What to replace my silly, silly Exalt with?

I’m just not using My Exalt at the minute, the build is a bit OTT with Boxxers and such a heavy frame I’ve finally talked myself around…

So I’m thinking of taking the 4” DJ fork from my “XC” bike and putting something lighter/better on that, then buying a nice cheap 14”-15”ish HT frame (Steel or Ally, I don’t mind) to replace the frame and fork of my Exalt build and having myself a tougher smaller HT for arsing about and the odd bit of DH use, I don’t want a full blown 6” forked machine and I don’t want to spend more than £150 tops on the frame…

Cheaper is better in my book by the way, to spend the full budget it’d have to be a bit special, and you don’t see that much “special” at £150…

I’m actually slightly taken with the “Brand X” trail frame on CRC, simply because it’s silly cheap and if it breaks I won’t shed a tear over it, otherwise I’m thinking;

-Old trailstar (Had a couple and loved them could be tempted by another if the price is right)
-Inbred (not the 456, the basic 4” fork model, is it a bit lighter?)
-Revel 450R (dunno might be a bit too low again and I’d need a BB adapter, but looks interesting)
– Kinesis Maxlight Pha5e (again might be a little low but I hear good things about it from other people)

any other bargain bin recommendations?

second hand is probably a good bet for that kind of cash. stick a wanted ad in the classifieds. otherwise the brand x frame on CRC has gone done quite well with folks on here (i think!?)

I’m actually slightly taken with the “Brand X” trail frame on CRC, simply because it’s silly cheap and if it breaks I won’t shed a tear over it, otherwise I’m thinking;

Well spotted.

http://myragley.com/p1000709jpg

2nd hand Trailstar for about £50

Indeed I’ve had a couple of Trailstars, foolishly got rid of the last one because of back ache on longer rides, seeing as I now have another bike for such use I wish I’d kept the trailstar, still you live and learn, how does the inbred compare with the Trailstar? Never ridden one see… saw a few out and about last weekend, thought they looked alright…

16" On-One 456? (or maybe even smaller?)

You could sell the dirt jumpers and run it with something like marzocchi Z1's with an ETA lockdown? Ok the forks won't be light but the frame will be 2lb lighter than a trailstar. and the forks will be awesome for DH and playing at 130mm, and I ran a pair permentantly locked down (40mm ish of travel) for jumping for years, just enough shock absorbtion to protect your wrists but doesn't sap energy like a big fork.

the revell is an awesome bike. i nearly cried when mine was stolen. if i had £150 to spare i would already have bought another one.

1×9 on teh revell with a big casette or easy single speed gearing. a bmx bb will outlast any euro/mtb bb.

i used mine soley for messing in the woods. riding jumps and shore and dh. its got a steepish HA but you get used to it.

Kona "out of bounds" hardtails are maybe worth a look? 2003 onwards take 4-5" fork. Loads on ebay too

oh and that is the scab, scrap, stuff etc

pulls up a chair

Built up a lovely orange Cove Sanchez last week – handles nicely with 100mm forks (tho' it can take up to 130mm) but it's on ebay now (£150 start if anyone's interested 😉 , one ride old, headset and original receipt included) as it's just too long for me 🙁 . CRC still have Revell frames on sale but the 26ers have a BMX b/b iirc. I'm looking for something with a 21.5ish toptube length, that will take gears (I'm off singlespeeding at the mo' otherwise the lil red 'bred would get built up again). Hmmm, I'm off to CRC to check out those Brand X trail frames. A Sidekick would be worth a look too but they're few and far between now (I've owned a couple, rigid and 80mm forked). Oh, and there's a bargain shop-soiled Atomlab Trailpimp frame on CRC too for £149 – please someone buy it so I don't have to.

oh and those cheap commencal absolut frames/bikes are bloody ace too.

had a test ride after the revell got knicked and they pretty much manual at will. the parts arent great but the frames are definatly worth the upgrading.

The forks are 03 DJ3s reduced to 110mm at present… Very simple, easy to service, I can use the air assist to stiffen them up, they do the job, I can’t be bothered to source new forks as well, and I could always knock em back up to 130mm if I really wanted 5”of bounce, but I don’t right now…

I was actually thinking of the regular inbred not the 456, as I don’t really want/need a LT fork capable frame for this build…

As for the Kona frames, I had a Cowan a while back, looked nice, very light, but felt god awful compared to the trailstar I had at the time so I flogged it, I assume most of their mid noughties HTs have similar geometry, I think I might avoid them given previous experience….

Mamadirt: sounds like we’ve been trawling the same sites, the 14” Pha5e on CRC looks to be a good buy at ~£150…

I think I’ll strip the exalt next weekend and get “baying”…
The aim is for a zero cost change of frame and forks (if that makes sense), but it’ll doubtless cost a bit more…

The last cheap frame I had from CRC was £100 odd I think, and lasted me ages (that was eight/nine years ago I think) The more I look at it the more the Brand X looks like the ideal budget frame… Hmmm…

DMR would be better than the on one for arsing about on, it has proper length chainstays to start with.

What about one of those charge bikes?

Also, check your fork crowns, my mates 03 DJ forks cracked

thats exactly what i built my summer season for.

size down from normal, 150mm bullet proof, if a bit clunky, bombers for super slackness, and built from spares.

