Hi folks,

My first post to the forum/group and wanting the sage advice of others (apologies if this is not the right place to post this sort of enquiry).

Am returning to trails after a decade away doing ultra's and living outside of NZ. I'm wrestling with what bike do I throw my small budget at. I am weighing up a decent XC hard tail vs. a trail orientated full suspension. The type of riding that i'll get in to being local trails here in the Waikato and races like Whaka100 and a return to the Karapoti.

My dumb ego is going 'you need a fully for something like Karapoti'. Have about $2,500K tops, looking at Specialised Chisel, etc.

Thoughts on either welcome :-)

Wow, $2.5 million, sweet!

In case you ment $2.5k, I'm a fan of Scott bikes at present, and going with trail riding I'd go with 29" tires, so
Hardtail - Scott Scale 950, 29" wheels, 100mm fork, Sram GX 1x11
Full Sus - Scott Spark 970, 29" wheels, 120mm fork & rear, Shimano Deore

I haven't been too fussed about componentry lately, although I do favour Shimano more. IMO, after doing lots of kms on Shimanos Deore level MTB gear, I have no issue using it in trying conditions - it still has decent build quality, its just a little heavier than the next level up.