@@East0n13 I set up an email alert for when in stock at chain reaction cycles website, which I highly recommend. It took me a few tries to get it... But it is worth it. It came to Denver colorado from the UK and it took 8 days total to arrive. Go for it. It's an awesome bike, looks way more premium than expected. Good luck and happy ridding :)
@@sanzquerol Thanks man! I also set up an alert 2 months ago. For me it was love at first sight :D. I definately will go for it, just need to catch the moment when it's available.
I got mine through Wiggle (unsure if the ship to US). Had the chain reaction reminder email set up but when it came through, went straight to Wiggle to buy assuming they had a restocked at the same time, which they did.
@@fspeshalxo69 second hand is a hassle. I have a second hand full sus, but I’d like a new bike for once. Didn’t end up with this after they raised the price $200 for no reason lmao
As a Sentier owner, I think it's a perfect compliment to an all mountain full suspension given its more compact nature. It's a solid descender, but the seat angle is definitely a bit dated and I feel it on steep climbs. But besides that it's a true all around trail bike and not a little enduro hard tail.
This is a simply excellent video. You have summed up in a few mins what took me months of research into geometry, spec, axles, tapered head tubes and parts. Every single bike you mentioned here was on my list! I finally pulled the trigger recently on a Fluid HT1 29er and will be upgrading the brakes and fork when it arrives in December... also exactly as you recommended 😀. I highly recommend checking out more of these Trail Talk MTB video's - this guy knows his stuff.
@@trailtalkmtb6603 np. Its funny that I can't find any reviews on this 2020/2021 Fluid HT bike on youtube or google. Plenty of the Fluid FS and the superseded 2019 Fluid HT frame. It won't make any difference to me but if you get a chance to review it, yours would be the first one on the internet 😁
@@jaredroy5735 Congrats on the purchase. It should be awesome. As far as I can tell, the 11 speed deore vs 12 speed has basically the identical derailleur, similar shifter, the 11 speed cassette shares the identical 8 biggest cogs as deore 12 speed cassette and thus probably supports hg+ shifting if you use a 12 speed chain. I hope you really enjoy it. I'm looking forward to mine.
@@Itsfranklyfrank I got a brand X ascend dropper with 150mm of travel, and the pedals I have were some random ones I saw in the shop but for Christmas I'm going to ask for some burgtec mk5 pedals because apparently metal pedals will give a lot more grip
Really like your videos, informative, links to the products and no time wasting. I wish more channels produced videos as good as yourself. Keep up the good work.
Picked up a Vitus Sentier 27.5, was originally looking at a San Quentin 2 but after waiting months and months for stock I went with the Vitus. This hardware really took me by surprise for this price point. So much fun, really went above my expectations.
Just got a new giant fathom 1 and it is hands down the best bike I’ve ever had it’s $2100 aud so a bit steep but handles the trails very well and over recommended this bike to anyone looking to upgrade
I love my new dartmoor hornet 2020. They finally make it boost spacing for the rear hub. Although my previous 2019 hornet was non boost it's still a beast.
Thank you so for making these videos , I’m sure you help out so many people like myself who would like to have a nice bike but don’t have too much money to spare , God bless You!!
I've had the fathom 2 for about a month, the bike is perfect. The brakes at first are a little slippery but you just gotta wear them in then they're fine.
I too, have this bike and love it. I have the 2021 Fathom 2 27.5. What are your thoughts on the Crest 34 fork? I have some play between the stanchions and lowers. I wonder if this is normal.
i love seeing you use an affordable bike- the T8. your review helped me, however it was out of stock. Now i am the owner of a 2021 niner rip 9 SX eagle.
The long travel slack hardtail is extremely under rated. These are bikes that really put a smile on your face. I ride a Bird Zero AM Boost, it runs 160mm MRP ribbon fork it has 64 deg HA and 27.5 + size rubber.
