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I'm going to be moving soon-ish to city life (based in the middle of the countryside ATM) I'm going to need a short travel fun/fast bike for gravel-paths woodsy style singletrack, towpath sort of thing. Don't mind if it's HT or FS, guess I'm looking at 100-120mm max, and max budget will be around the £3K mark. don't mind what it's made of, don't mind about angles, but I don't think I want a race bike, something more relaxed.
No, I do not want a gravel bike.
No gravel- Get a cx bike then 😉
Or one of those horrid things either. 🙂
Have a look at the new konami reviewed on pink bike today. Xc and fun.
kona hei hei just reviewed on pinkbike looks a lot of fun.
My Specialized Chisel is ace for the riding you describe - light, comfy and fast. Definitely more traditional xc angles, but that’s what makes it so good.
Just read that Hei Hei review!
that's the sort of thing
Neither fish nor fowl.
Stage 4 under £2.5k with discount code here. Mine has a -2deg headset but you may prefer stock geo. Consider going up a size, the seat tube length allows it...
Fairly recently, my wife bought a Giant Trance 29 for very similar type of riding to what you describe. She really likes the bike for woodsy singletrack, and can easily keep up with me where I normally leave her for dust. I think the model she's got is a 2019 Trance 2 model, and it cost about £1600 in a sale. The only things we swapped out were the SRAM brakes for her old favourite SLX's. The bike has 115mm travel rear and I think the fork is 130mm. I've had a quick go on the bike and it's a curious mix of XCish perkiness and 'new skool' ish geometry - very confidence-inspiring and capable of daft speeds on anything but super rough rocky trails. I was very impressed with the bike for the money, and I think it will certainly be worth upgrading to lighter parts as things wear out/budget allows.
The other alternative that I've heard good things about is the new Trek Top Fuel. I've got one of the new Fuel EX's, but the 2020 version has been pushed more firmly into trail bike territory. The EX is a good allrounder, but IMO the Top Fuel and Giant Trance 29 are more fun for the type of riding you describe.
HTH
SC Chameleon sounds like it would fit your requirements.. 29 or 27.5+ and tweakable chainstay length to tailor how it rides. At your budget you could choose between the Alu or Carbon versions.
A bit left-field, but a rigid Stooge on plus tyres would certainly be fun on the riding you describe..
with £3k you'll have plenty of choice, with your (rather vague) brief I'd be eying up 100-120 "Trail bikes" like:
Bird Aeries 120
Stumpjumper ST
Sonder Cortex
Santacruz Tallboy
Whyte S120
Trek top fuel
Giant Trance 29
Marin Rift zone
In whatever flavour suits your budget.
Id take the Highball over the Chameleon if it’s for xc type riding. Lighter and quicker.
with £3k you’ll have plenty of choice, with your (rather vague) brief I’d be eying up 100-120 “Trail bikes” like:
Bird Aeries 120
Stumpjumper ST
Sonder Cortex
Santacruz Tallboy
Whyte S120
Trek top fuel
Giant Trance 29
Marin Rift zone
Probably all great bikes, but I think most of them might be dull and overkill for;
’m going to need a short travel fun/fast bike for gravel-paths woodsy style singletrack, towpath sort of thing.
I'd stick with modern XC race-ish bikes, they're still a couple of degrees slacker than they were 10 years ago.
Giant Anthem, Trek Top fuel, Specialized Epic.
Or get a Gravel bike.
cookeaa, you say vague I say wide-choice. 🙂
I want a short travel fun-fast bike, your list is perfect for me to have look through, thanks!
Or get a Gravel bike.
No thank you.
Rocky mountain element
Or the orange stage 4
Flare/FlareMax?
Should be nimble and playful enough for what you want, but if you do get the odd trip out to more serious terrain it will be equally capable.
Maybe look at Paul's cycles for hugely discounted year old unfashionable bikes like xc ones
ooooh Trumpton...thanks...Always forget about Paul's...
Nobody had mentioned SC Blur yet - that would be what you describe, rather than Tallboy, which is a trail bike. One of the reviews I read today said the Tallboy was a ‘plough through stuff’ type of bike compared to the new Kona Hei Hei.
If you’re a medium
XC bikes can be ridden pretty hard. The whole XC jey thing is not true. Trail bikes come into their own when it gets steep and technical, otherwise XC do go fast on general trails. My Trek Superfly FS is 100m front and rear, and an absolute rocket. I'm no downhiller, but On Strava I'm just outside the top ten on a local well known descent out of 1400 people (I'm normally about top 1/3 if I'm luck). Cos it's just a fast bit of singletrack, a bit rough in places, and I don't lose anything by being on a steep angled bike.
On the bigger techie stuff (e.g. Machen Mountain for the locals) I can ride most of it with care, but there are some drops I balk at. But then I am on SPDs and the HA is 70.5 which is steep even for XC.
