MarkO

UB - I never said that about front suspension forks. My current bike is also my first (I'm not counting the 60lb sh1te Saracen thing I had from Halfords before I found out what a real bike was ).

The point's been made, though, about the waste of energy. Fine, you can lock out the rear 'knee', but you're also forgetting the extra weight involved.... frankly, the idea of taking a bike weighing more than 25lbs up a mountain doesn't really appeal; if anything I'll be looking lowering the weight of the bike, not raising it (hence the comment about a CF Specialized frame if/when I upgrade). Ideally I'd like to get something around the 21lb mark.

I know it's possible to get light full-sus bikes, but to get below 25lbs you're talking serious money.

The fact is, I'm doing (and prefer to do) mostly XC - I'm definitely not a hardcore DHer and never will be. So a hardtail with some decent light front forks and good componentry makes sense, and there's just no need for a full bouncer. Even on the really rutted stuff at Glentress, the lack of real suspension is compensated by the lightness and agility of the bike (combined with some good weight movement/distribution by the rider ).

TBH, whilst I'm not as extreme as Ian's single-gear evangelism (mainly 'cos I just ain't fit enough to climb a mountain with one gear ) his is the way to go. I guess it's a bit like comparing a 1000bhp Skyline with a Caterham Superlight R - the former has the brute force and all the gadgets, but there's no getting away from the fact that on the twisties, the latter will roundly kick its ****.

Luke

Ian

Hows your knees ?????

Single speeds and using spuds + a bit of riding with no suspension caused me to spend £££££££££'s having them rebuilt........

Luke

Have you noticed ..everytime we have amountain bike thread it goes for at least 4-5 pages.....

WE WANT OUR OWN FORUM!!!!!

IWatkins

Luke,

My knees hurt, mostly all the time

Seriously, I had them rebuilt after a climbing accident when I was younger so I'm used to having my bionic kneecaps that ache even when I haven't been riding.

If you do singlespeed I would recommend not using SPDs. Much better is some flatties or flatties with toe clips (I use the latter). SPDs don't rotate enough for me once you get out of the saddle and you tend to dab a bit more on singlespeeds. So flatties for ease of use and toe clips (loose) to mainly keep the feet on the pedal during fast downhills over the rough stuff and also for hopping the bike over obstructions.

Cheers

Ian

MarkO

Luke - re our own forum, I guess we could all pile into the Bicycle Works one?

Luke

tt

Crapaud62

Thanks for replies re routes.

Looking forward to getting over to ride on some decent trails.

I like the idea of a MB forum

mega_stream

Any sprocket jockies wanna piece of real action, have a look here Professional spec bike for sale

Andrew Q

Here is my Orange Sub 5





Andrew

Andy Mid.

I went to Leisure Lakes this morning and had a good look at a Specialized 03 Sworks bike (with an M5 frame) which was £3k. Not thinking of buying it but I had time to kill and this looked like the best bike in the shop.

The machining detail and spec of the bits were amazing but I was gob-smacked when I picked it up. The thing weighed 30lbs which is 8lbs more than my simple Cannondale. I can now understand what people have been saying about the extra weight of all that kit. I know it's great for extreme descents (which I don't do, lol) but I hadn't realised that rear suspension and chunky frames carried such a weight premium.

Andrew Q

Marin

The giant golf ball is not my house it's the wall of my garage.

I am also very pleased with my Pace forks, they are about 3 years
old now. The only trouble I have had with them, was the Supplementary spring in the left leg broke back in January. But it only cost £6 to replace


Andrew

Luke

I am told the new Sworks frames give a "hard" ride.....

Crapaud62

So is it worth asking Simon for a separate MB Forum?

If not then should we not post separate posts in NSR rather than continuing this one which was originally just about grips?

There must be a lot of scope for product comparisons from various people.

Full sus vs hardtail seems a good discussion point? Personally I have both A Connondale F900 for XC racing and a Jekyl for go anywhere. The Jekyl was a free replacement for my Raven that fell to bits after my Prague to Budapest epic last summer but thats another interesting tale

Looks very sunny out there, better get out and ride soon.

MarkO

Not sure it's worth getting a separate forum, despite the interest. But we could use the MTB forum at the Bicycle Works site (see link on previous page). Either that, or I could set up a mountain-bike specific forum on my BBS at X-Type.org if anyone's interested.

Marin

iTrader: (1)

There is a good forum on www.singletrackworld.com which we could use - could always add a 'scooby' codeword on any posts. Alternatively we could post in'Sport's' on Scoobynet, it would make a nice change from the endless drivel about football!!!

unclebuck

LOL The Bicycle Works forum looks deader than a dead dodo to me

Crapaud62

Started one in Sports

Never been in there before. Seems to be just football.

Soon change that then

MarkO

UB - yeah, the BicycleWorks one is quiet, but it would be - it's only been up and running for a week or two. Thought it would be a good chance to liven it up.

bros2

[Edited by bros2 - 7/3/2003 10:49:10 AM]

Luke

bros

What about some Rock Shock Sids or Dukes??? Whatever stay well away from Manitou...

I see excellent SH shocks for £100-150


No need to spend more.

Marin

iTrader: (1)

Was the Specialized a downhill bike or XC? If it was XC it shouldn't be that heavy. My Riftzone Quad is only 26.5lbs and there are much lighter full sussers around.

AndrewQ - is your house made out of a giant golf ball? Looks like it from the pattern on the wall :-) Very nice bike by the way, how do you like your Pace forks? I've got them on the Marin and I'm well pleased.



[Edited by Marin - 4/5/2003 6:38:13 PM]