$2500 FS Options

https://www.commencalusa.com/meta-tr-29-origin-c2x29149170

Use the leftovers for a riding trip. Frame is sound, bike handles good, upgrade with min/maxed parts as necessary(including a dropper post right out the start?).

I love my Commencal. (Which is anecdotal evidence but this isn't exactly rigorous science we're doing here)

That Commencal looks pretty sweet. I'd say don't get sucked in by a carbon frame. Save your money for better suspension and components. They'll take you a lot father than a fancy plastic frame.

Hey Kelz and welcome! We tested a handful of bikes under $2k that you can read about here
https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/Vital-MTBs-2-000-Mountain-Bike-Comparison,2793 - hopefully it can help w/ some general info if not an actual bike. the mythique is in our test and was a favorite for sure.

Agreed w/ big bird about not getting wow'd by a carbon frame. At your price point, there are a lot of rad options.

i've used our product guide to narrow down a bunch of bikes w/ the parameters you're listing. it's not every bike out there, but will give you a lot of info
https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/category/Bikes,3/?discontinued=true&price%5B%5D=1000_2500&cat=Product&riding_type%5B%5D=trail&riding_type%5B%5D=enduro_allmountain&model_year%5B%5D=2019&model_year%5B%5D=2020&wheel_size%5B%5D=29&rear_travel%5B%5D=120mm_to_149mm&rider%5B%5D=unisex

Not 29”, but a smoking deal nonetheless. https://www.canyon.com/en-us/mountain-bikes/trail-bikes/spectral/spectral-al-5.0/2229.html?dwvar_2229_pv_rahmenfarbe=RD

Tracer Tong wrote:

https://www.commencalusa.com/meta-tr-29-origin-c2x29149170

Use the leftovers for a riding trip. Frame is sound, bike handles good, upgrade with min/maxed parts as necessary(including a dropper post right out the start?).

I love my Commencal. (Which is anecdotal evidence but this isn't exactly rigorous science we're doing here)

That is a sweet looking bike for sure and has a some decent component specs 👌🏼

Big Bird wrote:

That Commencal looks pretty sweet. I'd say don't get sucked in by a carbon frame. Save your money for better suspension and components. They'll take you a lot father than a fancy plastic frame.

Yeah, honestly the carbon frame is the biggest draw to the Felt. I feel like that’s the bones of the bike and can be a good platform for upgrades-but it’s almost too much to upgrade the more I look at it.

The biggest downer is that the travel is 100mm rear and 120mm front. Honestly it’d probably be fine, but it doesn’t sound like much compared to other bikes for the same price. Plus no dropper 😂

sspomer wrote:

Hey Kelz and welcome! We tested a handful of bikes under $2k that you can read about here
https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/Vital-MTBs-2-000-Mountain-Bike-Comparison,2793 - hopefully it can help w/ some general info if not an actual bike. the mythique is in our test and was a favorite for sure.

Agreed w/ big bird about not getting wow'd by a carbon frame. At your price point, there are a lot of rad options.

i've used our product guide to narrow down a bunch of bikes w/ the parameters you're listing. it's not every bike out there, but will give you a lot of info
https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/category/Bikes,3/?discontinued=true&price%5B%5D=1000_2500&cat=Product&riding_type%5B%5D=trail&riding_type%5B%5D=enduro_allmountain&model_year%5B%5D=2019&model_year%5B%5D=2020&wheel_size%5B%5D=29&rear_travel%5B%5D=120mm_to_149mm&rider%5B%5D=unisex

Thanks! I watched the Vital shootout and it got me excited for the Vitus when I first started looking. The video was an influencer for sure, plus there’s a lot of good info on the Mythique floating around. The biggest problem is, they are sold out as soon as they get new bikes in! I was also looking at the Haro Shift R7 but can’t find much about it and it didn’t hold my interest

schwaaa31 wrote:

Not 29”, but a smoking deal nonetheless. https://www.canyon.com/en-us/mountain-bikes/trail-bikes/spectral/spectral-al-5.0/2229.html?dwvar_2229_pv_rahmenfarbe=RD

🤔 I’m definitely going to look more into this one when I get home. The suspension has a lot of travel and is pretty lightweight at about 14.5kg. Could be the smaller tires tho. Either way, it’s worth checking out.

