Another newbie here.

N8.

Cannon Fodder
Hello guys,

Another newbie here, just about to buy my first XC MTB and want to keep it on the cheap side until I get my skills up and know I’m going to stick with it before spending some big cash. So last weekend I went to my local Trek dealer to grab a Top Fuel 5 just to get me started and they really pushed me towards a Focus Thron 6.8 instead, as they had no stock in my size I walked away with no bike and now I’m not sure what bike to order? This was my third attempted in the last 6 months to buy a bike as the first two shops only wanted to sell E-Bikes.

I’m from Mudgee NSW and go 4WD/camping in my local Nat. parks about 1-2 times a month so most of my riding at the start will only be on old fire trails around the central west and not planning on doing any extreme downhill stuff any time soon.

I would love to hear any feed back on the Focus Thron as i can't find any reviews anyway from actual owners.

Cheers.
 

yuley95

soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
Welcome.

I don’t have any experience on the Thron unfortunate but I think Focus have a pretty good reputation. They are a German brand and seem to make descent gear.

If the standard of gear on it is similar to the Trek (things like the fork, shock, gears and brakes) then I think it would be a good bet.

Just make sure they help you pick the right size and don’t just sell you what they have in stock. No better way to ruin the experience then to get a bike that doesn’t fit
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
The focus looks to be a little nicer in my opinion, assuming this is the bikes being compared?

https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/d...focus-thron-6-8/112025159?variant_id=13430417

https://www.trekbikes.com/au/en_AU/...y-mountain-bikes/top-fuel/top-fuel-5/p/35071/

Brakes are most noteworthy improvement. Your price point is hardly a low one, which is good, but you aren't far off a solid jump in price = much better. For example both these bikes have a shit fork that you will come to hate (hambo where are you???) and blow some $$$ replacing. Or you could jump up 500-1000 now and save the hassle while also reaping the other spec improvements on offer.










Now I did just go and have a look at the bikes from Marin and Polygon at bicycles online at this price point and up to about $4600 expecting to see some great value, but all the bikes I looked a had Shimano hubs. This (for some like myself) is a deal breaker on a bike and wheels are also expensive to replace.
 

N8.

Cannon Fodder
Welcome.

I don’t have any experience on the Thron unfortunate but I think Focus have a pretty good reputation. They are a German brand and seem to make descent gear.

If the standard of gear on it is similar to the Trek (things like the fork, shock, gears and brakes) then I think it would be a good bet.

Just make sure they help you pick the right size and don’t just sell you what they have in stock. No better way to ruin the experience then to get a bike that doesn’t fit
Thanks mate, yeah the Thron has slightly better shocks and brakes, Rock shox recon gold RL over silver RL and Shimano MT420 over MT200 but both run the same Shimano deore M6100, 12-speed, and the rear shock on the Thron is Rock Shox deluxe select and X-Fusion Pro 2 on the Trek. They were pretty good with the bike size as they only had a small and large in stock but after watching me test ride the bike they told me I should come another time a buy the medium.
 

N8.

Cannon Fodder
Next bike up was the Thron 6.9 with FOX 34 Float Rhythm 29 fork, but at $4799 by the time I buy some gear and spares would be well over 5k and the boss/wife has only given me around 4k to spend at the moment, I was only hoping to keep it with brand from a shop around here so I could get serviced locally with out pissing people off (small town problems) but now I might start looking at others.
 

DougalStrachan

Likes Dirt
Hi mate - been looking for bikes lately but there is not a lot of stock. I was looking at the Trek Top Fuel 8 but no stock until Dec 2022. Some others to look at in that short travel - not that any are in stock

Siskiu T8
Marin Rift Zone
Canyon Neuron 7
 
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