JuaneC

Sorry, I know the Big Nine is more of a XC bike, but I think it also depends on the level of trails you are planning to ride.

I had more or less the same requirement. After weeks of searching, I bought a Merida Big Nine XT edition 1x12 2020. Ticked all my boxes. Just through in a set of decent Maxxis tubeless tyres and maybe a Lyne dropper post, and you should have a good combo for about your price range. Oh.....and did I mention the bike is all black?

Well thank you for all the advice. So I did buy new. The bike ticked all the boxes. Like I said, I would just like to add a dropper post, and ride it for a few years.

So here’s a reply after a very long time........and sitting at home of course looking at my relatively new purchase..... I decided on a Merida Big 9 XT edition hard tail. Man oh man am I happy with this bike. Only did a couple of rides around my area and one at Thaba Trails. Only did the tubeless conversion with Maxxis EXO tyres and thats all for now. Only thing I still want to upgrade is the post to a dropper post.

Thank you for the reply guys. I see the Norco was just sold. Looks like one needs to be quick on the draw.

Hi guys. New to the forum and cycling. I have been cycling purely for the fitness part of it for about a year now. Went and bought a Titan Trail in 2018. I found I rather enjoy it and now want to get a bit more serious about it. So......looking to upgrade the good old Titan. Question is, do I go for the best new hardtail my budget allows (about R20k) or go secondhand. The problem is that I would not really know what to look for in a secondhand bike and obviously do not want to spend money on repairs. Looking at the 2019 Titan Drone Pro hardtail as reference. Looks like the components are about the best bang for your buck. Normally a medium but with the drone frames a small.