Build the ideal UK bike...................go on...

Bike Forum

[closed]

Build the ideal UK bike...................go on...

47 posts & 24 voices | Started 2 years ago by vondally | Latest reply from GW

Tags:

singletrack

Pages: 12 Next »

vondally - Member

I realise this is an oxymoron as there can be no such thing given the terrain and niches of the MTB world but go on fopr sake of arguement build an ideal UK bike that will be able to
ride in the lakes or Peaks or dartmoor
ride trail centres wales or scotland
Do the odd enduro marathon
but would not be out of place on the South downs way
My starter would be
Pikes 454 air 140mm u turns
Santa Cruz Blur LT with grease points
Hope hubs on Stans Flows
Magura louise brakes 180 f and 160 r vented rotors
SLX crankset triple
SLX front mech
Sram x0 shifters
Sram X9 rear mech
Thompson stem
Easton Monkeylites 31.8
King headset
Joplin seatpost remote dropper.

Light strong and cheap choose 2

Posted 2 years ago #
ton - Member

orange 5 for a susser..........designed for british conditions
(and you do not know how much it hurt me to say that)

and a hardtail by brant.........for the same reasons...

Posted 2 years ago #
Dr Dolittle - Member

a)Spinning blades on the hubs to kneecap bike theft attempts in "vibrant" East London.

b)A valve on brake levers to squirt dot fluid directly into the eyes of murderous car drivers

and

c)Some sort of hydraulic bolt system in the handlebars to facilitate a)

...and something to sort out teenage single mothers in the saddle.

Posted 2 years ago #
trailmoggy - Member

i'd say a turner 5 spot apart from greasing mine which takes a minute, you never need touch it

Posted 2 years ago #
thisisnotaspoon - Member

ohhhhhhhhhhh good question

custom built full susser one of these days i'll inherit a small fortune from some long forgtten uncle and get curtis to build it.

HA: 67
SA: 71
TT: 23
CS: 17
BB: 14 (static)
Travel : 140mm

Perfect UK bike. And I'd get two, one built to arround 6.5lb for the UK and a 8.5lb moster for taking abroad with bigger forks and wheels.

Posted 2 years ago #
backhander - Member

TIANS, which rear suspension configuration would you choose?
Single pivot for simplicity, VPP or DW for low pedal feedback and performance under braking? FSR for whatever?

Posted 2 years ago #
brakes - Member

this is it
maybe with some 140mm air forks
which it will have fairly soon!

Posted 2 years ago #
backhander - Member

I'm not sure one exists but the Intense spider 2 is currently looking facorite for me with TALAS 32s, XT drivetrain (with bash), Tech M4s and pro11 w/355s. Light but sturdy.

Posted 2 years ago #
vondally - Member

Brakes surely too heavy for uk??????
Suspension HL or VPP or maverick

Posted 2 years ago #
Coyote - Member

My current hardtail, and indeed one that I can't fault, is as follows.

Specialized P. All Mountain
Marzocchi Z1 Sport 150mm
Shimano LX cranks with 36/22/e13 bash
Shimano XT Shifters and Rear Deraileur, LX front
Crank Bros 50/50XX
Hayes HFX9 203 / 160
Titec Ringleader Bars and Blockhead stem
ODI Grips
NC-19 post with SDG Bel Air
Singletrack rims on Formula hubs with Maxxis High Roller

Not the most niche but I really do love this bike.

Posted 2 years ago #
buzz-lightyear - Member

Suited to that grey area between XC and DH that we like to ride. Must be a decent climber.
Probably a HT with a comfy ride feel
Can take a 5-6" adjustable fork with bolt-thru - an RS
2 ring + bash
Really well sealed hubs and BB
hard-as-nails frame finish
around 27lb

Posted 2 years ago #
phildowling - Member

Sorted....Ragley Blue Pig

Steel or Ti frame, massive mud clearance, cheap, strong, pedals well, built for UK trails, takes a big fork....mmmm comes in ninja black...:-)

Posted 2 years ago #
Ben_Haworth - Moderator

I'd go for a Cannondale Rush with 140mm QR15 fork (and an internal headset).

Posted 2 years ago #
ton - Member

phildowling
raise you two

blue pig......for distance

mm bop...........for laking about

Posted 2 years ago #
oxnop - Member

I know everybody likes what they have. And I really like what I have:
2009 orange 5 am (maxle/36's etc & saint groupset) so 30lbs and it will handle pretty much anything I throw at it.
&
2008 chameleon built with pike uturn airs, oro's and trusty xt groupset.

I have been through 6 bikes since Xmas and feel I've now (finally) got the two bikes I'll be keeping for a few years.

Plus my gf has a ibis mojo which is full x0,xtr and float 140's and only weighs 26lbs (on a recent mtbt trip a friend commented " can't we fill her frame with sand as she makes us all look so slow on the hills!") so she is currently in love again and prob would say she has the perfect bike. Horses for courses eh!

Posted 2 years ago #
buzz-lightyear - Member

I have been through 6 bikes since Xmas

Ben: why the "internal headset"? I confess don't really understand what the fuss about them is. I just ended up up with a load of extra spacers to get the bar height OK.

Posted 2 years ago #
oxnop - Member

Buzz- I'm going red saying this. But Sarah has just reminded me that the chameleon I built is my seventh this year!