DH hardtail 🙂

would be good with a 130mm fork i reckon, but with such a long fork on it, while it hates climbing, its a monster on steep descents

Yep heard about the “Crown cracking issue” several times before, none of them ever actually seemed to have failed though, just have a small crack start to propagate from the corner rad on the underside webbing and never go anywhere…

04 and onwards had a bigger rad and less travel, mine shows no cracks yet probably because it’s spent most of it’s life set at 4”…

The blender might be a bit over budget new, but 2nd hand could well be worth a look, had a quick go on a mates once and liked it, seems to be coming down to an old Trailstar or a new Brand X though now, I’m keen on low budget, global recession and all…

Mamadirt: sounds like we’ve been trawling the same sites, the 14” Pha5e on CRC looks to be a good buy at ~£150…

Yep, looks good . . . I'm after V brake mounts on the back though and the Phase is disc only 🙁 . Take a look at balfa.co.uk too – they have .243 Racing frames reduced to £199.

Just to be clear this:

Is what I will be replacing….

This:

Was my favourite Trailstar build and really I should have just changed the cranks/wheels and put gears on it….

So something inbetween those 2 is what I'm aiming for..

I've just built a 456 Summer Season as a second bike. Budget parts, 105mm forks etc. First ride on it yesterday and bar a few teething problems, it felt as good/better/really nice change than my SC Blur 4X. Unbelieveably quick on the descents, even with the short travel forks, climbed like a rocket (partly due to a 1×9 setup so there was no 'plodding' option that I always make use of!) and was excellent in tight singletrack. Was dubious when they first came out but I'm sold. Bought mine for £90 SH in perfect condition but they're only £165 new.

Just bear in mind your DJ's probably weigh the same as/more than the boxxers your trying to replace…………

i have a white trailstar LT frame doing nowt.

good price to a good home…

Just bear in mind your DJ's probably weigh the same as/more than the boxxers your trying to replace…………

Nah, they definately don't, the 03s were the last year to use aluminium stanchions, there's less springs, crowns, oil and other gubbins in them, they're not light but they sure ain't as heavy as the Boxxers, I'm only after a minor weight saving, the Exalt comes out ~36lbs which is a fair bit for a HT…

@ahwiles: White you say… Hmmmm… tell me more…

er. it's a 16" 2004 frame.

it's probably in better condition than most 6year old frames.

i bought it as a play bike, but i'm 6'2" – and never really got on with it, and it's had very little use, i struggle to get my knees behind the bars.

now it's just hanging on the wall, it's time to admit that it's not for me. Seems a shame to leave it hanging there really.

want photo's?

(also have headset / seatpost + clamp + saddle / cranks / wheels etc, you'd be doing me a favour in many ways)

as for saving weight, your rear wheel probably weighs about 3kilos – just a thought…

I'd second a Cove Sanchez off eBay. They go for silly (low) money but they are about 6lbs in weight.

NS bikes might be worth a look or even a Spesh P1??

16" could suit, not sure about an LT with a 4" fork though, isn't the HA a bit different?… I'll happily take a look at some pics though: email in profile…

Indeed 729s are quite meaty I may well replace them with 721’s/521s, or if I’m feeling flush down the line some Stan’s, we shall see…

I have a sidekick (1×9), which is a fun bike to mess about on but tbh it weighs in at 35lb so just a bit too heavy for me to lug around the woods for 2 hours at a time and my poor knees suffer! I might be persuaded to sell it – email in profile. Though if I get offered silly money I'll just keep it.

I've just put an order in for a mmbop as a replacement a little more than your budget, but maybe just lay off the beer for a month and you'll be able to afford it?!

Yesss!!! Sidekick frames don't appear with listed stock when you scroll down through the frames on the CRC site but if you click on the Sidekick link they do appear to have some (well a blue one anyway . . . sure there was a black listed too until a couple of minutes ago) 😉 . Please don't let this be a website error – I'm fed up of short-term test-piloting and I know the Sidekick suits as I've had two before 🙄 . Excited now

Just to tease…. mine…. can't do the bloody image thing though

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44108154@N06/4700365631/

Nice 😛 . I neeeed some of those tyres.

DMR Moto Diggers aren’t they?
nice cheap trail tyres (I even got one working in a Ghetto tubeless guise for a while), bit draggy though; for faster rolling on dusty summer trails the Moto RT is fun, but very not keen on moisture….

.243racing SL

http://www.balfa.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=6_43&products_id=41

Based on the old Balfa Minuteman design and therefore freakin awesome.

Or find a SH Balfa Minuteman…

SouthernDownHill clasifieds are always a good place to look for things like this.

I was speaking to Jamie at Balfa last week about the .243 frames and he mentioned that he was fairly certain that they still had a couple of new Minuteman frames in the warehouse – maybe worth giving them a call.

My old Minuteman . . .

I may have got through one or two different frames over the last few years 😉 but in my defence those cranks are still going strong. Ooooh and I have the same brakes and seat clamp – I don't feel half so bad now.

And yes, CRCs black Sidekick is still available if any of you are interested. I've just taken delivery of a rather battered early 2k Orange Zero trials frame with I reckon enormous potential for tiny jump bicyclery. Watch . . . this . . . space.

yep moto diggers, I find them pretty good in the dry, not so great on wet roots. Personally (about to get flak) I think they are better than the 2.5 single ply HR's they replaced.