And he might want a dropper but the Alps is one of the places I don’t think they add much.

It’s a big place and not all the same, I used mine loads out there.

How is a Pitch better than an Enduro?

Or more to the point, how is a 2011 Pitch better than a 2007 Enduro?

It’s substantially cheaper than a 2011 Enduro while only losing 10mm of travel, for a start…

Eh? The OP’s friend doesn’t have a 2011 Enduro

Why are you skewing years/an argument?

Honestly if I’d wanted a discussion on ‘fix your current bike’ I’d have posted ‘should my mate fix his current bike’ 😉

I’ll look round the other options.

Whys he not bought the Bionicon and thrown £300 at it, still saving him £300 on budget for beers in the Alps ?

So what exactly does your mate need to survive a week of lift assisted riding in the Alps? one week… that’s it

Oh for info, current enduro has two cracked rims, hubs probably salvageable but need new bearings. All shock bushings/pivot bearings need changing (shop quoted £150 – Yes i know it could be done cheaper but he has no access to tools/workshop), he wants a reverb after testing a new enduro with one, needs new transmission 1×10 or 2×10 and new brakes. And again having ridden a demo, wants some longer bars. Forks and Headset are good Oh and both tyres are bald!

Wheels could be sorted for under £100

If the mech isn’t actually bent and the shifter still clicks then fresh Cable/Chain/Cassette/Ring… ~£50…

Brakes? Bleed, clean up rotors, fresh pads ~£30ish

Bars? Funn Full On @CRC, £25 they come in in 750, 785 or 810mm (tempted myself there).

Bearing kit absolute Max £50, probably closer to £35

Fresh oil in the forks ~£10.

Reverb? Tell him to save that for the bike He’ll inevitably buy when he comes back, rather than spangle a shiny new toy in the alps for negligible benefit…

Tyres? well he’ll be wanting some whatever, call it another £50 – £90 depending on what he wants, probably robust 2.3″ – 2.5″ DH jobs

I’d say £350 for a realistic “pre-alps prep” and assuming you’ve got no spares he can use…

Add on any baggage costs and and any spare Pads/hangers/tyres/split links He’ll want to take -Vs- Maybe trying out a couple of different rental bikes to see what he prefers…

Could be an ideal “extended Demo” opportunity then he can take his time scouring the classifieds when you get back rather than buying a bike he might not like, under time pressures and before he’s had a chance to shift the old one…

Honestly if I’d wanted a discussion on ‘fix your current bike’ I’d have posted ‘should my mate fix his current bike’

I’ll look round the other options.

Shouldn’t have mentioned that he had a fixable bike, next time just say “My Mate needs a new bike…”

And never admit or imply that you can’t operate basic hand tools on STW, you will be (Rightly) condemned as useless…. 😉

Eh? The OP’s friend doesn’t have a 2011 Enduro

No, but I’m comparing year-for-year.

Bikes improved between 2007 and 2011. From that point of view the 2011 Pitch is a bargain as it’s a great platform and the last of that particular line, plus potentially better/more evolved than a 2007 Enduro.

It will also be significantly cheaper than the a 2011 Enduro, but only marginally less of a bike.

Why are you skewing years/an argument?

😆

Am I confudsing you dear?

PMJ – yep I got you. Others were a bit keen arguing on the extreme of the discussion. Or reading the actual posts. So – even tho I know it’ll make no difference – I’ll try and restate the basic scenario

!) it’s not me. It’s my mate
2) he has no access to tools/workstands/etc and lives in a small flat in London so not much room to work even if he did
3) The only way he can get his bike fixed it take it to the local shop. Or bring it to me and I can fix it, but that’s proving a bit logistically tricky
4) He tried a new Endurp Expert and loved it (dropper post, wide bars, 1×10,etc) and wants that stuff on his next bike
5) He’s decided not to spend 4k+ this year so has set a budget for a new bike close to what it would COST HIM (not the STW uber-mechanics) to fix his
6) He’s been riding the same bike for seven/eight years and fancies a change.
7) there is no 7
8) Assume the title of this post is ‘what can my mate have for £1100’

As I write this I know someone is now going to tell me how for 99pence he could rebuild his old bike through the use of hair oil and WW2 ration books 😉

Alex – Member
Honestly if I’d wanted a discussion on ‘fix your current bike’ I’d have posted ‘should my mate fix his current bike’
I’ll look round the other options.

