MTB full suspension advice plz!

Whitehawk

Im looking to get a full suspension MTB and have a shot list of 3 makes but unsure which would be the best as im lacking in the knowledge of what is a good and bad component
So any feelings and advice on any of the below or if you think I have misting something that’s out there plz let me know.




Trek - fuel ex 5 or 6


Specialized - camber comp or elite


cube - ams comp or ams 110 pro

Adding in now the

Giant Anthem X4!

all from 1700 to 2000 or there abouts.

Tenzor07

Whitehawk wrote: »

Trek - fuel ex 5 or 6


Specialized - camber comp or elite


cube - ams comp or ams 110 pro

Go for the Spec.Camber, they are a year ahead of the competition, and for your money what you are basically getting is last years high end model, but at a lower price.

Idleater

Whitehawk wrote: »

Im looking to get a full suspension MTB and have a shot list of 3 makes but unsure which would be the best as im lacking in the knowledge of what is a good and bad component

Are you tending more towards the long travel setups or less travel firmer xc type?

If you wanted to go second hand I have an 08 Specialized s-works Epic not getting much use at the moment?

angry_fox

What are you going to be using the bike for, Ballyhoura type stuff or something else?

Whitehawk

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Go for the Spec.Camber, they are a year ahead of the competition, and for your money what you are basically getting is last years high end model, but at a lower price.

Ya i was on a spec shop to day and i was told in stead of the camber elite to go with the Giant anthem x4 was told its just the same bike but the set up of the x4 is better - however that x4 is 13kg and im really looking for something max 12kg!

Re the other posts im not relly looking 2nd had tbh looking to get something new with a gd frame that i can upgrade as over next 3 yrs or so!

What/ where am i going to be useing it - im looking for a all round bike something i can take in to the hills go off road and not have to worry about if the bike can or cant take it.... dose that help :P

cheers all for the posts so far.

Tenzor07

Ya the Giant Anthem gets good reviews but i have heard of bushings going on them after a year, no such with the Specialized full suss machines..

If your weight is your concern then maybe go for a hardtail with a Fox fork upfront, you will get a lighter bike with higher spec for the money...cause if your looking for a sub 12kg full suss then you need to be looking at spending €2000+.(and pls no one mention the C****N word!) :rolleyes:

julio_iglayzis

Whitehawk wrote: »

What/ where am i going to be useing it - im looking for a all round bike something i can take in to the hills go off road and not have to worry about if the bike can or cant take it.... dose that help :P

I can vouch for the Fuel Ex6 anyway. It's awesome.
I bought it last September, I've put many, many miles on it since and it can handle everything I've thrown at it. It's perfect for Irish trails/conditions.
The only gripe is with the tyres that come as stock - I think they were made by Fisher Price or something. I upgraded them to a Nobby Nic/Racing Ralph combo as soon as I had the money - and I've never looked back.
Here's a picture if you're bored.

Idleater

Whitehawk wrote: »

with a gd frame that i can upgrade as over next 3 yrs or so!

10kg with all the upgrades done (full xtr/x0)...

Same price as your other options.

Whitehawk

Idleater wrote: »

10kg with all the upgrades done (full xtr/x0)...

Same price as your other options.

Sry looking for new bike :P

Lemag

Tenzor07 wrote: »

...cause if your looking for a sub 12kg full suss then you need to be looking at spending €2000+.(and pls no one mention the C****N word!) :rolleyes:

Why? Because it has become passe to do so? If so, that's somewhat retarded. If the OP has only been looking in B&M shops then he won't have come across Canyon yet and it ought to be brought to his attention for consideration.

OP - a sub 12kg full suspension bike is going to be very hard to find regardless of budget. If your intended purpose is for use on the trails of Ballyhoura, say, you probably ought to go for something that's a bit of an all-rounder. The Canyon Nerve XC 8.0 might be the only sub 2k sub 12kg full suspension bike out there and fits the all-rounder bill. A friend of mine has the Nerve X 6.0 and is delighted with it. TBH, if you're not already familiar with the componentry of bikes then you probably won't even notice the difference between the 8.0 and the 6.0. You will however notice the extra €500 you'll have left in your pocket if you go for the latter. I have the hardtail Grand Canyon AL 6.0. Lovely build and I can't have any complaints.

Whatever you decide on, good luck with it.

Tenzor07

Lemag wrote: »

Why? Because it has become passe to do so? If so, that's somewhat retarded. If the OP has only been looking in B&M shops then he won't have come across Canyon yet and it ought to be brought to his attention for consideration.

Oh well, thought we could at least have one thread on bike buying advice that didn't mention the C****N word :rolleyes: :pac:

Lemag wrote: »

OP - a sub 12kg full suspension bike is going to be very hard to find regardless of budget.

Not so! A short travel XC Full suss like the Specialized Camber FSR Pro 2011, weighs 12.22kg in a Medium size, throw on a set of Hope Evo hubs with Stans tubeless rim set and you have a sub 12kg bike...but the op will have to stretch his budget a bit...

Lemag

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Not so! A short travel XC Full suss like the Specialized Camber FSR Pro 2011, weighs 12.22kg in a Medium size, throw on a set of Hope Evo hubs with Stans tubeless rim set and you have a sub 12kg bike...but the op will have to stretch his budget a bit...

Well I doubt the OP had a short travel in mind but yet again your favourite brand comes up trumps here - Lux MR 9.0 LTD with a claimed weight of only 9.2kg :eek:

OP - if you do go down the Canyon route have a look in the outlet section for for previous year, shop soiled, lightly used, and paint defected bikes.

