Give me your opinions too…..

I am bored! I've not built a bike for a few months and could do with another project, so…..

What really is the best 'All Mountain Frame' around and why?

I want to build the best bike I ever have and need your help!

Nicolai Helius AM – no i dont own one but would like to.

turner 5 spot. Great riding frame, handles downs as well as the up's, not too heavy, great customer support. Think you'll never regret it

nicolai helius fr
heckler

owned them both, sold them both……… 😐

but both very good………..nicolai edges it tho.

The new carbon nomad and mojo HD are going to be pretty special I reckon.

Mmmmm….the Nicolai look a bit on the ugly side (IMO), but seem to pop up quite often???

Raddogair – I'll take a look at the 5 Spot?

ton – Member

nicolai helius fr
heckler

owned them both, sold them both………

but both very good………..nicolai edges it tho.

Ton…why did the Nicolai edge it? I have a Heckler at the moment and do love it, but it is the 3rd I've had and just fancy a change?

Nomad or Blur LT or Mojo HD

Blur lt2/c
nomad mk2/carbon
Mojo
Intense tracer
Turner 5 spot

tools!

Prophet MX

Seriously though, does anyone believe this question is even worth asking, apart from spotty 12-year-old Top-Trumps-playing boys?

Turner 5 Spot – no question.

I've had 3 of them.

Also owned Spesh SX Trail, Kona Coilers (x2), Spesh SX Supercross, Commie Meta 5, so have experienced a few…

Turner beats 'em all.

I test rode an Orange 5, a Blur lt and a Turner 5 spot today….brilliant service from Mountain Trax near Swinley –

my findings

Orange 5 – good in a comfy armchair kind of way. Swallows up all the tiny bumps but not as good on square edges and not as alive. Muscling up short stuff hand far more bob.

Blur and 5 spot had some very similar characteristics. Both felt far more like a hardtail in the twisty stuff – I couldn't tell the suspension was working, it just smoothed stuff out a bit but you could still feel what was under you. They both climbed quite a bit better and put up with a 14 stoner getting out of the saddle for short power climbs without massive bob.

For me, of those 3 it will be a blur or a 5 spot – just down to fit now…

The yet to be released Chumba Evo looks good.

– 68 degree head angle with 140mm fork; 67 degree head angle with 160mm fork
– 13.3" bottom bracket height with 140mm fork, 13.5" with 160mm fork
– 150mm of travel
– ISCG 05 mounts (Hammerschmidt compatible)
– Expected weight 6.3 lbs. without shock

Rickos, did you spot the image of the proto evo in this months dirt mag? It was in the crank bros article at the back if one if the shots!

hopefully the yeti asr-5…

giant trance x advanced sl frame… fantastic suspension platform and superb giant carbon. tad pricey, but not as bad as the SC Nomad will be or a mojo.

Ooh that Chumba looks pretty nice.

Si?

cynic-al – Member
Seriously though, does anyone believe this question is even worth asking, apart from spotty 12-year-old Top-Trumps-playing boys?

al………..why the **** do you come on a mountainbike forum……….you miserable fecker…….. 🙄

and to answer the op, the nicolai just felt a lot more robust and put together. a bit like a heckler doing some big weights……. 8)

like a heckler doing some big weights……

A heckler doing big weights already exists its called a bullit. Best AM bike around, climbs like a 4 wheel drive and descends like magic carpet. Here's one of mine.

And here is the other.

nice it is too.
i do wish people would not post such pictures tho….my wallet is trying to open itself.

Someone's got to ask teh sensible questions!

ton – Member

nice it is too.
i do wish people would not post such pictures tho….my wallet is trying to open itself.

Thanks.

Sorry, I have to share the love. 2nd hand bullit frames are cheap as chips. 300 notes with 5th element coil shock. Loads of em about.

