Another "what xxx should i buy" - where to compromise buying enduro frame & fork?
Apologies I know these get tedious but I really don't know what I'm doing and would value some expert advice.
47m. Got back into MTB 4 years ago after 30 years away. Was intention to replace running in my life and bea cross country racing snake. Long since given up and simultaneously realised I love bike park riding. I live in a flat area so 90% of my rides are the '2 minutes downhill then push back up'. But anytime I get the opportunity for a dedicated riding day I am heading somewhere where the runs are much longer and usually with uplift.
Skill level would be best described as pathetic. Weigh about 85 Kgs. Nevertheless I absolutely love the downwards direction and current bike has slowly morphed towards this - currently a YT Jeffsy frame with pike ultimate fork (so 140/140mm) and after rebuilding my destroyed back wheel I am running ex511 rims with hope pro 4 front and dt swiss 350 back hubs and hope v4 brakes with 180mm rotors.
This setup has been more than enough for me to confidently ride blue runs as quick as any of the toddlers on their balance bikes, I can shred corners with the bike almost completely flat (give or take 85 degrees) and can jump so high I sometimes have both wheels off the ground at the same time.
You get the idea - I'm not good enough to justify buying an enduro bike - however a recent 'unfortunate incident' with a carpark height barrier has destroyed the fork and I am trying to console myself with the thought of finally getting a proper big boy's rig. Funds are limited so it's likely I'll be considering used gear and will need to make some compromises. I'd love to get a nukeproof giga with zeb ultimate giving me 180/170mm of travel but might have to settle for a YT Capra and Lyrik base/select giving me 150/160mm.
If you were in my situation and costs were irrelevant would you pick longer travel, the fatter zeb chassis, or a step up the fork level to select/select+/ultimate) over the others? And if you could afford to pick two of the factors? I'm thinking that as my current fork is the 'ultimate' level, I'd miss what I've lost with a lower spec more than I would miss the extra travel that I've never had - so I would feel like a higher spec fork with 150/160 travel was more of an improvement than a base level zeb with 180mm - but i do wonder if my awful technique would benefit more from the extra travel than being able to tweak the high speed compression (which I never do because I can't tell the difference)?
It's likely I will be able to ride a bit more in the coming few years, so not unreasonable to assume my skill will increase a little - but I'm never going to be actually good. I won't be changing to less park riding or moving to anywhere different - but I will likely be spending a higher proportion of my time travelling to bigger parks with longer runs/uplifts.
Any advice gratefully received.