Find me a bike

[tjf67]

100mm equals about 4 inches.

I think you'd have to go to more of an AM setup (like the Atlas) to get into the 5 inch range

Unless you are going to be racing it cc i would sacrifice a little speed for the extra travel. You will be able take bigger hits and go faster through the rock gardens.

 

[bvibert]

Unless you are going to be racing it cc i would sacrifice a little speed for the extra travel. You will be able take bigger hits and go faster through the rock gardens.

I agree. I think an AM setup would suit Austin and his craziness better anyway. He's got enough energy to push that extra weight around.

 

[tjf67]

I was just looking at the atlas pro. That bike is bad ass. I wonder if my girl would notice if I swapped out my bike. HMMM
The price of that thing is very reasonable for what you are getting.

 

[wa-loaf]

Damn, this is all making want to go get a new bike. :angry:

 

[MR. evil]

I was just looking at the atlas pro. That bike is bad ass. I wonder if my girl would notice if I swapped out my bike. HMMM
The price of that thing is very reasonable for what you are getting.

All the Atlas models are sold out, though they still have frames.

 

[MR. evil]

How about a month or so more on my rigid bike? Not to be arrogant but I think I progress at things like biking a good amount faster than a normal person. Like I said earlier, my ride on Sunday was my one week anniversary from when I started riding. Before that they last time I ever mountain biked was in middle school, and even then I only went like 5 times a year and did barely any single track (nothing challenging at all).

Also, what is the reasoning behind riding a HT for a few year before riding a FS?
.

Mainly learning on a HT teaches you how to pump because your body is the shock. Knees & elbows need to be bent to traverse roots & clear rock sections to keep the wheels in contact with the terrain. Once you gain the skill of riding a HT keeping up with & passing FS bikes you are a animal. Now you get off the HT & start riding that new FS bike & all the roots N rocks turn flat, the pumping you were doing to clear these obstacles is now acceleration & your now waiting for your friends to catch up. When climbing hills with roots the rear tire stays planted with a FS where the HT bounces over loosing traction forcing you into working harder.

You might be the exception to the rule Austin as you already have some impressive bike skills. But keep a couple things in mind. FS bike are more expensive to buy, but they are also more expensive to maintain. There are a lot more things to break / go wrong with a FS bike. Being a college student you might want to keep that in mind. I also don’t think you really need a 5” AM rig. At your weight a good 4” XC bike should be more than enough. I would like to hear what Marc has to say

 

[bvibert]

At your weight a good 4” XC bike should be more than enough. I would like to hear what Marc has to say

This is probably true, what does he weigh, like 100 pounds soaking wet? :lol:

 

[Greg]

This is probably true, what does he weigh, like 100 pounds soaking wet? :lol:

Perfect weight for a lady his height.... :lol:

Like I should talk. :roll:

 

[tjf67]

You might be the exception to the rule Austin as you already have some impressive bike skills. But keep a couple things in mind. FS bike are more expensive to buy, but they are also more expensive to maintain. There are a lot more things to break / go wrong with a FS bike. Being a college student you might want to keep that in mind. I also don’t think you really need a 5” AM rig. At your weight a good 4” XC bike should be more than enough. I would like to hear what Marc has to say



Whats the down side of 5 inches of travel vs 4 inches.

I do not find the FS to an anymore expensive for upkeep. If you are tinkerer it will be more expensive. I beleive if it aint broke dont fix it. Tinkerers do more harm than good.

 

[o3jeff]

I don't think my body wants to be the shock for the hard tail too much longer since it is warning me with some pain.

 

[cbcbd]

austin, good on you... I think mtb hucking will fit your skiing style. I think you should go FS and not turn back. You know you're going to take those drops, no reason to waste your money on a hardtail if you will be wishing you had one after a week. I'd only go hardtail if you get into dirt jumps/urban riding/etc and that's all you do. If you like hucking and going fast downhill then go FS.

But I think that any mtb, riden hard and long will cost to keep maintained in the long run - parts go (my rear hub just crapped out recently on the mtb and I had to get new cogs for the road bike) and you have to replace some and its not cheap... and then you gotta have the right tools... and bikes have tons of specialized tools - but you can always bug marc for those.

