Sorry, another what bike thread.
I currently ride a Lapierre X-flow (120mm) that I love, however I'm finding I'm riding bigger and bigger stuff at the moment, and I whilst I have adapted the x-flow with bigger tyres which has helped a lot, the fact is it's an xc rocket, not a alpine enduro machine and it really needed a couple more inches of travel and a slacker front end.
I'm not looking to get rid of my old bike, but want something to complement it that I can ride down big drops,steep rooty sections and rocky stuff in the alps and then put the x-flow back to a superlight xc bike. I don't want a full-on downhill bike, as I want to be able to ride trails on it rather than push it up everything, but I want something that will take some big-ish hits.
(Oh, and I would quite like a bike that didn't require constant tlc to keep running well)
I have a preference for Shimano, and hate avid brakes. Think I want to go 650b.
So what should I go and ride? what do you ride? what other bikes should I look at and why?
Bikes I'm considering:
Canyon Strive CF (This looks great but none available until December)
Orange Alpine 160 650b
Mondraker Dune RR
Maybe a Santa Cruz
Maybe a self build but on what frame?
Budget £3-4k
Post edited at 21:51