Was lucky enough to get my hands on the Vitus VRS 2020 (XT-SLX) combo within this price range. Awesome quality for the price they were, similar to the nukeproof scout.
shame the nukeproof scouts are all out and don't seem to be coming back :( just ordered a marin san quentin 3 tho and that seems sick, although a bit less value
There will be scouts again don't worry, just maybe not this year as its been pretty abnormal. Pretty pleased with my base jeffsy I got in jan this year as if bikes as popular as YT's are plain out of stock and not incoming in whatever date is kinda worrying. The san quentin is a great bike though you will love it I'm sure.
Just discovered your channel. Very precise and clear informations! Thanks a lot for sharing all this. This will definitely help me choosing my next bike. Cheers from France
I love hardtails man. That's all I owned now. After selling my full suspension bike. I ride my hardtail way way more. To me it's just a matter all around mountain bike.
Same here. I recently sold my short travel dually and went back to my very old 26er hardtail while I was working out what to buy next. After I while I realised that I was enjoying the HT so much that I didn't really want another dually so I ended up ordering the Fluid HT 1 29er. Can't wait to get it 😀
Ragley had one the best bang for your buck bikes, and even the cheaper variant of the Marley should be mentioned. It came without a dropper but a round 999 bucks, and getting & installing a cheap dropper post should not be a big issue and is still cheaper than the models with a dropper (and slightly better spec, although most went into the 12 speed drive trains, which are not strictly necessary). I think Nukeproof got really expensive, even more so with their 2021 range, but they seem to have upped their prices quite a bit compared to when I first looked into the 2020 models a year ago or so.
Thoughts on the 2021 Big Al 2.0? Yes, the purple one...Y'all recommend this bike for a 1st time mtn biker? Looking to do trails, stairs and manuals, and some downhill..?
i bought the roscoe 7 as my first bike and I love it. i dont have any comparison though so take that for what its worth. one thing i didnt realize until after having it for a while is it has a quick release on the back wheel, but other than that its a dope bike
The orbea laufey has 140mm travel 65,5* head angle droper and it comes in a 1200$ ,1500$ and a even higer model, the chepest model has rock shox recon ,shimano slx ,oc2 droper ,29” wheels and maxxis tyres and mt401 shimano brakes. I curently own one so i can say that it climbs great and shreds even better downhill. And u can change parts on their webbsite so if you want a better fork u can get the marzzoci bomber z2 or change almost all bigger parts. ( great video )
Ordered the San Quentin 2 last week, no clue when it arrives with all the shipping problems these times. So, some more time to watch comparison vids :)
2018 trek marlin 4, remove all the parts but the front wheel. sell em and make like $75. sram nx, shimano mt501s with 180 rotors, new rear wheel, nice bars and stem, new tires, external dropper, 120mm rockshox judy and I can now hit double blacks.
Super nice list, i found a few more bikes to add to my shortlist for my new bike I'm saving up for, I would like to see your thoughts about the new Canyon stoic which is about to come out, it looks good for the price point
I wasnt happy that when my T8 arrived (around 5/01/21) the cool lil cardboard box inside that had all the paperwork and tools etc had been opened and pretty much dumped out inside the big box and the big box had a hole in the bottom from shipping so who knows what was missing. More importantly- they had Vee tire co tires on the bike instead of the Schwalbes that they listed. - Those are worth about half as much by the way. -also a paint chip by the emblem on the headtube. So I emailed them -only about the tires- asking them to take the vee's back and send me the Schwalbes... The bikes online guys try to distance themselves from polygon like it was a different company and took zero responsibility for the manufacturer swap. (polygon is the only bike online bikes sells) They said there was a shortage (obviously you can buy as many Schwalbes as you want on Amazon). They said I should be glad i didnt have to wait longer for the right tires ( I did wait about 4-5 months). Im ok with taking a chance to save money adjusting the bike myself etc, Im not ok with this company not sending me what they advertised and what I paid for.
