Forum menu
My 05 Enduro S works frame is about due for replacement and I would like to replace it with a 5 or 6" travel frame with a slacker head angle. The enduro is 68.5 in low BB setting and I would prefer something with a 66.5 or 67 head angle.
Looking to spend up to £400 ish on a frame, so 2nd hand obviously. I get on well with 4 bar suspension, but I'm open to ideas.
Not really up to speed on newish stuff so recommend me some frames to look out for that I could pick up 2nd hand. Will be running 160mm/170mm forks and using it for all round riding mostly in the Peak District so rough rocky stuff.
cheers
Andy
interested in this also - what about a pitch?
Marin quad 140 frames, alpine trail, wolf ridge etc. 66 head angle and low bb. Handle like nothing else i've found/tried.
If it were me I'd go for a Pitch or a Marin Wolf Ridge. Both are quite slack (66-67 degrees depending on the fork and built to take a lot of slick. The Wolf Ridge is a very rewarding and underrated bike indeed, I know because I have one!
The Pitch is the spiritual successor to the 2005 Enduro. Why are you replacing the frame though? For £400 you're really only going to get something that's about equivalent to your 2005 Enduro so you have to wonder if it would be worth it.
I had the 05 Enduro also but replaced it when it finally cracked in the main frame. Unless you've got the same problem, maybe you should stick with what is an all time classic.
Probably find those slack angles wont be on later models
but on Downhill bikes
Interested in something along this lines possibly, what else is there if we ignore the £400 budget? SX-Trail type things, what else is there?
Hard to say without knowing exactly what it is you're riding.
Can you post up a picture of your bike?
Cove Hustler? Long wheelbase, low bb and slack headangle. Not Horst Link, but rides great, and reasonable price second hand...
Looking to replace it as a few of the bearing seats in the rear triangle are oversized so the bearings just drop in/out and there is quite a bit of play side to side in the swingarm, giving a bit of rear wheel steering that is quite unnerving on fast rocky DHs. Could just locktite a new set of bearings in and ride it till they die then bin the frame. I was running it with 2005 66RCs in 150mm setting (575mm A2C height) and it slackened it off, but the steering was a bit slow and quirky with the tall forks. Ideally I want something with a slacker angle so I can run a newer set of forks which all seem to have A2C heights around 535mm or 545mm.
I bought the enduro frame 2nd hand for £350 about 3 years ago, so thought I could get something about 2007/2008 vintage for about £400 ish.
Considering an SX trail, seen some 07/08 frames go for £400 ish but it's even heavier than the Enduro. Seen a few pitchs but never read much about them or ridden one.
Thought about Giant Reign / Reign X, but again quite heavy frames and don't know what the angles are like?
kaesae - Member
Hard to say without knowing exactly what it is you're riding.
Can you post up a picture of your bike?
[url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4110/5176357848_1184b660c6.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/10417878@N08/5176357848/ ]Enduro 1[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/10417878@N08/ ]subZero rider[/url], on Flickr
Could go higher than £400 but my bikes end up looking tatty and well used within a few months of me getting them so thought may as well go for something a couple of years old that already looks tatty.
" grantway - Member
Probably find those slack angles wont be on later models
but on Downhill bikes "
I was wondering if there was anything like the newer generation bikes, i.e. Alpine 160, Reign X SX trail that had slacker angles on a 6 ish inch frame.
but it's even heavier than the Enduro.
I don't think they are you know, at least not the bare frame without the shock.
The 2005 SX Trail was identical to the 2005 Enduro and then subsequent models changed their geometry quite a bit to make them longer travel, longer eye to eye shock and slacker geometry, but the construction was ostensibly the same. While the Enduro changed from 2006 to 2007 (arguable to its detriment), the SX Trail continued to be the same basic frame until 2008 I think.
Yes the coil will add a pound in weight, but you could always fit an air damper if weight was a real issue.
When did you last check the bearings on the frame? and which model of fork are those?
Sorry mate you wont find a second hand Alpine 160 frame
for less than £ 800 quid at the moment due to age.
You will probably get a Orange 5 2006 frame for £ 400-£500
and you can put a 160mm fork on that, which will also create
the slacker angle.
One thing is to stay away from ex alp riders bikes
has these will be well abused due to the terrain
which give the frame a shorter life span
I swapped all the bearings with a genuine spesh kit about a year ago, and have had them out and cleaned/greased them since. two or three of the bearings now just fall out when the frame is stripped down, hence looking for a new frame.
forks are 2005 Marzocchi 66RC.
If it was my bike, I would check the shocks function and frames bearings, before you replace anything make sure everything works as it should.
Cove G spot? Very different to your 4 bar though, but the geometry will be what you want, 66 deg head angle.
Yeah specialized suffer from that a lot, you can push the bearing in and out with your fingers at times. I just use a sealant that I had made up to sort the problem.
If the bearings are fine then that should be cool. Have you checked your shock recently?
Do you like the forks, have you tried using another set?
A friend of mine had that problem with his bearings
He was told to use a certain wax to hold in place
are you not using this.
His is an older Specalized frame not sure the same with the
newer bikes to be honest.
