ChristoKruger

Thanks for all the great advice guys, got myself a very well looked after 2015 Merida Ninety-Nine 9.600 kitted with SLX & XT and with a tubeless conversion today.

Thanks for the welcome & great advice! I really would rather go the secondhand route as you get more bang for your buck, so is this the secondhand bikes I should look at? Scott SparkSpecialized EpicGiant AnthemMerida 96/99Trek Fuel

I'm looking at purchasing a dual suspension 29er. I'm 42 and coming off a Scott Aspect 620 26" hardtail. I currently do 30km of gravel roads every second day and I would like to graduallly incease that to 60km. My limited understanding is that the general rule is that an XC bike has 100m or less suspension travel and a trail bike has 120mm or more? I'm looking at a comfortable bike to do the kms, thus I'm not sure how much suspension travel I would need, I'm 177cm and 82kg. I mostly ride on flat gravel with minor corrugations but I would also like to compete in MTB events for fun. My budget for a secondhand bike is R20k. Would love some advice on what to buy.