Hi great review! What is cheaper to upgrade....suspension or brakes ? Also, which is the better bike, straight off...whyte 901 v5 or the Merida big trail 600 ? Any info or advice will be much appreciated! ✌🏻
Hey Phil, great video. As someone who’s ridden a lot of different bikes and seems to live/ride around where I do, I’d like to ask you what you think of a trail hardtail as an only bike as opposed to a trail or enduro full suspension. I’ve currently got a polygon xtrada which I quite like but I’d like to upgrade to something more high end and and aggressive in a few months. I’d classify myself as a fairly intermediate skill level, definitely prefer the descents to the climbs and usually ride at places like old man’s valley, ourimbah and manly dam, as well as some local jumps and street riding but would like to try some bike park riding in the future. Thanks
Ps I’ve got a budget of about 2-3k so I’d be looking a something like San Quentin or Nukeproof scout or a second hand full suspension (Reign, sight, remedy etc)
Thanks mate! Personally I wouldn't go a trail hardtail for Sydeny. It's a bit too rocky to have it as one bike (I know there are hardtail lovers out there but I would feel a bit too beat up after every ride). I think a trail bike would be the go for old mans valley, ourimbah and manly dam. Something with 130-140 would be perfect. The Siskiu T and Giant Trance X come to mind as great bike for the Greater Sydney area
An Enduro Hardtail frame with boost spacing for 200bucks? So you are basically telling me that i wasted 150bucks 2months ago on a QR frame? WOOOW! REALLY looking forward to the new Ragley frames 😍
Great video mate, really appreciate it! Which represents better value between Norco Fluid 1 HT and Merida Big Trail 500? Seems to be quite similar in specs and price... Was looking into getting the Vitus Nucleus, but the Norco and Merida already come with dropper seat post and seem to have better suspension. Not to mention that Vitus have an added $200 shipping to Australia, putting its investment very close to these other 2... Any thoughts?
That's a great video. Thanks for sharing this with us. I was jsut wondering if the GT Zaskar expert, the cannondale trail SE 1 and the Grand Canyon 8 are worthy of making your top 10 as well?
Orbea Alma M50 carbon hardtail and Cube Reaction carbon hardtail. Both under £1500 and both superb, swift cross country mile eaters. Top, top hardtails.
@@slycoe8280 No problems with the carbon on either bike so far. I have a Canyon carbon road bike and can't distinguish the quality of the carbon on any of them. All seems good but I'm no carbon expert!
I have a polygon entiat TR6. 27.5x2.8 tubeless maxxis minions DHF front and back. $1200 new in 2018. Have upgraded a couple of bits ,pedals , hand grips, tyres. The big tryes are super grippy at any speed. Brakes need an upgrade. On the trail its the most playful bike i have ever riden. Would not swap my bike for any full sus or ht. 29in on a hardtail does plough trails, but found my old bike not as much fun as my current fav the tr6.
Can you perhaps comment on hardtail static vs sagged geo in a video? Static 66 degree HTA with a 130mm fork and 470mm reach is a 67.3 degree and 480-something mm reach bike when you actually sit on it.
Hi Rudy - I use this link to calculate the sagged geometry of a hardtail. You just need to calculate the axle-to-crown distance of your 130mm when its sagged, plug it in, and it will tell you what you need to know. bikegeo.muha.cc/
Which Ragley would you suggest for a beginner? Also, would stoic 2 be a good beginner? Debating between a ragley model and a stoic 2? Any help would be appreciated.
Budy, great videos, with great content, thumbs up! But there is a bike which no one reviews and I am really qurious if you can give it a look, it's the Grand Ganyon 8? It has an amazing spec for around 1300 gbp? What's your opinion?
Hello there, nice vid, I'm just getting started in XC, and I just bought a polygon Xtrada 7, I can't find any reviews on english but It seems to be a really nice bike for the price, what are your thoughts?
Great list and reviews! It's too bad that there are no bikes to buy at the moment. I guess we will wait for the restock. What are your thoughts on the 2021 Polygon Xtrada 7? Looks like decent components and geometry... and on sale now for $950. Anyone have any experience with this bike?
Thanks Brian! Yeah the lack of stock is annoying! It should be back to normal around April to June. The Xtrada 7 is a great option, there's also routing for a dropper too, wish it was a 30.9 or 31.6 diameter instead of the 27.2 but there's still dropper options out there
