Getting back into it.
Discussion
I used to be very much into mountain biking and pretty much lived it in my teens.
Fast forward and I'm now 30 and hankering after some rides after seeing a mates pictures from a recent trip.
It's the kit that's baffled me now! When I stopped biking dual slalom and 4x were in their infancy and the whole north shore/freeride/jumping fad was non existant other than just doing it without giving it a name.
Now I'm looking at bikes and wanting to build my own from bits off ebay.. I'd be happy with old quality parts like Chris King headsets, Ringle hubs and a Flite Ti saddle.
Is it really essential to have hydraulic discs, 8" of fork travel and a carbon frame?
I want black and white mint sauce and to watch Warner, JMC and Hemmingway (DIRT video).
Fast forward and I'm now 30 and hankering after some rides after seeing a mates pictures from a recent trip.
It's the kit that's baffled me now! When I stopped biking dual slalom and 4x were in their infancy and the whole north shore/freeride/jumping fad was non existant other than just doing it without giving it a name.
Now I'm looking at bikes and wanting to build my own from bits off ebay.. I'd be happy with old quality parts like Chris King headsets, Ringle hubs and a Flite Ti saddle.
Is it really essential to have hydraulic discs, 8" of fork travel and a carbon frame?
I want black and white mint sauce and to watch Warner, JMC and Hemmingway (DIRT video).
My other half was talking about this as we watched one of our The Collective dvds last night, regarding how far equipment and the technical skill levels that were not possible even 10 years ago when he was BIG into biking, have come!
Carbon frame- not necessary at all, you save a bit of weight, possibly lose some durability and spend a lot of cash for these small gains. 5" travel is adequate! What are you wanting to use the bike for? Take a look at the components list for the Orange Five- pretty much the best all round trail bike you can get for a reasonable price now, you see them everywhere. it'll give you an idea of what to look out for.
Cheers
edit to add: any brakes you choose are fine, its down to personal preference, but hydraulics are the norm for most bikes now- you can probably get a perfectly good set for £100 second hand. have a look at Shimano LX.
Carbon frame- not necessary at all, you save a bit of weight, possibly lose some durability and spend a lot of cash for these small gains. 5" travel is adequate! What are you wanting to use the bike for? Take a look at the components list for the Orange Five- pretty much the best all round trail bike you can get for a reasonable price now, you see them everywhere. it'll give you an idea of what to look out for.
Cheers
edit to add: any brakes you choose are fine, its down to personal preference, but hydraulics are the norm for most bikes now- you can probably get a perfectly good set for £100 second hand. have a look at Shimano LX.
Edited by Louisa911 on Tuesday 14th September 09:59
I’m in the same boat as you. Used to ride dirt jumps back in my late teens early 20s and then hung up my bike for 7 or 8 years. Now I’ve dusted the off the spiders and now in the process of rebuilding my bikes as I need an excuse to get away from the old battle axe.
It depends on the sort of riding you want to do but in most cases a fork/frame with 5” of travel will be sufficient for almost everything. I don’t think you need to have the disks and carbon bits but a lot of modern frames are made disc specific which will limit your choices.
It depends on the sort of riding you want to do but in most cases a fork/frame with 5” of travel will be sufficient for almost everything. I don’t think you need to have the disks and carbon bits but a lot of modern frames are made disc specific which will limit your choices.
I'll be doing 90% of cross country, tight trail riding with some fast technical bits. Every now and again do a few jumps and light DH but nothing manic.
I was thinking maybe buying an older Klein or Cannondale and building something up myself. Bit of a risk I guess but I like the idea of striping the paint off a frame and repainting and decalling, put new parts on etc.
I think I need to buy a copy of MBUK. No doubt I'll be in for a shock
I was thinking maybe buying an older Klein or Cannondale and building something up myself. Bit of a risk I guess but I like the idea of striping the paint off a frame and repainting and decalling, put new parts on etc.
I think I need to buy a copy of MBUK. No doubt I'll be in for a shock
For trail riding and general XC my minimum now would be decent hardtail frame or medium travel fully suspended, 3"+ forks, disc brakes. I'm not into big jumps or extreme downhilling and like to ride the bike up the hills as much as I ride down them. If getting a full-susp bike I'd definitely get one where you can completely lock out the shocks.
