2014 Charge Cooker 4

[jimbop1]

I really like the look of this bike and was wondering if anyone could tell me if the components are any good. It seems quite alot for a steel framed bike ( £1400 ) what are the advantages of steel?


http://www.chargebikes.com/bicycle-collection/cook...

Many thanks

[jimbop1]

GEARS/ 20 gears. FRAME/ Tange Infinity, seamless, double butted cro-mo, tapered headtube. FORK/ RockShox 30 Gold Solo Air, tapered steerer tube, TurnKey lockout, 100mm travel. CRANKSET/ Sram S1400, double ring, 38/24t. DERAILlEURS/ Sram X7 (Front) Sram X9, type 2, Mid cage (Rear). SHIFTERS/ Sram X7 trigger shifter. WHEELS/ Charge Saucer, double wall, tubeless ready rims Sram MTH-506 looseball hubs. TYRES/ Maxxis Ardent 2.25”, folding bead. BRAKES/ Avid Elixir 5 hydraulic disc with 170mm/ 160mm rotors. HANDLEBAR/ Crank Bros. Cobalt 2, 720mm wide, 9° backsweep. STEM/ Shield Lite MTB, 31.8mm. GRIPS/ Charge Griddle lock-on. HEADSET/ FSA Orbit C, sealed bearing. SADDLE/ Charge Scoop. SEAT POST/ Crank Bro Cobolt 2. PAINT/ Triple coat plus double lacquer. PEDAL/ MTB alloy platform. BB/ SRAM GXP. CASSETTE/ Sram PG 1030, 11-36t. CHAIN/ YBN S10CR. SPOKES/ Stainless steel, double butted. SEAT CLAMP/ Single bolt.

[Gizmoish]

Lovely bike. And for proper steel it's cheap.

Advantage of steel is the ride quality, and arguably the fact that it will eventually fail slowly and safely (cracks that can be repaired) rather than carbon and aluminium which fail suddenly and permanently.

[anonymous-user]

I love my steel hardtail when I'm riding it the way it was intended. The main advantage is the way you can build a frame using different grades of steel, using stronger tubes where the load is greater and high end, thinner tubes where there is less of a structural requirement to do so. Using solely high end tubing like Reynolds 853 throughout makes a superb frame that is light and responsive, it does flex a little at the back but it's designed to do that, it's more forgiving than an alu frame and in my opinion, gives more feedback to the rider as to rear grip. It's also easier to repair as suggested. You do have to keep on top of stone chips etc but that's easy enough, heli tape, waxoyl etc

[jimbop1]

Thanks for that, probably going to go for this one

[Zippee]

Did you by this in the end? If so what do you think? I'm looking at one along with a couple of treks and for me I love the uniqueness of the charge, and the colour
How do you find it for general cross country as well as play time on the trails? Will be my first MTB for years and def my first 29er.