If you had to chose between the 2 which would it be and why?
I may have just bought a Sub5 frame and currently have an i-drive 5 but I will not be able to keep them both.

ughhh. Hobson’s Sophie’s choice or what!

I would prefer it to be a choice better a new shiny bike and another new shiny bike, but unless my numbers come in tonight or tomorrow this is it sadly.

No-one offering any help/piss taking?

mmm, is the i-drive older or newer than the sub5? I think i’d keep the sub5 then get some of those eccentic shock bushes and drop the head angle ( I remember them being a bit steep)

Sub5 is older and a bit more “used”

It’s a tricky one, nearest to an I-drive that i’ve ridden is a Mongoose Teocali which I really liked. Have ridden a 5 but not a sub5 . Got any pics of either? so we can judge condition etc?
Maybe sell both frames and get something newer ? Its what iv’e been doing until I got my Rocky Mountain Slayer

Try them both then decide.

I didn’t keep my Idrive 5 very long, it wasn’t the right bike for me but for some stuff it was ace– like the world’s most unstoppable XC bike. Glentress black really let it shine for instance, nothing scary or technical where it would be out of its depth, so it could just get on with smoothing out the trails. I loved it for that stuff. Got on very well with the whole Idrive thing, it felt a bit soft on climbs but never really seemed to matter.

But it’s heavy, and the geometry’s a bit weird, it’s like it wants to be a 4 inch bike. I’d have kept it for a big XC bike but the weight put me off that plan, and taking it anywhere properly steep, it was just wrong. If I could have just chopped off the head tube and had it welded back on about 4 degrees slacker, I might still have it yet.

I have a sub 5 running 140mm Pikes and I really enjoy riding it, it loves everything with the exception of tight turns on climbs soon to be remedied with some U Turn Rev’s)

I liked the performance of my I-Drive equipped DHI, but I think in a bike of that vintage the I-drive is going to get increasinnglly worrisome, something you won’t get with a sub 5.

My old Sub5 was an awesome bike – fab fun to ride, especially down hill, tough as old boots, simple, massive mud rom etc etc

sub5 , wish i had kept mine , fine frame if a little home made looking , next to no maintenance .