Frame material is less important to me than quality and weight.
Frame material is less important to me than quality and weight.
ewenm said:
For trail riding and general XC my minimum now would be decent hardtail frame or medium travel fully suspended, 3"+ forks, disc brakes. I'm not into big jumps or extreme downhilling and like to ride the bike up the hills as much as I ride down them. If getting a full-susp bike I'd definitely get one where you can completely lock out the shocks.
Frame material is less important to me than quality and weight.
I agree!Frame material is less important to me than quality and weight.
In fact for general trail riding I'd just stick with a decent steel or titanium framed hard tail. Steel gives a little shock absorbtion and ti is light as a feather. Use your legs for suspension coupled with a decent set of medium travel shocks up front.
In fact Ewen, I believe you have the very bike I've desired since the early nineties!
Zippee said:
ewenm said:
For trail riding and general XC my minimum now would be decent hardtail frame or medium travel fully suspended, 3"+ forks, disc brakes. I'm not into big jumps or extreme downhilling and like to ride the bike up the hills as much as I ride down them. If getting a full-susp bike I'd definitely get one where you can completely lock out the shocks.
Frame material is less important to me than quality and weight.
I agree!Frame material is less important to me than quality and weight.
In fact for general trail riding I'd just stick with a decent steel or titanium framed hard tail. Steel gives a little shock absorbtion and ti is light as a feather. Use your legs for suspension coupled with a decent set of medium travel shocks up front.
In fact Ewen, I believe you have the very bike I've desired since the early nineties!
"I'll be doing 90% of cross country, tight trail riding with some fast technical bits. Every now and again do a few jumps and light DH but nothing manic"
the best advice i can offer is go toa trails centre near you, hire a bike, they will have ht and fs, and see the trails for yourself because as bike tehcnology has lept forwards, so have the trails. "light dh" is now pretty much a central part of a trail centre, the descents are quite fast, mixed surfaces, bermed and tight, usually lasting a good minute or so.... if you have been away form the mtb scene for a few years, what was a pretty epic downhill in the early 90s, is now encountered everywhere. as bike technology has increased, the trails have been beefed up to compensate...
the problem for me is the use of terms like general "trail riding", "light dh" and "xc". to me the first is something like a trails centre like afan or cwm carn, a hard tail is perfectly adequate but you need to be a good rider to pick your lines because some of the descents (not downhills) are pretty epic and yuo either throw your weight around and fly down or reduce your speed to soften the bumps. if you cant go slow, or want the bike to take the blows, work on around 140mm travel at the front and a big beefy hardtail frame from Cove, Whyte, Dialled etc. they are quite heavy but they are an absolute hoot.
"xc" has always been finding a map, finding the accessable routes and hacking through bridleways and rupps, places where you can achieve a pretty fast averages speed around 15 mph. you want a different bike, lightweight and a steeper head tube. again a hardtail is perfectly adequate but 1000m max and something like a stumpjumper.
I would buy wary of using older steel frames (where they could have been left in a shed for years) from the web, for £200-£300 you can get a nice new one and not worry about fatigue or stress. if you pick your parts well, you could use the forthcoming slaes to your advantage and build a very good ht for well under £1,000 this winter.
the best advice i can offer is go toa trails centre near you, hire a bike, they will have ht and fs, and see the trails for yourself because as bike tehcnology has lept forwards, so have the trails. "light dh" is now pretty much a central part of a trail centre, the descents are quite fast, mixed surfaces, bermed and tight, usually lasting a good minute or so.... if you have been away form the mtb scene for a few years, what was a pretty epic downhill in the early 90s, is now encountered everywhere. as bike technology has increased, the trails have been beefed up to compensate...
the problem for me is the use of terms like general "trail riding", "light dh" and "xc". to me the first is something like a trails centre like afan or cwm carn, a hard tail is perfectly adequate but you need to be a good rider to pick your lines because some of the descents (not downhills) are pretty epic and yuo either throw your weight around and fly down or reduce your speed to soften the bumps. if you cant go slow, or want the bike to take the blows, work on around 140mm travel at the front and a big beefy hardtail frame from Cove, Whyte, Dialled etc. they are quite heavy but they are an absolute hoot.
