Big Bike Thread

Alasdair · 24 Nov 2007 at 00:19

yantorsen said:
In some ways I think knee pads/elbow pads, might be more useful,

Rubbish. Helmets are the kind of thing you buy hoping not to use, and I never ever go out riding without my helmet, but I regularly go out without my armour. Bruised and battered bones mend easier than a broken head.

Having said that, I always seem to hit my legs off the top tube/ground/trail obstacles when I'm not wearing my armour, but that's just sod's law I suppose. Every time I do it I get really annoyed with myself for not having my pads on, so if I didn't have the pads I wouldn't get annoyed. :confused:

al

6thElement · 24 Nov 2007 at 03:36

Casually riding along today, temperature roughly freezing, windchill making it less.

pedrochop · 25 Nov 2007 at 15:53

looks like you had a pretty nice day. Which trail were you riding on?

monkeypants · 25 Nov 2007 at 16:19

6thElement said:
Casually riding along today, temperature roughly freezing, windchill making it less.

What's it like riding 29"?

Randell Floyd · 26 Nov 2007 at 09:53

Might not be mine 'exactly' ;p

6thElement · 27 Nov 2007 at 05:09

pedrochop said:
looks like you had a pretty nice day. Which trail were you riding on?

A long way East of anywhere you'd ride

monkeypants said:
What's it like riding 29"?

Like 26" but with 3" extra

monkeypants · 27 Nov 2007 at 18:02

6thElement said:
A long way East of anywhere you'd ride

Like 26" but with 3" extra

East? Think you need to check a compass there, unless you were off in China or something.

Don't be so ambiguous! Have you not really noticed any difference?

Bennah · 27 Nov 2007 at 18:39

Definatly a mix up there, I think hes in Alabama. Could be wrong though

6thElement · 27 Nov 2007 at 22:00

Okay, a really long way East or a long way West

I can't really give a comparison as I'd not ridden off road for a long time before I bought the 29er HT last year. There's plenty of other opinions out there though, most seem in favour of the bigger wheels.

6thElement · 29 Nov 2007 at 13:35

Nothing quite like a nice ride, out in the woods, miles from anywhere, at night, hoping you're not being watched by a bear/big cat/hill billy.

Jonny ///M · 29 Nov 2007 at 21:10

Randell Floyd said:
Might not be mine 'exactly' ;p

WTF thats like.....a fake my bike :confused:

Any more pics?

Randell Floyd · 30 Nov 2007 at 13:38

Jonny ///M said:
WTF thats like.....a fake my bike

Any more pics?

It's not my bike as I never paid for it, but I have use of it when ever I fancy so I 've not needed to buy a bike yet.

I've not got any pics as I generally don't take a camera out with me, that was the g/f crappy phone cam as she was having a fit I'd forgot most of my gear at home.

The bikes a Maverik ML8 that's been custom 'tweaked' as her best friend runs the bike hire in Coed Y Brenin when he's not working on the shop that own it. Had bit of a shock when he told me I'd just ridden a £4k bike the first time he let me loose on it.

monkeypants · 2 Dec 2007 at 21:47

I feel I must open this up to the forum, I'm currently picking a new bike, my first full sus. I'm not sure how much to spend. I have a few options:

£3000ish and go all out and get a custom built Intense 5.5 or Ellsowrth Epiphany from america.

£2000 and get a mid range Specialized Epic or Stumpjumper.

£1500ish and get an entry level Specialized Epic or Stumpjumper, or a Trek Fuel EX7.

£900 and get a mid range 2007 Specialized FSRxc.

I've spoken to weescott excessively about this and he says £3k is ridiculous for a 20 year old on just over £10k, he said it's something you work up to.

My work has a bike2work scheme, I get £1000 to spend through Halfords, I imagine I can add more to this though. Trouble is, I can only enter it in April, so do I risk it and wait and see if they can get me the 2007 FSRxc? Or, do I ignore the scheme all together and go all out and get everything I really want from America?

