Thanks in advance for anyone who can actually be bothered to read this drivel…

I currently have a 2011 Lapierre Zesty as a ‘summer bike’ and a very cheaply built SS Inbred for a ‘winter bike’. Unfortunately this needs to be cut down to 1 do-it-all bike due to a change in circumstances.

The simple option is to just sell the Inbred for about £200 and then use the Zesty all year round. But I can’t get it out of my head that I could also sell the zesty for about £1k and then buy a second hand HT like a Soul from the classifieds and maybe even pocket a few hundred quid in the process.

So if I had a nice HT would I miss the Zesty when riding the Quantocks and Dartmoor in the summer? Would I still hate riding my ‘main’ bike all winter in the mud even if it’s a HT?

I hate being indecisive but sometimes you just need someone else’s view on something to make you see clearly

I don’t ride in your areas but the first question I would be asking myself is what bike do you enjoy the most at the moment for the type of riding you actually do?

I guess I could convert a HT to SS for the winter months which would help. So I suppose it’s just a case of working out if I’d miss the FS.

I enjoy and use both bikes in different ways and they both get used lots depending on the seasons.

After being so happy with 2 bikes it just feels like I’m taking a step backwards if I go down to 1 bike. I think I just need to MTFU and make a decision.

It’s either keep the Zesty or buy something like a Soul for all year, all round duties.

I have a Cotic Soul as my year-round bike. I have rigid and suspension forks, 9 & 15mm QR hub adapters (Hope) and two drivetrain (singlespeed and 10-speed). It covers all the bases and I don’t mind the occasional spannering to transfer between the specs.

I also have a Cotic X, which I use for commuting. I’d dearly love to reduce to one bike overall (i.e. just have the Soul and two sets of wheels), but am currently struggling with the theft risk of parking the Soul at the railway station I use once a week. 🙁

Personally if I got the soul I wouldn’t bother SS’ing it or getting rigid forks etc i’d just save the money from condensing and replace worn out parts as and when you need them and benefit from riding a great bike all year round

I think there’s going to be a Zesty and an Inbred on the classifieds sometime soon. My life has changed so much over the last 6 months and having a do it all hardtail as my only bike makes so much sense.

I’m sure I will miss having a FS bike but there’s bigger things in life to worry about

I’ve gone from F/S 120mm (26″ wheels) to H/T 29er – don’t miss the F/S at all.

I have Soul and Bandit. Most of the riding I do can be handled by the Soul and if I was to be forced into selling one then I would have to sell the Bandit. Hoping that day never arrives!

Only ever had one bike at a time, so slightly different scenario.
Two years ago I sold my Five and bought a hardtail to run as my only bike (had a Soul first, then recently swapped to a BFe). Never looked back to be honest, have got fitter and would like to think my riding has improved also.

You certainly don’t need a FS to ride where you are imho. So get rid and get a decent hardtail like a soul.

Thinking of going the other way at present, currently have a FS 29er as my main bike and an old HT (which I’ve been meaning to sell)which the FS replaced.

After being forced by repairs/maintenance into riding the HT the last couple of week’s I’m half tempted to sell both and go for a HT 29er for XC and a Long travel 26″ FS for fun/enduro/trail centres.

Options options….

Condensing bikes seems to be a good idea.

Are they more efficient than regular bikes? 😉

Went from a Pitch to a Stanton Slackline, dont miss the Pitch for 95% of my riding.

Just done the same thing, have a Soul and an Orange 5. Hardly ever touched the 5 as the soul is just so good, 5 is now in the process of being sold.

I’ll be searching the ‘what steel hardtail’ threads a lot over the next few weeks I think

Hand me the FS for a season and ‘test’ out the one bike principle. 😉

(and the answer is Sanderson Breath… )

IMAG0241 by matt_outandabout, on Flickr

if you go ‘regular HT’ look at how you’re going to tension the chain if you want to ss it. Dave did his alpine with an iscg mounted chain device, and i copied him later. it’s a pretty neat way of doing it. rear dropouts just work as they should and you don’t have a flappy tensioner.
don’t think the soul has iscg though. Luke has a soul but has gone fancy with a WI eccentric hub and FW. ££.
i’m on a genesis alpitude, Dave has a dialled alpine ( but his bike is shit, naturally 😉 ).
wouldn’t discount the chameleon, but would want this year’s really, as they’ve changed the geometry for the better IMO.
456 evo? the complete bikes do look like a good deal…

I’ve got a Soul and a Pitch. I use the Soul for local XC (Lancashire), long days in the Lake District and Scotland including. hike and bike stuff. I use the Pitch for shorter more technical rides, uplift days and the Alps. I can ride almost everything on the Soul that I can ride on the Pitch. Sometimes the Soul is faster and something the Pitch is. If I had to choose one bike it would be the Soul. Though confusingly the best days out I’ve had on a bike have been on the Pitch.