I like the 12spd and dropper post. As a newbie to FS bikes, I probably don’t need a lot of travel but it does seem appealing. I don’t want to open a can of worms on 650B vs. 29ers, but I’m not closed minded toward the 27.5. It seems 29s are the way the market is going tho

you can't go wrong w/ the spectral. it's a SUPER fun bike. spec is a bit different with current bikes but we loved it in 2018 too - https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Canyon/Spectral-AL-6,21732

sspomer wrote:

you can't go wrong w/ the spectral. it's a SUPER fun bike. spec is a bit different with current bikes but we loved it in 2018 too - https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Canyon/Spectral-AL-6,21732

Ooo this is another good one to read up about this evening 👍🏼 I hope the companies out there realize the influence you guys have to potential customers like me! It’s awesome to have this info at our disposal.

Look at the pinkbike field trip. In a series of videos they reviewed 8 budget bikes around your price range. The Vitus was praised, as well as a Commencal Meta and a YT Jeffsy of some sort. For sure check that out. I think it will be helpful.

What's up, Kelz. We MX guys are going to take over the MTB forum pretty soon!

Since you mentioned the price point, you'd be well served by looking at the direct-to-consumer brands (Commencal, YT, Canyon.) You tend to get more bang for your buck without a local bike shop playing middleman. Vitus is a house brand with Chain Reaction Cycles, so they obviously have a similar benefit.

Here's another non-scientific vote for Commencal; I own one also and I've been really happy with it. I don't miss the carbon frame at all.

Falcon wrote:

What's up, Kelz. We MX guys are going to take over the MTB forum pretty soon!

Since you mentioned the price point, you'd be well served by looking at the direct-to-consumer brands (Commencal, YT, Canyon.) You tend to get more bang for your buck without a local bike shop playing middleman. Vitus is a house brand with Chain Reaction Cycles, so they obviously have a similar benefit.

Here's another non-scientific vote for Commencal; I own one also and I've been really happy with it. I don't miss the carbon frame at all.

Ahh I recognize that name, whatsup dude! 😎 Yeah man-ever since this COVID outbreak, the VitalMX threads have gotten really dry and repetitive. It seems like a smaller group on VitalMTB, but less assholes Lol

I’ve really been enjoying biking again, it’s so convenient and you can ride anywhere. I was really close to getting the Canyon, but a deal on a used Yeti SB95 29er fell on my lap so I got it. I’m still interested in that Canyon Spectral tho

For a shorter travel travel trail bike, the Giant Trance 3 has a pretty good spec for $2100..

Brian_Peterson wrote:

For a shorter travel travel trail bike, the Giant Trance 3 has a pretty good spec for $2100..

I have 2 Giant Trances (2012, 2017)
Both have been great bikes - they are the higher priced Carbon versions.

I have no affiliation with Giant - I was on the verge of buying a Canyon Strive, but decided to buy a new Giant Reign.
This was partially based on the perfectly handled warranty claim on one of my Trances - Giants warranty seems second to none. (To the original purchaser).

They also seem to be “specced up” compared to similarly priced bikes.
My ‘17 Trance has Carbon rims!!

Just my 2c....

skypig wrote:

I have 2 Giant Trances (2012, 2017)
Both have been great bikes - they are the higher priced Carbon versions.

I have no affiliation with Giant - I was on the verge of buying a Canyon Strive, but decided to buy a new Giant Reign.
This was partially based on the perfectly handled warranty claim on one of my Trances - Giants warranty seems second to none. (To the original purchaser).

They also seem to be “specced up” compared to similarly priced bikes.
My ‘17 Trance has Carbon rims!!

Just my 2c....

I'm currently on a 2020 Trance Advanced 1... Super fun bike..

I got a chance to demo one of the new Reign 29ers... Rides nice.. I would consider on to replace my Slash...

This is what I ended up with. Going from a 26” hard tail to a 29 with taller forks/wider bars felt like an intimidating monster at first, but everything I tried felt way easier surprisingly. Very confidence-inspiring. I love it!

I put 30 miles on it so far. I had to get stitches in my side today and doc said no riding for 2 weeks! I ordered a rebuild kit for the shock so that’ll give me something to do. Looking to go tubeless and add a dropper too. Nobody home on the front brake either 🤔

Keep an eye on the Switch pivot... Those are notorious for seizing..