BB pivot FS.. bad idea for pedalling??

How bad are BB pivot short travel bikes for pedalling??
Im looking at building somthing like this..

Bear in mind im 5ft 5 tall… will it pedal like shit if i took if for an xc pootle??

Wow! How did they get the bike to stay upright like that? 😛

It’ll certainly pedal a lot worse than high single pivot/linkage-activated single pivot/FSR/DW Link/Maestro/VPP/Switch Link/Quad Link/Monolink etc. etc. equipped bikes of the same travel. It’ll probably pedal better than a URT, but that’s why no-one makes URT bikes anymore.

A BB pivot is obviously only worth having if you want to run the bike singlespeed, which won’t be great for long XC anyway, but also means you will have to climb out of the saddle a lot, which will just make the pedal bob a whole lot worse. Why not run 1×10 and a chain guide? Then you’ll be able to run a frame with a much better pedalling suspension system, you’ll have gears for when you do go climbing, and with a clutch mech and chain guide you can still have a fairly quiet ride and you shouldn’t drop the chain even when you’re being silly.

I run a bb pivot frame with an alfine as my only mountain bike

If you mash the pedals it’ll bob, just like any other bike

If you pedal in circles it’ll be fine, just like any other bike

I can keep up with the rest of my riding group who ride, stumpjumpers, enduros, spicys & a trance. In fact I prefer it to my old trance.

If you’re in the Sheffield or Peak area you’re more than welcome to try mine

Oh and if you search the STW front page they review a DMR Bolt which also has a bb pivot and they said they really like it

Wow.. couldn’t really get 2 more different opinions. I was thinking of buying a dartmoor shine frame the same as above and transplanting as much as possible from my charge blender.. so would run it 1×9, avid elixir bits and some RS argyles. I can best describe most of my riding as playing in the woods. Would I die if I took this up and down snowdon?

The shine would be an awesome play in the woods bike that is after all what it’s designed for and I can’t see why Snowdon would be any different.

I can only speculate on PW’s situation but I’m guessing he’s not been riding one for the last 12 months as I have so it’s real world experience V’s hearsay

I think these days it is as important what shock is on the bike as it is what the suspension design is.

If you have a pro pedal lever or such this will help eliminate bob for when you want to pedal it long distances and uphill.

If you stick a baggy coil shock on a scott spark it will bob like a bastard.

If you stick a good air shock with a lockout leaver on a Santa Cruz V10 it wont bob as much.

The frame im looking at has an xfusion 02 RCX rear shock which is custom tuned for the frame.. doesnt really mean that much to me as i know eff all about rear shocks

I have a standard rp shock on mine, I did think of getting something with a propedal lever but realised I only though I needed one when I was in front of the computer, I never thought about it when I was on the bike

I haven’t been riding a BB pivot bike for 12 months, but I have ridden a couple. They suffer noticeably from squatting under hard pedalling in my opinion and experience. Whether you mind that or can minimise it with your pedalling technique is one thing, but I suspect the majority who have ridden them will say that they are worse pedalling than most of the common suspension designs.

Why do you want this frame if you won’t be running it singlespeed? Singlespeed is the only argument that I can see for a BB pivot bike, that’s why there’s only a couple of frames like that, and why they’re all aimed at the same market. They become more complex than a normal single pivot, lose pedalling efficiency over almost all other designs and all they gain is the ability to be run singlespeed. If you won’t even run it singlespeed then why not look at something else?

I like the look of it. I also like the NS soda and intense tazer..
Dont forget im short as **** and want a playful bike.. but quite cheap too

Another opinion from a BB pivot owner here…

It’s fine.

As others have said, pedal like a goon and it will bob, just like all other bikes, pedal properly and it’s fine.

I’ve had 2 Kona A’s (over 5 years), but also have 4 bar, Single pivots and Lawwill bike and in all honesty, although there are subtle differences in the way they behave it’s got more to do with the rider and the shock setup than where the pivots are.

They do squat under heavy pedal load (so do a lot of other bikes), but that can be tamed with shock setup and pedalling properly.

SS is not the **only** reason, there is absolutely no chain growth with a BB pivot, so they have no pedal kickback, which may or may not matter to you, a lot of DJ and slopestyle bikes use the short travel BB-centric pivot arrangement.

^ this (the DJ and SS bit) is probably more likely to make it awful for XC as the geometry of most BB pivot bikes is not setup for XC. Kona A is the only one I can think of off the top of my head although there are likely others…but as a playful jumpy bike it’ll be great.

Lots of people run this style of frame with normal gears, very few of them have sliding or horizontal dropouts which clouds the water a bit on the whole SS thing as you’ll still need a tensioner… So you could just SS any frame like I did with the trance. Therefore they must be riding them for another reason

PW seems to think they are rubbish, I think they are ace. Average that out & it means they are fine

The way i see it is that i want to have fun on it.. my riding usually consists of 2 hr blasts in the woods cramming in what riding i get the chance to do. I dont do xc epics or all day rides (just dont generally get the time). Its hard to find a decent bike for a short person that will tick most of my boxes with a budget.

Sounds ideal then.

I did 24 miles in the Peak on Sunday, not once did I wish I had a “better” suspension platform

Mine is a Commencal absolut sx so it’s fairly similar to the Dartmoor. Only thing that put me off was the 4″ of travel and it not coming up s/h very often

all they gain is the ability to be run singlespeed

and by undoing the linkages can be run with a belt-drive too. Like mine.

I have a Kona A, with a Fox RP3 shock which takes out some of the bob. Yes, it is less efficient when stonking ont he pdeals, which you have to do climbing, but its oodles of fun elsewhere. Advantages outweigh disadvantages for me.

[/url]
DSC_0287[/url] by ir_bandito[/url], on Flickr

Ill try and get my head around going SS.. my biggest worry is lack of fitness and facial hair

The old Cove G-spots rode well and they are pivot round the bottom bracket. Mate of mine ss’d one round Kirrochtree after ripping off his rear mech at the start of the day. He survived.

I had the old Cove G Spot and that pedalled fine. As well as any FSR anyway. Performance will be down to the shock much like most bikes that rely on a platform to control bob.

Ill try and get my head around going SS

Alfine or Rohloff?

Or normal gears, though I do love my alfine