I agree with tjf... I don't think there's that much extra cost to FS... I mean, you have a different frame and rear shock but everything else is about the same to replace if it breaks.

 

[eatskisleep]

You still looking for a bike?

BTW, if not mentioned before (I didn't read everything in this topic) FSR actually stands for "Future Shock Rear," the design is patented by Specialized although other companies do use the design. Basically speaking FSR is supposed to experience less "brake jack" (or none at all) in comparison to other bikes (in particular single pivot bikes or 4 bar linkage bikes).

Austin, I see something like a Big Hit working well for you, something with at least 6 inches of travel IMO if you want to be able to go big like in skiing. If not, go with a hardtail, you can build something really burly that can take a beating, face lift serviced, hit drops, still climb, and even take into the city. After a few years of riding a full suspension for downhill, I decided to go back to hardtail. Why? It helps make you better at picking a line, absorbing everything and anything, and it just makes you a faster rider overall, especially when you make the switch back to a full suspension.

 

[MR. evil]

Austin,
I think you should give some thought to what kind od riding you are really going to be doing. If you plan is to huck off jumps and large drops you will need a beefier AM / free ride bike. Not only are the frames stronger, but so is everything else. At your weight I wouldn't worry to much about a frame cracking, but you could easily blow a fork, rear shock & trash some wheels really easy if they are not rated for that type of riding. And that mean more $$$$$. If your plan is general trail riding (like we did last weekend) with the occational small drop (4 feet or less) and small jump then any good XC / AM bike will do.

My advice would be to buy a beater HT that you could trash over the next year and not care too much about. This would give you some time to find out which direction you want to head in with MTB. It would really suck if you spent big money on a bike that couldn't handle what you are going to do with it. It would also suck if you purchased a free ride bike and didn't need it.

 

[MR. evil]

Austin, I see something like a Big Hit working well for you, something with at least 6 inches of travel .

His max budget is $1500. Good luck finding a good 6" trail bike or a Spesh Big Hit anywhere close to that price.

 

[eatskisleep]

Used bikes are the way to go IMO, you can sawp out the new parts you need, like a drivetrain and have a great working bike.

By the way, the Big Hit FSR I has an MSRP of $1,750 and I'm sure you can find leftovers from certain shops in MA and still talk them down in price. I am willing to bet you could get a new Big Hit FSR I for less than $1,500.

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=34373

 

[awf170]

Hmm... got some thinking to do.


One thing I do know though is that I do not want a DH orientated bike. I love techi uphills, so I want something reasonably light. Just like hiking to ski I could not stand to lug a wicked heavy bike up a hill. My guess is that I'll do around 1/3 of my days hucking and dicking around and 2/3rds trying to bike fast, do hard uphills and get a good workout.

 

[eatskisleep]

Then the Big Hit is surely out of question. I'm thinking more of a 6 inch travel light freeride bike... Hmm...

 

[Marc]

You might be the exception to the rule Austin as you already have some impressive bike skills. But keep a couple things in mind. FS bike are more expensive to buy, but they are also more expensive to maintain. There are a lot more things to break / go wrong with a FS bike. Being a college student you might want to keep that in mind. I also don’t think you really need a 5” AM rig. At your weight a good 4” XC bike should be more than enough. I would like to hear what Marc has to say

This is pretty much what I told Austin after the ride on Sunday. I don't think Austin would be at any disadvantage going from full ridgid to full suspension, and I think an XC oriented frame in the 4-5" travel range paired with a marathon/endurance oriented front fork in the 95 - 110 mm travel range would work well. Realistically, without further large expendatures on safety equipment (full face helmet, pads, armour, etc) he's probably not going to be taking 6+ foot hits, and weighing what he does, he's not going to break an XC oriented bike. My GT is a XC/marathon type frame, and I can take 4-5 foot drops fine (as demonstrated on Sunday) and I weigh 165 lbs. If you're going a whole lot bigger than that, it's time to start looking at longer travel/beefier frames.

Whats the down side of 5 inches of travel vs 4 inches.

