Love my Tazer to bits – I like to think it’s the perfect do-it-all bike (hey it’s 10 months old now). It takes me to work every day, is pretty nippy on x/c trails, loves the jumpy stuff (we’re not talking airmiles here though 😉 ) and is confidence inspiring on the downhills due to its super short toptube and slackish angles (I’m running 120 instead of the recommended 100mm forks). But that’s the thing – 4″ of travel is always going to buck you about on the more rocky rutted tracks, even at the speeds I mince down at. I’m not looking for more cushioning, I just want go faster and stay in control – does that make sense?

With pretty limited cash, my options I guess are to sell the Tazer frame and forks and replace with something like a Transition Bottlerocket and 160mm Domain forks and a small loan from the bank of papadirt. Sure it’s gonna be a bit more of an effort on the commute but I reckon 6″ would be manageable (loved my Coiler but it was just a little long for me).

Another option would be to sell my Tazer frame and forks and buy another complete (something like the Stinky Six), then build the frame and forks up with my existing kit and sell the rest (I did similar when I bought my Coiler). Not sure if moving from a Tazer to a Stinky would be a backward step though – yes, sorry, I am a bike tart 😳

Third option and most probably total overkill, would be to buy last year’s Stinky (7″ travel) as a second bike, keeping the Tazer as it is. I really don’t think I’m gonna need 7″ anytime soon (although it’d be good to try) and I need to bear in mind that as I don’t drive, I have to ride to the trails (an hour to Wentwood d/h and hour and a half to Cwmcarn is going to be pretty tiring on a bike like that).

Hmmm . . . maybe I just need to WTFU and fit bigger tyres 😉

If you think it’s the ‘perfect’ do it all bike why are you thinking of replacing it with something to enhance one aspect?

Well, I guess I’d be happy to sacrifice a bit of speed on the commute and x/c rides (never been that bothered by weight either) for something with a bit more skill compensation on the downhills 😉

This is my new go faster, longer travel project

What about a tiny Orange Blood?

The Blood does look good – a bit more expensive than the Bottlerocket although with slightly less travel it may make a better do-it-all bike . . . counts pennies

Ah burger!! Blood has a rear Maxle so that would be another £100 for a new hub 😐

Look forward to seeing the finished pics of that Enduro. More pics of new projects please!

have you thought about speding a bit more money on getting your shock/forks upgraded and tuned.

this could give you a better ride.

cant see how more travel will help as an all round bike. I have a turner rail (similar sort of bike). Use it for everything except commuting

I don’t know if there’s much I can do rear shock wise. Would a coil rear make much of a difference? 165mm coil shocks are few and far between though (there’s a Vanilla on ebay at the mo’ which I’m watching).

Another vote for the Blood – looks mint, and sounds good for what you want. Or an Orange 5 AM might fit the bill. I ride with heaps of folk on both these bikes and they fly up and down.

Where do you ride??

A coil will feel a lot nicer on the rough stuff, I have both a coil and an air shock (swinger 3way). I am running the air shock at the momment with coil pikes and it feels nice. Speak to TF though as they might be able to push your shock so its more responsive on the big hits.

I also run dual ply high rollers or comp 16 on the bike. But as I said I dont commute on it and tend to ride more DH stuff as oppose to trail centers.

Who are you asking, Jimmer? Pennines, Lakes and overseas are where I ride.

I ride mostly at Wentwood forest, Cwmcarn and my local woods. I have a Swinger 3 way on the back too Rudiboy. Just been out for a quick blast in the woods with a little less air in the platform and the forks and to be fair it felt great. It’s the rocky rutted stuff at Wentwood (not the downhill track as that’s pretty sculpted) where I feel I’m out of my depth pinging from one side of the track to the other.

The eternal fettler in me says go for the coil shock on ebay, and a spare pair of wheels with bigger tyres would be a heck of a lot cheaper than a new frame for the sake of a couple of inches of travel.

Swingers are horrible shocks. They’re completely outclassed by Fox, so get one of them!

Changing from a 3way swinger to a vanilla RC transformed my five

Cheers all – reckon I’ll try to pick up a cheap Vanilla then before doing anything rash.

Sorry Wl was asking mamadirt!

Just out of interest really, I live in the lakes and have now reverted back to ht from a 5″ heckler, to be honest I think over 4-5″ is overkill for anything on these shores!

Hi.Mrs dropoff was going to sell her Stinky Primo a while ago. Pics here if you fancy a look, it’s a 15.5″ and the Primo is 15mm shorter in the top tube than the normal Stinky.

What about a 15″ Giant Reign frame

Tracey

The big tyre option is a GREAT way of upping its DH capability cheaply. If you find it doesnt help enough you could still switch the bigger tyres to a new long travel frame. I would recommend Schwalbe fat Albert 2.35s. They are “proper” 2.35s and also light,or a set of Conti Rubber Queen 2.4s . I USE fat albert 2.35 on my Spec SX Trail aswell as my Hardtail Cove Hanjob. They make a big difference

move further away?