Justifying buying it was based on the cost to fix though so people have just helpfully pointed out that your guess on cost to fix is (put bluntly) bobbins and that it’s possible to fix for a lot less. If it’s actually that your mate just fancies something new then cool but why bother with the justification.

what can my mate have for £1100

A really good tool kit, a bike maintenance course and a sense of self reliance, Then he might be able to fix his new bike when it arrives… 😉

STW uber-mechanics

Or slightly evolved primates with opposable thumbs…

I’ll offer £50 for the Enduro… Seeing as it needs a Grand spending on it, Oh Heck, I’m feeling generous, I’ll up it to £75 sounds like the poor lad has a lot of spending coming up…

As I write this I know someone is now going to tell me how for 99pence he could rebuild his old bike through the use of hair oil and WW2 ration books

😆

When I were a lad…

How about this with a coil shock put on:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-18-orange-patriot-frame-with-air-shocks#post-6015918

8)

The problem is the amount he has to spend, see if he said I have ~£2500 for a new bike then fill your boots. However, to try and get something better than fixing his Spesh Enduro for the price he is prepared to spend, well it probably ain’t going to happen.

again, get one of those marin quakes!

How about one of these. Buy it tomorrow in a special one-day only factory sale for £1066

Slide 140 7.0 Rock Shox Revelation RL2P 140mm, Monarch RT3 190 – 140mm Federweg am Hinterbau, Avid Elixier 3, SRAM X9,…

Posted by Radon Bikes on Thursday, May 15, 2014

or spent £200 more and get 170mm of travel

Swoop 175 6.0Rock Shox Domain RC CL 20QR, Monarch Plus R216, Shimano SLX, Race Face Parts, Sun Ringlé Inferno 20mm/X12, Hans Dampf 2.35, 20 Years Radon Bikes: Saturday Megastore 1499,-

Posted by Radon Bikes on Thursday, May 15, 2014

2) he has no access to tools/workstands/etc and lives in a small flat in London so not much room to work even if he did
3) The only way he can get his bike fixed it take it to the local shop. Or bring it to me and I can fix it, but that’s proving a bit logistically tricky

Very unlikely to find a second hand bike that doesn’t need a service and some parts replacing so these problems still apply.

Renting looks a really smart move and put the rest of the money in a fund towards buying something better.

You will get a nice secondhand AM bike for £1.1k if you take your time and be picky.

I’d look at the Pitch (buy well under budget and spend on upgrades), Spicy 2010-onwards, 2010-onwards Enduro, maybe Saracen Ariel with a big fork, Nukeproof Mega.

Don’t go by the prices asked on PB, most are overpriced and people will take offers from serious buyers.

I wouldn’t do up the old Enduro, just stick it on eBay and let it part-fund the new bike.

Freeborn have Enduro Evo for £1800? But there are a few on fleabay for £1200 ish – perfect for Alps

I would buy Canyon or Radon!!

A pitch with some nice 150mm+ coil forks would be lovely for the alps. I’m riding a 2007 pitch now, built 2 years ago out of bits in my mates garages for <£500 and it nails downhills beautifully. Built it up as a cheap “shed” for occasional freeride use but now it sees much more trail use than I expected too.

Newer AM rigs would be much better climbers, but that’s not much of an issue if most climbing is done on a chairlift or a ski access road. But the geometry and suspension is fabulous when things get steep & gnarly.

If the guy has no tools or space then although there is a possibility that he would be able to fix his bike for less money it’s obviously not going to happen. On a side note I would recommend that anyone who likes cycling would greatly benefit from owning the means and knowledge for competent bike fettling!

If I were your mate, I would save the 1000 and hire in the alps. He could even hire different bikes on different days to try them out.

He could then spend maybe two grand next year on a year – 18mnth old version of his fave from the alps.

This is a moot point if he is unwilling to spend over a grand on a bike which is not unreasonable at all. I only wish I hadn’t lost all perspective with spending money on a hobby!

You do kinda make the assumption that he wont want to ride at all inbetween going to the alps this year and next.

Assuming he can get something in good order then there’s no reason for it to come back any worse than it goes, just needing new pads and tyres in a week, anything else is unlucky. And IME hire companies charge for that kind of damage anyway, come back with a trashed wheel and it may as well have been your own, infact it’s probably worse as it’ll be at RRP and the mechanics labour charge, not CRC prices and DIY.

£70 a day hireing is £490 for the week. OK so there’s no consumables (say £100 to include some contingency for breaking a mech/rim/rotor) and no transport costs (£70 return on easyjet). That’s still over £300 down the drain before your break something.

Just get a Bullit, or a Pitch. The bullits almost bombproof and pivots are cheap, the pitch is one generation newer than your enduro, lighter and pedals better.

For the cost of hireing you could get a really cheep bullit/heckler and thow it in a skip on the last day.

Have a scout on ebay, I bought a 2007 Santa Cruz blur lt with fox forx new deore groupset and wheels for 950 last year, spent 80 on new bearings and got me a alps ready superbike for less than half the rrp

weve got a 2012 kona entourage in matt black,bought from crc in december for 1200,used twice only , its a small and fits the wife at 5’8 spot on ,
make an offer ! hint:looking for around £850! 😉

Ugh I’d have that black Bullit on page 1 if I had the money right now! Loved my old one..