ideas for 160mm ish travel AM/FR bike or frame for the Alps

Selling my 2011 Heckler frame for £650 😉

grantway – Member

Found the same output for my Orange 5 AM at Coed Y Brenin was the only bike
back where the other multi pivot bikes either bearings seized or rear stay had snapped.

Next christmas, buy your mates bike maintenance courses, that’s absurd.

and now the heckler comes with more colour choices!!

i loved the bottlerocket in the alps. 🙂

Enduro did the job really well last time 🙂

Most 6″ bikes use dual ring with a ‘stinger’ type chain device for a reason.

1×9 in on a 30lb+ bike gets painful unless you are quite a bit fitter than your riding buddies or are just doing uplifts. This is even more the case in the Alps.

Next christmas, buy your mates bike maintenance courses, that’s absurd.

That’s the point – there are many folk out there who either can’t be arsed or don’t think they should have to maintain their bikes. I’ve only ever been to 3 UK trail centres & was struck by how many poorly maintained but expensive bikes were on the trails.

As an aside, on my 1st visit to Dalby I stopped to help a few blokes out who’d had basic mechanicals that they couldn’t fix (one was a chain wedged between granny ring and frame – seriously). I don’t do this now.

Single pivots just remove one more thing that could go wrong.

i like the sound ofd the last herbs too, but i’d get an AM, without the little spacer thingy and a 66 or 70mm stroke shock you can set it at 165 or 175mm for alps trips (with some big forks) and leave it at 140mm for the uk. heard they’re a bit weighty tho.

theres a intense tracer on here going cheap it will do every thing you want

+1 Mondraker Dune.

Yes I do have one but I’ve had enough other bikes to be honest about it, and IMO it’s a stunning and hugely underrated AM bike.

My LBS owner is now on his third in a row and another bike shop owner I had a chat with last week was comparing it favourably to the carbon Nomad.

Mine is as happy hacking round Epping in the mud as riding DH tracks or battering down big mountains in the Lakes.

good ideas, thanks

That Mondraker Dune for £1650 looks like a steal – whole bike for the price of a Nomad/Alpine frame.

Just been looking at the geometries, which is interesting. Many are 66 deg head angles (NP Mega, Spicy, Alpine) which is perhaps a tad slacker than I want really – I’ve had a quick spin on a Spicy (66) and that felt too slack for me really. Good on the steep DH stuff sure but too slow steering for technical trails (for me). The Nomad and Covert at 67 would perhaps suit me more.

Also the Nukeproof Mega has a 75 seat angle which is a possible issue. I currently run a 72 deg seat angle (with a layback post) so god knows what a Mega would need in terms of layback.

I think a few test rides are in order, as it’s going to be tricky to guess the fit just based on geo numbers (at least harder than it is to guess how a hardtail would fit).

I wouldn’t take manufacturers geometry readings as gospel, my Nomad with a 160mm Fox 36 is 66 degrees, and the BB was slightly lower than advertised.

Not that it’s a bad thing – the bike rides very well 🙂

This is a good one…

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/specialized-enduro-2009-with-fox-van-rc-shock-hope-mavic-d521

I find in the Alps it’s like a Ferrari…the perfect Alps bike.

I went for the last of the 160 trek remedy’s to do this job. You can pick them up as full bikes for less than £1k s/hand.

Drop me a line if you want any more info on the joys and pitfalls of Dune ownership, email in profile.

[/url]]null[/url]
150mm travel El Ciclon

I’m in the same position myself. I ride a SC BLT2 normally, and spent 4 weeks last year in the Alps on it (and have also used it in Spain).

It’s pretty much up to the job 90%, but I could do with a slightly slacker head angle and 160mm fork. Obviously the BLT2 can take Lyriks or 36s which might be an option. A bolt through rear and wider bars would probably help too, but then I’m starting to turn an expensive trail bike into something it probably doesnt really want to be.

Or, if I want a 2nd bike and to keep the SC for the UK (it’s a fantastic UK bike), until today I was looking at a Cube Fritzz for £2k, seemed to fit the bill completely. But now I’ve read some bad reviews and negative comments, I’m not so sure.

Other ideas were a Spicy (not sure why someone would consider the Zesty as an “Alpine” bike) or Alpine. Both cost at least £800 more. Before that I was considering 2nd hand SX Trail possibly.

Just saw this for c. £1400 in a large size.
http://www.freeflowbikes.com/bikes/full-suspension-mountain-bikes/mondraker/mondraker-dune-2010.html

Alpine 160.

Canyon Strive?

If you’re feeling flush it would be a carbon Nomad for me every time. Otherwise probably go for an Enduro or Spicy.

I could also be quite tempted by a Transition Covert but only from what I’ve read. I’ve never slung a leg over one.

Actually I’d add on that a Cove G-Spot but only because it would sit perfectly along side my Stiffee and therefore pander to my OCD.

I took my tracer out there last year and loved every minute out there. Bit it all comes down to a bike that suits you, best bet is to get out and demo them! 😀

Im looking at selling my frame with ccdb, if it was of interest to you.