Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 (of 28 total)
  • Downhiller looking for an XC bike
  • Evrev
    Free Member

    Hi everyone,
    I was hoping you could give me a bit of advice…

    For the past 3 months, I've been commuting 25 miles(round trip) to work on my 14” dirt jump bike with skinny tyres (and a massive seatpost!) and it’s a bit of a slog and want to get something a bit more specific that'll hopefully keep me motivated to ride when it's raining hard and the winter months start rolling in. The componentry is pretty good (XT groupset etc) so I’m mostly just looking for a frame and maybe forks (on RS Pikes now).

    I'm also looking into getting into XC a bit more but haven't done it for a good 10 years and am massively out of touch with what's out there now…!

    I'm looking for a bike that:
    [*]Pedals well for the commute and uphill (can be full sus or HT)[/*]
    [*]Has a fairly slack head angle and decent standover height so I can still thrash it downhill[/*]
    [*]As light as possible – at least sub 30lbs[/*]
    [*]Travel anything from 110-140mm[/*]

    Rider Stats:
    [*]6 foot[/*]
    [*]14 stone[/*]
    [*]33" inside leg[/*]

    What would you recommend? My mate has an Orange 5 that he loves for XC and seems to be the standard these days as there's so many(!) but considering that I’d only ride XC one day on the weekend but commute 4-5 days, that might be a mistake.

    I’ve looked at ti HTs too – the 16" Ragley looks like it could be a winner but am a bit concerned with the standover height (looks tall in some of the pics) and I've read that it's a fairly stiff bike which means I'd probably get better VFM with the steel version..?

    Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

    Thanks!

    Ev

    ton
    Full Member

    this frame is for sale

    i am a 33 inside leg too.

    bonesetter
    Free Member

    At 6' you are a 29er candidate.

    And the Mythic (Banshee) Paradox may just be up your street (£399 from Freeborn)

    This bike will be huge trail fun while still capable of commute duties

    I've gone for the medium (23 ETT, 17") at 6'2" 😀 YMMV

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    Evrev
    Free Member

    this frame is for sale

    Cheers mate but I was looking for something with a bit more seat angle. For a hardtail, I'm tempted to go steel/ti for the smoother ride.

    Bonesetter – never even considered a 29er! Does seem to make good sense though. I'm quite keen to stay at 26" otherwise my current wheel setup isn't going to transfer over. Will definitely have a look though, cheers!

    brant
    Free Member

    the 16" Ragley looks like it could be a winner but am a bit concerned with the standover height

    you're six foot, you're looking at a 16in one, and you're worried about standover? Either you've got huge bollocks or baggy pants? Or you're worrying over nothing.

    bonesetter
    Free Member

    Good grief ton – that Stiffee just looks so wrong for you

    Evrev
    Free Member

    the 16" Ragley looks like it could be a winner but am a bit concerned with the standover height
    you're six foot, you're looking at a 16in one, and you're worried about standover?

    You've not seen my DH bike 😉

    Seriously though, maybe you're right. I need to have a sit on one really and I can see for myself. Maybe looking at dh bikes all day has twisted my mind!

    Wookster
    Full Member

    19.5 stiffee frame going onthe bay today m ate olive green!!

    brant
    Free Member

    Maybe looking at dh bikes all day has twisted my mind!

    and if you want another comparison, look at standover height on an MX bike. It's not great – but those lads seem to get on ok.

    Rickos
    Free Member

    Take a look at the Genesis Alpitude (not Altitude). Low standover, 853 steel and seems to tick those boxes. I run mine with Pikes and love it. Nice low BB compared to what seems to be common these days.

    Evrev
    Free Member

    and if you want another comparison, look at standover height on an MX bike. It's not great – but those lads seem to get on ok.

    This is true but it's a difficult comparison as the bike is the predominant weight in MX as opposed to the rider so the centre of gravity is much lower.

    In a whip, MXers can gun the throttle to straighten the bike up in the air as opposed to pedal bikes where the upper body and hips control the motion of the bike which is much easier the lower the bike is (see a bmx turndown and imagine that on a mtb!).

    The 16" ragley does look good though. It's a shame there are no demo areas in the south. It looks like I'm inbetween sizes and am compromising dh fun with climbing ability…

    brant
    Free Member

    We are persuing some dealers in the south. I may even take a trip down there myself shortly.

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    brant, are you saying your frames aren't suitable for those of us with enormous bollocks ?

    (I thought it was "all about the nadgers" these days)

    brant
    Free Member

    The slack head angle means even those of us with smaller bollocks can get down things that used to require very large bollocks indeed.

    balfa
    Free Member

    16" is tiny for your size. I would expect an 18" to fit better. I did the same as your are planning and brought components across from a 14" jump bike to an xc frame. I'm 6'4 and now ride a 19.5" Dialled bikes prince albert. You still need a long seatpost for a efficient pedalling position at that. Its no jump bike but you get used to having less standover. Your never going to be tabletopping flat but you can still do whip the bike with ease. They will build to less than 30lbs too although mine is the wrong size due to being the heavier mk1 and having downhill wheels on it. Its a great fun bike and would highly reccomend it. You can pick them up cheap second hand too. I paid 85 quid for mine. At that price if you don't like it you hav'nt lost much. What about an on-one 456 too?

    Lummox
    Full Member

    orange 5 has been very good for me, strong enough to be thrown around which is probably what you're used to. I'm 6'5" and 105kg, it's been perfect for me.