If you’re a medium
https://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/scott-scale-rc-900-pro-hardtail-mountain-bike-2019-p338175/s605944?cid=GBP&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIx7HJ-uPn6AIVwXzTCh33tApvEAkYAiABEgLnA_D_BwEKona Hei Hei would cover more bases, only adding 1kg?
Yeah the bikes on there will have steeper head angles like xc bikes even if they are a trail bike. I just saw a nice rocky mountain like that.
2nd hand Ibis Ripley Nick. You know I’m right 🙂
Moving to Manchester then?
NS Synonym??
Canyon Neuron?
and on the HT Front -
I also use my Cotic Solaris for just about everything from long XC to technical singletrack. A smidge under 29lbs with 2.6 tyres and a 140mm fork on it.
Or even a Canyon Lux!
I've also been looking at Pauls cycles recently - some mega bargains on Rocky Mountains - Thunderbolt looks like a bargain but travel might be a bit much at 130.....
I've got a Whyte S120 and it's an absolute cracker. Dealt with some big days in the lake district but is surprisingly good on the mix of roads, boring bridleways, teensy bits in 'the woods' locally.
Out of interest I did the same 15 mile loop three days in a row on my 'gravel' bike (on 30mm Schwalbe G-One Speeds), on my Voodoo Hardtail and on the Whyte and there was basically no difference between the times on all three. But I was more comfortable on the two MTBs than the gravel bike and far more in control rattling along a hoof-marked bridleway. Sure, the MTBs are a bit slower on the road, but I'd rather give up a couple of MPH on the road in return for being able to brake and hold onto the bars at the same time!
My Scott Spark has 120mm either end, and whilst it's XC orientated going downhill generally not a problem - have you seen the WC XC courses these days....
Left field suggestion, Stooge Mk4?
in return for being able to brake and hold onto the bars at the same time!
?
Stooge Mk4?
Out of stock, and far far too hipster.
Nordest britango looks a lovely frame for this sort of thing... Only issue I can see is the 27.2 seatpost but they sell a suitable dropper. You could easily add nice forks, wheels and something like an SLX groupset for well under that budget.
https://nordestcycles.com/en/product/britango-frame
I'd focus on getting something at a reasonable weight and with excellent pedaling manners (if full sus).
Hence my recommendation of the Stage 4 - but there will be other bikes with similar characteristics.
On the same basis, I'd rule out the Smuggler, FlareMax & Process 111.
Yeah the Smuggler is a tank, despite the travel.
in return for being able to brake and hold onto the bars at the same time!?
The amount that I was being bounced about on the gravel bike meant that I could either have a firm grip on the bars or I could have a firm grip on the brake lever from the hoods. I may have gone into it a little 'hot' but the surface looked like it had a lot of horse traffic during the wet weather and it has suddenly dried out and ended up as jagged dried mud. If the ground was softer it would have been better but we seem to have very quickly gone from slop to dust with no middle ground for stuff to get smoothed out.
Both MTBs were much easier to control in comparison.
Do you need full suss for that sort of thing? A short ish forked hardtail would probably do the job nicely.
I’ve got a 140mm fork on my Vitus Sentier but it still rides very lively and has a 66 ish degree headangle so it’s not slacked out but still stays stable on rockier bits. Great fun on pump tracks and flowing / pedally Singletrack. Manuals and pops off stuff easily too.
With your budget you could look for something with similar angles but a bit more bling perhaps - some of the Orange Clockworks have been similar geo wise when I’ve looked in the past. Or go for something steel / custom made - could you get a BTR for that money?
The challenge is avoiding the glut of hardcore hardtails which won’t meet your requirements in quite such a fun way.
Something like a Cotic Solaris - with a second pair of wheels to run something large for the woods and some semi slicks for canal paths.
When faced with similar terrain, I bought a Scott Scale: carbon frame , 100mm travel, modern XC geometry.
I had a Specialized Camber before that and it just flattened everything.
Moving to Manchester then?
Yep, looks like it, got a house sorted, CV-19 has put everything on hold though.
@nickc - does it have to be brand new from dealer as I have something very very nice in titanium with ti bars also
Message me for details
🙂
Giant Trance 29ers have 115mm travel rear and 130mm front. Looks fun to me .
In true STW style of recommending what you ride & I can confirm this is a fun bike:
https://m.pinkbike.com/news/intense-sniper-elite-xc-review.html
What bike do you have currently? Could you put some more XC focused tyres on it and firm up the suspension a bit?
If not, then I'd pick a style of bike that contrasts your current bike the most. If you have a hardtail, I'd go for the Cotic Flare style of aggressive short travel bike. If it's an enduro monster, I'd be tempted by a more XC focused full suss.
Trek ProCaliber or Supercaliber. If that's what their soft-tails are called.
Orbea Oiz tr stunning looking bike