"xc" has always been finding a map, finding the accessable routes and hacking through bridleways and rupps, places where you can achieve a pretty fast averages speed around 15 mph. you want a different bike, lightweight and a steeper head tube. again a hardtail is perfectly adequate but 1000m max and something like a stumpjumper.
I would buy wary of using older steel frames (where they could have been left in a shed for years) from the web, for £200-£300 you can get a nice new one and not worry about fatigue or stress. if you pick your parts well, you could use the forthcoming slaes to your advantage and build a very good ht for well under £1,000 this winter.
ewenm said:
Zippee said:
ewenm said:
For trail riding and general XC my minimum now would be decent hardtail frame or medium travel fully suspended, 3"+ forks, disc brakes. I'm not into big jumps or extreme downhilling and like to ride the bike up the hills as much as I ride down them. If getting a full-susp bike I'd definitely get one where you can completely lock out the shocks.
Frame material is less important to me than quality and weight.
I agree!Frame material is less important to me than quality and weight.
In fact for general trail riding I'd just stick with a decent steel or titanium framed hard tail. Steel gives a little shock absorbtion and ti is light as a feather. Use your legs for suspension coupled with a decent set of medium travel shocks up front.
In fact Ewen, I believe you have the very bike I've desired since the early nineties!
Always wanted one when I was riding but never got round to it - same goes for the Salsa Jelly bean.
Had Kona HeiHei (titanium), Roberts DOGSb
ks, Trek OCLV etc but the yo-eddy just escaped me.One of my best mates has an original Adroit but despite it being in his garage unused for the last 5 years refuses to part with it!
pablo said:
"I'll be doing 90% of cross country, tight trail riding with some fast technical bits. Every now and again do a few jumps and light DH but nothing manic"
the best advice i can offer is go toa trails centre near you, hire a bike, they will have ht and fs, and see the trails for yourself because as bike tehcnology has lept forwards, so have the trails. "light dh" is now pretty much a central part of a trail centre, the descents are quite fast, mixed surfaces, bermed and tight, usually lasting a good minute or so.... if you have been away form the mtb scene for a few years, what was a pretty epic downhill in the early 90s, is now encountered everywhere. as bike technology has increased, the trails have been beefed up to compensate...
the problem for me is the use of terms like general "trail riding", "light dh" and "xc". to me the first is something like a trails centre like afan or cwm carn, a hard tail is perfectly adequate but you need to be a good rider to pick your lines because some of the descents (not downhills) are pretty epic and yuo either throw your weight around and fly down or reduce your speed to soften the bumps. if you cant go slow, or want the bike to take the blows, work on around 140mm travel at the front and a big beefy hardtail frame from Cove, Whyte, Dialled etc. they are quite heavy but they are an absolute hoot.
"xc" has always been finding a map, finding the accessable routes and hacking through bridleways and rupps, places where you can achieve a pretty fast averages speed around 15 mph. you want a different bike, lightweight and a steeper head tube. again a hardtail is perfectly adequate but 1000m max and something like a stumpjumper.
I would buy wary of using older steel frames (where they could have been left in a shed for years) from the web, for £200-£300 you can get a nice new one and not worry about fatigue or stress. if you pick your parts well, you could use the forthcoming slaes to your advantage and build a very good ht for well under £1,000 this winter.
You can bounce symantics around but those terms are an easy way of getting the point across. the best advice i can offer is go toa trails centre near you, hire a bike, they will have ht and fs, and see the trails for yourself because as bike tehcnology has lept forwards, so have the trails. "light dh" is now pretty much a central part of a trail centre, the descents are quite fast, mixed surfaces, bermed and tight, usually lasting a good minute or so.... if you have been away form the mtb scene for a few years, what was a pretty epic downhill in the early 90s, is now encountered everywhere. as bike technology has increased, the trails have been beefed up to compensate...
the problem for me is the use of terms like general "trail riding", "light dh" and "xc". to me the first is something like a trails centre like afan or cwm carn, a hard tail is perfectly adequate but you need to be a good rider to pick your lines because some of the descents (not downhills) are pretty epic and yuo either throw your weight around and fly down or reduce your speed to soften the bumps. if you cant go slow, or want the bike to take the blows, work on around 140mm travel at the front and a big beefy hardtail frame from Cove, Whyte, Dialled etc. they are quite heavy but they are an absolute hoot.