Jimmer I dont agree… 4″ travel is not very much. I normally mainly ride a hardtail at the mo but 4″ travel is just like a tiny bend of the knee. I rode my SX trail (about 6 in travel i think)at Epping forrest last week and it was a blast… Having said that I normally prefer my hardail there as its lighter and tighter. Thing with a long travel bike is that it makes you ride differently. The bits you normally go round you jump over. My SXTrail has seen everything from F.Willian DH to the Alps. The only problem with longer travel bikes is whether you can climb on them as most are quite slack. Tight, xc trails can be a problem on a big rig. If you are trying a jump for the first time its much better on a long travel bike.. Having said all that if u are commuting on it too I would just go for the big tyres option & keep what you have. A 6 inch travel bike isnt fun on the road!!

If you do think about selling your frame and fork Mamadirt (no pressure whatsoever of course!) can you let me know? I’m still weighing up my options and went carpet shopping today so saving a few pennies wouldn’t be a bad plan!… Although I am picking up an Orange Diva to test ride on Friday

Edit: Hmmm, having just read up on the frame a bit – I think it might be a bit too hardcore for me actually! I’m not comfortable in the air – or in water for that matter…

im thinking your missing the point,
you dont need to replace the bike

YOU ‘NEED’ TWO BIKES

😆

i, er, might be interested in the forks btw…

tamarvin at googlemail dot com.
if you decide to sell, of course!

Bottle Rocket does look ace though. FTW.

If I were you I’d be Blood curious, I saw a diddy one up at Glentress and it sure looked spunky.

Doesn’t the bottle rocket weigh as much as a small house though? A new tracer would be in keeping with the intense theme.

Right folks – cheers for all the replies. If I’m honest I don’t really want to let the Tazer go and I’ve just snapped up a new pair of Pikes off ebay to try – 20mm more travel up front and U turn for the commute should help and hey, I’ll be off work for 6 weeks in July . . . time for bigger tyres 😀 . I guess I’ll have to sort out a soft spring though. Still tempted to have a bid on the Vanilla rear shock too.

Hungry monkey – I’ll let you know if I decide to stick with the Pikes and sell the Minutes (they’re only a few weeks old, with all packaging and receipt).

Chris – a new Tracer would be spot on. I tried one at the Cwmcarn demo day a month or so ago – fantastic!! but sadly waay out of my price range . . . for the moment.

As fatmuthahubbard said, would you not be better with 2 bikes?
Assuming your commute is on the road you can get a carrera subway for £230 new, or easily pick someting up off ebay/here for much less. Or get something really cheap and source some slicks and spray guards for it?
The intense can then be centred around just MTBing (and getting there) rather than having to think about the commute when considering its build/setup?
It’d probably save a fair bit in tyres and drivetrain too, and when/if the MTB is out of action, the commuter isn’t

I could always rebuild my Inbred for the commute but with my local woods halfway between home and work I’m never gonna be happy with slicks . . . I take the scenic route home most days 😀 . It’s taken me a long time to get down to just the one do-it-all bike and now I’m whinging that it won’t cope with everything . . . sorry folks 😕 . I reckon a different fork/shock set up could be the perfect solution – having gone from 130mm q/r Bombers to bolt-thru 100mm coil Minutes then 120mm air Minutes in the last month, I’d like to think the Pikes (with the same axle to crown measurements as my old Bombers) should do the job.

thanks mamadirt. i’m watching a few pairs of forks at the mo. would be grateful to hear from you if you do decide to sell, but i might have already picked something up.
just remembered you got them real recent. i’m pretty skint, might not be able to offer what you’d want. but please email if you do decide to sell 🙂

got the 29er version, and they are lovely forks…

Will do

I can’t believe you are considering getting rid of the Tazer – after all those nice things you were saying about it at Wentwood 🙂

good choice mamadirt.

If you can pick up a coil van farily cheap it is well worth it, on the rough stuff.

if you want more info on how my rail and a friends tazer is set up let me know via e-mail. Not saying they are the best set up bikes in the world but the type of riding is similar and we have had them for a few years.

good luck

floki – Member

I can’t believe you are considering getting rid of the Tazer – after all those nice things you were saying about it at Wentwood

You haven’t seen me right – I din’t say nuthin’ 😉 . Guess I’m just looking for some skill compensation for that road drop . . .

Watch this space Rudiboy – there are a couple of Vanilla shocks on ebay at the mo, so fingers crossed.

Ive got a pristine Bottlerocket for sale if your interested?
its a medium in raw finish, im 5,11″ and its perfect, they really do have the sizing right

pm me if your still looking

Yeah, but I’m only 5’2″, so I’d need a small – cheers anyway 🙂

No worries

I really like the idea of the bottlerocket, but the frame weighs over 8lbs without a shock… which is far to heavy for me and I would have thought noticeably heavier than your tazer?

hey it’s 10 months old now

Blimey; it must be a pensioner, by your standards,then!

Does this mean you’ll be buying yet another tiny bike? 😯

You need professional help, love! It’s just not healthy! 😀