[EN] Interested in purchasing a RAM Core 27.5 1 or others

[Cosmitz]

Hello,

Excuse the english but i thought it better than google-translating to bulgarian. :p

I'm from north across the Danube, Romania, and i'm interested in upgrading from Decathlon-Rockrider-trash to a serious XC/trail hardtail bike. I have ridden a few and there are a few sticking points i was looking for in one:

- Good quality fork, air (the Core 1 has Rockshox Recon 120mm TK Air)
- Ideally two chainwheels (core1: Sram X5 10s 22-36T, not much on the high speed range but i'm fine with it, not like i cycle 30-40km/h)
- Thumb-only trigger shifters, no gripshifts, no Shimano index finger like on the Alivio's (core1: full Sram X5)

As such, i somewhat settled on the Ram Core 27.5 1. It's a bit on the pricy side, around 100e more than i'd pay, at 1700lev/870e (with 45euro extra shipping to Romania) from here: http://www.sportdelivery.com/en/product ... -2016/12--

So my question is a bit two fold. Is the RAM 27.5.1 a good choice price/component wise and worth the extra push in cash? I've done some serious comparisons with the (100e cheaper) ORYX Seven S10, a Giant Talon 2 2016 (non LTD), a Merida Big Seven 300 2016, and even Ram's lower offering, the Mentor 27.5.1. The rest while they have good airforks, are three-chainwheel, and minus the Oryx, the rest are Shimano Alivio/Deore shifters.

Secondly, what shops do you recommend that have international shipping? Could i find a better price for it apart from sportdelivery.com? My country's importer, dkbike.ro, is selling them for 15% MORE than it'd cost to buy it from sportdelivery AND pay for shipping.

Thanks for reading!

[Boyan1984]

I would say - go with the Oryx! The XC 32 is a great fork for the price! You can upgrade it anytime.
Why don't you check crosscycles.com for nice offerings, some really great bikes that will suit your budget perfectly.

[Cosmitz]

Yeah, i saw a lot of people recommending the Euphoria around here, and by looking at the components i can understand why. It's a pretty solid bike. Well, i'm down to four choices then, skipping the Core 27.5.1 simply because the price-tag is just not worth it upon further research. It's 15% more expensive than any other choice on my list.

The Oryx Seven S10: http://www.sportdelivery.com/en/product ... aciteblack
The Cross Euphoria: http://www.sportdelivery.com/en/product ... 275/5051--
The Giant Talon 2: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bi ... ifications

And maybe, if you guys have any idea, if i can still find a RAM HT Two.1 27.5 2015 version (m-size). Should be quite a lot cheaper than all the other options but with all the advantages i'd get out of the Core.1 with a tiny downgrade in forks.

[Boyan1984]

If You ask me- choose between the Oryx and Cross euphoria. I would go with Oryx, beocuse of the frame.
Other parts are almost the same. Don't know anything about Sram's DB3 brakes, the Cross is with Shimano 396, wich are kind of basic, but will do the job well.
Oryx for me.