[Closed] The great debate - 150-160mm Bikes

Gnat's ballsack over your £2.5k, including selling my old bike.

Probably easier to ride than my 5, as it's a lot lighter (sub 27lbs). I use it for everything other than riding/racing DH on, although i'm half tempted to use it on some of the smaller local races rather than my actual DH bike.

I'll use it to race the Mega on, and some of the Gravity Enduro races, in other words - pretty much anything.

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http://www.yt-industries.com/en/bikes-2012/wicked-160sl/

YIKES!!! Works out about 2500 with BOS shocks!!

Hob Nob - how much you pay for frame then?

Frame was just under £1000 (literally just - can't remember exactly as it was won on Ebay from the States).

Rest, I just bought as & when I saw a stonking deal. It can be done, if you arn't in a rush. I would guess it took me nearly 3 months to get it to it's finished state.

Spesh SX was my original plan, as an extra bike. You can pick them up complete for under £1000 for a 2006 version which is what I was after at the time. Would have gone for a coil shock on that.

....and then not ridden it again for a year.

Was a bit put off by the weight at the time, but my BLT build is over 32lb and now I couldnt care less about a couple of pounds.

Love my covert.

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your 800 quid frame is only half the picture, you are going to need to spend about the same or more again on some forks worthy of the frame

I will have a pair of brand new, tapered steerer, white Rock Shox coil Domain R 160mm forks up for grabs shortly. Just bought a new [url= http://2011.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=stinky_tl ]Kona Stinky TL[/url] and planning on swapping my Lyriks over.

Should be with me tomorrow so please get in touch if interested. £175 including Parcelforce 48 hour delivery.

mama DOT dirt AT ntlworld DOT com

Buy a pitch, stick some bigger forks on it and use some money to go on a skills course 😉

The mk2 SC nomad has a 1.5 head tube

They are all fundamentally the same and you will be as happy (or unhappy) with one as with all the others...

Buy a pitch, stick some bigger forks on it and use some money to go on a skills course

soobalias - Member
any of the new frames come with a proper 1.5" headtube rather than the tapered ones?

Mega has a 44 standard, which accepts 1.5", tapered and 1.125"

Pitch is very capable, just doesn't have that "niceness" factor some other bikes mentioned have had.

Mine has been to the alps, ridden some of the freeride in chatel, it's happy riding the off piste bits that make the blacks look tame. Covers ground fast, jumps well. But don't go buying one expecting it to pedal like a 100mm bike.

In the uk i use it for 3hr+ rides with xcers, i use it for uplift days with dhers, i also use it for "freeride" where people are on slopestyle bikes.

It is however getting to the point where i'm not too confident in it on bigger gaps and drops im doing now but it was more than happy with this gap over and over again

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There was a full build NP Mega on Ebay that ended on Monday . Nice spec , won with 1 bid at £1500. Would have ticked most of the box's.
JHW was selling a specialised something for £1k, again suitable for what you want .

skywalker - Member

You don't need a 160mm bike to ride trail centres...A Zesty, Five, BLT2, or Bandit will handle anything the UK has to throw at them and you won't be over biked

I don't think you were trying to be funny, but you are.

The guy who mentioned a Pitch and a skillz course is bang on the money for several reasons. The Pitch is a very good, cheap bike with an excellent warranty. Also if you need 160mm to go down a mountain you may be in need some training.

That YT is amazing value, BOS front and rear, reverb, crossmax and top end Sram for 2.5k. As hob nob says if can wait you can build a high end bike cheap; old model yetis, Turners and mojos all been half price or less in the last 12 months, already links above to lyriks and bombers around half price etc, but would like to see a YT in the metal as they are terrific value.

Gooner-dom it is a zesty!

I have just built a SC Nomad after trying most of the bikes above, its 160mm Lyrik (Air), RP23, XT Drive Train, XTR Trail brakes usual Hope Hoops on 2.4 High Rollers... I have to say it climbs brilliantly my previous bike was a Cube Reaction Team pretty much a XC racer and even with twin up front the Nomad hasn't really slowed me down.. and when you do get to a down well WOW !

3,300ft of climbs in the Peaks on Sunday and i didn't wish for my Cube at any point. . .

Awesome frame well worth the $$

I don't think you were trying to be funny, but you are.

Whats so funny?

I have a stock Giant Reign which does admittedly include 160m Talas which is fine for all I want/am able to ride in the Alps. My mates ride Orange 5 and Specialsied Enduro with longer travel forks. Our guide in Les Gets last year had a Zesty and the Trail Addiction guides ride Dialed Alpine

It all depends what trails you ride and how aggressively you ride them.

Nomad 2 with coil U-Turn Lyriks gets my vote
This combo will let you ride up the hill / Alp as well as down it

Don't get too hung up about the rear travel. In my experience it the 36mm stanchion forks at the front that will make all the difference to the descending.

Many 140mm rear travel bikes with a 36 fork at the front would out descend a 160mm rear travel bike with 32mm forks up front.

Whats so funny?

The thing about passing the overbiked threshold for UK riding then recommending a few (very nice) bikes with rear suspension 😀

Hobnob

Want to sell me your nomad 😉

The thing about passing the overbiked threshold for UK riding then recommending a few (very nice) bikes with rear suspension

I was overbiked riding to work today as I had round wheels, I should ahve been using the more appropriate star shaped wheels, and a stick in the spokes for brakes.

