 you could stick a charger 2 damper and 2019 debonair airshaft in the revelation to make it a Pike?
Transition sentinel...
In true recommend what you got!
Alpine Trail
Vitus escarpe 29 at CRC looked like a good bike and top value.
Can you get the new strive on your budget? That will be good for big rides.
Totally take up mboy on that s150, perfect bike for the valley.
If it was a large I would have snapped mboys arm off
-Bird AM9 (Lyrik RC, GX dub. Too hefty for big days and climbs?)
Don't know why you'd think that. My ML AM9 demo bike has Lyriks and Super Deulxe shock, X01, XM481/Hope wheels, 2.5 tyres etc. and weighs 31.2lbs. The only 'light' thing on it is some Next R carbon bars (and they're 800mm). I rode it in a quad for the Strathpuffer last year and it was great. FWIW now Ard Rock is cancelled Im trying to organise a demo at GT instead.
Thats good to hear Ben, i want to Demo an AM9, not chance to yet though!
Deffo a bit odd to suggest the Bird is too much bike on a list that includes a Trek Slash
Bergamont Trailster?
160/145
65°head angle
Beast of a bike
Bird AM9 shouldn't be any more hefty than a Slash/Foxy at the equivalent price level so I wouldn't worry about that.
It pedals well and isn't a sluggish climber by any means. It will compare well to the Foxy on the downs (I expect) but the Slash is likely to be quite a different ride due to the much shorter reach.
New Orbea Occam looks great - £1999 base model alu, Z2 bombers up front, fox shock, slx kit. 140mm front rear travel
I demoed an Orange Stage 5 and it was bl**dy mint. Only reason I didn't buy one is because I decided to stick with 650b so bought a Five instead. Stage 5 was fun, fast and versatile, and would have been bomb-proof and reliable too. Five was just that teeny bit more fun for my money, and better on super-tight switchbacks.
Just to add to the confusion, there's the Scott Genius, Specialized Stumpjumper, Canyon Strive or £3k gets you a the new gen YT Jeffsy CF comp.
I demoed an Orange Stage 5 and it was bl**dy mint.
A Stage 6 would suit better for the Tweed Valley, mine was loving it at the weekend.
Didn't suggest myself as way over budget unless s/h.
Nukeproof Mega 290? Mine seemed well suited to the Golfie.
One of my mates rides an AM9 at Tweed valley and can out climb most of us by a long way
Plus he rips the trails apart of the way down
Marin Alpine Trail worth a look. £3k for the 8 and £2.2k for the 7. Longer and lower than the Slash.
Had an AM9, now have a Stumpjumper EVO with shock spacer removed and 160mm fork (as approved by Specialized).
Is a worse climber than the AM9 by a tiny margin, but is an absolute monster in the downs
If it was a large I would have snapped mboys arm off
I'd try it, they do size up quite big
Just because no one has suggested it and I love mine, cotic rocketmax..
lls 29ers are a riot in the tweed valley
Whichever has the best mud clearance at the back!
It's hard to look past Whyte or bird for vfm
I wouldn't have thought any particular bike was that much heavier than the others. At worst you're looking at 500g between a light carbon frame and a heavier aluminium one.
If you took a light bike and put a lyric on it then you're just making a heavy bike. I had a play arround with the Bird options list and read the reviews. I think the reason it seems heavy is the intended use and options steer you towards things like lyrics and wide rims. So demo bikes with that spec look heavy compared to other bikes with revelations and 23mm rims for example. Can't have both without spending £££ on carbon.
I'm waiting to see what my new job and this 'green commute initiative' actually pans out as before buying anything expensive (it's only 2 miles so I could commute on supertackies before anyone comments). Really like the sound of the Yt jeffsy but it's still a lot of £££, and it 'only' has a 34mm fork.