I do not find the FS to an anymore expensive for upkeep. If you are tinkerer it will be more expensive. I beleive if it aint broke dont fix it. Tinkerers do more harm than good.

The downside of more travel is it is it will tend to climb less efficiently, accelerate less efficiently, and is almost always built into a heavier, beefier frame, unless you're spending mega bucks to get something like the Ellsworth Epiphany. Also, generally, the longer the travel in the frame, the more needed in the fork to retain a good head tube angle. That adds yet more weight and cost.

FS certainly has the potential to be more expensive to maintain than hard tail and will almost certainly take more time. If you're interested in your frame bushings lasting, they should be removed, cleaned and greased at least once a season. Main pivot bearings can also wear out depending on the frame and the quality and will often require either a specialized tool or a fair amount of improvisation to replace.

If by "tinkerer" you mean someone that works on their own ride, then I can tell you, it's not more expensive if you know what you're doing. I buy parts as cheap as possible and pay no bike shop labor, and often times trust my own work much more than someone else's. I like having that piece of mind when I'm trusting my equipment, rather than just trusting someone else did it right and wasn't a fark off.

austin, good on you... I think mtb hucking will fit your skiing style. I think you should go FS and not turn back. You know you're going to take those drops, no reason to waste your money on a hardtail if you will be wishing you had one after a week. I'd only go hardtail if you get into dirt jumps/urban riding/etc and that's all you do. If you like hucking and going fast downhill then go FS.

But I think that any mtb, riden hard and long will cost to keep maintained in the long run - parts go (my rear hub just crapped out recently on the mtb and I had to get new cogs for the road bike) and you have to replace some and its not cheap... and then you gotta have the right tools... and bikes have tons of specialized tools - but you can always bug marc for those.

I agree with tjf... I don't think there's that much extra cost to FS... I mean, you have a different frame and rear shock but everything else is about the same to replace if it breaks.

Lol, thanks for volunteering my tools. But then again, I actually don't mind. I've amassed quite a collection over the years. The only things I may be lacking are some specialized bearing pullers or maybe one or two BB wrenches (though I have four different ones I think).

Used bikes are the way to go IMO, you can sawp out the new parts you need, like a drivetrain and have a great working bike.

By the way, the Big Hit FSR I has an MSRP of $1,750 and I'm sure you can find leftovers from certain shops in MA and still talk them down in price. I am willing to bet you could get a new Big Hit FSR I for less than $1,500.

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=34373

Used bikes are not always the way to go. Especially FS, it can be a very risky proposition. People sell frames all the time with worn pivots, worn bushings, poorly maintained, stretched head tube rims, marred BB threads, bent hangers, stripped WB threads, majorly dented down tubes, screwed up cable bosses, etc. etc.

You really want good, detailed pictures or buy "like new" with a return policy regardless. Of course, there's no substitute for seeing it in person, if that can be done.


So yeah, that's my $0.015. It would have been the full $0.02 if I had actually recommended a specific bike or deal, but I've probably wasted enough time already...

 

[Marc]

You still looking for a bike?

BTW, if not mentioned before (I didn't read everything in this topic) FSR actually stands for "Future Shock Rear," the design is patented by Specialized although other companies do use the design. Basically speaking FSR is supposed to experience less "brake jack" (or none at all) in comparison to other bikes (in particular single pivot bikes or 4 bar linkage bikes).

Not only less brake jack, but the design supposedly has less input movement, or "pedal bob." In other words, it tends not to compress the suspension when you pedal with a lot of force.

It's certainly not the only, and arguably not the most efficient suspension geometry. Horst 4 bars, Ellsworth's ICT, Santa Cruz's VPP, GT's I-drive... there are lots of good suspension designs, and I wouldn't personally get too hung up on them unless you don't have a rear shock that can be locked out.

That is a major requirement of mine. As long as I can lock out my rear, I'm pretty much happy. I'd ride a proven and reliable single pivot design, like the Santa Cruz Heckler, for example, in a heart beat with a lock out capable rear shock over a newer and less tested but claimed more efficient geometry/design.

 

[Greg]

Re: Lockout rear shocks

Just for information gathering purposes, when do you need to lockout a shock? On a climb? How easy is it to do so?