LOL

I can get a Covert 2011 with Fox RP23 Kashima for £900 - Ex Demo frame MEDIUM - Hmmmmmmmmm

Hobnob

Want to sell me your nomad

Sorry, this one is a keeper!

gooner, I've seen people get new ones for that.

Wrecker, I apologise. I didn't realise you got so much excitement from suggesting a bike for a complete stranger.

Star shaped wheels? You funny toys19. Easiest is bestest. Everybody on the internet knows that.

I like the Covert. I followed a chap down here on one and he/we took some amazing little detours with some nice big drops in the cacti...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxPBfYYxBkk

Most of the group who ride here were on DH bikes but there were a few on AM set ups like myself.

The whole point of a good AM bike is that it can do the same as the DH bikes and yet is capable of being ridden to the top of hills the shuttle vans won't take you to (and that the DH crown won't walk to). It's not an XC/Trail bike so yes much of the time your "overbiked", but when it comes to the doonhall sections you have a better tool for the job. I'd rather be overbiked most of the time and enjoy the doonhalls than be quicker on the boring bits and a frustrated mincer when the trails gets interesting.

Gotta love STW, it's those little differences that bring us together.

You'd be better buying a bike that does the 95% of riding you mostly do and then either hiring/buying-selling another one for the odd times you need something else or adding a number of components that beef/lighten it when required.

You can buy 2 new wheelsets for £600 - say Hope Hoops with one set running Flow's and another on Crest's. Then add an extra fork, bashguard etc smaller/bigger discs.

So probably a 5 or the like is the best starting point.

+1 messiah, "overbiked" is such tired hoary Willy waving. I ride a bike that will excel on the big riding days of which memories are made of (Morocco, alps, Rockies, India...). Oddly though I also ride it and enjoy riding it on more mundane local trails, so I've explored bluebell carpets in the chilterns on a Nomad. My riding group typically includes singlepeed rigid 29ers through to big bikes like mine, but we're too busy enjoying ourselves to sneer at each others choices.

The op asked for recommendations on the best 150-160mm bike, not judgement on his riding ability or whether he needs 160mm.

I rode my Anthem to work along the road this morning and I was woefully overbiked. Should have ridden my road bike. I rode my El Guapo through the singletrack in my local woods on Sunday and again was terribly overbiked. Should have ridden the Anthem. I took my road bike to the shops yesterday to get some bread - massively overbiked. Should have borrowed the missus's shopper. Honestly if only I could pick the exact right bike for the exact right situation I'm sure I'd enjoy my riding a whole lot more

Finally some like-minded people on the nonsense expression 'overbiked'

Sorry, off topic, but I did post a lot earlier in the thread right on topic

Ha - chuckling to my self here.

Yes i could use a skills course DEFINITLEY then so could any rider!!! The pro's are coached after all! The jedi runs skills courses and i definitely want to ge on that. It would improve any rider fullstop!

Ive seen a kid on a BMX on a DH run (and he was awesome!) so does that mean the elite downhillers are "overbiked" on V10's, Sessions, Demos, etc?!

Im not asking anyone to pick my bike, im not asking anyone to tell me a 160 bike is "overbiked" for UK - Yes i agree the Zesty, 5, Foxy etc are all more than capable in UK condition BUT i was asking for peoples opinions on different 150/160mm bikes - Thats all. Not what should I buy.

Opinions on the 150/160 bikes is all i am after - Just to see if certain bikes come up that i've not though about or know about (Like the YT industries post earlier).

To those who have shared useful info thanks. 😀

Wrecker, I apologise.

recommending a few (very nice) bikes with rear suspension

I currently ride a 180mm Bullit for everything apart from road and it feels a bit sluggish on up hills but it's so much fun doing downhill and jumps on it. I've noticed that its making me a bit lazier with line choice and on drops though so I've started using my hardtail every now and then and am considering a longer top tubed HT which I can use for everything again. When I get back on the HT it feels really stiff and hard going, riding a FS all the time softens you up I think as I never used to feel this rough riding HT!

I've previously owned a pitch which I really liked, but now have an alpine 160 which I like more on the descents, but have yet to climb anything big on.

For me a pitch with u-turn lyriks works really well as a do it all, great bikes!

wrecker - Member

Did you not see the thread title? The OP? What makes you think he wants a hardtail? What sort of numpty therefore would recommend one?

Sure did read it, that's why I suggested a Pitch. I can understand you thinking that I suggested a hardtail to the OP though. You couldn't see the whole post 'cause I was waving my willy in your face and obscuring your view 🙄 You could read that bit again if you want. Let it sink in maybe, then call me names if it makes you happy.

cheesus stop flirting boys 😆

Sorry Dom. For what it's worth, I really don't think there'd be much in it for any of the bikes around the 150-160mm mark. They may ride slightly differently, but they'll do what you want of them. Spec, value for money and warranty/back-up are the things i'd look at.

No worries - ST Forum is the one that most goes of tangent shall we say!

Thanks for input - I agree im sure all are capeable i guess its what there built for!! I may plump for used if im honest! Make me a good saving......Although Carbon Zesty 2012 has my eye at 2800 - Light and i guess 140mm may actually suit me better if i really think about it.

To many bloody choices and too many nice bikes!!!

Anyone wanna sell me a Carbon Nomad 🙂

I'd have ordered the YT by now. Blingtastic and the weight and geometry look really promising.

Suspension looks very Zesty/Spicy to my untrained eye.

yeah so went nuts and got a carbon nomad 😆