Posted 2 years ago #
vondally - Member

funnny enough i do not own a blur....................just think it is up there as a great UK bike. right travel and weight

Posted 2 years ago #
buzz-lightyear - Member

oxnop: it's good to have a hobby and bike building is satisfying. So I kind of understand.

Posted 2 years ago #
stAn-Bad Brains MBC - Member

british designed hardtail - preferably made from british steel tubing
brookes saddle
decent set of forks
decent wheels
decent brakes
utilising as many uk companies as possible

alternatively - pashley guv'nor - reet proper blokes bike

upgrade the pedals tho'

Posted 2 years ago #
GaryLake - Member

Five pro with 15qr vanillas

Posted 2 years ago #
thisisnotaspoon - Member

probably a high single pivot/idler as I'd like to keep the chainstay super short (wo would need the rear wheel to folow the line of the seatube as a result) The oange 5 has a 17" chainstay and just about squeezes 140mm in before you reach a point where the wheel gets pretty dam close to the seatube.

To get any more travel out of a single pivot you need longer chainstays (trek, kona etc) or a longer swingarm (the 224) or move the pivot somewhere different (trek session 10/diesle, blafa BB7 and Empire DH)

Would quite like to build a bike that pedaled like a DW/maestro but with the braking performance of a horst link. I havent tried the new VPP bikes but am lead to believe that they've come some way to getting rid of the whole trapdoor sensation and sorted out the braking problems of the original bikes.

Posted 2 years ago #
buzz-lightyear - Member

Cant say I've noticed "brake jack" with my maestro. But all those links are a swine to clean.

I'm sticking with a HT.

Posted 2 years ago #
Ben_Haworth - Moderator

Buzz Lightyear - it's a (not perfect) way of running a fork that has more travel than the frame was designed for (the Rush was designed for a 100mm fork).

Posted 2 years ago #
Northwind - Member

Already built that, my Soul. 130mm u-turn revs, roval traversee wheels, X9 and SLX drivetrain, gravity dropper... Pretty simple build but it's done endless local XC miles, and it's done bits of the Fort William world cup DH track, and everything inbetween. If I could actually ride, it'd do a lot more.

Posted 2 years ago #
ooOOoo - Member

I suppose if UK riders had not built bikes to suit the UK, this thread wouyld be pretty quiet

Posted 2 years ago #
speaker2animals - Member

oh how I laughed!

Raleigh Chopper!

Posted 2 years ago #
GW - Member

thisisnotaspoon - you talk some Bollox!!

Posted 2 years ago #
plumber - Member

Inbred 853 with revs in pink

I loves it I do

Posted 2 years ago #
I_Ache - Member

So this is a one bike to rule all UK riding I think a good amount of suspension is needed for doing proper DH runs.

As a budget build I would say my Pitch isnt far from spot on I can lockout my forks and turn up the propedal when I need to go up big hills or I can run it fully open so I can hammer the DHs. I could do with some Stans Flow on Pro2s but other than that its pretty spot on.

For a more expensive build I think a carbon 09 Enduro with a Fox Shock and some 2010 Rev 150s double and bash with the above wheels a 680mm bar with a lot of sweep and a command post.

I would be tempted by a bottlerocket but they are just to heavy.

Posted 2 years ago #
tinsy - Member

It kinda depends on what your slant on riding is really, if your preference is DH, and more aggressive stuff like Andy m for example then your ideal build would heavier duty.

I just sold a 5 inch travel XC bike (stumpy) and with very small changes to it, it was comfy at anything from an XC race to a day doing the Plenny run until my hands fell off. So recon that was the ideal bike for me at the time, now I have less time to get away to bigger hills I have built up my Scandal, which with the build I have will do all the riding I want, local loop, commuting, the odd XC race, or still be pretty happy at a trail centre.

I call it a colonial build, as appart from the drivetrain thats all Shimano, every other part on it is either UK designed, or US designed and made. On One. Hope,USE, Thompson, Maverick. (and a random Scott saddle until charge spoons are back in stock)

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fed-up-waiting-for-a-suitable-thread-to-show-off-my-new-graphics

Posted 2 years ago #
vondally - Member

sorry I think a UK bike has to have a triple crankset for all round riding, bash rings gosh anyone would think we are Canadians!

TBH I thought there would be more single pivots mentioned and Cotics

Posted 2 years ago #
I_Ache - Member

I never used to use my big ring and a 36 tooth chainring is more than big enough for me I think 34 would probably be best. And I use my granny ring so little that I'm starting to wonder if I should go 1x9 with a 32 at the front. Yes I do ride up most of the hills I come across.

Oh and the whole multi pivot v single pivot doesn't even come into consideration for me when buying a bike I simply don't care.

Posted 2 years ago #
GaryLake - Member

Yeah I've said my Five, and I understand the original poster's brief, but I reckon my Genesis iO is probably more perfect UK bike due to the weather alone!

Posted 2 years ago #
jackal - Member

cannondale prophet. simples.

Posted 2 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Pages: 12 Next »

Topic Closed

This topic has been closed to new replies.

Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine

Bike Forum

Build the ideal UK bike...................go on...

Topic Closed

Don't miss…

Singletrack

Website & Forums

Exits