New bike to return to MTB after a long lay off

[Australia]

Hi all,

It has been far too long! (Long story short, I have been living in London and got way too into road bikes due to lack of nearby MTB tracks [and I couldn't justify owning a car in central London just to drive to MTB tracks]).

Having now returned to Sydney (in hotel quarantine as we speak) I am ecstatic to jump straight back into mountain bikes!!! With all my mountain bike kit now borderline vintage this is also an opportunity to splash out on a new bike.

Whilst historically I rode multiple iterations of the Giant Anthem and similar bikes (with a racing focus on 24hr solos - I don't see myself doing that again anytime soon!), I am looking forward to taking advantage of technical advances and jump on a comfortable hardtail. Ideally:

• carbon (or titanium I guess) 29er
• 110mm or 120mm fork
• Shimano XT or better (SRAM equivalent etc also ok; I am indifferent as between 1x and 2x)
• 2 x bottle cage mounts
• capacity to run a dropper post (I appreciate this might need to be an aftermarket addition)
• handling capabilities suitable for Convict 100, Capital Punishment 100, Rocky Trail Shimano GP 7hr solo series etc (defs not chasing wins - just to push my now 30 year old office-job-bound self to have some fun and work hard) + enjoyable laps at Hornsby OMV, Ourimbah, Awaba and Stromlo with mates
• $3500-$5500ish

When I first started looking at bikes, my XC brain took me to all the usual default hardtail options which I rode 6-10 years ago e.g. Giant XTC, Scott Scale, Specialized Epic HT etc. However, these racier options all seem limited to 100mm up front. On the other hand, I see beefy options from Kona, Vitus, Banshee and Orange tend to pair 130mm forks with steel or alloy frames (such that I am not going to enjoy climbing them as much).

I see that since I have been absent a category of dual suspension bikes known as "down country" has emerged - which seems to pair the 100mm dual suspension race bikes I used to ride with a 120mm fork. Does the hardtail equivalent of this exist?

Grateful for your input.

-Andrew / Australia

 

[notime]

Working backwards from what is available is probably the way to go. I have a 14 month wait for my new XC/Downcounty bike so trying to suggest something is pointless due to supply.

 

[dazz]

There are some really nice rides popping up on FB from time to time that would fit your budget if you're willing to sift through all the crap to find 'em.

 

[leitch]

As above supply is the real problem at the moment, with price of second hand bikes being the secondary issue as a direct result. Stock aside if it was me I'd be looking at a Specialized Chisel (Al not carbon but same geo as the Epic HT and uses the same DSW tech as the Allez/Allez Sprint) and putting an extra bit of cash into dropper and upgraded wheels and fork. SLX is a crazy good grouppo these days.

Otherwise yeah, join all the FB buy/sell groups and keep an eye out for an XTC or Scale or Epic or whatever that pops up.

 

[Australia]

I wasn't aware Australia was having these supply issues. If they are anything like England was in the last northern hemisphere summer I guess I will be waiting a long time!

 

[Minlak]

As above supply is the real problem at the moment, with price of second hand bikes being the secondary issue as a direct result. Stock aside if it was me I'd be looking at a Specialized Chisel (Al not carbon but same geo as the Epic HT and uses the same DSW tech as the Allez/Allez Sprint) and putting an extra bit of cash into dropper and upgraded wheels and fork. SLX is a crazy good grouppo these days.
Otherwise yeah, join all the FB buy/sell groups and keep an eye out for an XTC or Scale or Epic or whatever that pops up.

This is the frame I was going to get when they looked like they lost the Stump Jumper frame and the one I will get when I crack my stump jumper frame - I really liked the colored ones they did.

 

[slowmick]

Not going for a new enduro to match tour avatar?

 

[kten]

What height are you? That'll help one of the burners sell you a bike

 

[ozzybmx]

I have a 14 month wait for my new XC/Downcounty bike so trying to suggest something is pointless

Faaaark

It used to be, the longest wait in the bike world was joining the waiting list for a custom Jones or Black Sheep. That's ridiculous.