Big Bike Thread

weescott · 10 Jul 2011 at 22:36

You can do a lot on a 120mm travel bike. But 140mm is a Trail bike not an AM bike. Darn marketing people!! When I asked bike holiday companies if I should take my Blur (105/120) or Heckler (150/160) they said either. I cycle in th Highlands a lot and 120mm is enough for most stuff.

Don't hire a bike. It's a waste of money. I just took 3 DH bikes to France/Switzerland. No hassle.

SDK^ · 10 Jul 2011 at 22:45

weescott said:
Don't hire a bike. It's a waste of money. I just took 3 DH bikes to France/Switzerland. No hassle.

What did it cost you to fly the bikes.
When I costed it up it was something like £50 to put it on the airline, another £100+ for bike luggage then insurance in case those careful baggage handlers damaged it

Then you've got the hassle of maintenance out there etc..

Surely it's much better to fly out, hire a bike and ride as hard you like without worry?

TheBrooder · 10 Jul 2011 at 23:10

andi said:
Don't seem hugely different looking at the Geometry, AM is .5 degree slacker head angle, and only slightly longer. Spec looks pretty similar for each model too. Which model were you looking at?

Main difference appears to be the heavier weight of the AM and the price tag. And the travel of course.

I was looking at XC 5/6/7 or AM 5/6

Does me being heavy have any impact on the amount of travel used, or do you just add more pressure to compensate?

Berger said:
Before dropping a couple of grand on either bike, is it worth looking at getting an extended test ride on one of them?

Yes, in an ideal world I would do the same, but Canyon is buy direct only, hence the prices.

Deleted User 234324 · 10 Jul 2011 at 23:47

The shocks would be setup based on your weight so you being heavy will make little difference.

I was in the similar boat to you before you bought my current bike. Wanted something for local trials which were not that tough 120mm would have been fine for the,

Unfortunately for me I got and more in to the harder things ended up requiring something with more travel. So I went for a 150mm bike and love it, other than the extremely hard DH tracks it copes with everything i throw at it.

Looking at the specs, i'd go for the AM, you can adjust the fork from 150mm to 120mm for the easier stuff, but still have the added travel for harder tracks.

weescott · 11 Jul 2011 at 07:54

SDK^ said:
What did it cost you to fly the bikes.
When I costed it up it was something like £50 to put it on the airline, another £100+ for bike luggage then insurance in case those careful baggage handlers damaged it Then you've got the hassle of maintenance out there etc..

Surely it's much better to fly out, hire a bike and ride as hard you like without worry?

We drove out.

If you break something on a hire bike you have to pay for it. At least with your own bike you get to keep what you bought. I have flown with bike before. £30 each way plus bike bag at £90. Plus the risk of heavy handed baggage handlers and missing/late luggage.

Deleted User 234324 · 11 Jul 2011 at 10:24

Hope Romain makes a full recovery quickly from his crash during the UCI World Cup yesterday, looks like he broke his arm.

http://uk.freecaster.tv/mountainbike/1016722/romain-paulhan-crashes-out-in-windham

Supercow · 11 Jul 2011 at 10:30

SDK^ said:
What did it cost you to fly the bikes.
When I costed it up it was something like £50 to put it on the airline, another £100+ for bike luggage then insurance in case those careful baggage handlers damaged it Then you've got the hassle of maintenance out there etc..

Surely it's much better to fly out, hire a bike and ride as hard you like without worry?

Sleazyjet charges £25 for a bike, I used them last year and will be doing the same on my flight this year. No other charges for the bike in a box/bike bag - that's it.

MadMossy said:
Hope Romain makes a full recovery quickly from his crash during the UCI World Cup yesterday, looks like he broke his arm.

http://uk.freecaster.tv/mountainbike/1016722/romain-paulhan-crashes-out-in-windham

When I saw that live, my stomach turned inside out!

Deleted User 234324 · 11 Jul 2011 at 10:54

You can see his left arm go to jelly as he tries to get up, so defo broken.

2 of the girly racers also crashed in the same location on the same rock as well pretty much!

booyaka · 11 Jul 2011 at 13:13

fair bit of stuff @ on-one reduced etc.

Some good value stuff if you have a look.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/on-one-sale

bigredshark · 11 Jul 2011 at 13:23

So having mad my old Specialized hardtail stolen, is there a better option than a Cube LTD Race for a £1200 hardtail? I've been warned they weren't kidding about it's 'race' orientated setup but the spec is quite something for the money. No frame problems or the like I should know about?

booyaka · 11 Jul 2011 at 13:25

bigredshark said:
So having mad my old Specialized hardtail stolen, is there a better option than a Cube LTD Race for a £1200 hardtail? I've been warned they weren't kidding about it's 'race' orientated setup but the spec is quite something for the money. No frame problems or the like I should know about?

can you buy from anywhere?
What sort of riding do you do?

bigredshark · 11 Jul 2011 at 13:31

booyaka said:
can you buy from anywhere?
What sort of riding do you do?