    I picked up a frame from ebay for a good price, plenty on there.

    Al

    GW
    Free Member

    I don't get it 😕

    What's such a slog about the jumpbike?
    if the seatpost is actually long enough and the tyres are narrow enough and at a high enough pressure, it shouldn't be any more of a slog than a heavy roadbike.

    seems utterly pointless changing frame.

    Just get a cheap roadbike. (for the same money as some of the frames already suggested by some of the numpties on here you could get a pretty decent complete roadbike -Giant/Spesh)

    The slack head angle means even those of us with smaller bollocks can get down things that used to require very large bollocks indeed.

    Tut tut!! that's Pish Brant!!
    A slacker headangle (on it's own) means it'll be more stable going FASTER down stuff. if anything I feel far more comfortable going down the steepest chutes on my little 69deg HA jump bike than any of my sub 65deg DH bikes. just try taking a long travel slack hardtail to a skate park and try rolling in over the coping from the tallest quarterpipe/bowl – sketchy (and just wrong!)

    brant
    Free Member

    just try taking a long travel slack hardtail to a skate park and try rolling in over the coping from the tallest quarterpipe/bowl – sketchy (and just wrong!)

    ugh, yes. wobble. flop. nasty.

    but…

    A slacker headangle (on it's own) means it'll be more stable going FASTER down stuff.

    so MORE stable going faster? Ok – what about at the same speed?

    And I'm not talking about skate parks but rocky, rooty, technical – not just steep things.

    NWAlpsJeyerakaBoz
    Free Member

    '….suggested by some of the numpties on here'

    Where as you are what exactly…?

    juiced
    Free Member

    just get a cheapo mtb like a gt agressor or reduced carerra city mtb and add slicks.

    Evrev
    Free Member

    What's such a slog about the jumpbike?
    if the seatpost is actually long enough and the tyres are narrow enough and at a high enough pressure, it shouldn't be any more of a slog than a heavy roadbike

    Ok it's not awful – I've been using it over this distance for 3 months. The point is that I'm looking at doing XC more frequently now – prob DH on Sat and XC Sunday and it's definitely not ideal for that. I figure that I can switch it out for something that I'll get more use out of.

    Getting another bike isn't an option as I've got no room in the flat to store bikes as it is.

    A slacker headangle (on it's own) means it'll be more stable going FASTER down stuff. if anything I feel far more comfortable going down the steepest chutes on my little 69deg HA jump bike than any of my sub 65deg DH bikes. just try taking a long travel slack hardtail to a skate park and try rolling in over the coping from the tallest quarterpipe/bowl – sketchy (and just wrong!)

    Yes a slack HA elongates the wheelbase by increasing the front centre of the bike which gives greater stability and slows the steering down. The reason for doing this other than merely increasing the top tube relates to bump absorption. A slack HA bike rolls over bumps much faster as the more of the force is directed vertically (to be absorbed in the fork travel). Liken it to pushing a vaccum cleaner around in the upright position compared to angling the neck.

    I guess the reason why you prefer your steep headangle is the more precise steering it offers as you roll into a tech section but as soon as it gets fast and gnarly a slack HA is much easier to handle…

    Evrev
    Free Member

    Cheers for the suggestions guys. It's good to know I was thinking along the right lines as I've already had a look at the 456 and the Prince Albert. There head angles are still a bit steeper than I'd like though which is why I was looking at the Ragley.

    The Five has caught my eye – especially as I could lock the RP23 out but I'm thinking HT might be the way to go after all given the amount of road miles I'll be doing on it

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    just try taking a long travel slack hardtail to a skate park and try rolling in over the coping from the tallest quarterpipe/bowl – sketchy (and just wrong!)

    ugh, yes. wobble. flop. nasty.

    So,…
    A slack HA is great for steep stuff, but shit for very steep stuff – where you want a steeper HA

    Have I got that right ?? 😯

    Evrev
    Free Member

    just try taking a long travel slack hardtail to a skate park and try rolling in over the coping from the tallest quarterpipe/bowl – sketchy (and just wrong!)
    ugh, yes. wobble. flop. nasty.

    So,…
    A slack HA is great for steep stuff, but shit for very steep stuff – where you want a steeper HA
    Have I got that right ??

    Joking??

    the skate park is a pretty poor example. What if the ramp was rocky, rooty and wet? Also the vert bit of the ramp is never much more than 10ft so you won't really notice the steering get twitchy.

    If steeper head angles were better on steep tracks then world cup racers would be riding 70 deg head angles (as opposed to 63-64 before sag) at most world cups and then changing their bikes to 72 degrees at Champery 😀

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    putting aside all the bitching.

    fives are awesome allrounders. i've got mine with pikes/vanilla RC shock and its been everywhere. dirt jumping, downhill tracks, long XC rides. If I could only have one bike it would be this one, fortunately I get to have a downhill bike too…

    Evrev
    Free Member

    Bitching? Sorry Internet is a tough place to get the tone right- it was confusion rather than arrogance!

    How heavy is your five?

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    probably about 31/32 ish. could be lighter but then so could I….

    si_brodiebikes
    Free Member

    Chumba HX1, will take upto 140mm, Eccentric Bottom bracket for singlespeed duties, pretty slack with loads of standover. We also have a deal on Fox forks with our frames at the moment 😉

    http://www.progressive-bikes.co.uk/news26062009.html

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