Big Bike Thread

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I'm about 20% sag on the front and about 25% on the rear. Roughly shock dependant run your weight in lbs as the psi in the rear shock as a starter.

Set the sag with shocks open (not locked)

Pictures please!
 
Just thought I'd hijack in here to see what the crack is and ask some advice.

After a mountain bike, for Offroad only use really as I dont really want to ride it anywhere else apart from too and from the train station. As I'll be using it in Delamere Forest Cheshire and hopefully other places once I get used to things.

I have a budget of around £400, I could probably stretch a few quid over but not much, as I'm just starting out and don't want to go overboard.

What would you suggest?

Cheers
 
Sinny said:
Just thought I'd hijack in here to see what the crack is and ask some advice.

After a mountain bike, for Offroad only use really as I dont really want to ride it anywhere else apart from too and from the train station. As I'll be using it in Delamere Forest Cheshire and hopefully other places once I get used to things.

I have a budget of around £400, I could probably stretch a few quid over but not much, as I'm just starting out and don't want to go overboard.

What would you suggest?

Cheers
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Would you consider 2nd hand - your likely to pick up something fairly decent 2nd hand as £400 new is not going to get much in the way of a new bike

Best at around £550 would be something like - Rockrider 8.1 2012 Mountain Bike, Grey

or £500

VooDoo Hoodoo Mountain Bike 2011/2012 -

The Hoodoo was the nicest bike to ride on this test, and mainly because the SR Suntour Raidon X1 fork is so good. Not many years ago a fork as good as this would have left the makers no money for a frame… And the Hoodoo’s frame is excellent. Shimano’s Alivio drivetrain is a slick shifting as far more costly gears; the Tektro hydraulic disc brakes are superb stoppers with decent modulation; and the wheel and tyre set-up is the best hard-riding trail combination of all the bikes on test."

"So, does the Hoodoo have a downside? Well, no not really. Its 13.7kg weight is a bit of a haul up the hills, but a bar-mounted fork lockout makes that easier than on the other bikes too. The overall handling feel is simply superb for a bike at this price, and we’d still be saying that if it was £600."

"At a time when some £500 bikes seem lower specced than a couple of years ago, the Voodoo Hoodoo is a breath of fresh air, and mainly because of the fork – a good fork is often even more critical to performance than the frame or anything else. So the fact the frame and its associated kit are good too is a double bonus."
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shadowcreaper said:
quick question, just got my lovely Canyon nerve AL 8:D

cant ride it as im ill:(

But im setting it up and trying to get the fork sag correct.

Is 25% a good guideline for the front and 1/3rd for rear?

(im 12 stone, if that means anything lol)
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Suspension sag depends on your riding style and the type of suspension linkage your frame has, some linkages work better with more sag, some with less.

I would recommend 25% - 30% front and rear, I think it's a good idea to set the sag equally for both ends to begin with, then when you eventually find out how you like your bike to handle you can adjust it from there - like Supercow has for example. I think some pro downhillers who are obviously hitting rough terrain as fast as anyone would tend to run less sag so the suspension remains active. For the average mincers like us 30% will be effective.

To work out the sag just measure the exposed stanchion on your fork, and the stroke length (oo-er) on your shock - this is the exposed stanchion. If your shock stroke is 50mm long unsagged and you're after 30% sag then the little rubber ring on your shock should move to about 15mm down the stanchion when you're sat on the bike.

I used to like somewhere between 25-30% on my Covert but on my new bike 30% works best to get good small bump response.
 
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Aaron Gwin is a scary example of how much compression a pro can run.
I remember seeing a video, where Brendan and Sam were commenting on Gwin's lack of travel / rigidity of his setup, even compared to them!

Neglected to add, I run 10 - 15% sag on the hardtail's fork setup, and on the DH bike 20 - 25 front and a smidge under 35 rear.
 
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Supercow said:
Yes, it really is a simple process though and not as stringent as the above.

As he said, turn off trc
Pump up a little
Equalise a bit
Pump up some more
Equalise a bit
Pump up some more

He's also right when it comes to car park testing. The only thing you will really feel is rebound in the car park, and possibly the extreme ends of LSC.

Keep to the stock settings, get your rebound right, and then slowly, one click at a time (pos 2) start making adjustments.

The Deville takes a little time to get spot on, but you'll be thankful for being patient if you do.
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Thanks for that, will see how it goes when I fit them over the weekend.
Is it ok to cut the steerer with a hacksaw and file off the burrs? Pretty scared as I've not done it before. Will measure 10 times before cutting!!
 
I just cut it then tidy up with a surform and a file, its not critical that its 100% straight anyway. I only needed to cut about an inch of my Lyriks..
 
booyaka said:
Would you consider 2nd hand - your likely to pick up something fairly decent 2nd hand as £400 new is not going to get much in the way of a new bike

Best at around £550 would be something like - Rockrider 8.1 2012 Mountain Bike, Grey

or £500

VooDoo Hoodoo Mountain Bike 2011/2012 -
Click to expand...

I would consider second hand, but due to the minefield of knowing what not to buy, what the condition is like and most pickup only im mainly considering new. I've looked on eBay and most are miles away pickup only.
 
panthro said:
Thanks for that, will see how it goes when I fit them over the weekend.
Is it ok to cut the steerer with a hacksaw and file off the burrs? Pretty scared as I've not done it before. Will measure 10 times before cutting!!
Click to expand...

It will work fine, but tbh... just go on and go buy a pipe cutter from BnQ as it's cheap, works a treat on seatposts / handlebars / steerers. Does a very tody job and takes the stress out of cutting something expensive.
 
Sinny said:
Just thought I'd hijack in here to see what the crack is and ask some advice.

After a mountain bike, for Offroad only use really as I dont really want to ride it anywhere else apart from too and from the train station. As I'll be using it in Delamere Forest Cheshire and hopefully other places once I get used to things.

I have a budget of around £400, I could probably stretch a few quid over but not much, as I'm just starting out and don't want to go overboard.

What would you suggest?

Cheers
Click to expand...

tbh if you are going to leave your bike at the station spend as little as possible, a £400 will only get stolen probably the first day you leave it there.
 
Cheers. Or are there any really good offers still available on new 2012 bikes? (around entry level price point for something "decent" i.e. not amazing, but ok for mincing around Hamsterley etc.)
 
petriodet said:
tbh if you are going to leave your bike at the station spend as little as possible, a £400 will only get stolen probably the first day you leave it there.
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I mean that's the only non offroad place I'll be riding :-D. I wont ever leave my bike unattended due to past experience :-D.
 
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