Cannondale prophet with a PUSH Van R

Cove Hustler, yes I own one but that's because it's the best 🙂

For best AM it's Blur LT2c

Hustler her too. I did think the 5spot was was great……until I tried a Hustler 😛

Ibis Mojo
Yeti 575
Turner 5 spot
Heckler

Not in that order

How are you defining all mountain??
Able to climb/ascend mountains, alps rockies llangeda???
Able to descend mountains??? pyrennes dolomites, apennines lee quarry?
able to pedal all day?? like 4 to 8 hours or chairlift to top
Weight of….30lbs/35lbs/40lbs/??
How much travel? Air or coil shock as that affectes things
personally then i would consider
Turner 5 spot dw
maverick ml8
old turner rfx horst link
ibis mojo
dialled alpine
chumba xcl/vf2
owned only 2 of those

NOT (for me)
Bullit climbed like a pig with a bloated gut
Blur LT2 did not like suspension
Yeti 575…….felt compromised suspension
Intense never got on with the sizing
orange 5 or patroit not a single pivot fan at all dead wooden
owned all of the above

I really want to like Chumba's but would find it incredibly hard to ride something thats named like something I just dropped in the toilet! 🙂

Ooh that Chumba looks pretty nice.

That is the early proto of the new generation EVO. Finsihed frames will have a similar top and down tube to the VF2 with beefier tubes. It's a multi link bike too. Chumba decided it's time they had a go with a multi link design, they are not dropping the horst link frames though (thankfully imo) just looking at others options to get into the market.

I should have one of 5 finished proto's by the end of May 🙂

cynic-al – Member

Seriously though, does anyone believe this question is even worth asking, apart from spotty 12-year-old Top-Trumps-playing boys?

What it must be like to be the worlds leading expert on all things mountain bike eh? 😕 For your information Al I am nothing like a spotty 12 year old (although if they want my advice I would be happy to provide it!), in fact I'm 37 years old and looking for some constructive feedback, because unlike you I have not ridden EVERY mountain bike that graces this earth! Oh what it must be like to like in your world!!

cynic-al – Member

Someone's got to ask teh sensible questions!

And that's you is it? You really are deluded! All you ever do is seem to crash other peoples posts and act the fool, maybe its because you don't really have a clue and that's the only way you can get involved.

To everyone else except Al, thanks for your feedback, there a few bikes that have come up more than once, so time to go and do some research on them and see which would suit me best. But quite fancy the Mojo or SC Blur lt2c??

PS: In future Al, don't bother replying to my posts – your just wasting your superior brain power & time.

si – didn't see the photo in Dirt. I got all that from the Chumba blog.

How can any Nicolai be any good when the decals are designed by a dyslexic, and nobody else in the company has ever noticed it and corrected them?

Nomad. (yes I own one)

Chuck on the DH wheelset it'll do the Alps/Uplifts, AM wheelset trail centres.

That's all I change on it.

ive ridden a few bikes but for all mountain its got to be the titus el guapo,

it rides everything very well and is very stable in the air and very confidence inspiring,a bit pricey but very well made,with the right kit can be a all day bike or bike hit bike

indeed titus supermoto or el gaupo

Another vote for the Nicolai Helius FR (rode mine to work this morning 🙂
The Chumba's look noooice too.

AM? AM indeed.

ALL of those bikes look too heavy to pedal up hills. All of em. (with a couple of exceptions)

IMO AM seems to refer to either people that live somewhere flat and tell you 'it really pedals well up hill' or people that ride DH at half the speed they should, because they brough their 'AM' bike and not their DH bike.

**** dragging any of those suggestions round the peak. Or wharnecliffe. Or anywhere that goes uphill for more than 30 seconds.

If you need 6 inch of coil travel front and rear to ride 'aggressive xc' then you need to up your game.

tracknicko.

Whilst I think in true stw stylee you are slightly over egging your point – you have a point! The 3 bike I rode yesterday (see above) quite frankly felt slightly ridiculous at Swinley forest. I would have be just as happy with a competent hardtail or a stiff shorter travel bike. I think am bikes could be seen as a bike great for (amongst other things) not so fit/skilled riders who don't get out much where the bike can compensate for your unhoned skills – and where is the harm in that?

Living in the South, I would not be considering one of these if it was my only bike but fortunately I have another hardtail that shall share duties with this (potential)one. There is no doubt though that as my personal performance capabilities drop off and I ride less frequently I'll be glad of a bike that fills in the gaps for me and is also capable enough to just about withstand that trip to the alps I've always promised myself. Also, I don't know how long you have been riding mtbs but I first tried a longish travel bike 7 or 8 years ago – it is amazing how much more "all round" they have become in that time – no longer does it feel like you are riding a wollowy bag of spanners of old and some of them really do climb so much better than bikes of this ilk used to.