"xc" has always been finding a map, finding the accessable routes and hacking through bridleways and rupps, places where you can achieve a pretty fast averages speed around 15 mph. you want a different bike, lightweight and a steeper head tube. again a hardtail is perfectly adequate but 1000m max and something like a stumpjumper.
I would buy wary of using older steel frames (where they could have been left in a shed for years) from the web, for £200-£300 you can get a nice new one and not worry about fatigue or stress. if you pick your parts well, you could use the forthcoming slaes to your advantage and build a very good ht for well under £1,000 this winter.
The problem is some of the older bikes mentioned here, the HeiHei and Yo Eddy in particular were so far out of budget when I was a kid that getting the opportunity to ride one now would be great.
No idea how the geo is today. Those older bikes always seem to run steep headtube angles which makes them really twitchy.
I'm not sure I'd worry about stress too much if you can look at the welds and there are no big dents.
I'd like to build a mountainCycle San An aswell. Maybe I'll do a retro bike and a lightweight ht for screaming around on.
That was built last August for under £500 iirc - and thats with a brand new frame, wheels, chainset and brakes. Granted, thats with a bit of staff discount on a few bits, but at regular pricing it would still come in under £800 I reckon
So its very possible - you just have to pick your bits selectively and look out for the deals.
paulrhodes said:
The problem is some of the older bikes mentioned here, the HeiHei and Yo Eddy in particular were so far out of budget when I was a kid that getting the opportunity to ride one now would be great.
No idea how the geo is today. Those older bikes always seem to run steep headtube angles which makes them really twitchy.
To be honest with the HeiHei you really didn't miss much. I hated the thing, just couldn't gel with it. The frame alone was hideously expensive - around £1500 IIRC back in the early nineties but it just never felt 'right'. I sold it in the end and bought a GT Phsyclone frame (GTs old custom frameset) and that was probably the nicest bike I ever had, until I snapped the seat tube clean in half right in the middle of the triple triangle. I was good at breaking bikes back then....No idea how the geo is today. Those older bikes always seem to run steep headtube angles which makes them really twitchy.
ewenm said:
Nah, he wants to be on the Retrobike forums.
You seen the genuine Fat Chance team jersey currently for sale on E-Bay?paulrhodes said:
I'll be doing 90% of cross country, tight trail riding with some fast technical bits. Every now and again do a few jumps and light DH but nothing manic.
I was thinking maybe buying an older Klein or Cannondale and building something up myself. Bit of a risk I guess but I like the idea of striping the paint off a frame and repainting and decalling, put new parts on etc.
I think I need to buy a copy of MBUK. No doubt I'll be in for a shock
Some of the old MBUK cohorts have gone across to What Mountain Bike, namely Steve Worland.I was thinking maybe buying an older Klein or Cannondale and building something up myself. Bit of a risk I guess but I like the idea of striping the paint off a frame and repainting and decalling, put new parts on etc.
I think I need to buy a copy of MBUK. No doubt I'll be in for a shock
I've recently got back into biking after a 7 yr lazy siesta. When I graduated a few years back I decided to get a bike off ebay to rekindle my love affair of the 2-wheeled variety. There's a glut of bikes on there from people who buy them with good intentions, only to ride them 2 times in a year and decide to sell on. There's some good bargains to be had - I picked up a full-sus' Intense Tracer with decent spec for a fraction of what it would of cost new. I moved straight from a rigid to a full-sus', however i'm looking at getting a hardtail to build-up as I miss the point and chuck ability of them.
I have a few well-torn copies of MBUK from '91 and it's an eye-opener to see the advances that have been made. There's some very tasty kit available now, with a lot of European brands moving in on the market too, as well as the regulars you'll remember.
Speaking of Kleins, I remember my friend having a Klein Mantra Comp and being very jealous at the time!
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