Tenzor07

Lemag wrote: »

shop soiled, lightly used, and paint defected bikes

Are you not Describing all Canyon's there?

Well all I can say if he does is best of luck getting a test spin on a Canyon to see if the bike of choice suits...

And if the frame or any suspension parts fail then at least while you send it back to Koblenz you can browse all of the local bike shops and wonder why you didn't pay a wee bit extra for local backup support...

Tenzor07

Lemag wrote: »

Well I doubt the OP had a short travel in mind

The bikes he is trying to choose from are Short travel.... all around 120mm, so more XC/AM bikes..

Lemag

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Are you not Describing all Canyon's there?

Looks like it. Don't get me started on their road bikes..

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Well all I can say if he does is best of luck getting a test spin on a Canyon to see if the bike of choice suits...

It is a risk however no shop is going to let you take one of their bikes for a test spin on a trail.

Tenzor07 wrote: »

And if the frame or any suspension parts fail then at least while you send it back to Koblenz you can browse all of the local bike shops and wonder why you didn't pay a wee bit extra for local backup support...

Isn't this the case for many brands regardless of whether they are bought in a bricks and mortar shop?

Tenzor07 wrote: »

The bikes he is trying to choose from are Short travel.... all around 120mm, so more XC/AM bikes..

My powers of observation leave a lot to be desired I guess.

Tenzor07

Lemag wrote: »

It is a risk however no shop is going to let you take one of their bikes for a test spin on a trail.

Not sure about that one, i've seen some rather mucky looking MTB's in Cycleways marked as "test bikes" I am sure you can once you leave your credit card number...

Lemag wrote: »

Isn't this the case for many brands regardless of whether they are bought in a bricks and mortar shop?

I know of at least one leading Dublin bike shop who if your frame fails/breaks then if they have that model in stock they will swap all your parts onto the new frame then and there..

Tommyadams

Tenzor07 wrote: »

.(and pls no one mention the C****N word!) :rolleyes:

Canyon Nerve got rave reviews across the board.

Lemag

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Not sure about that one, i've seen some rather mucky looking MTB's in Cycleways marked as "test bikes" I am sure you can once you leave your credit card number...



I know of at least one leading Dublin bike shop who if your frame fails/breaks then if they have that model in stock they will swap all your parts onto the new frame then and there..

Fair enough but because this is not common practice across all shops the OPs choice would be further limited to the choice of stock which is only in the shops that both allow testing on trails and offer the generous immediate parts swap policy.

At the end of the day neither you nor I will be buying the bike.

Sacred_git

Specialized all the way!! then add to it as you get the cash!!:)

Tenzor07

Lemag wrote: »

At the end of the day neither you nor I will be buying the bike.

Yup, just offering a bit of perspective..

Now OP ask me what i'd go for if i had the cash! :cool: NOMAD

Whitehawk

Cheers for all the info so far.

How ever seen that i am still unsure im going to ask for feeling on these 2! bikes

ams 110 pro VS Anthem X4

feel free to point out anything that is good and bad about them

Tenzor07

Whitehawk wrote: »

Cheers for all the info so far.
How ever seen that i am still unsure im going to ask for feeling on these 2! bikes

ams 110 pro VS Anthem X4
feel free to point out anything that is good and bad about them

The Cube looks really nice, has the high pivot design...but i have not seen many of them around...

however the Giant Athem is very popular, have a look at a review: Here

Whitehawk

ya prob is i can find gd reviews for both think im going to just see which one i can get the best deal on and buy that one!

Mr November

had the same dilema recently... went for the X4 in the end as it seemed the best value for money... I can't offer a proper opinion on it yet as it's still pretty fresh, but happy I went for it to be honest... aside from anything else, they look slick!!
Scour the internet & mtb forums for user reviews & you'll be hard pressed to find a bad word said about them

Sacred_git

Mr November wrote: »

had the same dilema recently... went for the X4 in the end as it seemed the best value for money... I can't offer a proper opinion on it yet as it's still pretty fresh, but happy I went for it to be honest... aside from anything else, they look slick!!
Scour the internet & mtb forums for user reviews & you'll be hard pressed to find a bad word said about them

we all make mistakes!!

kingcharles82

did you buy a bike in the end?what did you go for, im thinking bout the specialized camber coz its in my price range

Whitehawk

Well in the end i pushed my price range up a bit and went for the "cube ams-hpc-pro " Very happy with it. (tho the hpc pro would be a bit over your price range as its a carbon bike) why i went with cube over all tho is there a small compnay that make very nice bikes, there on par with other bigger names but i feel i got more for my money with them! also the back SUS on the cube is in such a place where you can lock it off and its got same feel as a hard tail, which is nice for the up hill parts...

All in all i have to say i spent over 4 weeks trying to find out what was best for me i will add specialized and Giant where close 2nd, but when it came down to price i just got a much better deal on the cube one.

kingcharles82

and how much did it cost, could you send me a link with a pic?cheers for the advice

Whitehawk

i payed 2500e, which is cost of bike with out discount and then got around 600e in kit i needed for free!
dont have a pic handy but heres a link to there site
http://www.cube.eu/en/fullsuspension/hpc-series/ams-hpc-pro/

kingcharles82

thats a sweet looking bike!!

Whitehawk

ya its real nice, cube bikes are great well worth thinking about!
are you in dublin? (or close too)

kingcharles82

i was in dub for 5 years with work but moved down to clare last year, most of my biking is done is ballyhoura

Whitehawk

kingcharles82 wrote: »

i was in dub for 5 years with work but moved down to clare last year, most of my biking is done is ballyhoura

well theres a really good cube dealer in dublin - cyclebike / buildabike.ie - both same place,