Buying a new mountain bike

SuprSi

I'm in the market for a new mountain bike to handle stuff like what you'd find in Ballinastoe. It'll be the Peak District really but the trails are very similar - lots of uphill, downhill, and all the bits in between.

I used to ride a Specialized Stumpjumper back in 2010 but I wanted to see whether I should be looking at XC or trail bikes, or something in between? All XC bikes I've seen have 100mm of travel on the front and I'm not sure whether that would be enough.

JBokeh

I've done the peaks myself and really enjoyed it, you're very lucky to have that at your disposal.

Look at something along the lines of a 130mm to 150mm trail bike, it may seem like overkill, but having a slacker bike with fairly long travel makes the descents a lot more fun, allowing you to hit obstacles a bit quicker tun you can on a 100mm XC bike. Trail bikes are more of an all rounder than enduro bikes as they're not as heavily focused on the downhill, they're designed to climb well, and go down the hills well. Look along the lines of Giant trance, Trek fuel, and stump jumper FSR. There is a stumpjumper evo, which is a longer travel, slacker version of the stump jumper, you'd see a lot of the evo ones in the UK.

Theres offerings from brands outside the big 3 too, such as the Cube stereo, LaPeirre zesty and Nukeproof mega, Kona process

Try as many as you can before you buy one, When I did the lakes I did it on a hard tail, over forked to 130mm, and would certainly do it on a full suspension the next time, It was a weekend of getting beaten up!

Tenzor07

A Stumpy with a 120mm fork, 100mm out the back sounds like what you need, great for climbing and a little more travel up front for the descents, 150mm is prob overkill unless the terrain is really gnarly..

JBokeh

^ Peaks is rocky and steep on the bits I would consider the fun parts, steps and rock gardens. It is hard to describe, the guys with bigger travel were hitting the descents hard, and not being too picky on line choice, I had a bit of that, but would run out of momentum, and get a bit fatigued, the guys on 100mm hard tails were crawling through, making it look very technical, went in early spring so it could be the case that winter rains make the terrain very difficult from washing the mud from around the rocks

It depends on your approach too, if i'm in XC mode I pedal through everything taking the easiest line, if i'm out to have fun I take the stupid lines through most things and will generally get through every inch of suspension at my disposal.

SuprSi

Thanks for the feedback. I'm almost 40 so the days of me flying down steep hills are almost definitely gone, though that may change the more I head out. I think a good compromise sounds like 120 - 130mm on the front, so staying away from an XC bike. Something like this maybe?

http://www.cube.eu/uk/bikes/fullsuspension/stereo/cube-stereo-120-hpc-pro-29-black-grey-green-2015/

C3PO

SuprSi wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback. I'm almost 40 so the days of me flying down steep hills are almost definitely gone, though that may change the more I head out. I think a good compromise sounds like 120 - 130mm on the front, so staying away from an XC bike. Something like this maybe?

http://www.cube.eu/uk/bikes/fullsuspension/stereo/cube-stereo-120-hpc-pro-29-black-grey-green-2015/

The Cube has a really out of date suspension set-up. I would be much more inclined to go with something like this - https://www.canyon.com/en-ie/mtb/nerve/

SuprSi

So would a better suspension system trump a full XT groupset? The specs on the Cube (aside from the suspension) are excellent.

There's also this one, which is a bit more expensive - I don't know whether the suspension is better but again it's full XT throughout;

http://www.cube.eu/uk/bikes/fullsuspension/stereo/cube-stereo-120-super-hpc-race-29-black-flashred-2015/

Enduro

SuprSi wrote: »

So would a better suspension system trump a full XT groupset?

In general, absolutely!

Tenzor07

Number 1: A good set of grippy wide tyres
Number 2: Well dialled in suspension

SLX/Deore is absolutely fine, no point in having a top groupset if your tyre pressure is too high and your suspension is not at the right pressure.

SuprSi

And is the suspension on the 2nd linked Cube any better than the first? This is the other bike I've been considering;

http://www.pedalscyclecentre.co.uk/m1b0s1p5250/Whyte-T-129-Works-2015

It gets very good reviews online and I might be able to find it for a decent price in XL

Tenzor07

SuprSi wrote: »

And is the suspension on the 2nd linked Cube any better than the first? This is the other bike I've been considering;

http://www.pedalscyclecentre.co.uk/m1b0s1p5250/Whyte-T-129-Works-2015

It gets very good reviews online and I might be able to find it for a decent price in XL

Wouldn't touch it, not for that price either!

Suspension is fairly basic and it's more of an XC/marathon type bike

SuprSi

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Wouldn't touch it, not for that price either!

Suspension is fairly basic and it's more of an XC/marathon type bike

You wouldn't touch the Whyte or the Cube? Both have 120mm of travel, which is more on the XC side of things I guess. Would you recommend more travel than that?

Tenzor07

SuprSi wrote: »

You wouldn't touch the Whyte or the Cube? Both have 120mm of travel, which is more on the XC side of things I guess. Would you recommend more travel than that?

I don't like either brand really.

You should look at the likes of Canyon or Giant, usually offer the best prices and the widest range.

Don't get hung up on travel either, the Whyte you specified has quite basic suspension.

SuprSi

Would this be a good bike?

https://www.canyon.com/en-ie/mtb/nerve/nerve-al-9-0-sl.html

Keeping in mind that I can buy it in Euro's and with the strength of sterling can save over £400 off the standard sterling price.

Tenzor07

SuprSi wrote: »

Would this be a good bike?

https://www.canyon.com/en-ie/mtb/nerve/nerve-al-9-0-sl.html

Keeping in mind that I can buy it in Euro's and with the strength of sterling can save over £400 off the standard sterling price.

Yeap, super spec on that bike, would be a perfect all day trail bike too

maxamillius

Why not look for a cotic or a ragley. Long travel hard tail and a perfect all rounder.
Think there are one or 2 on adverts at the moment. Great bikes for what you would be looking to do!