Big Bike Thread

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Inquisitor said:
Do they do policies suitable for students?
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I used endsleigh. Didn't have to claim so I can't vouch for them but their halls insurance can add on things like bikes.

Think I paid 90 quid for the year with a £600 laptop insured while travelling for loss and theft also, the bike which was 350, hi fi equipment and other things.
 
ConTRo13R said:
what sort of price range will i be looking at for a full suspension downhill type bike?
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How long is a piece of string? You could pay £500 for a full suspension or you could pay £5000.

I'd say £1500+ for a decent downhill one though.

georges said:
I used endsleigh. Didn't have to claim so I can't vouch for them but their halls insurance can add on things like bikes.

Think I paid 90 quid for the year with a £600 laptop insured while travelling for loss and theft also, the bike which was 350, hi fi equipment and other things.
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I used them for house insurance last year, but they seem to require a separate policy for bikes over £400. Have just had a look and they seem very stingy with their lock cover (my lock would cover me for up to £1500 with Cycle Guard, but only £250 with Endsleigh :confused:)
 
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ConTRo13R said:
what sort of price range will i be looking at for a full suspension downhill type bike?
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Pure DH bike? Looking at £1500 Second hand for a good one which will last to be honest. New your looking £3k+. If you want something all mountain, Lapierre 316's are £2k new and good All Mountain, but have a think about what you wanna use it for first of all. Cause you wont haul a 40LBS+ DH bike up a hill.
 
ConTRo13R said:
what sort of price range will i be looking at for a full suspension downhill type bike?
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I personally wouldn't recommend getting a DH bike as your first real bike.
Get an aggressive All Mountain bike first, then move to DH if you still feel that is what you wanna do. Get something like a Specialized SX trail (AM/FR bike that will do it all), which you can get for about £800+ second hand.

For a good NEW DH bike, I'd say £2k
For a good Second Hand, I'd say £1.5K

(only reason there is a little difference bewteen second hand and new is because the Mongoose Boot'r can be had for 2k new and is fantastic value for money)
 
picked up my trek 6000 this afternoon, i love it so far but only had a quick ride on it, no pics yet do you'll have to have a catalogue pic :D

trek6000.jpg
 
Cheers guys, im seem to be increasing my nudget the more research im doing, do you reckon for a newbie i would be able to buy all the parts and slowly build something decent?

hmmm yea in the thousands is a bit much lol
 
You can start to build slowly, but unless you know how to build bikes i wouldnt bother. Custom builds cost a lot more. Just go out, look at some bikes and just try something a little less full on than a DH bike. Like Supercow said, get an all mountain bike, like my reign above. Good fun on the downs and can still climb up them hills
 
ConTRo13R said:
Cheers guys, im seem to be increasing my nudget the more research im doing, do you reckon for a newbie i would be able to buy all the parts and slowly build something decent?
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Its much more expensive to build a bike from parts but it is pretty simple and you do get exactly what you want. The only special tools which you'd need is a bottom bracket tool and a chain tool. A spanner adapter for a bottom bracket costs a few quid and you can get a chain tool for £10-£20 (dont skimp too much on a chain tool because cheap ones are rubbish)

There are a lot of biking forums that you can ask for help on if you get stuck but, tbh, its quite simple to put together a bike.
 
Im really interested in this, even if i just end up making the bike that will give me such satisfaction :D

Im researching all the parts and what they do and the such, but still cant understand what makes derailleurs so different from each other or stems for that matter

The advice from you guys is great and extremely helpful
 
What about the headset? don't you need a good press or maybe do it at the LBS?

You probably also want a chain whip and cassette tool?

I'm doing a lot more of my own maintenance now, good recent buy was a good set of cable cutters (Park CN-10). Without it only way I managed to cut through housings with standard cutter pliers was to close them in the vice. Cables and housings are cheap and replacing them often makes shifting soo much nicer.
 
touch said:
Its much more expensive to build a bike from parts but it is pretty simple and you do get exactly what you want. The only special tools which you'd need is a bottom bracket tool and a chain tool. A spanner adapter for a bottom bracket costs a few quid and you can get a chain tool for £10-£20 (dont skimp too much on a chain tool because cheap ones are rubbish)

There are a lot of biking forums that you can ask for help on if you get stuck but, tbh, its quite simple to put together a bike.
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Yea few more tools than that needed, espeically if he goes with shimano cranks, also need a cassette tool, headset press. He'll have to learn how to set up gears correctly, get the correct chain length. Loads of things.. Better to get a complete bike then learn when time comes to upgrade parts etc
 
It does sound a proper challenge!

Would it be possible to say buy a half decent hardtail now and a few months down the line buy a full suspension frame second hand and transfer the gear from the hardtail to the full sus' frame?

That way id learn without not having a bike :D
 
Yep, hardtail is always a good place to start. Some say starting off on a full sus makes you "lazy" as you can plow through most things. A hardtail makes you think, learn how to pick clean lines etc. Much better off, then in a few months you can pick up a frame and start swapping
 
R0B75 said:
That looks like great fun. How do you get all your gear up there?
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Six of us are going and we're driving up - 6 hours each way so that should be fun :)
The bikes are going in the back of a Mitsubishi pickup, and all of the rest of the gear is going in my car. We're staying in Peebles for 3 days for the Glentress trails and then Dumfries for the rest of them.

Just about to start loading up the vehicles :)
 
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