Give BETD a call they sort a lot of problems with Specalized bikes
plus other makes of bikes.
Never tried a Cove so could be worth a look. The hustler is 5" travel ?
Kaesae, rear shock is due a service but still shouldn't be responsible for side to side play in the rear of the bike. All the pivot bolts were replaced with the bearings. The bike just feels tired, and very twitchy / unstable on rough downhills. Forks were superb, 150mm or 170mm of nicely damper travel.
I'll have a look on ebay and see what is available.
I ride a Cotic Hemlock 08, these have a 67 degree HA with a 160mm fork and a reasonably low BB. LOve it.
I have tried a Wolf Ridge and it felt superb, although it had 140mm fork.
why do you want slack angles?
I like the stability and confidence it seems to give on fast, rough downhills. I'm happy to trade the not so good climbing performance for fun on the downs. I've ridden a mates 08 SX trail before, same forks as my enduro and very similar build, and downhill it just blew away the enduro. It felt totally stable and confident in stuff that felt a little nervous on the enduro. This comparison was on trails we ride all the time so was able to let the bike go and just hang on 😉
Jedi - cos they go with my 900mm bars 😉
is that your bike in the picture?
Yep, frame. & frks are the same. Few other bits have changed but nothing major
Hustler is not slack imo and cove recomend 130-140mm forks, 150mm forks at the most.
Andy - there is one thing you could consider if you want to a) keep your current frame and b) make it more stable and confidence inspiring downhill.
Rather counterintuitively it would be to reduce the travel.
Yes you read that correctly!
The cheaper 2006 Enduros actually came with 140mm forks and 138mm rear travel because Spesh couldn't source a cheap enough 150mm fork that was still of good enough quality to put on their bikes. So rather than compromise they ended up reducing the travel slightly and putting on a shorter fork.
The net result of that dropped the bottom bracket by half and inch and took about half a degree off the HA. The shock dimensions ended up being something like 8.5" by 2.25".
I retro fitted a shock of this size and ran my forks at 150mm and the results were very good indeed. The HA ended up being around 67 degrees and the BB was at 13.5". This made the bike handle amazingly well down hill, significantly better than when in stock form.
Spesh may well still have air cans of this size in stock as they held them for warranty purposes and this is where I got mine from. I think I paid about £180 for it but that was back when the bike were still relatively current so if they have any left now, you may find them willing to sell them cheaper.
Cannondale Prophet has the angles you're after and you should easily get one for £400 - try for the MX frame though that has a 12mm rear axle and is warrantied for 160mm forks. Not Horst link though, obviously.
It's a tough ask as the sort of head angles you're looking for won't be available on frames for £400 in general. Slacker HA's only came available on the Orange 5 in 2009, for instance.
The cheaper 2006 Enduros actually came with 140mm forks and 138mm rear travel because Spesh couldn't source a cheap enough 150mm fork that was still of good enough quality to put on their bikes. So rather than compromise they ended up reducing the travel slightly and putting on a shorter fork.The net result of that dropped the bottom bracket by half and inch and took about half a degree off the HA. The shock dimensions ended up being something like 8.5" by 2.25".
I retro fitted a shock of this size and ran my forks at 150mm and the results were very good indeed. The HA ended up being around 67 degrees and the BB was at 13.5". This made the bike handle amazingly well down hill, significantly better than when in stock form.
Sounds interesting. I've got a rocco Rc coil in bits that I could try building up with a shorter stroke shaft, only possible downside is lowering the BB even further as I get quite a few pedal strikes as it is. May be an option though.
It's a tough ask as the sort of head angles you're looking for won't be available on frames for £400 in general. Slacker HA's only came available on the Orange 5 in 2009, for instance.
prophet is a possible, seen plenty of good reviews of the MX. They're 140mm rear travel ?
I'm in two minds whether to look for an older heavier bike with the right angles for around £400 or to go for something a little newer. What options come in from £600 ish for the frame? A five would be nice, but the angles seem to change year on year. Which ones were slack angled?
cheers for the suggestions, keep it coming 🙂
Should easy get a Prophet for that and ticks all your boxes. Think they are 140mm and 2 HA/BB settings.
Patriot 66 or the '08 version will be similar, probably a bit more DH capable. Adjustable shock shuttle lets you fiddle with the head angle and BB height. I ran mine with a shorter stroke shock and shock shuttle all the way forward for max low and slack: you get very similar frame to the Alpine 160 at a fraction of the price.
I've had a Patriot and an Enduro: found the Patriot that little bit sprightlier (sp?) on the climbs.
I'm currently riding a Trek Remedy. Again ticks all the boxes. Again a bit happier on the climbs than a Patriot. Probably not that many about frame only, but I'd think you'd be able to get an '08 for about £400.
If you do have to go slack those new Cane Creek Anglesets look interesting: but need a 1.5 or tapered headtube and probably cost a bomb.
Kona's seem to have fairly slack head angles, could have a look out for Dawg (5") or Coiler/Coilair (6") frames, they seem to come up reasonably often, similar in design at least to the Hustler and Hemlock.