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[Closed] Do we worry too much about what our bikes are 'meant for'...?

DrP · 2010-06-02T10:07:07Z

The thread about "fitting longer forks than the frame's specced for" got me thinking - do we worry far too much about the 'intended use' of our bikes and other items? Look at it this way - when I was in my teens with not much money, I used to ride a fair bit of trials.... I bough a skinny old Scott XC bike with XC wheels, Vs, and an XC crank. I fitted a bash to it, fitted Tioga DH 2.3 tyres, and rode the hell out of it! I would regularly do 5-8ft drops to flat, do the odd bit of jumping, and often fall off onto rocks etc, resulting in a bit clatter of XC skinnyness against natures finet granite... A few years later at Uni another bike got nicked, so on the cheap I'd built up a 'free ride hard tail' out of spare/cheap parts. I fitted MZ XC pro forks to it and rode the hell out of it. I mean, these were 30mm stantion, 120mm travel air forks with QR drop outs. NONE of the above components showed any sign on packing up on me.... As I'm a bit older, wiser, and financially more stable, I start to worry that the 'all mountain' rims I'm currently running may not be suitable for the 3ft drop that I encounter on a regular loop, or that maybe I should get 36mm stantions for more stiffness and safety...... I'll freely admit that for some uses you do need specific components (DH racing, massive hucks etc), but surely for the majority of riding that the majority of us do, bolting [b]any component[/b] to [b]any frame [/b]should really suffice...no? Of course - I (and many others here) suffer a bad case of 'upgrateitis', but I'm sure none of it is necessary! Discuss! DrP

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GiantJaunt

Posts: 1231

Free Member

I think it's always possible to change your bike a fair bit to tailor it to your needs more. I have a 5 inch travel full suspension bike and I changed the forks for 6 inch Pikes, replaced the big chainring with a bashguard and now it's more all mountain and a much more enjoyable ride.

I think fitness is a big thing too. I know folk with big heavy bouncy bikes and they can do uphill and xc on them no prob because they're fit enough.

Posted : 03/06/2010 1:50 am

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