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£2500 Budget. S150s v Jeffsy AL1 29r v Intense Primer foundation. Tough call?

13 posts & 12 voices | Started 11 hours ago by rockhopper70 | Latest reply from blahblahblah

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rockhopper70 - Member

Crikey, upping my hopeful budget by £500 drops me into this range of what appear to be great bikes.
S150 is held to be brilliant but is the S version a bit lacking in spec, guide level brakes and revelations and alloy frame. But, bricks and mortar store and eagle.
Jeffsy, always good reviews and good value but I'm not overly struck on the reliance on e13 spec compared to the others. Direct sales with Germany won't help with warranty and back up will it?
Finally, that intense reads like a great bike, carbon frame, pikes and reverb. Cheap brakes and wheels but easily upgradable with significant benefits if this is done in time.

I suspect none of them will be a dog but I'd err on the intense, I think.

Choice has never been so abundant!

Posted 11 hours ago #
lycanthropefailed - Member

Or a Bird Aeris? Always happy to simplify a problem. You can thank me later.

Posted 11 hours ago #
mark90 - Member

Just had a look at the geo, those intense have a of of seat tube.

S150 is a nice bike, but as above I'd be looking to try the Aeris AM9.

Posted 11 hours ago #
ta11pau1 - Member

Not sure if you wanted other options but it pays to keep an open mind

Vitus Escarpe 29 VRX has the spec to beat all the bikes you've listed: Lyric RT3, Deluxe RT3, Guide RE brakes, GX eagle, DT Swiss E1700 wheels, RS Reverb. It's £2430 with the BC 10% discount. It is a little hefty but it's got some proper enduro spec bits on it.

There's also the Trek Fuel EX8, with a bit of haggling at a LBS that would be at £2500.

Posted 11 hours ago #
mboy - Member

Are you the kind of person that's more swayed by bling factor and component bragging rights, or are you more interested in how the bike rides and you couldn't give a stuff about posing to your mates...?

I've worked on and built up all of the 3 bikes the OP mentions for customers. There's no contest as far as I'm concerned!

Sure, the Intense looks very nice, and on paper it looks a good choice. The reality is not only that the HA is too steep for what it is, but worse than that a 2.25" rear tyre has ZERO mud room (like as bad if not worse than a Whyte T-129 before they sorted it out!), a 2.35" tyre? Forget it! And then there's the fact that the rear axle is a crap design and unique to Intense, the cable routing for rear mech and brake rubs through the swingarm, the slightly odd leverage rate curve that you could live with but it's not ideal, and the fact that Intense are a byword these days for poor quality!

As for the YT? Geometry just doesn't cut the mustard, and an odd spec. Also I'm not a fan of direct sales bikes for many reasons not just that I run a bike shop.

The Whyte however... Damn that's a good bike! Forget the fact the ally frame is half a kilo heavier than the carbon roughly, forget that the spec isn't as bling, just ride the bloody thing and enjoy, cos it's one hell of a good bike!

Posted 9 hours ago #
neilc1881 - Member

I had a similar conundrum, went for the Whyte. Fantastic bike. I did feel the brakes lacked power at first but I've found that using my usual Clarkes sintered pads seems to have fixed that. It's not light, but it climbs well, takes everything in it's stride and is incredibly confidence inspiring. Been using it every week in the Brecon Beacons/Black Mountains/Welsh trail centres. Count on replacing tyres early on for something a bit better suited to winter riding.

Posted 3 hours ago #
rockhopper70 - Member

Sure, the Intense looks very nice, and on paper it looks a good choice. The reality is not only that the HA is too steep for what it is, but worse than that a 2.25" rear tyre has ZERO mud room (like as bad if not worse than a Whyte T-129 before they sorted it out!), a 2.35" tyre? Forget it! And then there's the fact that the rear axle is a crap design and unique to Intense, the cable routing for rear mech and brake rubs through the swingarm, the slightly odd leverage rate curve that you could live with but it's not ideal, and the fact that Intense are a byword these days for poor quality!

Thanks for the effort in the reply mboy. It's interesting, as none of your criticisms are reiterated in any of the online reviews I have read. It's only ever got glowing reviews. Maybe it's because the mags were sent the £8k superbike spec?

I might just stick to my original budget, less choice!

Posted 3 hours ago #

Goldigger - Member

Canyon spectral CF 8 £2700 carbon frame, Pike, eagle gx, DT Swiss M1700 wheels.

Canyon Spectral AL £2449 Ali frame, pike, XT, DT Swiss M1700 wheels.

Posted 2 hours ago #
reggiegasket - Member

Would have to be Pikes or better still Lyriks for me. Revs just don't cut it IMO.

Posted 2 hours ago #
andreasrhoen - Member

Intense Primer 29: DUBAI ! bling, bling...

Whyte: best pick for you?
Most important: which travel? 130 mm or 150 mm? Are your home trails really "ENDURO"? Able to do a test ride?

But if your trails include very fast, rough stuff:
go for the Whyte 150!

Posted 2 hours ago #
chakaping - Member

I'd add Cotic's Rocketmax to the list.

Posted 1 hour ago #
legend - Member

I might just stick to my original budget, less choice!

I'd be looking at geometry charts, some massive differences between the bikes you mention in the first post

Posted 1 hour ago #
blahblahblah - Member

I've been considering the same bikes!

My wife has a large Jeffsy that I have ridden - it's great but short for a large bike. Also if it were mine I'd want to up the fork to 150mm and probably add offset bushings to drop the BB and slacken the head angle to get it super stable. That's quite a lot of changes straight out of the box.

Primer 29 - Heard about/ seen too many issues with Intense frames for me to buy one direct sales these days. It's a real shame because there has never been a cheaper time to get a previously unobtainable bike.

Whyte... well. All I can say is that I am test riding one at the weekend (hopefully without quite as much snow). I already have a pre-emptive deposit on the s150 C RS. I can't wait!!! Not really many things I can pick up on to worry about. Properly robust and UK weather proof. The geometry looks on paper like what I want. I really really hope I like it as much as I think I will.

Posted 1 hour ago #

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£2500 Budget. S150s v Jeffsy AL1 29r v Intense Primer foundation. Tough call?

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