I’m sure I will miss having a FS bike but there’s bigger things in life to worry about

Too true. Have a Ti4546 now and miss the FS a bit, but the fact it’s always working and quiet compensates a lot. Just stand up on the bumpy bits 🙂

If you want to try a long travel HT, I’ll be training (work, not bike) in Exeter next week so will probably be spending most early evenings in Haldon for a lap or two?

Don’t bother with SS, rigid forks for winter might be worth it but again I wouldn’t worry about it.

I’d actually miss the ‘hack’ (a charge skinny duster) more as I wouldn’t want to leave the 456 out even locked up.

Del, The 456 Evo does look good but i was hoping to take advantage of someone else’s loss and look for second hand bargains. I’m getting way ahead of myself though, i need to sleep on the idea for a bit and then sell the Zesty and the Inbred which might talk longer than i hope. I won’t want to spend anymore than £1k on sorting another complete bike out

My mate sold his FS 26″ bike a year or so ago to fund a new 29er HT build.

He was just saying today that he wants a FS. I told him that would happen.

Bucko, im having a similar dillema. Sold a fs and went ht as my riding habits changed as family came along. Got a great ht (salsa ala carte) which is the bike i use 50% of the time, from commuting to night rides and everything in between.
my problem is, it means i neglect road bike and ht no.1!
im thinking sell salsa, buy big tyre clearance road bike (ritchey road logic).
if you ever need/want to go back to a fs, theyll be completely different bikes to choose from compared to your current ride.

Bucko – get a Soul for £375 and you can have my old wheels I had running on mine with hg62 cassette for £80 posted and I’ll throw in a SLX 2×10 m675 FR for another £15…half way to a decent build!

It has crossed my mind that i could buy a frame with a tapered head tube and swap across the components from my Zesty before selling that frame on. The only down side to that is that my forks and wheels are standard QR and I liked the idea of getting something stiffer.

I really haven’t got a lot of money to play with, the only money I will have is whatever I make from selling my 2 bikes. So splashing out on new forks and wheels is out of the question, and yet another reason why i’m thinking of looking out for second hand complete bikes

had a 5 and a Rock lobster 853. sold them both, got a new Soul and no regrets. 120mm and reverb, xt – natural scottish stuff, odd trail centre

Whyte 901 2014 £1099 @ JeJames on credit terms?

I like the idea of a HT. I think they look better than FS bikes. There is a clean elegance. They are easier to maintain and you get better power transfer to the rear wheels, which can help a lot on some climbs. What’s not to love? It’s just that every time I ride mine over lumpy ground I wish it had a bit of suspension at the back!

What model Zesty is it? Unless it’s a 914 I can’t see you getting a grand for a 2011 one, even then you’ll be losing a fortune on it.
I personally can’t see the point in selling it if you enjoy riding it (unless you need some of that grand to pay off debts etc.), you’ll just be replacing it with something different that may or may not be better. I’ve had FS, HT and rigid bikes over the last few years, I’ve always enjoyed the FS more and it’s the most versatile. Sure you don’t NEED a FS but the added comfort itself is enough for me. I do quite like my rigid SS for winter rides but that’s because those rides are short, no chance I’d want to do an all-dayer on it.

Fuzzywuzzy +1

Obviously there’s an element of ‘want’ in my thoughts at the moment, I’ve had the Zesty 314 for 3 years now and a change would be nice. After a bit more thinking and research I soon realised that I was never going to get £1k for it, which is a shame. I just need to keep mulling it over for a while as I keep changing my mind on what’s best right now.

The options going over in my head:

1. Sell the Zesty for £800-900?, and Inbred for about £200 and buy a second hand LT HT.
2. Buy Cotic Soul or similar frame and use Zesty as a donor bike before selling the frame and shock for £300 and inbred to recoup the money for the new frame.
3. Just keep the Zesty and sell the Inbred and get on with life.

Option 2 sounds great but the Zesty unfortunately has standard QR 140 forks and wheel which I’m not sure I’d be happy with for long.

I suppose everyone will suggest option 3 but that doesn’t involve shiny new stuff…