If I decide to wait and they can no longer get the '07 FSRxc, I could get the '08 model and pay the extra £100, it'll still end up only costing £700 ish.

I guess what I'm really asking, is should I go all out and get my dream bike as soon as I've saved? (which will be around april) Or get a lesser bike on the scheme? I have a road bike to go to work on, but they don't know that. Is there any way that they'd find out I was manipulating the system?

PlatinumFX · 2 Dec 2007 at 22:12

I dont know where the point of diminishing returns is in mountain bikes but it is definetly there. Consider carefully what you truely need.

Im in to road cycling in a big way. I have high hopes for myself though its beyond 99% certain Ill never ride a tour de france. I can justify to myself spending £2500 ish on my next road bike. That gets me a kick ass bike. With that kind of money going down, the improvements seen in the even more expensive bikes start to become very small.

The question you have to ask yourself is, how keen are on on MTBing? Do you NEED a race level machine?

SDK^ · 2 Dec 2007 at 22:15

Monkey: Bad news - You can't buy a bike with a value more than your Ride2Work voucher.

I have a 07 FSR XC Comp and it's a pretty decent Cross Country bike. The only downsides I've encountered is the frame design stretches you out towards the front, so if you’re planning on doing steep descents be prepared to feel like you're getting thrown off the bike.

Also - you probably mean an 08 FSR

monkeypants · 2 Dec 2007 at 22:46

SDK^ said:
Monkey: Bad news - You can't buy a bike with a value more than your Ride2Work voucher.

That really sucks! All my options are out, unless I'm really lucky and I can still get hold of a large '07 FSRxc!

I don't need a race level machine, but it would be nice to own the dream bike because after all, what's the point in having a dream if you'll never live it?

I'm used to having a steep head angle and I prefer it to being laid back, hence the Intense with it's 70° head angle being top of my list

Now it seems I have two main options. Wait for the scheme, or save up. But how much, realistically, should I spend?

Teifiterror · 2 Dec 2007 at 22:50

Set your limit at £2000, 3k is just excessive in my opinion unless your racing competitively. Remember bits break fairly regularly as well, and replacing spangly bits on an expensive bike costs a lot more in the long run. Also lots of bikes around 2k have the same frames as more expensive bikes so as parts break you can upgrade etc.

Kona* · 3 Dec 2007 at 11:25

You lot have some lovely bikes

I am currently riding a '06 Merlin Malt 2, ill post some pictures later on in the week

Anyway, my main reason for this post is to ask about pedals and road tyres. I haven't been off-road for a while due to my usual group of friends being consumed by grind machine that is World of Warcraft and there isn't anywhere local I can ride to that is off-road so I have been riding around Newcastle a bit!

I normally use DMR V12's as I don't like the feeling of being clipped in (I found this out after spending £££ on some Diadora Geko's and some Shimano M520's) but I have heard a lot of people saying that you are more efficient at pedalling while clipped in, is this true? If it is I would be willing to give the clipless pedals another go as they are just sitting around gathering dust!

Next on my list is road tyres, I currently use Panaracer XC's but last week I was talking to a friend of a friend who rides road bikes and he said to get some proper road tyres as they make a huge difference, do they make *that* much of a difference to XC tyres? Also is it safe to keep chopping and changing my tyres every other week, will it not damage the rims?

Other than those two questions I am getting on quite well with road riding, I thought it would be the most dull thing in the world as I am more of an XC kinda guy! Also annoying motorists with off-road lights is kinda amusing

Cheers,

Craig

Raymond Lin · 3 Dec 2007 at 11:47

Short answer is

Road tyres have smaller surface area = less rolling resistance so you don't need as much effort to go at a higher speed

Clipless give you more power because you are pulling and pushing.

PlatinumFX · 3 Dec 2007 at 12:00

I wouldn't say the difference is night and day between clipless and platform pedals, but it is there. I wouldn't go back to platforms on road bikes. It gives you a great feeling of being in control, especially when cornering fast.