Yeah, whatever I want for £1200 basically. I do a fair amount of trails though nothing too serious, red trails tend to be on the edge of my comfort zone and I'm kinda OK with staying at that level.

If it helps, I've done all of the Kyle of Sutherland trails a few times (family connections to the area) except the Balblair black and I'm pretty comfortable with the blues, the red less so but I've been back a few times. So that sort of thing.

Cuchulain · 11 Jul 2011 at 13:32

Seriously annoyed today

Did a 120 mile round trip to get to some purpose built mountain bike tracks @ this place: http://www.blessingbourne.com/

I didn't know in advance but it was a rubbish 4km loop with some 500m "red sections" which you could've navigated on a road bike, £4 to park and after 3 mind-numbingly boring turns around the loop for some reason my headset bearings gave way and almost locked my steering, I ended up in a bush with my bike on top of me cursing and swearing and now I can't walk or put any weight on my leg, my knee is the size of a watermelon and I'm going to need a new headset and steerer tube.

Worst day out ever!

Edit: actually it wasn't a total loss, as I couldn't put my weight on my left foot it was tricky using the clutch and I while I was pondering if I could use my right foot I ended up hitting a bend at nearly 70mph, had the Picasso up on two wheels for a second!

Deleted User 234324 · 11 Jul 2011 at 14:29

Just watched the replay, omg how fast was Gwin going, must be the bike (Trek Session Carbon prototype) as Peaty was crazy fast but to beat him by 2.5 seconds is just mental.

Supercow · 11 Jul 2011 at 14:35

bigredshark said:
Yeah, whatever I want for £1200 basically. I do a fair amount of trails though nothing too serious, red trails tend to be on the edge of my comfort zone and I'm kinda OK with staying at that level.

If it helps, I've done all of the Kyle of Sutherland trails a few times (family connections to the area) except the Balblair black and I'm pretty comfortable with the blues, the red less so but I've been back a few times. So that sort of thing.

£1200 is a lot to play with. I personally won't go for a hardtail, as I prefer the comfort of full suspension.

Are you set on a hardtail?

MadMossy said:
must be the bike

No difference between the Carbon session and the alu session, apart from the material from which it's built

bigredshark · 11 Jul 2011 at 14:41

Supercow said:
£1200 is a lot to play with. I personally won't go for a hardtail, as I prefer the comfort of full suspension.

Are you set on a hardtail?

I'm not at all but I'd like a semi decent fork, SLX or better mechs and brakes which aren't terrible (ie. not tektro). Given £1200 that only gets a entry Camber from Specialized, I haven't seen anything which offers much better value but if there was I'd consider it.

Just seems easier to get a decent set of components on a hardtail at that pricepoint...

Reality|Bites · 11 Jul 2011 at 14:56

Buy the better full suss bike and upgrade parts later on if you feel you have to?

Deleted User 234324 · 11 Jul 2011 at 15:08

Supercow said:
No difference between the Carbon session and the alu session, apart from the material from which it's built

If there is no difference then why bother ?

Surely Carbon is both lighter and stiffer than Alu?

I was under the impression that the Carbon Session was a good 2-3lbs lighter than the Alu version so putting it sub 35lbs, the current Alu model is ~37lbs afaik.

bigredshark · 11 Jul 2011 at 15:23

Reality|Bites said:
Buy the better full suss bike and upgrade parts later on if you feel you have to?

If I was going to do that I'd just spend £2k now though , it's a more expensive way to do that surely? I'm not limited in budget, I just don't really want to spend more than that for a bike I'll use casually every weekend and then for half a dozen trips a year.

I want it to be as good as I need it to be now, otherwise it just seems a false economy. So what is the best option for £1200 - I'm not overly attached to a hardtail or full sus option to be honest, but I do want components which won't annoy me from day 1, which I think probably means a hardtail....

Supercow · 11 Jul 2011 at 15:59

MadMossy said:
If there is no difference then why bother ?

Surely Carbon is both lighter and stiffer than Alu?

I was under the impression that the Carbon Session was a good 2-3lbs lighter than the Alu version so putting it sub 35lbs, the current Alu model is ~37lbs afaik.

OK, sorry I should have made it clearer.
No difference in things that matter, like Geometry and suspension design - but yes, it will be a tad lighter.
A 1ish lbs lighter DH bike wont make you any faster at DH, nevermind the top end boys who can ride a dead horse fast.

Natural talent, years on a MX bike and focussed off-season training with someone like John Tomac, special diet... now that will actually make a difference.

bigredshark said:
I'm not at all but I'd like a semi decent fork, SLX or better mechs and brakes which aren't terrible (ie. not tektro). Given £1200 that only gets a entry Camber from Specialized, I haven't seen anything which offers much better value but if there was I'd consider it.

Just seems easier to get a decent set of components on a hardtail at that pricepoint...

Do you have to buy new?